Review: Good Guys Wear Black by Lizbeth Selvig

Good Guys Wear Black


Lizbeth Selvig


Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Avon Impulse
Date of Publication: October 14, 2014
Number of pages: 384

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Dewey Mitchell loves three things: fixing old cars, football, and family. Although an illness robbed him of his NFL dreams and his hopes for a big family of his own, he's made himself content working the family business and coaching middle school football. But when his town's vibrant new librarian and her young, emotionally challenged son burst into his ordered life, Dewey finds himself inexplicably drawn to the fascinating woman.

Boston-born Rose Hanrehan had no idea how different living in a small town would be. But she's determined to start fresh for her son, who deals with Asperger's syndrome, without her overbearing parents judging her every move. Of course, sometimes her new neighbors seem to be equally closed-minded. And there's one new neighbor she can't seem to avoid ... in fact, the handsome Dewey, despite his black hat and buried emotions, might end up being the only reason to stay in Kennison Falls.

Neither one is looking for love, but what they're starting to feel can't be anything else. Will the longtime bachelor and the free-spirited librarian let themselves fall? Or will their differences get in the way of their happy ending?

This was the first book that I received approval for through Edelweiss and though it took quite awhile to get approval for, hopefully it will not be the last.  I chose this book, because I have always been a sucker for a cowboy in a black hat, plus Librarian!

When the book opens, we are introduced to Dewey on the football field tryouts for the middle school teams.  Dewey is an assistant coach and is working with the kids.  We very quickly find out that he is a patient, fair man who is good with kids and though he has some shadows, seems to be a good man.

Then we meat Rose and her son Jesse.  Rose is in the middle of relocating from Boston to take over as Head Librarian in the newly rebuilt local library. She had finished driving cross country with her young son Jesse. Jesse has a form of Autism called Asperger's.  Basically it makes him very bad with social cues and gives him some odd quirks.  When Rose and Dewey meet, during his man-handling (per Rose) of Jesse, or Dewey's keeping Jesse out of the firefighter's way (his words), sparks literally fly.  These two seem to butt heads over just about everything. The level of sexual tension was masterful with these two strong willed, used to getting their own ways people.

I especially liked Jesse. He was cute and funny and real.  Reading about a character with Asperger's was new for me. I do know someone in real life that has this disorder and appreciated how honestly it was represented. The more the general population know about autism and it's various spectrums, the less fear and misinformation is out there. It's a win win for everyone.

Another important issue covered in this book, was censorship; specifically dealing with banned books in the library setting. I think most of us are familiar with Banned Books week, but finding out about some of the books that are actually on the list is amazing and slightly disheartening.  The fact that censorship is still alive and kicking is even more disheartening. But Rose handled the detractor's skillfully and really gave some great points and sparked some lively conversations about it.

After reading this, and looking up some of the author's other works, I realized that some of the secondary characters in the book are from previous books. There doesn't seem to be a formal series, just some books that are interconnected. This book did work well as a standalone, so if you haven't read anything by the author yet, it's not a problem. I enjoyed this book and would happily revisit this great town.  This was a 4 star read.