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I had to re-read this one since I'll be starting the sequel tonight or tomorrow and I wanted to be all up to date. And I loved reading it the second time as much as the first. I really enjoy DW Marchwell's stories and I'm looking forward to reading 'An Earlier Heaven'. ( )

I loved this book. These three guys were perfect for each other and I was pulled right in to their developing relationship. It was great to see them build a family together. They fit together like a puzzle, filing needs with in each other that made this story sweet but not too saccharine. ( )

I called it quits soon after the handjob on the porch and the pet names started flying. The pacing was just too fast, the characterisations a little too inconsistent for me to enjoy this. ( )

Good to Know is a classical romance, also a bit old fashioned. Lonely and grumpy artist living in a isolated ranch finds himself guardian of a 10 years old orphan; lonely and tender-hearted teacher thinks to march arms in hand to the rescue of a little boy to then fall in love for the guardian. It’s probably the most classic love-story, what made it special was that both main characters are, for once, well past their young age: Jerry, the artist, is nearly 50 years old, and David, the teacher, is past 40 years old.

It’s quite obvious for everyone, reader, friends and family, that David and Jerry are fated to be together and to raise William in a loving family; the problem is for them to understand it. This is basically a romance, there are little obstacles for them to overcome, and probably it helps a lot that both of them are wealthy and independent men, working low salary jobs only for pleasure and not for necessity. There is also little doubt that Jerry will be William’s guardian, even if he is openly gay, Jerry is also the only living relative of the kid, and if you look to the cynical side of it, being also a wealthy man makes things even easier.

So no, the right of the two men to have William with them was never questioned, the little trouble they had was due to the fact that, even if in the more permissive Canada, they were having a homosexual relationship in front of an “impressionable” kid. This is the only trouble and angst element of the entire book, and to know how they dealt with it, I will let you read the story. A story that, unexpectedly, was pretty sexy.

I said unexpectedly since usually more the characters are older, less they seem interested in sex. And instead here sex was up front and probably the first thing that bonded David and Jerry. Jerry is basically a don juan; maybe now he is almost retired, but when he sees a man, an attractive man, the first thing in his mind is, bed him and then talk, and maybe you can even skip the talk part. So when he is faced with the prospective of being a father, Jerry doesn’t know what to do; it’s not that he doesn’t want the kid, it’s only that has never passed in his mind to have a kid. I have the feeling that Jerry himself hasn’t had a loving family from which learn how to raise a son, and so he is scared to try.

On the other side there is David. As Jerry, David probably didn’t have a good childhood, and he was disowned by his family when he came out, but David has imprinted in his genes how to be a good father. In every thing he does, even in his chosen career, David screams the desire to be a father. I think that, at first, his dislike of Jerry (truth be told, soon forgotten), was more due to the fact that he envied Jerry’s luck to have found William than anything else. David wants William with all his heart, and instead Jerry seems reluctant to take in the kid.

As I said, sex helped the two to find an agreement, and I think it’s a right perspective to read the story. Nor David or Jerry are young starry eyed men, if they are interested in someone else, they are self-confident enough to admit that it’s probably a physical thing, that they are attracted to the other man. Sex arrives quite soon, probably before love, but again, it’s probably a right choice for the story: the romantic development of the story probably would have suggested for them to be together for the well-being of William, maybe ignoring their personal differences. Instead, in a real world, David and Jerry have to test their relationship, to see if they can work together, and then, maybe, they can consider to involve William and try the “family” thing.

Good to Know is a sweet romance without being too much pink glasses perspective, it has the right dose of reality to not being too sugary, and the sex adds spicy to the mix.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1615810773/?tag=elimyrevandra-20