Book safety, content warnings, and tropes down below.

“If you never step foot outside these four walls again, I’ll bring the world to you. Or keep it all away. Whatever you need to feel safe.”

This book was my very first M/M romance, and I have now listened to the audiobook three times as well. It’s not a very complicated or long story, but the characters are very lovable and I think I’ve connected with them well. There’s also plenty of suspense in the story, which we know I love. Both main characters have suffered pretty horrible abuse, but in very different ways. They understand each other and give each other support and understanding. I think it’s lovely that Graham just wanted to be a friend to Quinten in the beginning. They valued having someone in their life, someone they could hug and trust, way more than sex. There’s still spice (and it's good), but they needed that feeling of safety first. It might feel like a fast burn considering all of that, but their history helped them create that bond.

I think this story will always be special to me exactly because it’s the book that led to me reading hundreds of M/M books since, but it’s also just a solid, good book. Tim Paige and Greg Boudreaux did a fantastic job with the audiobook as well.

Highly recommend if you enjoy mental health representation, past trauma and suspense.

⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Past trauma
Hurt/comfort
Strangers to friends to lovers
Agoraphobia
Abusive ex
Former coastguard
Disability rep
Mercenary/rescue team
Found family
Mental health rep

⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Hate crime (past, on page, some details)
Physical assault (past, on page, some details)
Sexual assault (past, on page, few details)
Sexual assault with objects (past, on page, few details)
Severly injured MCs (past)
Agoraphobia
Panic attacks
Mentions of child pornography
Explicit sexual content
Kidnapping
Gun violence
PTSD symptoms
Brief suicidal thoughts
Very brief mention of suicide (side character, past, off page, no details)
Domestic abuse:
Medical abuse
Drugging (past and present)
Gaslighting and manipulation
Narcissistic behavior and abuse

*None of the abuse occurs between MCs, but is fairly detailed and on page.

⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No
Other person drama: No. Quinten has a horrible ex who shows up, but it creates no relationship drama.
Breakup: No
POV: 1st person, dual POV
Genre: Romantic suspense, M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Strict roles
Main characters’ age: Not specified.
Pages: 255

“This? What I think we’re building?” he whispers. “It’s real. And it sure as hell doesn’t end when I walk out your front door in an hour. If the past few years have taught me anything, it’s that the parts of us we think are broken? Those are the parts that make us who we are.”


You can find most of my reviews on Instagram as well: https://www.instagram.com/booksafety?igsh=MWZ3azhkdDc2Y2ludg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr