this author has a weird definition of slow burn: the characters can't have sex bc age gap and omg he's my old friend's son, but fall in love in less than three days as if they didn't live the last ten years far away from each other (one of them being literally a child when his family moved out). and why be loyal to a "friend" who forgot you existed for a whole decade? I guess McCade's priority was to fill the 600 pages with miscommunication and farm work descriptions (which I skipped when I realized they didn't bring anything to the story), instead of plot and relationship development.

Luca and his effect on gentle giant Imre was also unconvincing: I can't fathom how he managed to draw the interest of a demisexual person with the double of his age when he acted like a child or an ungrateful teenager most of the time. don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have started this book if I didn't like age gap romance, but it made me realize what I actually like about this trope: two adults who complement each other falling in love despite their age difference that only contributes to the pinning and their fulfilling relationship. McCade didn't accomplish that here.

however, gentle giant characters are always appealing to me, and there were other great tropes in the story, like bed sharing and hurt/comfort. on top of that, this book helped me stay afloat this last week when I really needed to take my mind elsewhere, so I'm not even rating it.