Review: 4.5 stars. If you like re-united lovers, go read it
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 24, 2012
4.5 stars.I adore the re-united lovers theme, especially if their parting was dramatic. I like to see the awkward moments of the re-union and how the protagonists find the things that brought them together again and overcome their past. The story begins a little after that, and then it develops alternating flashbacks of the most important moments since when Alejo and Bobby first met and it goes forward, while the two men have to decide if they really want to be together during a stressful week full of events concerning Alejo's family.Bobby seems to have the role of the pursuer: he is the one who has never hidden his sexuality, he has showed his love for Alejo to the point of looking pathetic, he accepts the reticence and the priorities of Alejo. Alejo is stuck in his role of family man. He knows Bobby is his ticket to happiness, he regrets what brought them apart, but whenever Carlos, one of his twins, has a personal crisis, Alejo is there, putting his own family first.For a long time I was a bit mad at Alejo, because I didn't think he really deserved Bobby's devotion, and I really think he mistreated his friend, but Bobby didn't do everything right either before they parted (badly) the first time, because he tried to win Alejo with a lie and he was so possessive of Alejo that he didn't even realize how Alejo was hurting for his father's illness. So while Bobby is a sort of open book, because he doesn't seek to please, Alejo keeps his feelings guarded, because there are so many people he doesn't want to disappoint.There are a couple of things that were done perfectly in my opinion:***spoilers***1. when Carlos tells his father how desperate he feels for his crush, Hunter, because she doesn't seem to reciprocate Carlos' feelings, he speaks the emotions Bobby must have felt for Alejo when they broke apart 20 years before; I think Alejo had an idea about it, but you can see how the words impact on him, the epiphany;2. the ending is a flashback of when Alejo and Bobby's first sex contact. It's here that we can see Alejo's true feelings, how they're good for each other, how perfect they were when life hadn't interfered yet, but we know that they're ready now for all this again, that Alejo can finally admit his true feelings to everyone.***end spoilers***It took me a little while to really get into the book, because flashbacks usually take me out of the story, but the sections in the present and the sections of flashbacks follow a sort of rhythm, so I got used to them. I also think the twins were cut into characters that were a bit stereotypical in their differences. On the other hand, I think Bobby's family was depicted with incredible vitality and the character of Isidro was fascinating in his complexity.The writing was effective, I liked how sometimes it zeroed in on details, especially during the sex scenes (the first one was very hot, by the way, but jock straps are my weakness).If you like re-united lovers, this is a very good and recommended story!