Single Dads: Today – R.J. Scott

When the world labels a man and judges them blindly, is it possible to ever find love?

Firefighter Eric is on the front line, battling the threat of nature’s destruction in the California grasslands alongside his CalFire team. Focused and calm, even in the direst of situations, he has a strong affection for his fire truck, loves his career, and has best friends he can rely on. All he needs now is love, but that seems to be impossible to find. At his friend’s wedding. Eric falls in lust at first sight with the shy, slim and sexy Brady, even if Brady isn’t the type of guy he usually goes for. What Eric longs for is an equal in his bed, not a smaller guy who might want Eric to role-play big strong firefighter every time they have sex. He wants to find someone he can be vulnerable with, someone who will love him for his soft heart and quiet ways.

Brady’s life plans grind to a halt when his niece and nephew lose their parents in a tragic accident, and he becomes a dad overnight. His Developmental Coordination Disorder rules his life, but he fights both DCD and the fears that chase him every day, to give Maddie and Lucas a home. Agreeing to go to a friend’s wedding is a decision he regrets long before he even gets there. But, he refuses to give in to his fear, even if he might do something that makes him a target for people’s comments and laughter. Meeting Eric, a huge man with a gentle voice and a flair for chivalry, he falls hard. Now, if only he can let himself get past his panic that Eric would never want someone like him, then maybe he could fall in love for real.

Today started with a wedding and ended with a proposal. In between were kiddie tantrums, forest fires and daytime shenanigans.

Eric is a first responder. He is an only child from a prominent family. He has a calm, steady presence which is a huge advantage in his line of work (a.k.a. he’s a teddy bear). Brady is an artist who adopted his niece and nephew after his late sister passed away. He has Developmental Coordination Disorder and social anxiety which made him come across as awkward and standoffish at first glance. Which is what happened when he first met Eric. He was kinda rude to the firefighter. Then, he threw himself at him and kissed him hard. Eric, far from being offended, was immediately smitten.

Even if both men fell hard and fast, everything clicked into place almost naturally. Contrary to what people expected of him being this huge, hulking firefighter, Eric loved it when somebody took charge and Brady was a take-charge kind guy. Theirs was a sweet, low-angst romance. I loved how they took time to talk things through and made it work.

I am normally not that enthused with books about parenting but Today was able to showcase the kids without them taking too much of the story. It did a good job portraying Brady’s struggles and triumphs as a single dad. It was also able to talk about DCD in a way that made it easier to understand and empathize with Brady.

There were some backstories provided but I felt like they could have been developed more. I wouldn’t mind if the book had a couple more chapters to give more depth to the characters and their relationships.

This is the second book of the Single Dads series. I have not read the first book but it was nice getting to know Ash and Sean, as well as Eric’s other friend, Leo and Leo’s potential LI who was introduced later on.

Sean Crisden did an awesome job with his voice acting. He was able to create varied and convincing voices for the characters. Like with his other audiobook that I reviewed before, Home for Christmas, also by R.J. Scott, I still find his pacing a little too fast but it’s not really something that significantly affected my experience of the book.

Overall, Today is a highly enjoyable, feel-good romance with characters you can root for. If you are looking for something light and easy, where people fall in an instant and stay forever, you might want to check this out.

P.S.

Thank you to Signal Boost Promotions and Audible for providing a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

R.J. Scott books here

Rating:
3.5 Stars – that place between like and love

Soundtrack: Forever Came Today
Artist: The Supremes
Album: Reflections