Book safety, content warnings, and tropes down below.

I chose to come alone. If I’m lonely, that’s my fault. Clay isn’t my friend, he’s just been kind. And he’s sure as hell not more than a friend.

I started reading this book for the first time a year ago today, so it feels fitting to review it now. I’ve read and listened to it a whole bunch of times since then, and it’s still just as charming and sweet. It’s just straight up a great freaking story, and has become one of my go-to comfort books.

Ethan is such a sweetheart and he deserves all the good things. I also very much love Clay’s sexual awakening. It feels real. He stumbles a bit and deals with internalized homophobia, but he’s so kind and Ethan helps him through it.

The disability representation is also excellent in this book. It’s not at all romanticized, and although Ethan is dealing well with being hard of hearing during the book, he didn’t always. I think it’s important to show/tell about the hard parts as well.

Ethan laughed genuinely, and Clay almost wanted to call him pretty when he smiled like that. Strange to think of a bloke that way.

⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Slow burn
Age gap
Hard of hearing MC
Single dad (adult kids)
Gay awakening
Deeply closeted (to the point of not knowing)
Disability rep
Australian/American

⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Cheating (on page, not between MCs)
Explicit sexual content
Internalized homophobia
Mentions of mental health struggles
Grief
Hate crime/beating (not MCs, past, detailed)
Vomiting
Ableism
Brief mentions of parent deaths (past, off page)
Parent with early onset Alzheimer’s
MC previously had carcinoma (past, off page)
Homophobia (remembered, past)

⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: Ethan is cheated on by his fiancé on-page at the start of the book. Not between MCs.
OM/OW drama: No
Breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, dual POV
Genre: Contemporary romance, M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Strict roles
MC age: 44 and 27
Pages: 270

He laughed at himself. The dude had been nice to him for, like, five minutes, and Ethan had built it into a fling in his head already. He really was pathetic.

“It won’t always hurt this much. All things fade. It doesn’t mean you forget, but the pain won’t be there in every breath, sweetie.”

Clay was a man— adult and solid. And hot, but it was the dependability and strength emanating from him that attracted Ethan the most.