Fourteen years ago, Ryan Kennedy was an idealistic young college student with a passion for the environment that was only equaled by his passion for his teacher.  Professor Tom Shafer returned Ryan’s feelings, but a controlling lover and his position as Ryan’s teacher and mentor kept him from acting on the attraction. Flash forward: Ryan is one of the Solitary Knights of Pelham Bay, men so burned by love that they’ve decided it’s not worth the pain.  Until, one night, bar-owner Drew challenges the men to reconnect with that first love, the one who might have been “The One.”  An invitation to a college fundraiser where Tom is the keynote speaker seals the deal, and Ryan sets out to see his “almost-first love”.  One look and both men realize that time has done nothing to dim the attraction – if anything, it’s grown stronger.  They fall head-first into the relationship they’d denied themselves all those years ago, reveling in their ability to finally be together.  The only problem is, Ryan’s past is creeping into their present, threatening the future he’s just begun to hope for.

A Test of Love, second in Claire Thompson’s Solitary Knights of Pelham Bay, is more than a cut above its predecessor.  Once again, Ms. Thompson presents a flip in character; Ryan was once the innocent, hopeful dreamer, while Tom was the jaded cynic.  Now the tables have turned, and Tom finds himself trying to break through the barriers Ryan has erected around his heart, to show the younger man that love isn’t a lie; that even though we’re “all damaged goods. Everyone has a story—everyone has a past. That doesn‘t mean we forfeit the right to find happiness.”  A Test of Love manages to combine two traditional plots – the one who got away and the lover scorned – and enough physical chemistry to keep even the picky reader (ie: me) happy.  A brief cameo by another Solitary Knight sets up the upcoming third in the series.  If Claire Thompson continues in the direction she’s going, it promises to be a keeper.