As an aspiring photographer, Justin can think of no better way to honor his father’s memory than to scatter his ashes at the sites he held sacred. And there’s no one Justin would rather share the experience with more than Landry.
But Justin knows he can’t escape forever. Eventually he’ll have to return home and join his mother’s Senate campaign. Nor can he escape the truth of who he is, and the fact that he’s in love with his out-and-proud travel companion.
Admitting what he wants could hurt his mother’s conservative political career. But with every click of his shutter and every sprinkle of ash, Justin can’t resist Landry’s pull. And when the truth comes into focus, neither is prepared for the secrets the other is hiding.
All the stars, this book gets all the stars.
It is fair to say I devoured this book, after reading a couple of BDSM orientated books this was exactly what I wanted to read. My favourite ever storyline in any book, show, film etc is friends to more. There is something so special about two people who have that basis of friendship, of trust and love, to letting things - or needing things - to move a step further. I can't explain how much I love it. When the friendship is there first and it's not all just crazy wanna get in your pants lust, it turns me to marshmallow. I've always, always wanted friends to fall in love - or admit they're in love maybe..Anyway, this book completely fulfilled my FTM urges.
*happy, happy sigh*
Justin is taking one last trip - bid for freedom really - with his best friend Landry straight after graduation. Justin is retracing the steps of his father from years earlier and spreading his fathers ashes on the way. This is more than just a trip though, it really is that junction in Justin's life where he has to decide whether to follow the path that has been decided for him or to follow his heart, his gut, and choose the life he actually wants.
On one hand everything is clear-cut, he'd be the person his mom wants him to be, make her happy and follow the narrow little path set out for him. It's all so...certain and definite and it is what he has been working for the last four years. It could be considered the easy option (if you think going against what you wan,t to keep those you love happy, easy), it is probably the safe option...but it's not what Justin wants. On the other hand is the possibility of everything he desires, if could just have the guts to admit it. The fact that he's hidden who he really is from everyone, including - especially -his BFF, does not make for an easy decision.
The story line here was pretty perfect as far as I was concerned. Justin had his decisions to make, but he's not the only one. Megan Erickson writes in such a way that I fell so into the story, into the lives of these two men that I couldn't put it down. I had that feeling inside when my stomach tightens and my heart squeezes. I so wanted an HEA but the journey was truthfully bumpy. It felt like the forever the characters got was a real forever and the right choice.
Simple truths are sometimes the hardest to acknowledge. They can be the most fragile, the ones kept closest to the heart and therefore the ones that can hurt the most. I felt this with Justin - how much he wanted to tell Landry everything and yet how scary that prospect was. To carry on as he is, he might not be happy but (as far as he could see) he hadn't lost anything. To admit to the truth, well then he really could lose everything and end up alone. And it wasn't just Justin who had these choices, but Landry too. As the story develops it is equally hard for Landry. What is the price of love? How do you know if you'll both end up unscathed?
Of course his mom is portrayed as a bit of a mini monster...I think by the end she has redeemed herself but I always have to remind myself when I read stories like this that there are people out there who can't accept their son or daughter as gay. As a mum myself I truly can't imagine how anyone can cut off their child because of who they love or chose to have sex with. I think this is why I find these story lines so difficult to comprehend and they are the ones that hurt me the most. It could have been so easy for the mom in this story to have grown into an even bigger monster...but the author didn't let that happen. Although I didn't like the woman to start with I appreciated her own journey and liked who she had become at the end.
I can't think of anything I didn't enjoy about this book...I suppose all I would say is that, at times, they felt a little younger than their twenty-two years. I'm not sure why, maybe it's just a reflection on my own life and that by that age I had a mortgage etc already so...yeah, they felt more eighteen/nineteen to me but it didn't detriment my enjoyment of the story in any way, shape or form.
If friends to more is your thing this book IS for you. At about 90% my heart stopped. It really did and there was definitely tissue needed. Just when I thought everything was sorted...it was a...twist I didn't expect, but I still adored this book. Looking out for more from this author for sure.
This book was given in exchange for an honest review.
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