Book 89, 2023

Fools by Lucy Lennox

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I began reading Fools shortly after midnight and finished it by 6pm. And yes, I did sleep during that time. The book is by May Archer and Lucy Lennox, and it's their third collaboration in the "Licking Thicket" series of male/male romance. Main characters are Tucker Wright and Dunn Johnson.

Tucker has secretly been in love with his straight best friend, Dunn, for years. He knows the situation is hopeless, but he can't imagine not having Dunn in his life. When Dunn oh-so-helpfully begins trying to set Tucker up with other eligible gay men in the area, Tucker is at his wit's end. As for Dunn, all he wants is for his best best friend to be happy. Dunn thinks once Tucker is settled then maybe he can concentrate on his own love life, or lack thereof. He hadn't counted on how he would feel, seeing Tucker with other guys, especially when an old colleague of Tucker's arrives on the scene, all hot and sexy and wrong for Tucker. Only Dunn knows Tucker well enough to know what he deserves. It will take some drunken revelations, irrational jealousy, and meddling family to get Dunn to realize that maybe he and Tucker are what each other deserves.

What an aptly-named book! Lordy, these two. Everyone in town knew that Tucker and Dunn were in love, except for Tucker and Dunn. Oh, Tucker knew how he felt, but he had no idea how Dunn felt. Neither did Dunn until he he finally got his head out of his ass the sand to appreciate what was right in front of him. Characters were very well written, and I loved that many familiar characters from previous books in the series played large roles, as well. The story was funny and frustrating in equal measure. Of course, once the rest of the town got involved, there was no way Dunn and Tucker would not get their HEA.

Favorite lines:
♦ Tucker was smiling big like we weren't in the middle of the biggest fight since the 2017 mustard or mayo fiasco, which had not been my fault, damn it.
♦ If you've never been accosted by an octogenarian, you cannot understand how horrifying this was.
♦ Oh, Lord on a Lilliputian.
♦ I was too engaged in my tater tot stare-down with Jenn to pay him much mind.
♦ "He said, 'I think it's only fair to warn you, Rogers, that I'm bringing out my Armor Shad and my Magnum Squarebill tomorrow.' I'm ninety-nine percent sure that was fisherman-speak for challenging me to a duel."
♦ "Pretty sure you're Dunn Johnson's true-tot-love."
♦ "Who gives a friend a com-frot?"
♦ "We're here to have a nice, relaxing morning of fish murder so, I'd appreciate everyone taking a deep breath and retracting the claws."
♦ Bottle feeding the calves had been like trying to capture slippery walruses with a tiny pair of tongs. While an amusing observation, it's entirely untrue; bottle calves are always eager to chug their bottles of milk. Newborns can be challenging, but only nominally so, and only for the first two, maybe three feedings. They line up at the fence, bawling for their bottles. Easy peasy!
♦ "You're staring at me like you're measuring me for either a burial plot or a sex collar."
♦ "Crime is their love language."
♦ "It's not too late for...the hyphenation." // "You will recall I specifically chose no hyphenation after giving it 'thoughtful consideration'. I don't want us forever known as the Wright-Johnsons, thus implying there are wrong Johnsons somewhere. And I will not answer to Tuck Johnson-Wright, because you just know someone was gonna say they tuck theirs to the left."

Fabulous fun! Five stars!