Rating: 3.75 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Eric and Mike were best friends as teens and they had a relationship that Eric didn’t understand at the time. When Eric’s mother caught the two of them in bed in bed together, Mike’s family moved out of town. Eric has meandered through life, as he dropped out of college in the first year. His dates never go well and, while he enjoys his job in the local bookstore, he doesn’t think about what’s next for him. When Mike shows up in Eric’s life again, all of the feelings he had coming rushing back and Eric isn’t sure he’s ready to examine what that means.
Mike is ready to move on with his life. His teen years were tumultuous and getting caught with Eric changed his life. He never stopped thinking about Eric though and although they had no contact, Mike always held out hope that Eric was waiting for him somewhere. The moment Mike sees Eric again, he wants him, but he’s not willing to be Eric’s experiment. The men will need to sort through their feelings to figure out how to move forward together.
This is a second chance story for Eric and Mike. They were involved in high school and Mike knew he was gay and in love with Eric, but Eric didn’t have any idea what their relationship was or how he felt and, before he had time to figure it out, they were separated. The guys didn’t communicate as teens and that continues throughout their story, as they have no idea how to really talk to each other.
Both Mike and Eric have sad stories and they both suffer from a level of depression. The book is told from both POVs and Eric opens the story. He never thought he would see Mike again and, from the moment they reconnect, everything changes. The guys have a lot to sort out. Eric is more self-involved and he never gave much thought to Mike’s frame of mind or what truly happened to Mike when Mike left town. There is a lot of push and pull here as they try to figure out what they are to each other and if they can move forward together and what that might look like.
Eric’s mother played a large part in what happened to them as teens and the culmination of her part in the storyline was unsatisfying to me. There is a supporting cast mostly around Eric and there are potential stories for more characters that I would look into.
The chemistry between the men is easy and the attraction is clearly on display with each interaction. There is a lot of back and forth between them, as they are together and then push each other away or give the other space for one reason or another. I liked the story here, but the characters were less developed overall. Mike has a much larger story that is glossed over and we never fully learn what happened to him when his family left town when he was a teen.
