Shades of Henry The Flophouse Book 1
MM Romance
Dreamspinner Press
March 31, 2020
252
A Flophouse Story
One bootstrap act of integrity cost Henry Worrall everything—military career, family, and the secret boyfriend who kept Henry trapped for eleven years. Desperate, Henry shows up on his brother’s doorstep and is offered a place to live and a job as a handyman in a flophouse for young porn stars.
Lance Luna’s past gave him reasons for being in porn, but as he continues his residency at a local hospital, they now feel more like excuses. He’s got the money to move out of the flophouse and live his own life—but who needs privacy when you’re taking care of a bunch of young men who think working penises make them adults?
Lance worries Henry won’t fit in, but Henry’s got a soft spot for lost young men and a way of helping them. Just as Lance and Henry find a rhythm as den mothers, a murder and the ghosts of Henry’s abusive past intrude. Lance knows Henry’s not capable of murder, but is he capable of caring for Lance’s heart?
Review by Gloria Lakritz
Sr Reviewer and Chair of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
Amy Lane is one of my favorite authors. Her name has been loved in the LGBTQ community for many years. It is a really special author who can take her characters and have them visit in another series. In saying this I feel even though you could read Shades of Henry as a standalone, reading her Johnnies series along with her Fish Out of Water series would not be a chore…….Actually, you would love this first in The Flophouse series, but take my advice…. you would love it even more.
Henry Worall comes to us as Dex’s brother (from Dex in Blue Book #2 in the Johnnies Series) I read that hot off the presses in 2012! Dex in now happily settled with a partner and a child and his brother Henry the new outcast of their family Henry has lost everything, his military carrier, his family, and his long time boyfriend with one act. So he comes to town, needing a place to crash and a job.
Ms. Lane can always pile on the angst well, and leaves no stone unturned for Henry and why his life is a mess. It was either a bed in Dex’s garage or the Flophouse.(the loving name given to the place open to all the porn kids needing a place to stay.)
Lance Luna is the elder at the flophouse. He still does a shoot here and there but his focus is his residency at the local hospital. Meeting Henry, Lance is not sure he is a fit with all the young kids, but he sees Henrys patience and kindness with the boys; they become the two musketeer Den Mothers.
Jackson friendship becomes the ray of light coming in from the Fish series to help with solving the murder Ms Lane injects into this story. His trust in Henry helps in ways no one else could.
The story of Henry’s past is hard to deal with, but Lance gives Henry a reason to trust. Henry gives Lance all he needs to trust back. I just love it when a plan comes together!!
Can’t wait for more.
