Both men were interesting and their friends to lovers progression was good.
4 out of 5 stars
Ebook. Kindle Unlimited. 112 pages. Published September 29th 2015 by The Romance Authors
Blurb:
Two men with a shared
history and a mutual attraction must be honest with themselves and each other
so both their dreams come true.
Quiet, unassuming Tanner Sellers spends his time running a diner in Hope,
Arizona. Not particularly social, twenty-two-year-old Tanner keeps to himself
and enjoys his simple life, but he longs for someone to call his own. In his
most secret fantasy, that someone is sexy Steve Faus. But Steve is his friend’s
father and mentor’s widower and therefore off-limits.
Despite some challenges, thirty-nine-year-old Steve Faus has had a good life.
He’s extremely successful at work, has a great relationship with his
college-age son, and lives in a wonderful town. Eighteen months after losing
his partner, the one thing Steve lacks is someone to share his life. If Steve
is honest with himself, that someone is the young man he has known and cared
about for years. Steve and Tanner want one another, all they need is a little push
in the right direction to make both their dreams come true.
Likes:
- An HIV positive character
who doesn’t get hated for his status.
- The story setup.
- The friends to lovers
progression was believable.
- The trust everyone put in
Tanner.
- Both men had an interesting
past that affected who they were in the present.
- Tanner beginning to make the
diner his own.
- The story was short, cute,
and sweet.
Dislikes:
- Tanner’s character at times.
- Some awkward phrasing and
word choices.
- The whole thing at the end
about Jesse.
This was actually the first book I ready by Cardeno C even though it’s the second book in the Hope series. I was looking for a friends to lovers novella, and this came up in the search. I liked it during my first reading, but the second time through I definitely liked Tanner’s character less.
The story is told in Tanner’s first person point of view,
and while I liked Tanner a lot when he wasn’t around Steve, when they’re
together, Tanner’s character gets a little annoying. I think Tanner was supposed
to come off as shy and inexperienced in love. For me, his character overshot
that and landed on ‘simple.’ He was still likeable, but sometimes it felt like
he literally didn’t understand what was going on, in a way that was
unbelievable. I get that he’d never dated or even kissed, but it just felt a
little over the top.
I really did like the who story setup, though. It was both a friends to lovers and a crush to lovers story. Steve’s character was believable and likable. He seemed to really be thinking about Tanner and treading carefully with their relationship, especially when it came to
Would I have liked the story a little more if we got to see
both men’s points of view? Yes. Both because I like both points of view when it
comes to romance and because then I wouldn’t have gotten so annoyed with Tanner.
Would I still have problems with this story? Also yes. It’s cute and quick,
just don’t think too deeply about it, or expect anything too deep from it.
The ending of the book, when a big reveal happens, did skew how I saw the romance between Steve and Tanner overall, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. Basically,
It was weird. On the one hand, maybe it took away some lingering feelings of guilt from Steve and Tanner about getting together. On the other hand, it did raise some awkward questions. Like
None of these questions really matter, but the reveal happens right at the end of the book so I can’t help thinking about them.
Overall, I did like this story, and it made me want to read more of Cardeno C’s works. I’ll definitely continue with this series and probably pick up another of Cardeno C’s series in the future.
Be sure to check out the reviews for the second two books in the series –McFarland’s Farm and Smitty’s Sheriff.
Love is Love Reviews 