Summer Son

I’m kind of a sucker for a single dad with a baby story and since I’ve enjoyed several other works by this author I read the description for ‘Summer Son’ and decided to jump right in. I was looking forward to meeting Ellis and Zane and seeing what kind of relationship these two men would make.

Ellis has only been divorced for three months and it wasn’t a pretty one. Apparently it was Oliver who was all about having a family right off the bat and they both agreed they didn’t care whose sperm created the child so they mixed it… well, until Oliver filed for divorce and insisted on a paternity test. Once he found out Ellis was Harrison’s biological parent then Oliver really was prepared to wash his hands of the whole situation. Oliver is pretty much every horrid story you’ve ever heard about the other parent – he doesn’t stick to the custody agreement, never keeping Harrison for his full weekend, and getting child support has been a battle. Regardless, Ellis has carved out a wonderful life for his son even if Ellis is exhausted more often than not.

Zane is a young college student who also works part-time with special needs children teaching art at the community center. He had a bit of a traumatic childhood that ended when he saw his brother killed in a drive-by shooting. Zane was the only witness at the age of twelve and then his mother moved them away from New York City. He and Ellis meet when Ellis is dragged out of his hermitage by his best friend to go out with the group. Zane is a new member to the group, the majority of them having known each other since college, and he and Ellis really hit it off. In some ways it was a tad too insta for me, but I can’t dispute that these two men were really fabulous together. Not to mention that Zane is wonderful with Harrison and the baby adores this new figure in his world.

In my opinion the drama surrounding Ellis’s ex-husband was fairly predictable but I still enjoyed the story. Overall this wasn’t what I thought it would be but that isn’t a bad thing. Zane and Ellis’s romance may have been kind of insta but it was still quite lovely to watch. I’m glad I picked this up to enjoy.

It took me longer than usual to warm up to this story as it's been illegal to smoke in NYC since 2011. I'm pretty sure Harrison's first word was "fuck." I would have never hired Linda as a lawyer and I was insulted at the liberal and inaccurate usage of the term "severe learning disabilities."

So why did I give this story 4 stars?

I truly fell in love with the main characters and the family they built together. It was also believable because of the times it explained the differences in Ellis's relationships. It also had just the right amount of angst to keep me wondering while not fearing a "should have been" tragic ending to a rebound relationship. It was believable to me. I also enjoyed the bits of cute humor.

Review by Barb Ellis and his husband, Oliver, were among the first to get married when same sex marriage became legal, then to have their son born with a surrogate, and finally, the first to get divorced after three years. Ellis is now raising his son Harrison alone, though Oliver has to pay child support since the decision to have the child was made jointly, and he must own up to his responsibility. Ellis won custody and Oliver has weekend visitation, though he rarely picks up the baby until Saturday and returns him early on Sunday.
Forced by his friends to finally go out to enjoy himself one night, Ellis meets Zane, a young art student of Egyptian descent. Zane Hadlin is sweet, fun, and totally interested in Ellis. Spending some time together eventually becomes frequent as Zane is totally enraptured by Harrison and vice versa. Before too long, he’s moved in at Ellis’s invitation, and the future looks bright for the two of them. But Zane has a past that is apparently going to haunt him, even ten years after he was involved at the scene of a crime. When he was a young teen he witnessed his gang leader brother’s murder and was forced to testify at the murderer’s trial. His mother then packed up the family and moved them to Vermont where she had distant cousins. Zane was cleared of any wrongdoing, but his name is forever associated with the gang war.
When Ellis’s ex decides he wants custody of their son because “that terrorist” is a bad influence on him, Zane offers to stay away from them, and he loves them so much he’s even willing to move back to Vermont, but Ellis puts his foot down and digs in for a major custody battle for which he wants Zane by his side.
This is a sweet story of family love—the love of a man for his child and the love of a man for another man, his lover, his partner. R.L. Davis’s narration was great with totally different voices for both MCs, something that doesn’t always happen in an audiobook. I loved the voice the narrator gave to Zane. It emphasized his youth and his sweet personality. His smooth narration of the whole story kept me interested from beginning to end.
Anna Martin is a gifted author and the story is gritty and realistic and one that should appeal to all lovers of a romance involving men with children and a strong desire for family. I highly recommend this audiobook. Very nicely done.

Review by Barb Ellis and his husband, Oliver, were among the first to get married when same sex marriage became legal, then to have their son born with a surrogate, and finally, the first to get divorced after three years. Ellis is now raising his son Harrison alone, though Oliver has to pay child support since the decision to have the child was made jointly, and he must own up to his responsibility. Ellis won custody and Oliver has weekend visitation, though he rarely picks up the baby until Saturday and returns him early on Sunday.
Forced by his friends to finally go out to enjoy himself one night, Ellis meets Zane, a young art student of Egyptian descent. Zane Hadlin is sweet, fun, and totally interested in Ellis. Spending some time together eventually becomes frequent as Zane is totally enraptured by Harrison and vice versa. Before too long, he’s moved in at Ellis’s invitation, and the future looks bright for the two of them. But Zane has a past that is apparently going to haunt him, even ten years after he was involved at the scene of a crime. When he was a young teen he witnessed his gang leader brother’s murder and was forced to testify at the murderer’s trial. His mother then packed up the family and moved them to Vermont where she had distant cousins. Zane was cleared of any wrongdoing, but his name is forever associated with the gang war.
When Ellis’s ex decides he wants custody of their son because “that terrorist” is a bad influence on him, Zane offers to stay away from them, and he loves them so much he’s even willing to move back to Vermont, but Ellis puts his foot down and digs in for a major custody battle for which he wants Zane by his side.
This is a sweet story of family love—the love of a man for his child and the love of a man for another man, his lover, his partner. R.L. Davis’s narration was great with totally different voices for both MCs, something that doesn’t always happen in an audiobook. I loved the voice the narrator gave to Zane. It emphasized his youth and his sweet personality. His smooth narration of the whole story kept me interested from beginning to end.
Anna Martin is a gifted author and the story is gritty and realistic and one that should appeal to all lovers of a romance involving men with children and a strong desire for family. I highly recommend this audiobook. Very nicely done.