Safety info, content warnings and tropes down below.

This was completely okay. I don’t think this author’s writing works for me as I haven’t had much luck with their books, but that’s mostly just a me-thing.

I didn’t really feel any connection between these guys, which is where most of my issues with it stem from. It felt like Joe was a convenient hookup who could help Sylvester with his new business venture. I could (eventually) feel something more than lust from Joe towards Sylvester, but that didn’t happen the other way around, sadly.

The middle parts where this emotional connection should’ve been established was quite rushed, and the sex scenes weren’t great, so it didn’t happen there either.

I did enjoy the last quarter (ish) though, when there was some action and danger going on.

I was surprised by the amount of homophobia in this novella. I’ve read a lot of queer-normative books or just stories where there generally isn’t a lot of it lately, so I was surprised. Which is fine. The f slur wasn’t, tho. There’s so many ways to imply that it’s used. A book written in 2025 by anyone other than a gay man doesn’t need the f slur. I know many don’t care about that, though, so, whatever.

Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & content tags ⚠️
Hookup to more
Cowboy
City boy
Men in their 40s
Small town
Financial differences
Opposites attract
Novella

⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Reckless driving after drinking
Alcohol consumption
Mention of homophobic family (past, disowned)
Explicit sexual content
On-page homphobia and general bigotry
Mention of past pet loss
Power imbalance
Mention of death of parent (past)
Some details of addict parent — gambling and alcohol (past)
Homophobic slur
Hate crime (vandalism, arson)
Gun violence
Abuse of power (police)

⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No
Other person drama: No
Breakup: No
POV: 1st person, dual
Genre: Contemporary romance
Pairing: M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Strict roles
Main characters’ age: 40 and 44
Series: Standalone
Kindle Unlimited: No
Pages: 130
Happy ending: Yes


I only highlighted three things and they were all making fun of weird sex scene writing, so no quotes, lol