Rating: 3 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novella
Emmett likes his job as a teacher. As he’s in his mid-20s, he hasn’t been teaching for all that long, but he likes making a difference. Emmett has never fallen in love and the first time he finds someone he has intense feelings for, it’s for someone he absolutely cannot have—his student, Cash. Emmett finds he has so much in common with the smart and charismatic Cash and the days Emmett spends mentoring Cash fill him with joy, but also with longing. Emmett would never cross a line and it’s only a few months until Cash graduates and heads to college across the country.
Five years later, Cash is back and, just like that, all of Emmett’s feelings are back too. And it turns out that Cash came back for Emmett and shares those feelings. But Emmett is engaged and getting married soon and he knows he has to do the right thing and honor his commitment to his fiancé. But Emmett isn’t happy and when Cash takes a chance, Emmett has to decide if he will put his own happiness first.
Emmett and Cash start off as teacher and student when Cash is a senior and is 18 years old, but there is no romantic relationship at all while Cash is in school. Emmett is a mentor to Cash and someone that Cash can talk to about coming out, but Emmett does wish the timing was different and there are also signs that Cash is crushing on Emmett. When Cash returns five years after high school, his dream is to be with Emmett. Cash never counted on the fact that Emmett would be involved, but Emmett is engaged to a woman with his wedding quickly coming up.
Cash is also a teacher now and gets hired at his former school where Emmett still works. This puts the men in close proximity and the pining is intense. This is a novella, so time is of the essence here. I didn’t feel it was at all necessary for the story to have Emmett to have a fiancé. She wasn’t an overly developed character and there were plenty of areas of conflict to draw upon without adding this in.
Cash and Emmet do connect on a deeper level and share a lot of interests and do seem like they would make a good pair. But the entire book is about them wanting to be together and then there is little time to actually see them together. There is some school drama toward the end and some overly emotional scenes that felt wedged in and overall this was just an okay read for me with minimal substance to elevate it.
