A lovely, sweet, feel-good story that brings the two MC together slowly, as friends first with the yearning for more! The bulk of the story is told in flashback and sets a certain 'feel' due to Alex's age, so at the end of the story the flash-forward to Alex's 30th birthday and the frosty 'encounter' in their backyard didn't quite gel for me. Who woulda thought I'd prefer no smexin'!!! (That was my only niggle with this book.) I'm looking forward to reading the next instalment. ( )

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I almost always write my reviews immediately after finishing a book. I didn't with this one. No real reason other than I guess I didn't feel that motivated. Now, a week later and I can't stop thinking about it. The premise made me feel a little uncomfortable at first. That whole, too young to touch thing just got to me.


THE CHARACTERS

"Are you gay?"

Alex (15) is just becoming sexually aware and has no idea of his charm. He's honest, straight-forward and adorable.

"Hanging out with him would be about as safe as navigating a field of land mines. Jared had no idea how he would maneuver without losing a piece of himself..."

Jared (20) is hard-working, dedicated and well-adjusted. He's responsible, thank goodness or else we'd be talking about a whole different kind of book.

THE STORY

I was taken by surprise at how quickly this story developed. Jared is instantly attracted to Alex but he knows to set rules for keeping his distance. He intends to only be a mentor to Alex but can't help his developing feelings.

Alex keeps it together pretty well until his father decides it's best for him to experience more of the world...away from Jared. I was both torn by Alex and Jared separating, and, relieved that a level headed adult was stepping in to slow this evolving relationship down.


THE WRITING

This is a quick paced, easy read that drew me in and kept me reading. It started out with a lack of contractions during the dialog that just didn't feel like natural speech, but that eventually leveled out.

There were some moments that surprised me, that I didn't expect from the author. I assumed that this was a very straight-forward romance but there were some heavy issues to be overcome. I have to admit, when I finished, I thought there was some unfinished business. Now I see that it is an ongoing series, so I'll hold back on what would have been criticism.

A totally, gratuitous sex scene inserted at the end was completely unnecessary. Nonetheless I enjoyed it, because it was a hot scene and that's what I read this stuff for, duh!

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In the end, this was a sweet romance with potential to grow deeper. I was relieved that the uncomfortable nature of underage romance was addressed and not denied.

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Take a look at my Male/Male Romance Book Blog:


http://www.attentionisarbitrary.blogspot.com ( )

Nice light gay romance, well-written. Love the way the author handles a father's reaction to a son's coming out. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a nice read without too much thinking or depth of theme.

The characterization is the author's special gift. Characters are memorable, multi-dimensional, and are painted through showing rather than telling. Even secondary characters are well-drawn.

The last scene of detailed sex seems gratuitous, so I gave four stars. But otherwise an excellent read. ( )