Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Self Published 

Tags: Gay Romance, Murder/Mystery, Series TW: Cheating, Suicide Ideation, Substance Overuse 

Length: 212 Kindle Pages

Reviewer: Kazza

Purchase At: amazon 

Blurb:

The greatest lies are the ones we tell ourselves.

Adam Dawson never thought he’d meet someone like Caleb Straus. Three months of friendship with his new partner has made Adam take a good look at his life, and he doesn’t like what he sees. The safety he finds with Caleb is the only thing holding him together, but it’s also the thing that might rip his world to shreds.

Caleb wasn’t ready for Adam either, and the bond they’ve formed has grown exponentially over time. It’s intense and gratifying in a way he’s craved for years, but also the biggest problem in his life.

To complicate things further, the body of the County Sheriff’s son, Keola Antu, shows up in a Peyton field.

As they investigate who’s responsible, they discover the case offers more than they bargained for. For every answer there’s another question just behind it. Everyone has something to hide, and the deeper they dig, the closer to home it hits.

With their foundations shaken, the men face a crossroads that’ll shape their chances at a life together. But when old habits rear their heads, will they both find the strength to make the hard choices? Or will the damage of their pasts that once brought them together, tear them apart?

**WARNING: CONSIDER THIS A SPOILER REVIEW**

REVIEW:

Here I am again, back in Peyton, Illinois, with Caleb and Adam. It’s three months post Relocation and while they’re detective partners, they are only relationally together behind closed doors because Adam is still married to Josh, his controlling, cheating husband. This causes more and more difficulty for Caleb and Adam’s intensely developing connection to one another. That wasn’t supposed to happen when Adam was sent to Peyton. 

For the most part, this was an enjoyable read. I say most part because the book got a little bogged down in melodrama around Caleb and Adam and their whole, ‘it’s okay, no, it’s not okay’ relationship regarding Adam being married to Josh. That Josh has a personal hold over Adam, and not just because he likes to control the narrative of their marriage, he also holds emotional blackmail over Adam’s head, and Adam cannot find a way to leave. 

The Good:

I really liked Caleb from the beginning of the series. He’s a nice guy who feels like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. A number of people in Peyton, including his family, add to that weighty pressure. He loves his home town but feels he owes it as well. Which he doesn’t. He deals with his fair share of nasty jibes about his past, sometimes his sexuality, which are truly shitty. I did want to see Caleb’s veneer drop and I get that in this book, that was good, but it was a lot all at once. (See the Messy below.) Adam can be a pain in the arse, but I quite like someone having to get their shit together in my books because plenty of people, also relationships, are like that. I like couples to work for their HEA when a book leans more to the grittier side of the tracks. Together they’re an interesting couple in the making. The police work is also pretty good. I thought the overall investigation flow was better in Relocation but it’s still intriguing enough here to want to know who did what.

These guys have a chemistry that jumps off the page. That can be in an introspectively emotional way or sexually.

I am cheering for Caleb and Adam. They have a way to go. I want them to find their happiness, I don’t mind some angst leading up to that, which exists in this series, then I want them to work the hell out of their relationship and their cases. Together.

The author clearly loves these characters. I feel that she puts a lot of care into them which means I feel that as I read.

There is some nice writing throughout the series.

All of these things make it easy to buy the latest instalment and then to turn those Kindle pages.

The Messy:

The messy around the relationship was building. I don’t mind some messy but I like it more spread out. Caleb’s integrity is screaming at him from his subconscious. The person he’s fallen for is married. You can sit on something but if it doesn’t fit within your own belief system or self-view, watch out. Adam was stressing about his relationship with Caleb and Josh in the background. When Josh hits town it hits the proverbial fan. I’m glad we didn’t just get told about it this time, we got to see a bit of Josh in action. Not a lot, but still better than how that occurred in Relocation. Adam doesn’t know what to do prior so he does what he usually does, drinks too much alcohol and takes some pills to sit on his feelings but he still feels like a terrible person.

My failure to leave Josh wasn’t okay. Giving him the hope that I was going to change wasn’t okay. Nothing about what Caleb and I were doing was okay. Yet, I kept doing it because when we’re together, I’m another version of myself. One I like. That I could even be proud of.

He can’t sit on anything when Josh is right there in Peyton, pushing his buttons. So, boom. Caleb and Adam both jump the emotional shark. I get it. This is a dysfunctional situation but someone needed to handle it better. Adam already considered throwing himself off a rooftop in book #1 but he went there again – I’m not being flippant when I say that – it was so melodramatic. Caleb also lost control. They completely dysregulated together and there was alcohol (over)use, some physical stuff, sobriety thrown out the window, which was a believable aspect, and dead brothers were involved. Caleb’s AA sponsor too. A car. A lot. The writing needed to slow down and take a breath. The resolution after très drama was okay but fairly quick. I would have preferred them to both have some more space to process and grow.

Readjustment gets 4 stars as I’ve emotionally bought into this series. Thus far it has an easy readability to it and that’s nice for me at times when I need a mental break from work and life. I definitely find Caleb and Adam are worth spending my money and time on, both reading and then reviewing. I also can’t get enough books I like that combine murder/mystery with romance. There’s a good mix of that in the Restitution series. I’m definitely looking forward to book #3 now. 4 Stars!