The following review is for the complete Bookset. You can find my star ratings for each book in this review.


The Complete Father Series Trilogy Bookset is a set of three books about a Daddy and his boy. The books star Seth, the boy, and Malcolm, the Daddy. It’s told in third person from each of their povs.



I always review covers because they’re part of the whole package of a story. The covers are sexy, but I don’t feel they portray either of the characters in the stories. Seth is twenty-three and doesn’t look like either of the men. Malcom is late thirties and he doesn’t look like either cover model either. Despite these covers being very nice, I don’t think they are the right covers for this series of books.

When I saw this series, at first I wasn’t sure I wanted to read it. I’d read a Daddy/boy story by this author before and I didn’t care for the Daddy in that one because he was too perfect. Another reason was this series was long and I usually read novella length or short stories. But each book itself is novella length so I decided to give it a try.

I think the author did a good job with the characters. Malcolm was distinctive as was Seth and the secondary characters. There was character growth on both of the men’s parts, but Seth’s mostly because he came from a very repressive background. I liked that Malcolm, wasn’t anything like the character I read in the other one of the author’s stories. Malcolm wasn’t perfect. Because he hadn’t had a boy in such a long time, he had to relearn things. And besides, Seth had a completely different type of personality from his previous boy and had to be treated differently. I liked that the author showed Malcolm’s caring nature and his need to care for a boy. He had a very loving heart and wanted to give it to one special boy. The author did a good job showing how the men grew into their lives together.

The first time Malcolm saw Seth, Malcolm was in a gay bar where he’d gone to waste his life away after his boy died. He’d been doing it for years and wasn’t looking for another boy. But then he saw Seth. Seth was a mess. He was skittish, wearing dingy clothes and beaten down. He should’ve never been in the gay bar. When two aggressive men made a move on Seth, Malcolm stepped in. Next thing he knew he was looking after Seth. If Malcolm wasn’t the kind of man he was, Seth would’ve been in real trouble. Seth was looking for someone to guide him in the strange world he was in. The church cult he ran from forbid anything to do with the outside world, also Seth had undergone two reprogrammings that went on for months. He was not equipped to live life alone in the real world. The fact that nothing bad had happened to him in the months he’d lived without help before he met Malcolm, bordered on the unreal. At this point I’d have to say suspend belief because the odds of Seth and Malcolm meeting up before something bad had happened to Seth was astronomical. I was frightened for Seth and couldn’t believe how he’d gone so long without harm. He truly lucked out with Malcolm.

For me, the first book was the best. It had a lot of emotional tension and that was due to Seth and how he had to learn a new way of life. It was heartbreaking all the pain he went through. The one problem I had with the book came near the end when Malcolm’s friends visited. Seth stayed in the bedroom. As Malcolm walked to the door, he starts to have an epiphany of sorts. Then when the friend’s come in, they realize something is wrong and say Malcolm has to sort things out with Seth. That whole scene with Seth in the bedroom and friends in the living wasn’t well done. It’s like the author knew how the scene played out in her head, but didn’t get it down on paper. It felt like sentences were missing that explained the transition for one thought or feeling to the next. I was really into the book until that scene which I felt was rushed and halfheartedly written.

The next two books are different from the first book. They have a lot more monologue which for me, I don’t like. It was like telling me what was happening rather than trying to get me to feel it. Therefore, I didn’t feel drawn into the stories as much. By the third book I was getting bored. Part of the reason was an issue that didn’t seem as prevalent as it did in the first book. The author set up scenarios of conflict, but when Seth and Malcolm were confronted with the conflict a few things would happen, then the conflict was over and the next chapter or scene would start, with weeks or months later having passed. There wasn’t a satisfying conclusion to the event that happened. Incidents just kept happening, the men would react and then the scene was over. It was very unsatisfying. I’d rather read only a couple conflicts that went into more depth rather than a half dozen that didn’t really make me care about what happened. I honestly thought the problem with the religious cult in Seth’s past would be more of a focus, but it was solved pretty easily and I found that highly unsatisfying since so much was talked about how it affected Seth.

Rating the books separately, I’d rate the books:

In the Name of the Father: 4.5 Stars
For the Love of a Boy: 3.5 Stars
Now and Forever: 3 Stars

I liked the first book the best. The second and third are about events that Seth and Malcolm try out together and they were okay. The characters are well written with the author doing a good job of demonstrating a Daddy/boy relationship. I give this set of books 4 Stars because the first book is the best and I liked the characters.



I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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