Book Reviews

Book Blurb

After the fallout of college and the choices that changed everything, Blair Cohen has built a quiet life teaching in New York City. With his loyal best friend Hinda by his side, he believes the past is finally behind him—until Scott, a former college frenemy, becomes the new gym teacher at his school and reopens old wounds Blair never truly healed.

Back in Congers, Luke Roberts is trapped in an unhappy marriage, drinking too much and haunted by the life he didn’t choose. The birth of his first child forces him to confront his future—and the love he sacrificed to protect his family. Meanwhile, Muffy Van Goth Roberts, restless and unfulfilled, begins to crave real passion, lust, and attention, pushing her dangerously close to betrayal.

Picking up after Love, Lust & Betrayal and leading directly into The Reunion, There But for the Grace of God Goes I is a powerful chapter in the Catholic School Boys in Trouble series—where faith, desire, and regret collide, and every choice comes with consequences.

 

Book Review

Note: The order of the series' installments (now fixed by publication dates) was the author's choice – and seems perhaps somewhat arbitrary. A critic – as opposed to a mere reviewer – might parse the chronology. But for the sake of cohesion, it is strongly suggested that Books 1-4 be read first.

 

Author Butler has upended time, yet converts it to a meaningful spectrum. And the writing demonstrates expertise in creating phrases which, if presented on a classroom blackboard, could well be assigned as subjects of a final examination. On one level, this novel is quite a compendium of platitudes, each of which relevantly hits its mark – almost rising to ecclesiastical distinction. A few will flavor this review.

 

This ultimate novel in the Catholic School Boys series seems focused on emotional inter-relationships whether failed, or dependent on possessive control, or merely expressed at the expense of fitting with others. The principals seem all ascatter, chasing perceived essences while attempting joinder with objects of their wants. Either because or despite this, the current installment is satisfying, the characters are real and familiar, and we become concerned with/about them. Earlier volumes present the what – this book cogently offers the why.

 

Review: We begin with the funeral of Blair's father, in a suburb of New York City, likely intended for the author to remind us that Blair is a Jew who attended Catholic parochial school, and has been an outsider. Having lost his lover, Luke, who married under pressure from family, Blair is in sad straights (forgive the pun.) Blair is still hung up, and knows it. “I love him. I loved him. I love my life more.”

 

Returning to Blair's teaching, a new gym teacher joins the faculty – Scott R., who is known from earlier volumes. He was a friend of Luke's; he was also a paid spy for Muffy, Luke's conniving wife. Despite my raves, which this series has earned, it is surely still a soap opera. Even at this juncture, with Blair concerned that Scott is still an agent for Muffy, the dialog remains sharp, even acerbic, laced with comments about Scott's cheap cologne. “Like drugstore air freshener trying to pass for Dior."

 

Scott insists to Blair that he's checked out with Muffy for good the night of Luke's wedding. He is no longer in Muffy's orbit. Luke's wedding speech was a disaster and Scott walked away from that entanglement. But Scott speaks of the wedding of Luke and Muffy, providing a background insert. As this book is intended as an explanatory interregnum, to no one's surprise Blair and Scott, as in a soap opera, get together. “He wasn't kissing Scott – he was chasing Luke's shadow. The night blurred into sweat, whispers, and silence. Morning came like a punishment.”

 

This forms an odd coupling, Scott being adverse to relationships, and preferring only to do casual. Blair reacts ambivalently – somewhere between regret and repulsion. Nonetheless, Scott recognizes that, for Blair, being touched by the wrong person may be better than not being touched at all. “Blair lived in two states: guilty or about to be guilty.”

In a parallel view, we get to see Luke, unhappy and reforming from alcohol, encouraged by his adoration for his son, Jack. Luke's marriage is detailed, much as a physician's sorry diagnosis. There is an absence of couplehood. Muffy is driven by appearances, much the same as Luke's father. And she is haunted by the memory of Blair in Luke's life.

 

This novel is captivating, provides sufficient narrative to explain the characters' destinies, and, with satisfaction generates all the addictive aspects of day-time soap operas.

 

Author Butler has a wonderful sense of style – providing character generation, fine plot development, even philosophic enlightenment. All this assists in the readers' growth and promises much in the pages to come. But the readers' awareness must be present as wending through the helter-skelter presentation of the series. Were it not for the happy conclusion assured in the first set of books, this issue might be confusing, or even stressful. The analytical placement in this final installment offers some justification to the involved plot line – perhaps.

 

Here are a few review extras:

Note 1. Reading this complete series, I wish there was a literary category for bon mot, at which author Butler excels.

Note 2. Example of bon mot.  “By Thursday, the week had the heavy feel of gum that refused to lose its flavor.”

Note 3. Who wouldn't admire an author who easily uses the word villanelles? which is a 19-line poem with two rhymes throughout, consisting of five tercets and a quatrain… etc. Bless the Vocabulary button on my Kindle.

Note 4. One of my favorites about Muffy: “She arrived in a dress the exact color of ambition…”

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the author for the purpose of a review.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 217 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	03-January-2026
Price	$4.99 ebook, $9.99 paperback, $14.99 hardcover
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Catholic-School-Trouble-There-Grace-ebook/dp/B0GDVB5YSP