Staring down a family history of bad decisions and reaped consequences, Deacon cashes in everything he owns, purchases an auto shop in Half Moon Bay, and takes his niece, Zig, far away from the drug dens and murderous streets they grew up on. Zig deserves a better life than what he had, and Deacon is determined to give it to her.
Lang Harris is stunned when Zig, a little girl in combat boots and a purple tutu blows into his bookstore, and then he’s left speechless when her uncle, Deacon Reid walks in, hot on her heels. Lang always played it safe but Deacon tempts him to step over the line… just a little bit.
More than a little bit. And Lang is willing to be tempted.
Unfortunately, Zig isn’t the only bit of chaos dropped into Half Moon Bay. Violence and death strikes leaving Deacon scrambling to fight off a killer before he loses not only Zig but Lang too.
You know, I’ve never read a Rhys Ford book I didn’t absolutely love. Of course, this is no exception. It comes as a surprise to absolutely no one that, even though this one is quite a bit different from her others, I adored everything about it.
Fish Stick Fridays is lighter than her normal fare. Yes, there’s still guns and violence but not to the extreme that you usually see when it comes to her stories.
Deacon is a bad boy. He’s been in trouble with the law on and off since childhood. He’s a fucked up mess. A fucked up mess who, for some reason, the state saw fit for custody of his sister’s little girl. He wants her to grow up better than he did, hell, better than she has so far, so he picks up his life and moves them both to Half Moon Bay where he’s bought a run down mechanic shop, hoping to make something of his existence. Hoping for normal. There, he meets Lang.
Lang owns the local bookstore just on the other end of the little shopping plaza where the auto shop is located. Though he also owns pretty much the whole town, he doesn’t flaunt it. You see, Lang has some secrets from his past that he’s trying so very hard to forget. He’s looking for his own bit of normal, whatever that is.
Deacon, a big, strong gorgeous motorcycle enthusiast.
Lang, a beautiful, demure, book nerd.
A love story about opposites attracting and overcoming the odds to be together.
Sounds great, right? Heh. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
Because, you see, this story may have a romance in it and it may even be the main plot but that’s not what this book is really all about. No, this story is so much more than that. And that’s all due to Zig.
Zig. Zig Zig Zig. Man, I love that girl! A tiny little eight year old with more attitude than an episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race. Zig wears tutus with combat boots. She gets into fights and she cusses so much she could make a sailor blush. But the wonderful thing about her, and this is testament to the author’s writing ability, is that she isn’t precocious. Even through all of her bluster and grumpiness you could still see the young, scared child that still sleeps with a night light and just wants to make a friend. A very realistic portrayal of a girl who’s had an extremely hard life up until now and is just trying to figure out where she fits in with this crazy thing called Life.
I could wax poetic about Rhys’s writing ability. I could go on and on about how descriptive her words are and how she can make you feel like you’re not just reading the story but actually living it with the characters. I could tell you about how she makes you laugh and cry and shout out angrily when evil’s afoot. I could even squee and flail around about all the Labyrinth and The Princess Bride references she sneaks into the story. But why would I when you can just experience the awesomeness for yourself? Go read the book, people. It’s a great story.
***An ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.***
For more info on Fish Stick Fridays check it out on Goodreads
