Book safety, content warnings, and tropes down below.

Do I sound normal? Not hurt? Not fretting that you don’t want to think about me when you are all I think about?

This one is difficult to rate and review, because although Barbara was fully on form with the incredible writing, clever banter, complicated and well developed characters, I didn’t get on super well with Ripley. I struggled with him not really explaining or apologizing for the things he says and does, and I got so dang invested in the story and the characters that it made me super emotional, and one of those emotions was anger, lol. Barbara has a tendency to get me all riled up in one way or another. Ripley is complicated and carrying so much hurt from a neglectful childhood and losing two people he loved. Saying he has rough edges is probably an understatement.

Fen is an amazing, incredibly strong character. He is dealing with a lot, including a life limiting illness (shorter lifespan - muscular dystrophy), and while this obviously has impacted his life massively, he mostly has a great outlook on things. He’s got moments where it’s all a bit much, but mostly he’s strong enough to keep himself going, be supportive for his lovely mom, and notably caring for Ripley and making sure they got a chance at a HEA when Ripley couldn’t/didn’t.

Again, beautiful story and Barbara doesn’t miss with the writing, but man did I want to smack Ripley a few times (sometimes with a pillow, other times with a chair).

I think maybe the blurb or content warnings for the book should have been clearer about the seriousness of Fen’s health and future. The book has a beautiful HEA, but the entire situation is way more serious than was implied, and I struggled with reading about (which feels awful to say when others live with it).

I really did love it.

⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Disability rep
Size difference
British setting
Lawyer MC
Socioeconomic differences
Barrister MC
Love after loss

⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Explicit sexual content
Life-limiting illness/genetic disorder (MC- Becker Muscular Dystrophy)
Mentions of unnamed character from MC’s past court case being raped (off page, no details, past)
Death of a parent (past, violent, some details)
Ableism (unnamed characters)
Emotional neglect by parent (past and present)
MC1 manipulating MC2 with money
MC wrongfully accused of stealing
Socioeconomic differences
Power imbalance
Alcohol consumption (a lot of casual drinking)
MC’s boyfriend committed suicide (past, some details)
Suicide note read on page

Prequel novella: Taking a risk
Explicit sexual content
Sexual harassment - verbal and grabby hands (not from MCs)
Brief mention of SC vomiting

⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No
Other person drama: No. Fen is set up on a date with random dude but isn’t at all interested in him.
Breakup: Sort of, briefly
POV: 3rd person, dual
Genre: Contemporary romance
Pairing: M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Strict roles
Main characters’ age: 24 and ‘late 30s’
Series: Standalone
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Pages: 400


Ripley had texted Hi. I can’t sleep.
Fen had replied I can. Goodnight.
That had made Ripley laugh more than it should have. As had Fen’s text How do you keep an idiot in suspense?
Ripley had replied I don’t know. How?
He tapped in How? again when Fen didn’t reply. Then Hello? And finally Oh, damn it. Fen sent back a GIF of a smiling dog.

Why couldn’t Ripley have wanted him because Fen made his heart beat fast, because kissing him made his toes curl, because he desperately wanted to wake up and see Fen lying next to him?

“So when do I get to meet your friend?Maybe never. “Be careful, Fen.” “I will. Love you lots. Bye.” He ended the call before she said something about condoms. It had been known.



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