The Lonely Dad's Guide to Love

3.5* Not a bad read, but the writing style made it a little stilted and a little hard to get into.

This is a decent read featuring a semi-closeted 22yo single dad, Alex, who starts to fall for his son's kindergarten teacher, Danny, and it does end with the leads in a good place, after some awful angst. However, the power that his ex had over Alex, was kind of unbelievable in this day and age. I think (can't recall any mention) that this tale doesn't take place in the UK, but perhaps in the US, so maybe things could have been the way they were portrayed.

I did empathise with Alex, but he could have done with a little backbone. I understood his fears and felt sorry for him, but I think the way that the tale was told in 3rdPPOV, present tense, didn't help things. I also thought that Danny did the unforgivable in outing Alex before he was ready, and I was surprised that Alex forgave him so quickly and easily, with the price he paid. The tale lacked a little balance, with some things taking too much time and others feeling quite rushed. But, there was a lot of love and Alex and his son had an amazing relationship, and the baddie of the piece ended up the loser - yay!

I'd read more from this author.

Alex spends all his time and energy caring for his son, Dexter, it’s a struggle but he loves him so much he can’t imagine any other life despite having to drop out and work as a store assistant to make ends meet. He is so lonely but knows that he doesn’t dare jeopardise the life he has built despite really liking Danny who works at Dexter’s daycare. This was definitely an agonising slow burn and fireworks. Touching. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this story. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Genre: Contemporary MM Romance
Steamy?: Yes
Cliffhanger?: No
Can be read as Standalone?: Yes
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

This was an enjoyable read. The writing style was done in such a way that it made it a little hard to follow at times (I had to re-read portions many, many times in order to understand what was being said or who was saying what). But beneath the minor confusion was a heartfelt story with very endearing characters. This was an over-all well done book. I only dropped my rating by half a star because of the aforementioned writing issues.

The premise of this story is nothing new but the writing really places this story above the norm. A surprise pregnancy with his college girlfriend makes bisexual Alex decide to drop out of school and care for his son. Alex falls in love with his son Dexter from the very first moment and he was willing to make drastic changes to his life in order to take care of his son, but it is hard hard work. He is struggling to support his son with absolutely NO help from his baby mommy Becca, who reads like a budding pyschopath.

When Alex meets Dexter's new pre-school teacher Danny, life gets complicated. Their budding romance is all kinds of sweet, but it slowly, very slowly, VERY VERY SLOWLY, unfolds over the course of the book. The author really explores the nuances of their emotions and the chemistry between the two is very hot, but honestly, the pace of the book in the middle is way too slow IMHO and diminishes the impact of the story by dragging out the eventual dramatic plot development involving a custody case.

I liked the characters - and Dexter is a sweet kid - and the relationship between Alex and Danny, but the pace of the book is way too elegiac and Becca is a horrid caricature. 3.5 stars and I would definitely read another book by this author.

I got this book for free in an exchange for an honest review so here it goes.

I really loved the overall story and the plot. It made me emotionally invested and was so angry at one certain character. It's fun to see yourself get invested with characters and feel for them. That's always a good thing in my book. I'm a character driven person so I want to connect and feel for characters and this happened. This book is about Alex, who is a 22 year old single father with an adorable 2 year old son, which he loves dearly and tries his hardest to provide for the little boy. Then there is Danny, who is the daycare teacher and the story takes off from there. The main plot twist about this story is that Alex's ex-girlfriend and mother of the child holds his bisexuality against him which drives Alex to be overly sensitive about him getting closer to Danny and just the overall situation. I felt really bad for Alex and his ex-girlfriend is honestly terrible for what she's doing to him throughout this book but I won't say more about this.

I really enjoyed this read. It was short and sweet and dramatic and a guy with a child is honestly the cutest thing.

The reason I only gave this 4 starts (which really isn't a bad rating at all) is the fact that sometimes I didn't know who we were talking about for a second or who was talking. Compared to the other male/male books I've read recently, this doesn't have dual pov's where every chapter has a pov of one of the characters. I was never sure why people had to do that but now I know. It just makes it more clear to what POV we are with right now. It's easier to follow when there's an "I" and a "he" in the chapter than just "he's" so that's the only reason I'm giving this a 4 stars.

I definitely hope there will be more books coming with those two characters because I would definitely pick it up again. Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Thanks to NetGalley and the author for giving me this book to read :)

I really enjoyed The Lonely Dad's Guide to Love by Reanna Pryce.

Alex is a closeted bi-sexual, as his ex has forced him into the closet. He has to deal with threats, as he knew if his ex ever caught him with a guy, she'd take his son away from him.

When he meets Danny, the attraction is immediate. And Danny's connection to Dexter is amazing.

There's so much about this story I enjoy. Danny is just the sweetest and his family is even sweeter. However, I struggled with the writing throughout. Written in third person, present tense, I found it awkward at times.

But, omg, the emotions won me over and I couldn't put it down.

I received this eARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This was so emotional. My heart absolutely broke for Alex and Dexter. Alex was given a crap hand that he took on and navigated with such bravery and love that I literally despised every moment he degraded himself, and wanted to literally cat fight his ex-wife!

Danny adored Alex and Dexter, and therefore I in turn adored Danny. If anyone deserved that happy ending it was Alex and Dexter. Beautifully gripping HEA!

From the title, I fully expected this to be a single man's exploits and encounters with dating different men on his way to finding love. Not the case. This is a good old-fashioned M/M Romance focusing on two main characters and their individual circumstances that challenge their inevitable romance.

Alex and Daniel have both experienced a lot of living in their young lives, prior to meeting. Difficult baggage to overcome. Luckily, author Reanna Pryce handles the story with care and never lets it get too heavy. But, yes, at some point I found myself saying "commit already!" Of course, just as in real life-- nothing is ever that easy.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Beautifully written, with wonderful characters, great bisexual representation. And the chemistry between Alex and Danny was amazing