Rating: 4.25 stars
Buy Links: Amazon | All Romance
Length: Short Story
Malachi watches his best friend walk into his bar and leave with a new twink every night. But lately Danny has been drinking himself stupid, and Mal can’t stand to see his best friend hurting. Mal loves Danny, has since they were young, but he’s afraid to tell Danny for fear of ruining their friendship. When Danny tells Mal that the reason he drinks so much is because he can’t have the man he actually wants, Mal is heartbroken, but still he would do anything to see Danny happy.
Daniel has known that he loved his best friend since he left for the Army at eighteen. When he was discharged, he returned home and bought a ranch near Austin so he could be near Mal. He’s always loved Mal, but Danny’s afraid to tell his best friend of his feelings for fear of losing him. He would rather have Mal in his life as his best friend than not at all. But it’s getting harder to hide his feelings from Mal, harder to pretend that he’s happy with the arm candy he walks away with every night.
For two men who have been best friends their entire life talking about feelings should come easy, but for Mal and Danny, that is not the case. When the walls finally come down, will the friendship between Mal and Danny be able to survive the onslaught of emotions and alcohol?
It’s the southern girl in me that loves cowboys – the tight jeans, the boots, the hats, the swagger. It’s just so sexy. And seriously, two cowboys…well, there aren’t words to describe the sexiness of that event. Mal and Danny are definitely two sexy cowboys. I really liked their story. This is a friends-to-lovers story of the best kind. Unrequited love that spans years finally collides in a mash of sexy dominant and heart-warmingly submissive cowboys. It’s a sweet story that I enjoyed from beginning to end.
I like that both Mal and Danny are going through the same situation – they both love their best friend and are afraid to tell the other for fear of losing that friendship – yet they handle their situations so differently. Mal is the stronger of the two. Taking his situation and dealing with it. He doesn’t love seeing Danny leave with a different guy every night, but he would support anything that made Danny happy. Danny is not weak, by any means. He just doesn’t know how to handle his secret love for his oldest friend, so he drinks and he sleeps with a variety of men who are the complete opposite of the man he wants. But together, Mal and Danny are a matching pair. They are one another’s strength and each other’s weakness. I really like them.
I wish this story would have been a little longer, maybe add in a little more drama and action. Maybe show readers the events that led to this story – the many times Danny leaves the bar with another man and how it affects Mal each time. I obviously liked this book, but I would have loved more story.
In the end, I really liked this one. It’s short, sweet, and super sexy. Of course, I adore the cowboys. I really liked the romance. This is the first book in Matthew’s The Bar Next Door series and I’m looking forward to what’s to come. I recommend Malachi’s Word.
