Debra E's Never-Ending TBR

A beloved trope in romance is the childhood best friends or college roommates to lovers. Some of the sweetest stories I've read fall under that category. What if that friendship started when the father of one of those friends fell in love with the mother of the other and the families moved in together? Why does that one event, outside of the control of the two young men, turn something sweet into something some might consider taboo?

Marc is 19 and has spent the last year at school, living in London as an out and proud gay man. Nobody at home, other than his twin sister, is aware of his sexuality, and that is only one problem he is facing as he returns home for the summer and the wedding of his father and his long time partner Marie. Tony is 18, getting ready to start his first year at university, and trying to come to terms with not just his sexuality, but the fact that he has fallen for his soon to be step-brother Marc. The two have spent years living together and sharing a room, but what Tony doesn't know is that Marc has spent the last few years falling in love with him. Neither man expects the next two weeks before the wedding to be easy, but they didn't expect that their dreams would come true only to end up becoming a nightmare. The story took me by surprise and grabbed me so, that I found myself reading straight through into a late night.

Again K.C. Wells has tackled an unexpected subject and brought out all kinds of emotions, with a good balance of drama and humor. The story covers first love, coming out, and staying true to your feelings regardless of what outsiders may think. While I expected Marc to be the one to guide the relationship due to his experience being out and the fact that he had pondered it for so long, he turns out to be the one that is most afraid once he gets what he wants. Add to that the dynamics of hiding from the families in the midst of the stress of all the wedding preparations and things start to spiral out of control. There were times where I was so upset with the way Marc treated Tony I feared for the safety of my Kindle.

While I loved watching the two men work through their issues, I also enjoyed the secondary characters and was happy to see strong supportive relationships with the female characters. There was plenty of tension between Marc and Tony and when they finally get together (and even before) it was sexy and sweet. Will the two men overcome their fears before they end up with broken hearts and a broken relationship and even if they do, will their families accept them for who they are and who they love? You'll have to read the book to find out.


An ARC of this book was kindly provided by the author for an honest review.