Book safety, content warnings, and tropes & tags down below.

When he’d been young and naïve, he’d convinced himself that loving someone enough could change how they felt, and then John would develop feelings for Lukas in return. Ten years later, he knew better.

This is yet another one of my somewhat frequent rereads. It is a deliciously low angst dad’s best friend romance, with two very lovable characters. It’s not a long book, but the characters have great chemistry, the plot is engaging, and the spice is hot (I don’t always care for dirty talk, but it’s fantastic in this).

Lukas has been in love with his parents’ friend for years, and he didn’t think there was any chance at all of something happening between them. It was a very good way to make me connect with his character quickly, especially when he thought about how he would eventually have to watch John fall in love with someone else. It still makes me tear up.

“Hey, John.” “Hey, kid.” The tiny piece of hope still living in Lukas’s heart shriveled and died. Kid. Right, because that was how John saw him. Just his friend’s kid.

My favorite part of this book is how the younger MC loves to care of the other MC. Giving him massages, making beautiful meals for them, etc. I’ve read so many books with some sort of D/s dynamic or Daddy kink, where 9/10 times it’s the other way around. In this one, they very much take care or each other, but in different ways.

“Part of being an adult is knowing that other people don’t owe you feelings in return. […]”

Also, Lukas is a champ at reaching ‘the big O’ untouched, which let’s be honest, is hot as hell.

Highly recommend this one if you’re into the tropes at all.

⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Age gap (26/42)
Dad’s best friend
Secret relationship
Friends to lovers
Bisexual awakening
Divorced MC
Pining
Dirty talking
Size difference
Hands-free orgasms
Vet tech MC

⚠️⚠️ Content warning ⚠️⚠️
Brief mentions of sick animals
Brief mentions of euthanasia
Explicit sexual content

⚠️⚠️⚠️ Book safety ⚠️⚠️⚠️
Cheating: No
OM/OW drama: Older MC is set up on a date with a woman by other MCs parents. He wants nothing to do with her.
Third-act breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, dual POV
Genre: Contemporary romance, M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Strict roles

He cared so much about John that imagining him alone and lonely for the rest of his life literally made his chest hurt. But imagining John with another person made him feel like he was being stabbed in the heart, so he was fucked either way.