After an accident leaves him dependent upon his best friend to take care of him, State Trooper Dan Fletchers starts to see his friend Deputy Sheriff Rich Taylor in a different way.  When his dependence upon Rich thrusts them into intimate situations, Dan is amazed and afraid by what he’s feeling for his best friend, and he especially afraid of what his feelings toward Rich implies.

Rich doesn’t share his sexuality with many people, not even his best friend of twelve years.  Rich has always known his feelings toward Dan went beyond friendship, but he never let himself believe they were feelings of love, until now.  Afraid of losing Dan, Rich tries to keep his feelings inside, but almost losing Dan in a car accident has Rich rethinking that decision.

A Helping Hand is another terrific story from Shayla Kersten.  Dan and Rich’s fears and concerns toward the new territory they were entering were so real and very understandable, especially Dan’s.  Dan has a reputation for dating a lot of women and breaking a few hearts, but he was not a womanizer or trying to be a heartbreaker.  Dan was trying to find that special love and to his shock it wasn’t with a woman but with Rich.  I hated how Dan treated Rich but I understood it, he wasn’t trying to hurt his best friend, he was just afraid. Dan never considered himself to be gay.  To add to Dan and Rich’s already fragile relationship, Ms. Kersten threw in the monkey wrench of a crazy ex-girlfriend and Jeremy, a character I loved and adored even more than Dan and Rich.  I enjoyed A Helping Hand immensely and I’m praying to the muse of Ms. Kersten that creativity will strike again and Jeremy will be in the center of it.