A little over two years ago, BookBub brought Rick Bettencourt to my awareness in the form of his novel Tim on Broadway. I purchased the book in August, read it immediately, and fell in love. I was doing a 75 books in 2015 challenge, and Tim was the 70th book I had read. The review I wrote and posted on Amazon.com is still on the site, and reads:
70 of 75 for 2015. This is NOT a gay harlequin. Tim is a fat, out-of-work momma's boy whose mother died in a horrific car wreck three years ago. A wreck that Tim blames on himself as he was driving at the time and did end up going the wrong way down a one-way street. Tim has one friend, a plump woman he's known most of his life. He is all but a virgin, and his self-loathing will probably keep him that way unless someone can get through to make him see how wonderful he really is. Javier is a straight Venezuelan co-worker who "lets" Tim give him a blowjob in exchange for a loan of $1000. Will Javier pay back the loan, and if so, with what? Will he stay in Tim's life, even though he's straight? Will the two find true love and redemption at a production of West Side Story? Well, those are the questions if this really were a harlequin romance, but it's so much, much more. And Rick Bettencourt is a much better story teller than your average formulaic romance author. I don't want to give away a bit of this story which just itself is redemptive reading. I give this book my highest recommendation.I immediately signed up for Bettencourt's mailing list, and this week got an invitation to pick up a free copy of his "newest" book, Summerwind Magick: Making Witches of Salem. Full disclosure, I got the free copy (in e-book format) with the proviso that I would write a review of the book and have it ready to post when the book officially goes on sale November 10th, 2017. Bettencourt has changed his online portal, and in truth, getting my preview copy was a bit of a challenge, but I persevered. Downloading the book on November 8th meant that I had two days to read the novel and get my review ready. I like to say that I read a book a day, but still, it seemed a bit rushed. Fortunately, the book drew me in almost immediately and I put aside almost all the rest of my (admittedly scant) responsibilities and sank into my recliner, e-book reader in hand.
No, I didn't finish the book the day I started it, but I was done by 10 am the next morning. What can I say. Another book I loved. I will admit that my memory of Tim on Broadway was a bit sketchy and, indeed, for a while I was wondering if I had wandered into a parallel universe. The Summerwind characters and setting were familiar, but seemed a bit off. A quick glance back at Tim and all was explained. Summerwind's central character, Carolyn Sohier, appears in Tim as does the resort setting on an island off Maine's Bar Harbor. Described as a Greta Garbo like recluse, Carolyn even plays a part in helping Tim realize his own potential. That said, she has little more than a cameo role in the first book. Summerwind Magick tells her story, almost from the beginning.
I refer to Summerwind Magick as Bettencourt's "newest" book for a reason. In his introduction to the novel, Bettencourt admits that he has worked with the story for quite some time, even letting it sit "in a drawer for several years." I, for one, am glad he saw fit to pull it out of the drawer and get it in front of the public. The story begins and ends on an island off the coast of Maine, where much of the action throughout the book takes place. But between the covers, Bettencourt takes us to Salem and Peabody, Massachusetts, Miami and Key West, Florida, and New York City. Of all the places the book visits, I have actually spent any time at just one, Key West. But Bettencourt's skill is such that I felt as if I were actually on location throughout the book. And as for characterization, the people in the book are so fully-fleshed, I felt as if I knew every one of them. Moreover, they were people I would dearly love to call my friends. I give this book my highest recommendation, and look forward to more from Rick Bettencourt.
And if you'd like to read Tim on Broadway, here is the link for the e-book version:
