Rating: 3.5 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Nolan and Ellis are best friends and bandmates. When Ellis got divorced, he moved into an apartment in Nolan’s building and, while they have different jobs and separate lives, they are always there for each other. Especially when Ellis’ home is invaded, and he seeks the safety of Nolan’s apartment and Nolan’s presence. Sleeping in the same bed leads to personal conversations and intimate moments that confuse both men.
With the thought that they just need to get back to their regular routines, Ellis and Nolan try to put distance between themselves. They have never thought about being with another man, but their feelings have changed and so has their need for one another. But now they are hiding from their bandmates and family and that doesn’t feel right either. Nolan and Ellis have to figure how to be friends and lovers as their lives take an unexpected turn they never saw coming.
This new book from Christina Lee is an easy-to-read story about friends Nolan and Ellis. The best-friends-to-lovers trope is a favorite of mine, but it can be difficult to find books where the story hits all the high notes for me.
We get caught up on the men’s lives quickly, with Ellis being divorced and Nolan never finding someone he wanted to settle down with. We are told they have been best friends for years and they play together in a band after their day jobs, but I truly never felt the chemistry between these men, either as friends or lovers. The catalyst happens when Ellis is robbed at gunpoint in his home and he and Nolan become closer in the aftermath. The incident occurs completely off page and it made the drama less impactful. (Also, Ellis has no renter’s insurance, which never makes any sense to me in books with characters that should be able to afford it.)
The story felt predictable, which is fine at times, but it was a little too bland for me. Ellis has a history of ADHD and there is an attempt to tie that into his day job as a teacher and that didn’t flow into the story well. None of the side characters added much to the story for me and at times it read like scenes of different stories that didn’t fully blend well together.
The description of the book had all of the things going for it, but the execution here was just okay and nothing that will be overly memorable for me.
