Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Tommy O’Shea is raising his seven younger brothers and sisters without any help from his drug abusing father and stepmother. Since he was fifteen years old, he's managed to keep the children fed and out of foster care. It takes up every ounce of his energy and the last thing he needs is romance complicating his life further.

Rookie cop Bobby McAlister doesn't belong in Tommy’s harsh world, but Tommy can’t push him out. As their unlikely friendship turns into a tentative relationship, they weather the daily storm of Tommy’s life with a lot of laughs and more than a few arguments.

Tommy isn't used to trusting outsiders, and he's never asked for help in his life. But when a tragedy strikes the O'Shea family and threatens everything he's fought for, he'll have to learn to do both to recover from the brutal hit.

 

 

First edition published at Dreamspinner Press, July 2014.

 

Book Review

"Tommy had never learned how to bend and not break, and this was new territory for him. His sigh was weighted, heavy with all the things he wished he could have and all the things he knew he shouldn’t even bother wanting."

Tommy O'Shea. The name alone brought a mental image to mind of a tough, sarcastic, stubborn young man. To say that, sometimes, parts of 'The Last Thing He Needs' didn't remind me of Shameless on TV would be a lie. Tommy is twenty-two years old, and he dropped out of high school at sixteen to take whatever jobs he could to help support his younger brothers and sisters. Of which there are seven, ranging in age between seventeen and seven months. It's hard work having been a parent since his mother died when he was thirteen. Cal and Cheryl, Dad and Stepmom, are junkies and alcoholics, addicted to just about everything except loving their kids. They disappear, sometimes for weeks on end, and then stumble back in to wreak havoc for a day or two before leaving.

Every single day, Tommy is trying to keep Davey, Collin, and Mike from ending up in juvie, and hoping Carrie won't end up pregnant at some point in the future because she wants a baby of her own to love. Colleen is seventeen, and Tommy just keeps pushing her to finish high school so she can get out of this mess they try to survive under. It's a daily battle to keep the babies, Zoe and Max, healthy and fed. For all intents and purposes, Tommy is their father.

Bobby McAlister is twenty-four, and he became a cop to make a difference. But his heart bleeds for the "life" Tommy has, and he just wishes Tommy could learn how to ask for help. Falling in love with a copper was never in Tommy's plan. But sometimes fate intervenes in the best of ways.

This is the first book by JH Knight that I've read, and I was blown away by the writing. It had exactly the right amount of humor, sadness, sarcasm, and love. I mean, she could've written Tommy as this upstanding, righteous young man who's given up everything to care for his siblings. In some ways, that's true. But Tommy isn't a nice guy, and he admits it. He does the best he can, and if sometimes he has to steal something that they need in order to survive? So be it. He isn't apologizing for it. He's the best father and role model he knows how to be, and the love he has for his family, the love he's instilled in them to have for each other, is monumental.

A truly excellent book. This really is about the power of family, hope, and of course, the immense power of love.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. The first edition of this book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of a review

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novel, 223 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	01-August-2019
Price	$5.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Last-Thing-He-Needs-ebook/dp/B07W36ZBJB