Henri’s list of bad exes is as long as his arm, but nothing prepared him for his latest, heart-stomping breakup. He thought he couldn’t feel more abandoned, until his ride for a group camping trip bails, leaving him stuck driving for hours with a guy who is absolutely not his type.

Though the steam between them is thicker than coastal fog, Henri’s not sure he can let himself fall for another man. Not even the guy who finally treats him right.

Logan had been in a relationship with his ex-girlfriend for 5 years. He finally decided that the heartache he was causing both her and himself wasn’t worth it and admitted to them both that he was gay. He’s only 20 so can’t cruise bars for me so he’s not even made a move on a man. He finally decides to ask his co-worker, Tomas, out on a date but Tomas has a boyfriend. Logan is embarrassed but Tomas is easy-going and invites him to a queer camping weekend and mentions that his boyfriend’s friend Henri will be going as well.

Henri is a guy who’s made bad boyfriend choices most of his life. His last boyfriend took the cake though when he cheated on him and then told him he may have given Henri HSV2. Henri’s horrified but immediately goes to get checked out. He’s told his initial tests are negative but he needs to get checked out again in 3-6 weeks. He’s been looking forward to the camping trip but knows he can’t hook up with anyone because of the possibility of being found positive eventually.

Logan meets Henri in the parking lot at Walmart when they go shopping. Henri thought he’d be riding with his friend Michael, who he’d been staying with since he moved out of his boyfriend’s apartment, so he’s not thrilled when he finds out he’s riding with Logan. He’s kind of mean and frankly incredibly condescending to Logan but Logan tries to make the best of it. Despite Henri’s attitude Logan is hot for the guy.

When they arrive at the campground they find that there’s only one tent left so Logan and Henri have to share. Henri’s not thrilled but finds after some time spent with Logan that’s not a bad guy. Henri goes rafting with Logan and they have a great time. They get along better and better and soon wanting each other in a big way. Unfortunately with Henri’s predicament they can’t go far. Henri is upfront about it all, however, and Logan likes Henri so much that he’s willing to work with him. The big question comes when the weekend is over and they have to decide whether they like each other enough to continue and work on building a relationship or if they call it quits and move on.

I have to admit that I wasn’t thrilled when I first started reading this book. Henri just seemed like a piece of work that I wanted nothing to do with. He seemed high maintenance and too needy. He was full of himself and the way he acted toward Logan when he first met him, without knowing a thing about him, really rubbed me the wrong way. I was quite happy when Henri stopped being so full of himself and decided to try to be a nice person.

Logan was a sweetheart from minute one. He had been so confused about his sexuality but was now certain of what he wanted and was willing to admit it to himself. He did have a little bit of an anger problem at times but for the most part he was completely easy-going and laid back. I loved that he brought out the best in Henri and didn’t take Henri’s shit for long. Together they were a very cute couple.

I did have a problem with the speed of the romance. Because of the hooking up during the camping trip I found that I wanted more emotional involvement. Once they get back from the camping trip there’s just a short scene before it skips to three weeks later. I wanted so badly to know what had happened during those three weeks as it would have solidified in my mind that the relationship was a good one. As much as I liked the two men together I think I needed to see that to believe that they were a couple that would stay together in the long run.

Overall a good story that’s both sweet and sexy.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Daisy Harris 

When an accident burns down Jesse’s apartment, he’s left broke and homeless, with a giant dog and a college schedule he can’t afford to maintain. And no family who’s willing to take him in.

Their passion enflames their bodies but threatens to crush Tomas’s family. Tomas is willing to fight for Jesse, but after losing everything, Jesse isn’t sure he can bear to risk his one remaining possession—his heart.

Jesse is devastated when he comes home one afternoon and finds his building on fire. Yeah, that’s what he gets for renting from a couple who have a meth lab in their basement. Firefighter Tomas Perez is there to help him at the scene and starts to feel an attachment to Jesse even though he doesn’t know him from Adam. He wanders with him after the fire and eventually realizes that Jess isn’t planning on calling anyone to help him. Tomas offers him the couch in his small house and Jesse takes him up on it.

Jesse moved out of his parents house just 2 months prior after having saved up money to go to school and live. Now it’s all gone and he’s not sure what he’s gonna do. He likes Tomas but he’s a bit confused as to why the guy wants him around. Jesse is hot for Tomas, and at times Tomas seems to feel the same but while Jesse is enjoying being out and proud Tomas is in the closet and has some issues with the gay part of his life.

Soon the two are practically inseparable but Tomas’s family doesn’t know he’s gay – or so Tomas thinks – and then there are the guys from the fire station. Tomas refuses to come out to even his homophobic brother, Diego, and this causes strife between Tomas and Jesse. Jesse’s just not sure he wants to continue a relationship where he has to hide all the time.

A different kind of story where the two hero’s are thrown together almost immediately. Tomas really wants to be with Jesse but he has some deep seeded issues about two men being together and what part of sex constitutes love and which part constitutes just plain sleaziness. He’s had blow jobs from guys in back alleys but those weren’t men he’d loved and having Jesse do that seems wrong. The problem was that Tomas couldn’t just come out and tell him that as he was just trying to find his way. Unfortunately things like that never stay a secret and when it comes out it causes friction between the two men. Tomas’s refusal to come out to even his brother was another cog in the wheel of their relationship that was broken and at one point we didn’t know if it could be fixed.

Jesse was a character that I’m not sure I knew all that well by the end of the book. I liked him a lot and I liked him with Tomas but it seemed that he wasn’t satisfied with his place in life with Tomas and that confused me. One minute he would seem content and then in another he would be acting uncertain with people about his place. This is book 1 in a new series and hopefully we’ll get to read more about Tomas and Jesse and their life and how it’s going in subsequent books.

Rating: 4 out of 5 
 
Daisy Harris