“You’re the person I’d been dreaming of for years, but I can’t… I won’t survive getting hurt again. Not like that.”
Emil had upended his entire life and moved to the East Coast to finally face his past and somehow become a better person. Finding love never factored into the equation. But then he met Renzo, who was undeniably hot, but more than that, he was kind, easy to talk to, and somehow made Emil want to confess things he’d never told anyone before. After his awful marriage ended, Renzo wasn’t eager to put himself back out there but he was drawn to Emil in a way he never had been before. A one-night stand turned into friendship then turned into more as neither one could stay away but for two men whose hearts had been so badly damaged, will they be able to open their hearts to each other for real?
Emil was falling too hard and too fast. How was he supposed to keep Renzo at arm’s length? How was his entire life not supposed to become about this man?
I thought this story was very sweet. Emil and Renzo were both damaged but for very different reasons. Emil’s came from the way he was treated by his parents growing up and Renzo’s was thanks to his horrible ex-husband. Emil knew he wasn’t a good guy but he very badly wanted to be better and I liked seeing him work toward that goal. And truth be told, he wasn’t that bad but he spent so long believing he was an awful person that it was hard for him to see himself as anything but. It was hard for him to believe he’d ever be good enough for someone like Renzo.
And Renzo, after being berated by his ex for so long, felt like he had very little to offer someone else. In reality, he was a great guy with a lot to offer and I was glad he finally came around to seeing that. There was a lot of push and pull between these men as they very openly wanted to be together but didn’t think it would work so they tried keeping each other at arm’s length. Of course, that only works for so long before they realize they’ve fallen in love.
As much as I enjoyed Emil and Renzo, it was Renzo’s younger brother, Matty, who stole the show for me. He was adorable and such a good little matchmaker. I also loved how he softened the edges for both Renzo and Emil. Renzo was a great big brother to him and Emil was so kind and accepting of him, it was those moments where you got to see the type of person Emil really was.
The only weird thing was that if you’ve read Oliver and Victor’s extended epilogue, Pretty Boy, the events in that contradict what happens in the epilogue of this book. I’m not sure what happened there but I just wanted to point that out. I guess you can treat it as a choose-your-own-adventure and pick which one you like best.
Emil was the last person in the world Renzo would have envisioned to help heal the broken pieces his ex had left behind, and yet, he was the only one who made sense anymore.
The Book Boyfriend Addict 