Rating: 4 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Trent Paleck never knew what a closet was. Openly gay, he lusted after Matthew throughout high school. Now an emergency room doctor, Trent recently took a position at the local hospital in his home town. Little did he expect to see the object of many of his teenage fantasies rolling a stretcher in.
Matthew Kailen has had a difficult last few years. Son of a homophobic father, he’s raising his sister’s two children after she and her husband were killed in an automobile accident – and Matthew happened to be the paramedic on duty when the call came in. Though he is now out of the closet, Matthew has two rules he lives by – don’t do relationships, for fear his father will try to fight him for custody again, and don’t hook up with people you work with.
When Trent asks Matthew out to coffee to catch up, he didn’t realize that his teenage fantasy was gay. As the two strike up a friendship, Trent begins to realize that wanting something more with Matthew means taking on an instant family and all the drama Matthew’s father can throw at them.
What I really liked about this story was that the main characters just clicked right from the start. There was a lot of angst going on, but it never seemed to be between Trent and Matthew, rather it tended to be the two of them against everything else.
Trent and Matthew grew up together. While they weren’t friends, they each admired the other in secret. Now, with Trent back in town and the two of them working closely together, Trent asks Matthew out for coffee to catch up. What he wasn’t expecting was that the Matthew he knew as straight is now out of the closet, but unwilling to get involved in a relationship or with someone he works with…except Trent isn’t going to take no as an answer.
As Trent wears down Matthew’s objections, the two find themselves falling for one another, and readers will fall in love with both of these guys. Unfortunately, with one of them living with his parents until he locates suitable housing and the other one having two kids at home, they learn that patience is a virtue…and when you get an opportunity you don’t waste it!
While ordinarily I am not a fan of soap-operish storylines, I have to admit, I found myself drawn into this story, even if it was a bit cliché and cheesy at times, particularly when it involved Matthew’s father where at times it seemed a bit overboard.
So, as my holiday gift for all of you, a great feel good story that is so sweet that you can bypass the desert table at your holiday dinner! An added bonus is that the ebook version of this story is on sale at Amazon for 99 cents until December 27th.
