Some things are sweeter than revenge.
“I need a boyfriend.”
Hearing those words from his very straight, very ex-best friend doesn’t put Nate in a helpful mood. Not only did Kellan Brooks’s father destroy Nate’s family in his quest for power, but Kellan broke Nate’s heart back in high school. Nate thought he could trust his best friend with the revelation that he might be gay, only to find out he was horribly wrong and become the laughingstock of the whole school. Kellan must be truly desperate if he’s turning to Nate now.
Kellan’s through letting his father run his life, and he wants to make the man pay for cutting him off. What better way to stick it to the bigot than to come out as gay himself—especially with the son of the very man his father crushed on his quest for money and power. Kellan can’t blame Nate for wanting nothing to do with him, though. Kellan will have to convince him to play along, but it’s even harder to convince himself that the heat between them is only an act....
First Edition published by Samhain Publishing Inc. June 2011.
Narrated by: Chet Daniel
Listening Length: 5 hours and 50 minutes
Where have I been that I have not read this before? I don’t know why I never grabbed it when it was first published but I just didn’t. When the audio came out, I decided to take a listen and knew I had to know what Nate would decide when his prodigal BFF comes back begging for a boyfriend, when Kellan isn’t gay.
Hmm.
Gah! This is exactly a SARA kind of book. I love unrequited love and I love the journey of sexual exploration. This book has been out for a good number of years so I won’t rehash what everyone already knows and just tell you what I loved about it.
Kellan is desperate and in need of revenge against his asshat of a father. What better way to flip the old man the bird than shove it in his homophobic face that his only living son is now living a HEA with is best friend from childhood, a man. I get why Kellan is doing what he is doing and I totally get why he chose Nate. Though it’s told to us over and over again that Kellan isn’t gay, I tend to think you don’t really know what turns your crank if you’ve never gripped the handle. Am I right? You know I am.
So. Kellan proposes this scheme to his BFF Nate and begs Nate to be his boyfriend. Nate’s first reaction is hell to the fuck no, but Nate has always had a soft spot for Kellan so he drags his feet all the way to his apartment to make a decision. He can’t stand seeing Kellan as desperate as he is even though he wants to like it. Nate is too good of a guy to let Kellan suffer but he’s not too good of a guy to make Kellan prove that he can pull of being gay.
“You pretend to be my boyfriend. Wait—you help me pretend that we’re madly in love.”
“How long are we talking?”
“I don’t think it should be longer than a month or two—hell, maybe Geoffrey will be kissing my ass in a week.”
“What if he doesn’t give a shit? Then what are you going to do?”
“Well, that’ll be my problem again, won’t it?”
“Two months.”
“Deal.”
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fake boyfriend trope. It’s one of my favorites because you know that being that close to someone, having to fake feelings usually turns into more. It’s a special kind of slow burn that gives the good kind of angst wondering if and when they will admit to it all being more than fake. It’s so good and this book, it delivers on the UST and angst deliciously.
Now. Some may say Kellan is selfish and some may say Nate is selfish when the truth is; both men are pretty fucked up. They come with baggage but they also come with a history that goes back to them being friends since the 2nd grade. Sure, this fake relationship set-up is a bit out there on the believable scale but Nate and Kellan have been friends for a long time, it's not unthinkable that boys who learned how to masturbate together would have feelings for each other.
Both of these men are broken but so very real that I couldn’t stop listening to this.
Getting both POV's was so damn needed in this book. With this trope you need to know what each party is thinking and when they realize they crossed the line from fake to real. We know Kellan is pretty selfish but when people's jobs are threatened because of his father, he does the right thing by them. Kellan is lost. He's a rich boy who only knows one way of life, the easy one but when his father throws down the gauntlet on his lifestyle, Kellan fights back. He may be selfish but he's not a doormat.
Nate is amazing but Nate is also lost. These two are such grounding forces for the other and have been since they were boys. It makes sense that when they parted, when they weren't in one another's lives they would lose part of their way until the road led them back together. Nate is happy Kellan is back in his life, even if under the lie they are presenting and he is scared to screw things up and lose his best friend again.
I only want him to be happy. It was still the truth. No matter what, Nate was glad of the chance to have fixed up their friendship.
Chet Daniel did an awesome job narrating this romance. It was his narration that made me sit up and take notice of the book and finally get Nate and Kellan’s story. I loved how he brought the men to life and the side characters as well. Giving each character their own voice to blend into the story seamlessly with precision was so much fun to listen to. He made me blush during a few scenes, laugh and even tear up when the emotions got heavy. Daniel is a new to me narrator but will now be a go to for more audio books to come.
I really loved this story, if you couldn’t tell. I am happy with it from the first page to the last and all the others in between. Kellan broke my heart with his camp story and Nate had me emotional with what happened to him in high school. These two haven’t had it easy but I am so happy they found one another and were able to move from friends to lovers.
Last but certainly not least, I ADORED Eli. OMG. I can’t wait for him to get a man for himself and get his own HEA.
A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
