Rediscovering Family by Sean Michael

Rediscovering Family by Sean Michael
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQ, Erotic Romance
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Sometimes life gives you a second chance.

Bruce Dawson and Todd Greene had it all. A happy marriage, fulfilling careers and a brand new baby girl. When their nanny of three days kidnaps their daughter Olive, their world falls apart.
Two years later, divorced and working himself to death, Bruce gets a call that will change the downward trajectory of his life forever. Just three words: they found her.

Now Bruce and Todd must work together to provide the home their daughter deserves, and not only their own daughter, but the little girl found with her as well. To make matters even more complicated, Todd has a son on the way.

Join Bruce and Todd as they reconnect and rediscover what it means to be a family.

Bruce and Todd had a happy marriage, jobs they enjoyed and a brand new baby girl they adored. Their lives – and marriage – fell apart though when the nanny disappeared with their baby girl and although Bruce and Todd still loved each other, they couldn’t find a way to make things work. Two years later Bruce receives a call from Todd, one he never expected to receive with the fateful words “they’ve found her”. Can these two men patch up not just their trust and relationship once again, but build a family with their two new girls and each other?

I often find I’m a bit hit and miss with such deeply emotional storylines as this one portrayed. I often feel like it’s difficult to believe a committed couple who had been driven to the point of divorce could come back together and renew their relationship again. I was delighted that for the most part the author balanced these concerns of mine and the story managed to be both optimistic and emotional while still not negating the very deep and complicated issues Bruce and Todd faced. I found this to be an emotional read, yes, but not drowning in angst or recriminations which was lovely. The characters of Olive and Delilah also lightened the tone and feel of the story significantly and created an amazing balance I feel between the issues lying between Bruce and Todd.

Readers looking for a mostly sweet, second-chance style of story should find this ticks a number of the good boxes. I was pleased that from the very beginning both Todd and Bruce were committed to the two girls and determined to make their non-traditional family work. There was a strong cast of secondary characters – with both sets of Todd and Bruce’s parents as well as Todd’s sister and brother in law being fairly closely involved with the newly recreated family. There was a lot of emotion and a lot of rushing to get everything settled for the two girls but I felt the author really did a good job of balancing the hectic side of getting organized with the two men trying to wade their way through to what would become their new normal. I was particularly pleased that while their past issued weren’t ignored neither was it drawn out or made overly angsty. I thought it was a realistic and sensible balance that I enjoyed reading.

With some exceptional characters, a lot of realism and no shying away from the emotional aspect of the situation, I thought this was a lovely and interesting full length story. While there are a number of explicit scenes between Todd and Bruce this isn’t a full-on erotic romance story – more of a reconnecting and rebuilding a family style of story with plenty of craziness and antics from the children and a solid “feel good” sort of atmosphere. A lovely family story and one I enjoyed.