Book safety, tropes and tags down below.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. Isaac and Chase became friends slowly through strange circumstances, and even though the attraction was there on both sides all along, their friendship and eventual relationship evolved slowly in a way that felt natural. I've been reading a lot of obsessive instalove type books lately, so in that way it was a breath of fresh air. Both main characters are flawed enough to keep it interesting with a little tension at times. I wouldn't call it angsty, but it's not 100% angst free either, not in the relationship and not with everything external happening around these men.

One of the main sources of tension and pain comes from the situation with Lily, Isaac's mom. She has dementia, and it was quite heartbreaking to read about those instances when she was confused or didn't recognize her son. Isaac feels a lot of responsibility and wants to take care of her himself.

"Chase and Isaac hang back and watch Lily flitter around the kitchen in a rare show of clarity. While she works, Chase turns to look at Isaac, and an overwhelming desire to hug him overtakes Chase. Isaac looks like he's about to cry."

During one of the sex scenes, Isaac opens a condom halfway before lubing up his hands (and his boyfriend), and comments on the difficulty of opening a condom, which I appreciated a whole lot. I even had to message a friend and tell her about it, because even after hundreds of books with both condoms and lube involved, this is the first time I've seen someone mention how goddamned difficult opening those foils are, lmao. Applause to the authors for including that. It gave me joy.

I found the friendships that formed between both MCs family and friends incredibly wholesome and it brought something extra to the book. There were also a few humorous moments that brought a few smiles and giggles, which I appreciated. It's not an overly sad book, but it deals with a lot of heavy subjects. And of course I cried, but if you can point out the last book that didn't make me cry, I'll give you a million dollars, lol.

"Chase isn't prone to road rage, but more than once, he fantasizes about pulling over the assholes and aggressively reviewing traffic laws with them."
Such a politely raging canadian boy, lol.

There is one thing I felt was missing, and that was Isaac telling Chase about his ex fiancé. Their relationship ending definitely affected Isaac's behavior and insecurities, and was worth mentioning, if not exploring further, as it most definitely played a part in some of the MCs relationship troubles.

Book safety

Spoiler

Cheating: No
OM drama: No
Third-act breakup: Yes
POV: 3rd person, dual
Strict top/bottom or vers: Versatile

TW/CW

Spoiler

Parent with dementia, mentions of drunk driving accident killing parent, side character heart attack, explicit sexual content

Tropes & tags

Spoiler

Age gap (12 years, I think?), sick parent, interracial relationship, librarian (with nerd glasses), strangers-to-friends-to-lovers