He had rules. Rules kept him safe. He’d been swimming between the flags all these years, and now he was ignoring the danger signs and paddling into the rip.
I really enjoyed this, but oof, I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with a character as deep in the closet as Liam Fox was. My heart broke for him; the terror and shame he felt over the possibility of being outed was palpable. Between his conservative family and one horrible experience with a man several years earlier, he had good reason for feeling how he did. But it still hurt to see how much he denied himself over the years out of fear. Enter Cody Grant, a much younger man and trainee lifeguard at Barking Beach. Cody was out and proud, and Liam was fascinated by him. Cody may have been young, but he was the first person to see what Liam truly wanted and needed and was more than happy to give it to him. He was so good for Liam, and Cody was beyond patient as he navigated Liam’s “rules”.
I actually loved the age gap here. Oftentimes, the larger, older man is the experienced one. In this case, Cody had the experience, and given Liam’s desire for submission, Cody stepped into the dominant role beautifully. It was a nice change of pace. These two had great chemistry, and the spice was so good. Seeing how good they were together made it even sadder that it all had to be in secret. It was pretty late in the book, and I still wasn’t sure how Liam was going to find his way out of the closet. But rest assured, there is a happy ending, and it felt like a realistic outcome for them.
Barking Beach was a cool setting for the book. I loved all the lifeguard action. Most chapters featured an exciting rescue or two, and I loved all the secondary characters. It was a nice little found family with the Barking Beach lifeguards!
The Book Boyfriend Addict 