Say it with InkRating: 3.5 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novella


Growing up in a trailer park with his mother barely around, Levi thought for sure he would wind up a high school dropout with no future. That was until Jamie sort of forced them to be friends. Jamie went from being Levi’s partner on a school project to his best friend, and Jamie’s family included Levi as one of their own. But Levi has been in love with Jamie since the very first time he saw him and it’s only become more intense over the years.

The guys become college roommates and it’s simultaneously the best and worst thing that could happen to Levi as Jamie is just too close. When Jamie needs additional money for college, he finds a job as an exotic dancer and when Levi sees him perform one night, it ramps up the torture. Jamie doesn’t know Levi is gay and Levi is convinced Jamie could never feel that way about him and eventually something has got to give.

friends and enemiesShort, sweet, and cute would be the words that come to mind to describe this story. Told from Levi’s POV, the author is able to capture the turbulence of being a teenager in love with your best friend. Levi and Jamie are opposites in almost every way from their families, to their interests, to their looks of tattooed bad boy versus golden haired athlete, yet they have formed an incredible friendship over the years. Except Levi has been hiding who he truly is and Jamie has yet to notice.

We definitely get to know Levi better than Jamie. Levi has been saving himself for Jamie in all the ways that count and finally it just becomes too much for him. The set up until this point worked well for me and the story was entertaining and Levi’s emotions took center stage. Due to the length of the story, it then became too rushed and the ending was way too abrupt for me.

There is conflict, angst, and tension as Levi tries to do what is best for him, but all of a sudden really isn’t thinking about Jamie’s feelings at all. Jamie goes through a lot off page to come to a decision and, because we weren’t shown any of his thoughts, it was then difficult to get behind all of the changes he suddenly went through. And then after years of Levi pining for Jamie, the finale didn’t quite offer enough.

The connection between Levi and Jamie was well done throughout the book and while there were some details missing for me, it displayed a classic story of childhood friends falling in love. Check out this story if you are looking for a quick and entertaining read overall with a young adult feel.

 

A review copy of this book was provided by Dreamspinner Press.

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