Review: The Cost of Loving
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 2, 2014
This picks off right after When Love Is Not Enough (Unconditional Love, #1) and Matt and Darian are still trying to deal with their grief and make sense of their feelings for each other. It was not an easy read, but was well worth it.When Darian goes back to stay with Jamie's father Dan, things begin to spiral out of control once again. Dan becomes very controlling and keeps Darian from seeing Matt. Eventually Darian falls back on his destructive behaviors in order to cope with his grief.Matt is dealing with the repercussions of coming out in front of his family and church in their very conservative, christian community, as well as trying to come to terms with the information he learned from reading Jamie's journals. Matt's faith is strong, but there are many who try to use that same faith against him and his family. He is also trying to deal with Dan's attitude towards him and Darian, as well as his family's reaction to his confession. While religion plays a strong part in the book, something I am not always a fan of, I thought it was incorporated well into the story. I also appreciated the way Wade Kelly wrote Matt's family. They are deeply religious and all have their own ways of reacting to Matt from outright support and acceptance to hostility and disgust. While his father was not a supporter of Matt's lifestyle, he was always honest and open.This was really Matt's story and he continued to grow and become Darian's biggest supporter during his darkest times. Although it was a difficult road, there is a happy and hopeful ending to this story.