The Lights on Knockbridge Lane

The Lights on Knockbridge Lane (2021) Roan Parrish (Garnet Run)

Adam had always wanted to be a father. What he didn’t expect was to end up a single parent, back in the hometown he ran away from as soon as he graduated, relying on his sibling to help him with child care.

And Adam is actually a really good parent.

He made a silent promise to himself that he wouldn’t say anything negative about Wes’ pets again. Even if he was scared of them, it was no reason to rain on Wes’ slimy parade.

Because Wes’ pets are of the creepy crawly variety.

First thing to note: Gus actually reads like an eight-year old.

“Do you bake often?” Wes asked.

“Oh, sometimes,” Adam said breezily. “I made cookies for Gus’ class.”

Gus made a crossed-eyes death face.

“And I always make her birthday cakes.”

Gus shook her head rapidly in warning.

Adam turned to the table with the pie and Gus just smiled. When he turned away to get silverware, though, she caught Wes’ eye again and shook her head deliberately, eyes wide.

Wes, meanwhile, is the recluse neighbor that everyone thinks is a vampire. Or perhaps a werewolf. But probably a vampire, because he never comes out at night.

One of the interesting things is that although both men had objectively terrible fathers, they handled their pasts very differently. And for Adam it’s never a contest of who had it worse, he just accepts that something about the way he was treated broke Wes, and he accepts that.

He carried a deep well of forgiveness inside him and when he doled it out it gave him peace and never diminished. It was, he believed, the thing that rescued him from the deep damage of other people’s failures. That he had the power to forgive, and in forgiving heal his own wounds without needing the instrument of them anymore.

It’s a good message–especially for a holiday story.

Although some of the other characters from earlier books appear, for some reason this book has a different feel than the previous two books. (Also, why did it get THIS cover when the two previous books had such lovely covers?)

I think also the story was as much about Gus and Adam as it was Adam as Wes. Which is perfectly fine, and I actually enjoyed it. But it did (as I mentioned) have a different feel from the previous books in the series.

Publisher: Harlequin
Rating: 8/10

• Browse the archives:
  
• A Gathering Storm » »
• « « Loud and Clear