RELEASE DAY REVIEW: 'Kairos' by Mary Calmes
Title: Kairos
Author: Mary Calmes
Published: December 15, 2017
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 137 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Bisexual; Law Enforcement; Family Drama; Addiction; Friends to Lovers; Novella
About Kairos
Sometimes the best day of your life is the one you never saw coming.
Joe Cohen has devoted the past two years of his life to one thing: the care and feeding of Kade Bosa. His partner in their PI business, roommate, and best friend, Kade is everything to Joe, even if their relationship falls short of what Joe desires most. But he won’t push. Kade has suffered a rough road, and Joe’s pretty sure he’s the only thing holding Kade together.
Estranged from his own family, Joe knows the value of desperately holding on to someone dear, but he never expected his present and past to collide just as Kade’s is doing the same. Now they’ve stumbled across evidence that could change their lives: the impact of Kade’s tragic past, their job partnership, and any future Joe might allow himself to wish for….
5 HEART READ
REVIEW:
Ahhh! I do love some Mary Calmes. She has to be one of my top ten favorite authors. Auto-buy, one-click, she writes it and I read it.
Kairos is a little novella that packs quite a punch. What is not to love? Two gorgeous main character’s secretly pining for each other, the very best of friends/roommates/work partners, witty banter, and a glorious cast of secondary characters.
I truly enjoyed this story and if it reminds readers of Mary Calmes’ two other best friends and partners, like it did myself, then I can guarantee you will enjoy these guys just as well.
Joe and Kade both have family issues. Joe comes from a very wealthy family in California who own a vineyard he primarily managed until he came out to them and their reactions were less than enthusiastic prompting him to walk away from it all and move to Chicago. Now he owns a PI business and has put himself in charge of “taking care” of Kade.
Kade lost his mother when he was in his early teens. And sadly he’s not very close to his brothers and father, just his sister, Rose. Being openly bisexual won’t win him any points with them either. Kade used to be an undercover cop until he was disgraced and ended up out of a job with a heroin addiction. Having overcome the drug habit he’s now Joe’s partner as a PI.
I love the banter between Joe and Kade. These two remind me of Ian and Miro in Calmes’ Marshals series and I fell in love right from page one. The story is told from Joe’s point of view so I was able to get a front row seat into his head and his heart. He pines for Kade from the very beginning. In chapter one he thinks to himself...
“I had tumbled into the trap of friendship that longed to be more, and he had moved forward to best friend, to work partner, to roommate, then taken not one more step. I was at the finish line, ready to gift him with my heart, and he went on a detour…”
Oh the feels in this one. Joe has put himself in the position of taking care of and looking out for Kade when he wants so much more.
Soon Kade’s past life as a cop comes back to haunt him in a very real way and he and Joe find themselves caught up in a huge cover up with a very cute witness named Declan. Kade starts to make some moves and slowly gets some closure while Joe finds himself on a plane with their witness headed...home, to maybe get some answers of his own.
I adore all their scenes together and couldn’t help rooting for Joe while wanting to smack Kade and say “open your eyes”. But Kade also very much wants to be with Joe and their back and forth banter and sexy chemistry makes it all the more delicious for when they do get together.
The story is told with typical Mary Calmes flair and is so entertaining with a cast of characters who will charm you.
Declan is awesome. He definitely has had a tough life and is a true survivor. If anyone is worthy of having his own book it’s him. And Joe’s mother, Nora, is another great one who is a force to be reckoned with. She is amazing and definitely one of my favorites as I love how she kind of just swoops in and adopts Kade and Declan.
There aren’t a lot of sexy times here but there is that sexual tension and flirty banter throughout the entirety and when our two guys do finally get together it’s explosive. Ms. Calmes writes very sexy scenes with dialogue alone that is scorching.
As she has Joe convey, ‘“Yes, Kade, I love you madly, and I’m absolutely sure that you’re going to love me back just as hard, just as much, just as completely… I think being in bed with the one person on the planet who makes me think about how good he’d look with a ring on his finger is plenty hot.’”
Kairos by Mary Calmes is fast paced, sexy and fun. It’s full of witty banter, humor and amazing dialogue and some really awesome characters. My only complaint is that it isn’t longer. I can already hear this in audio with the amazingly talented Tristan James narrating!
A copy of Kairos, was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Dreamspinner Press, at no cost and with no expectations in return. We offer our fair and honest opinion on behalf of our readers.
Meet the Author
Mary Calmes believes in romance, happily ever afters, and the faith it takes for her characters to get there. She bleeds coffee, thinks chocolate should be its own food group, and currently lives in Kentucky with a five-pound furry ninja that protects her from baby birds, spiders and the neighbor’s dogs.
For more from Mary be sure and visit her website!
