Well, I was looking for an angsty book, and this one sure delivered. There are a lot of heavy topics covered in this book, many of them playing out on page, so if you’re concerned about that, please be sure to check the list of trigger warnings beforehand. At its heart, though, this is a story of two broken people learning to live again and finding love where they least expect it. It wasn’t always easy, my heart broke and tears were shed more than once, but seeing Jamie and Caiden find their way from the darkness and getting their HEA was worth all the heartache and angst we experienced along the way.

The story is told in three parts. The first part is the before, the second part is “that one moment” that changes everything, and part 3 is a few years later, where Jamie and Caiden are still trying to pick up the pieces after their lives imploded that night. My heart hurt for Caiden throughout the entire book. Even before that life-changing moment, he had it rough. His twin, Cooper, was the bright, sunny one, the one everyone was drawn to. Meanwhile, Caiden was darker and moodier, after being continually let down by the people who should have been there for him. He had such a good heart and wanted so badly for someone to choose him; it hurt every time someone mistreated him.

Even though Jamie was dating Cooper initially, and he and Caiden didn’t exactly get along, there were still little moments that showed Jamie had a soft spot for him. I’m glad we got to see that because it made everything that happened afterward make sense. Jamie always thought Cooper was his one big love and was left reeling after Cooper was taken from them. But when he’s called back into Caiden’s life, there’s something that keeps drawing him back. To me, as these two began to connect and ultimately fall for each other, it never felt as though Jamie was using Caiden to fill the Cooper-shaped hole in his life. The love he and Cooper shared was big and pure, but it was almost like puppy love. Whereas what he and Caiden shared was messy and raw but still true and hard-won.

There were a lot of ups and downs and loads of hurt/comfort as Jamie and Caiden helped each other figure out how to finally move on, and how to do that together. I thought this was a really lovely story and I was so happy to see these broken boys finally get their HEA!