In Burnt Toast B&B by Heidi Belleau and Rachel Haimowitz we meet Derrick, an overly defensive lumberjack and Ginsberg, a perky and optimistic stunt man. The two of them have a number of hurdles to get over before they get their HEA.  Good thing Ginsberg is used to taking a few wild leaps of faith! I received one copy of this book at no charge in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.  This post contains affiliate links.

Burnt Toast B&B

Title: Burnt Toast B&B
Series: Bluewater Bay Book 5
Author:  Heidi Belleau and Rachel Haimowitz
Publisher: Riptide Publishing (January 3, 2015)
ASIN: B00S4BZMF0
Format/Length: 2017 KB/216 pages
Genre:  M/M, Contemporary, Transgender
Heat Rating: 3
Star Rating: 4

Purchase Link:

Amazon / Goodreads / Riptide Publishing

Author Info:

You can learn more about the authors by following them at the following locations:

Connect with Heidi:

• Blog: www.heidibelleau.com
• Twitter: @HeidiBelleau
• Goodreads: goodreads.com/heidibelleau

Connect with Rachel:

• Website: rachelhaimowitz.com
• Twitter: @RachelHaimowitz
• Goodreads: goodreads.com/metarachel

Blurb:

After breaking his arm on set, Wolf’s Landing stuntman Ginsberg Sloan finds himself temporarily out of work. Luckily, Bluewater Bay’s worst B&B has cheap long-term rates, and Ginsberg’s not too proud to take advantage of them.

Derrick Richards, a grizzled laid-off logger, inherited the B&B after his parents’ untimely deaths. Making beds and cooking sunny-side-up eggs is hardly Derrick’s idea of a man’s way to make a living, but just as he’s decided to shut the place down, Ginsberg shows up on his doorstep, pitiful and soaking wet, and Derrick can hardly send him packing.

Not outright, at least.

The plan? Carry on the B&B’s tradition of terrible customer service and even worse food until the pampered city boy leaves voluntarily. What Derrick doesn’t count on, though, is that the lousier he gets at hosting, the more he convinces bored, busybody Ginsberg to try to get the B&B back on track. And he definitely doesn’t count on the growing attraction between them, or how much more he learns from Ginsberg than how to put out kitchen fires.

My Review:
In Burnt Toast B&B we meet Derrick, a strong, silent lumberjack type who is currently struggling to run his parent’s bed and breakfast since they passed away three years ago in a car accident.  Just as he has decided to close up the place and sell it, Ginsberg shows up on his front porch.  As a temporarily injured stunt man for the famous TV show Wolf’s Landing, he needs someplace cheap to live while his broken arm heals.  Little does he know that he will soon be up to his elbows in donuts and dirty sheets!

Derrick was picked on so much as a kid about having to help run his parent’s B&B.  Taunts about aprons and maids were common and when he realized he was gay he knew better than to let that become common knowledge.  While not exactly in the closet, he is definitely not willing to explore his ‘feminine’ side and running a B&B is definitely not a masculine job.  He has a chip on his shoulder and is overly defensive.  So much so that I seriously wanted to slap him at several points in the story.

Ginsberg was a truly fascinating character and very well written.  As a transgendered man he went through a lot of gender identity issues when he was younger.  Now, though, he has a very firm grasp on his gender and has no qualms about doing violent and masculine stunt jobs one day and putting on a pink apron and baking donuts the next day.  I really loved how well rounded Ginsberg was and the look inside the physical aspects of being a trans guy was really fascinating.  He has a perky optimisms that I was surprised to see given his rough history.

Burnt Toast B&B is an emotional and heart wrenching read.  Derrick feels so incredibly alone and terrified to hand his heart to Ginsberg when he will just be walking back out that door again when his cast is off.  Ginsberg doesn’t want to give his heart to Derrick and his bed and breakfast only to get it handed back to him in a mangled heap.

Ginsberg and Derrick will get their happily ever after but will have to deal with quite a bumpy road to get there.  The relationship builds slowly and realistically, the sex is passionate, the emotions run high and eventually they will settle down for an amazingly unique life together.  There were points in the story where I almost cried and others when I just smiled at how sickeningly sweet they were being.  The whole thing wrapped up together made for a wonderful story!