Rating: 3.5 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
When Brayden was a teen, his parents kicked him out of the house when they learned he was gay. One night, Croix Matthews spots Brayden, hungry and homeless, and brings him home. Croix’s parents are wealthy and his father is a modeling agent and it’s not long before gorgeous Brayden is the next super model. Croix has been attracted to Brayden since that first glance, but everyone thinks Croix is straight. Also, Croix’s father, William, has made it perfectly clear to Brayden what his relationship with Croix can and most certainly cannot be. Even though Brayden is also desperately in love with Croix, he refuses to make a move and risk destroying their friendship.
Brayden is currently boyfriend free and Croix decides it’s time to make his move. Their communication is terrible and Brayden thinks Croix needs help with women and Brayden reluctantly agrees to set him up. When Croix finally makes it known that he wants Brayden, the guys fall hard and fast, but William’s control is firm and he will do whatever it takes to keep the guys apart.
When I see a book with close friends who want their relationship to be more I usually cannot resist. And that’s exactly what happened with one as well. Croix and Brayden bonded as teens and really from the first moment they saw each other, they both wanted more than friendship. But Brayden was already out, Croix wasn’t, and Croix’s father made it known it was fine for Brayden, but not for his own son.
From my view, this book had a lot of plot devices that weren’t to my liking. The first one being the true lack of communication coupled with misdirection. Croix and Brayden claim to be best friends, but they really don’t know anything about each other. Brayden mistakenly thinks that Croix is a virgin and even after they’re together, it never does get cleared up. They conceal a lot from each other during the course of the book, everything from their feelings to what was going on with William and the modeling agency, and it became tiresome. There was also the controlling father. When William was first introduced, it was through phone calls and texts. He came off as a two dimensional, stereotypical father throwing a tantrum. When he came on page, it was no different and his entire story line wasn’t thorough enough as it was presented.
Once the guys get together, there were a lot of scenes of them spending time together making up for lost time. Those scenes were written well overall, but I just didn’t feel a connection between the guys, which then carried over to a lack of connection to the book for me. Both Croix and Brayden also had a similar voice and I found myself going over in my head who was who throughout the book. I also kept waiting for something to happen. The book read quickly, but I didn’t get the feeling that much was ultimately happening.
The ending brings together the issue with Croix’s father, but the larger issue at the modeling agency was never addressed. While this is the start of a new series and there was a potential setup for a new main character in their friend Gabe, I needed more from this particular book.
So ultimately this book had many plot devices that I don’t personally care for, with lots of miscommunication and the evil father, and there were many areas that I simply needed more from to keep me fully engaged.
