MORNING REPORT by Sue Brown

MORNING REPORT by Sue Brown

 

Pages:          220

Date:           June 17, 2015

Details:        No. 1 Morning Report

Copy received from Author

E-book

The blurb:

“A decade on from their first kiss, Luke Murray is more in love with Simon every day. Running the Lost Cow ranch for Luke's parents, they keep their heads down and get along with the locals, even if Luke is known for being a hothead. Then one day they discover the local store owners refuse to serve them. They're bewildered until Luke's mom tells them the new pastor has targeted the couple in his sermons. Suddenly Luke and Simon find themselves alienated from people they called friends, and their ranch comes under a series of attacks. As the town's hatred and homophobia turns on them, Luke and Simon will face a critical choice: give in to the town's demands and disappear, or stand and fight for themselves and their love.”

My thoughts:

Yes, I know, I’m reading this series the wrong way around. I started with the fourth Morning Report title, Letters from a Cowboy, and loved it so much I had no hesitation saying yes when Sue Brown offered me the opportunity to read the book that started it all: Morning Report. I was not disappointed.

Morning Report is slightly different from most romances we read. This is not a story about two men coming together but rather a look at what happens to Luke and Simon when their decade long relationship suddenly comes up against adversity in the form of homophobia from the people who have known Luke all his life and had been accepting of the couple for years.

Luke and Simon are one of the cutest couples ever. Despite their years together they’re as in love as ever, can’t keep their hands (and other body parts) off each other and basically behave like love-struck teenagers. If I ever met them face to face I might well join forces with Luke’s sister and make fun of their need for each other.

All joking aside, this book touched my heart for quite a few reasons and on numerous occasions. It also deals with something we rarely acknowledge; relationships tend to be easy as long as life just moves along at a steady pace without any big surprises. We don’t find out what our relationship (or our partner) is made off until we are forced to face a big and possibly traumatic situation together. Some relationships crumble; others, like Luke and Simon’s, have to be reassessed but thrive in the long run.

I loved the setting and all the secondary characters in this book. In fact, the situation that touched my heart most and had me on the edge of my seat as I read on with fear in my heart, dealt with somebody close to our heroes. I kept on whispering please don’t, please don’t under my breath. Whether or not I got my wish and what exactly the situation was I won’t diverge here though. Read the book. It’s good.

As always Sue Brown makes us think about issues while treating us to an entertaining, sexy and next to impossible to put down story. Homophobia is never easy to read about and religious intolerance makes me see red. The fact that more or less a whole town, en masse, turned against Luke and Simon just because a new pastor told them too, infuriated me. Because it is all too easy to believe this happens in everyday life to real-life people who may or may not have the support system the characters in this book had.

Before anybody thinks this book was ‘just’ a heavy read let me reassure you. I laughed as much as I frowned while reading Morning Report, tears of joy replaced sad tears once or twice and the antics between Simon and Luke had me laughing out loud more than once. And to say these two men, who can’t keep their hands off each other, were hot would be an understatement. I love me a toppy bottom as much as a top happy to indulge him. And I can’t help feeling most of us might be a lot happier if we too introduced ‘morning reports’ into our lives.