Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Lickety Split: Love won’t wait.

 

Patch Hastle grew up in a hurry, ditching East Texas for NYC to make his name as a DJ and model without ever looking back. When his parents die unexpectedly, he heads home to unload the family farm ASAP and skedaddle. Except the will left Patch’s worst enemy in charge: his father’s handsome best friend who made his high school years hell.

 

Tucker Biggs is going nowhere. Twenty years past his rodeo days, he’s put down roots as the caretaker of the Hastle farm. He knows his buddy’s smartass son still hates his guts, but when Patch shows up growed-up, looking like sin in tight denim, Tucker turns his homecoming into a lesson about old dogs and new kinks.

 

Patch and Tucker fool around, but they can’t fool themselves. Once the farm’s sold, they mean to call it quits and head off to separate sunsets. With the clock ticking, the city slicker and his down-home hick get roped into each other’s life. If they’re gonna last longer than spit on a griddle, they better figure out what matters—fast.

 

Book Review

You could have knocked me over with a feather when I discovered that Damon Suede is from Texas. I'm still struggling to wrap my brain around that as, having met this wonderful author, I honestly couldn't begin to reconcile those two thoughts. For anyone who is starting to feel a little prickly, don't. I have nothing against Texas, per se, it's just not a state I could conceive Damon having grown up in. With all that said, once I read the description for 'Lickety Split', I was all in and ready to have the time of my life. I was not disappointed.

Patrick (Patch) is twenty-two and still struggles with reconciling his memories of growing up in Hixville versus the reality that hits him once he's home. He got there with a chip as big as the state riding on his shoulders, remembering nothing but all the stuff he hated about growing up there, and it took a while to remember some of the good things. "Only, Hixville wasn’t like he remembered, so maybe he and his folks weren’t either."

Then there's Tucker. A forty-three year old man who has never been out of Texas and has rarely strayed too far from East Texas. Comes from a no-good family and Tucker has bred his own share of bastards in the county that hate him. Tucker is simple but far from stupid. He just has a way of looking at life that seems pretty practical, all things considered. The more I saw of him, the more I liked him.

“I’m just a man, Patch. You gotta see that. I’m stupid and stubborn, headed nowhere fast. Whatever bullshit you imagine about me, I can’t never measure up. I’m just some old cracker, used to wrestle steer. Nobody needs to call me sir.”

I was surprised and pleased at the amount of character study the author wrote. This is no simple story. Far from it. Patch and Tucker are both very complex men with insecurities, vulnerabilities, strengths, and weaknesses, and both still trying to find their path in the world, albeit in different ways. Falling in love wasn't planned and neither had a clue what to do about it. Patch finally realizes sometimes you just have to slow down in order to find your place, and Tucker figures out that staying one place your whole life isn't necessarily a good thing.

“Oh kiddo. Love don’t exist to make folks happy…. It’s there to tear us up and make us over. To teach us how much we can survive ’fore we keel over. It’s like sunshine. Makes things grow and burns your ass both.”

'Lickety Split' was way more than I expected it to be. It moved me and made me really think about life, and love. A truly beautiful story about going home and finding what you never knew you'd lost.

 

 

 

 

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

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 286 pages/100585 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	13-March-2017
Price	$6.99 ebook, $16.99 paperback, $16.99 bundle
Buy Link	https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/lickety-split-by-damon-suede-8263-b