“It feels like I can be a different person here,” I tell him.
“And who’s that?” he asks gently.
After a pause, I answer. “Me.”
When Hawthorne Moore entered a contest to have his favorite adult entertainer come to his town to help with its first Pride Parade, he didn’t think he’d actually win. Not only does he win, but when Silver (aka Mateo) arrives in town, sparks fly between the two and Hawthorne finds himself in a friends-with-benefits arrangement. Mateo can’t believe someone as kind and attractive as Hawthorne has never actually been with a man before, despite coming out several years earlier. He’s happy to show him how good it could be, though, and soon finds himself in deep with this charming cowboy. But when he’s spent his entire life up until then building walls around his heart, will Mateo figure out how to let Hawthorne in or will he end up losing the only man who’s ever shown him love?
“Don’t let me run,” he whispers.
“If you do, I’ll follow.”
This was such a sweet, low-angst story, which was just what I needed. Hawthorne and Mateo had great chemistry right off the bat. I loved their flirty texts leading up to their meeting in person for the first time and they hit it off even more once Mateo landed in Plum Valley. Their lives were quite different but they worked so well together. Hawthorne was open-minded and easygoing. He truly wanted to know Mateo and not just the persona he put on as Silver and that wasn’t something Mateo was used to. That was the main source of the angst but it was still pretty light and mostly just lots of sweetness and plenty of spice.
These two were very hot together. I loved seeing Mateo understand Hawthorne’s needs and give him what no one else had been willing to do. I loved how sex positive this book was. Mateo’s profession was never an issue and he also was adamant about making sure Hawthorne knew that what he wanted/needed from a partner was completely normal as well. I loved the message it sent.
This was my first introduction to Plum Valley but I definitely want to go back and read the first book and then the rest of the series because I really loved this town and enjoyed Hawthorne and Mateo’s story!
“I don’t want to run anymore. Not from you. Never from you.”
The Book Boyfriend Addict 