Rating: 3.5 Stars

Publisher: Punk & Sissy Publications

Genre: Gay Romance

Tags: Contemporary, Age Gap (15 Years), Daddy Kink, First Time, Opposites Attract, Romance, Series

Length: 112 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon

Blurb –

Jarek is burned out on life. One summer night with a sweet soul changes everything.

While Luca is used to being considered odd, he’s embraced the title. He’s found happiness in the simpler things. It’s not like he has a choice. He’s dirt-poor living in an expensive town. Barely scraping by isn’t even enough to describe how dire his straits are. Then a chance meeting at the park turns his entire life on its head. He’s never been more terrified. This one will hurt when it’s over, and Luca already knows how it’ll end.

As a highly sought-after attorney, Jarek hasn’t taken a breath in years until one night he simply decides to stop. When he spots an adorable man playing with blocks in the middle of the park with zero shame, Jarek can’t stay away. He keeps searching for ways to convince Luca to see him. Jarek can’t even say exactly what he hopes to achieve, but he only has one summer to figure it out. After that, Luca will be gone forever. That’s not an outcome Jarek is sure he can handle.

Short-term Daddy is the first book in Charity Parkerson’s Little Lost series where adorable, sometimes bratty, and scared Littles meet the men of their dreams.

Review –

I have fallen down the Charity Parkerson rabbit hole. I read Dancer (Killers Inc., #1), my first of hers, which had me wanting to know how the two main characters met, so I went back and found the book they were introduced in, King Daddy (Little Lost, #6). Of course, since I started at the end of the Little Lost series, I wanted to go back and read the others. Oh, and I still need to go back to the Killers Inc. series since I’ve only read the first one. I guess it’s a nice problem to have because it means I’ve found an author who I’m wanting to keep reading. It’s been a long time since that’s happened.

Jarek, 38, is a high-powered defense attorney. He hates his job because he’s always working. He has no life outside of the office; no friends, no family, just work. Not to mention that most of his clients are some pretty serious criminals, so there’s danger there as well.

Then there’s Luca, 23. Luca has been spending time in the evenings at a local park putting LEGO together. It’s dark, but he has a construction hat with a light that helps him see what he’s doing.

Jarek has been watching Luca for a while, even going so far as to secretly following him home when he packs up and leaves to ensure he gets there safe. Watching Luca each night gives him one bright spot in his life.

Then they meet and everything changes. Jared walks him home, and before either man realizes it, they’re in a ‘maybe’ relationship. They’re having sex, and spending all their free time together.

Luca is a Little who doesn’t know he’s a Little. He knows he loves playing with toys and being a little childlike, but he’s never had a name for it.

Jarek knows nothing about being a daddy, but he does know that he wants to be Luca’s.

Luca is being forced to move out of his apartment in the coming months because of a substantial rent increase that he could never hope to afford. He has no family or friends in California, so he’ll be going to Nebraska to stay with his cousin.

So, Luca and Jarek’s relationship has an expiration date.

Boone, one of Jarek’s clients, comes to Jarek’s office one day and sees Luca in the corner coloring. Boone tells Jarek about The PlayPen, a local kink club for daddies and littles, something Jarek didn’t even know existed. They go and Luca is finally able to be completely himself, even making a few friends.

Boone is a dangerous criminal, but he’s a sweetheart when it comes to Luca and other Littles. He doesn’t have a Little because everybody is scared of him. Luca isn’t. He sees the good in everybody, including the big and bad Boone.

Everything is going great between Jarek and Luca until suddenly it’s not. Luca makes a mistake and Jarek yells at him. Granted, the mistake could’ve been very dangerous, but the way Jarek talks to sweet Luca was uncalled for. That’s when my rating dropped a little. I get that Jarek was upset about something else, but for a man so desperate to have Luca stay, he damn sure didn’t show it.

I felt so bad for Luca. He’d been nothing but adorably sweet the entire book, and because Jarek was in a bad mood, he took it out on him. I was thinking that he should’ve left and stayed gone. He still had the cousin in Nebraska to go to.

Strangely, during all that, Boone was better with Luca than Jarek was.

He snuffed out his cigarette and opened his arms. Luca didn’t hesitate. He climbed into Boone’s embrace and cried. Boone truly hated that he would have to kill someone today.

I liked this okay. I was actually loving it until Jarek had his dumb-ass moment. He and Luca get their HEA, but still.

Boone’s book is next. Since I read the last book first, I’m aware of who he is and what he does. I’m curious to see his and Jupiter’s story. I’m also curious to see Beau, Boone’s father, a main character in King Daddy (Little Lost, #6). I know Beau’s not a good guy, with his sons and away from them. I’ve only seen the good (ish) of Beau, so I’m curious to see how bad he really was before he met Kylo.

3.5 stars.