Review: Wood, Screws, and Nails by Piper Vaughn and Kade Boehme

Reviewed by Whuppsy
Wood, Screws, & Nails by Piper Vaughn and Kade Boehme
Dreamspinner Press
Novel: 176pgs
4.5 Pants Off

Blurb:
Aaron Costa’s summer was all planned. Despite having to remodel the family lake house, it would be a vacation of sorts, and he had every intention of enjoying it—until the friend who was supposed to help him got injured and left him in a lurch. He decides to take the opportunity to bond with his son and hires Julian and his roommate, Malachi, to assist. 

As a broke college student, Malachi could use the money, and spending the summer with Aaron for eye candy sounds like a dream. "Look but don’t touch" becomes his motto. But when Julian starts flaking on his responsibilities and Malachi and Aaron are forced to spend long hours alone together, their mutual attraction is impossible to resist. 

Aaron can’t fight the temptation sexy Malachi presents. But more than their age difference stands in their way, not the least of which is Aaron’s semi-closeted status and the fact that he’s never openly discussed his sexuality with his son. He has no idea how Julian will react when he learns his father is not only gay, he’s also dating his best friend.

Review
Ok, now this was such a sweet little romance. I enjoyed taking the time to read about these characters and fall a bit in love with them.

Aaron Costa is a 37 year old gay man who is not exactly out or in the closet. He’s just who he is. At the tender age of 16 he gets his best friend pregnant and they have their son, Julian. They raise him together and let him know that he’s loved. Aaron hasn’t been in a real long term relationship with anyone and that makes it easier not telling Julian that he’s gay. He wants to find someone to share his life with, but in his work as a contractor and dealing with the manly mentality of the job makes it hard to find someone.

Malachi is 21 years old and is Julian’s best friend and roommate. He’s given the chance to work most of his summer with Julian and his father in restoring Aaron’s Parents lake front property. He’s always known that he was gay and he has a thing for older guys. So, his falling for Aaron isn’t really a big thing for him. Malachi wants to go to school to become a teacher. He’s doing it for such wonderful reasons and he has such a great heart. I liked how Mal was this great character. Warm, funny and just an all- around good guy.

The secondary characters in this story were pretty great. Julian’s mom and step-dad were such good friends to Aaron they were there for Aaron to talk to and give good advice. Mal’s parents were so sweet and loving. I loved the way that they supported him. Even Aaron’s Parent’s stepped up in the end. Now…Julian. Sigh. This boy was the brat of the story. I really didn’t like him much. He was this spoiled brat and such a slacker. I disliked him for much of the story. But he redeemed himself at the end.

I know that Piper Vaughn stated that she was worried about how people would react to the age difference and the fact that Aaron was Mal’s roommate’s dad, but I have to say that it didn’t bother me in the least. I felt that it wasn’t really a big deal for me. That it was truly a story about two people falling in love with each other. That the age difference and who they were to each other didn’t factor in to it for me. I just love a great story and Piper and Kade delivered one.

This story flowed so smoothly and you were on the journey with them. You felt each emotion that our characters went through. You felt for them. You watched them try to hide how they felt for each other and watched them finally give in. You watched Aaron struggle with Julian’s behavior and how to handle it. You watched them struggle to find what they meant to each other. It was really a sweet and yet so very sexy book to read.

I would recommend you give this sweet book a try. Aaron and Malachi are such sweet characters and it was fun to watch them fall in love. Don’t let the age difference bother you. Just read this sweet love story and fall in love with these two wonderful guys.

4.5 Pants Off