lilysreviews | Caregiver by Rick R. Reed

Blurb: It’s 1991, and Dan Calzolaio has just moved to Florida with his lover, Mark, having fled Chicago and Mark’s addictions to begin a new life on the Gulf Coast. Volunteering for the Tampa AIDS Alliance is just one part of that new beginning, and that’s how Dan meets his new buddy, Adam.

Adam Schmidt is not at all what Dan expected. The guy is an original—witty, wry, and sarcastic with a fondness for a smart black dress, Barbra Streisand, and a good mai tai. Adam doesn’t let his imminent death get him down, even through a downward spiral that sees him thrown in jail.

Each step of Adam’s journey teaches Dan new lessons about strength and resilience, but it’s Adam’s lover, Sullivan, to whom Dan feels an almost irresistible pull. Dan knows the attraction isn’t right, even after he dumps his cheating, drug-abusing boyfriend. But then Adam passes away, and it leaves Sullivan and Dan both alone to see if they can turn their love for Adam into something whole and real for each other.

Review: Another great Rick R. Reed read and certainly one for which the tissues should be kept handy - for sad tears and for joyful ones as well.

This is a story that has everything: love, friendship, heartache, despair and strength. The strength comes to the different characters in different ways: the strength to say enough is enough when bad habits crop up again, the strength to stay when the one you love is dying, the strength to go on when a partner dies, the strength to finally kick a habit once and for all, and the strength to find love again.

There are pitfalls and there are detours, but what isn't in life? And that is what makes this story such a wonderful keeper of a read: the characters are ones you can find next door or down the street or they could be you, even if the specific details differ.

Highly recommended.

(Cover image found on http://www.rickrreed.com ; blurb found on Netgalley.com)

Edit: Cross-posted to Amazon.com and Goodreads.com .
Additional information may be found at: the following places: Amazon's Caregiver page and Dreamspinner's Caregiver page (Paperback versions are also available at both outlets)