Truly Madly BoysRating: 4 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Short Story, Anthology


This is a collection of four, unrelated short stories that had previously been published separately by authors Josephine Myles and J.L. Merrow.

Epiphany by J.L. Merrow is a cute, first-meeting, fast-attraction story about a muscle-bound New Yorker who meets a beautiful femme boy lost on the street. Instead of simply directing Gray to the concert hall, Vinnie takes him back to his apartment—so he can shower and get ready for work. While there, Gray doesn’t hesitate to make his interest plain. Vinnie thinks it might be just a one-off, but he’s too attracted to avoid Gray’s concert. And the connection remains. It’s really sexy and sweet.

Halfway Up the Stairs by Josephine Myles is a slightly voyeuristic story about a long-term couple at a turning point in their relationship. Charlie and Josh have been a couple for over ten years and Josh is looking to move for a promotion. Only, their house is one that Charlie has owned and decorated even longer. He’s not really interested in leaving all those memories behind, especially not how he and Josh became a couple after that fateful eavesdropping session when Charlie heard something very hot and heavy—and Josh didn’t let him escape. It’s a delicious morsel of a read, and ends happily.

Sense Memory by J.L. Merrow features a blind man meeting a stranger for coffee, and they really hit it off. Colin was struck by a car a year ago, and he’s now blind. It’s not been an easy transition, though he’s independent. He arranges to meet Alban and their conversation is so fantastic they take it the next step. Really nice with a sweet twist.

Without Words by Josephine Myles pairs two opposites that really connect. Nick is a chatty, socially-awkward engineer on a remote job when he meets Sean. They have an explosive first moment, but things get a little confusing, for Nick. He didn’t know why his off-putting babbling didn’t send Sean running, but the truth of it makes each man pause. Briefly. It’s really so very sweet, and I won’t say more because I don’t want to spoil their interesting connection.

On the whole, all the stories are all satisfying, short, vignettes of men connecting, or reconnecting, in ways that are romantic. I really enjoyed the collection. Short enough to finish over a long lunch break…which is totally cool.

veronica sig