Raleigh Ruebins

Childhood-bffs-to-lovers is my bread and butter, so of course I had to hop on this!

But Mitch...did he have a little too many concussions during his high school football days because he proved time and time again that he was Just That Clueless.

I hit page 14 and Mitch was already going, "I was so excited about seeing him that for some reason, my cock was even a little hard" BUT WE'RE BEST BUDS SO THAT'S A NORMAL REACTION. Mm-hmm. Just #bestbrothings #nohomo.

Evan, with his white picket fence show more dream and long-time crush on Mitch, basically got swept up in whatever Mitch wanted to do. A bit of a doormat ngl.

The part that irked me the most was that Mitch knew from the get-go Evan's dream of finding The One, and on one hand says Evan deserves the world instead of hookups, etc., but on the other, Mitch's single braincell thinks that it'd be a great idea to suggest that they play around sexually with no strings attached show less

It felt like I was reading a YA romance except with explicit sex with the complication of one of them being a parent. Except the kid was more mature and aware than the parent. Mitch basically had a whole frat brother type thing going on when Evan was around. And apart from one visit the mother was basically never mentioned. I also didn't really understand why he had custody. It was just odd.

The romance itself was sweet and sexy but the oblivious nature of the main character Mitch was just show more ridiculous. It wasn't even that he was struggling with the idea of being gay, he was just oblivious to life. Fair enough he was in denial about his own feelings but he also didn't seem to understand why Evan was hurt or confused by his feelings. Like Evan literally says this is too hard I'm in love with you. And Mitch is like okay that's good and moves on. He doesn't even seem to comprehend what's going on around him.

Even when Red points it out to him that this could be an issue (and he apparently stops fooling around with Evan - which is only mentioned, it's never actually shown - oh two weeks have gone by where I haven't touched you - uh what?) he still doesn't understand why Red told him to stop fooling around. And when Evan mentions applying for the Switzerland job he seems to have no idea that the only thing Evan wants is for him to ask him to stay because there's a possibility of a relationship. Because here's the thing - Mitch doesn't even have a problem with being Evan's boyfriend! He just doesn't seem to realise he needs to tell him that? I don't know this book was just odd.

If you can ignore the ridiculousness the romance is cheesy and sweet and the sex scenes are somewhat steamy. 2 stars. show less

This was a lot better than the first book in the series. On the other hand, it was very similar to the first one but without many of the issues that plagued it.

There's something about these books that just feels really young. But at least in this one neither of the main characters had kids.

I liked Rock and Perry. Rock was fun loving and happy go lucky. Perry was shy and just wanted everyone to be happy. I liked the upbeat vibe of the book and the fact that the angst level was low.

For all show more Rock has just discovered his sexuality isn't quite as straight as he imagined, it was easy going - he never really struggled with too much denial - just sort of shrugged and kept going. The firefighting angle was amusing, although it got a bit repetitive by the end.

The romance between them was sweet and flirty and I liked that they got to know each other, not just hopped into bed and had sex the entirety of the book. And I enjoyed the fact that Rock was the one that was so into the relationship and willing to go all in.

It's not a perfect book but it was a feel good read, perfect for a bit of R&R or to hit up the beach with. 3 stars. show less

With the right mix of angst and sweetness, this book is an auspicious begin for a new series.

The characters are great, even when there are moments you only want to scream at them. Assumptions, miscommunication and misunderstandings are the roots of all their problems, but they get it at the end.

A great second-chances story, impeccably written and with a definitive sense of autumn, all you'll want to do is curl yourself on a couch with it and a mug of hot chocolate.