Rating: 4 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel

Perry is starting his life over in San Luco, California, building a relationship with his half-brother, Ty, and avoiding contact with their philandering father. Their father may be wealthy, but he’s not buying Perry’s loyalty–not after abandoning his mother, who didn’t know his dad was a married man while wooing her. Perry lives with Ty and his boyfriend, Brax, who helped Perry get a job bartending at a bar near campus. Perry has a real knack for computing and programming, something very much in common with his tech mogul sperm-donor, but he won’t use that connection to gain any of the funds his dad wants to throw into his education. Perry does online classes and freelance learning, for now.

While out at a campus party, Perry meets Theo, who’s super drunk after getting dumped by his user girlfriend. Theo’s so gone he thinks Perry’s hysterical and that they totally hit it off…as friends. Perry’s a bit disappointed that the guy he’d hoped could be a hookup is straight, but making friends in San Luco is also important to him, since he knows few people beyond Ty and Brax. Perry and Theo meet up frequently and text a lot, building a rapport that Theo really cherishes–and not only because Perry admits he finds Theo attractive. Theo’s put a lot of pressure on himself, being the oldest child in college for a family that’s sacrificing to pay his tuition. He struggles in school, and soon confesses his insecurities to Perry, who offers to help him with studying. It’s a win-win, except the more time they spend together, the more Theo’s admiration turns into unexpected attraction.

This is a sweet, bisexual awakening, New Adult romance between two people who never expected to fall for each other. Perry makes a habit of keeping everything surface-level only, but he’s hooked by Theo, who’s an absolute people-pleaser. I really enjoyed how they built a pleasant friendship, and how the tension ramped up with their growing attractions. They’re both supportive to one another, and defensive when their buddies/brothers start hinting at observing more than friendship between them. It gave each character a nice fierceness, which naturally helped stoke those amorous feelings. And, honestly, I’m kind of a sucker for “first-time” stories where there’s a deep connection and a lot of caretaking in the experience. I enjoyed the pacing, and how the intimacy developed organically from their deepening friendship.

This story is part of a larger multi-author Franklin U 2 universe, but reads fine as a standalone. There are a few couples from previous stories that make appearances, most notably Ty and Brax (who appear in Hart’s first season Franklin U book, Playing Games). This story has a full wrap-up from what I imagine was a lot of conflict within Ty’s original story, learning about his father’s infidelity and Perry’s existence. Their growth as brothers was nice to experience and, of course, Perry relaxing his super-defensive stance against his father caused other healing. I enjoyed watching him give up his lone wolf status to embrace a satisfying and supportive relationship. Expect a happy ending, with an epilogue that puts Perry and Theo far into a shared future. If you enjoy kinda-breezy college romances, this one’s definitely a solid choice in the genre.