Review: Sweet story about two men who finally get their happy ending
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 23, 2012
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.Rating: 7/10PROS:- Kovalin makes it interesting right from the get-go. Along with a strongly established physical attraction between the two men (which didn't feel forced to me because of the characters' history together), there are also numerous references to some vague occurrence "in Texas." After about the third mention, I REALLY wanted to know what the heck had happened in Texas. So I was hooked.- I loved that Alejo is so quiet and restrained. Not that I mind reading about characters who are totally open about their sexual desires, but it's nice to encounter characters who are a little on the shy side now and then, too. "You're so hot for me...It's nice," he says at one point, and Bobby's responding thought is, "For [Alejo], that passed for raunchy sex talk."- It may be because the story spans such a long time, or it may be simply because Alejo and Bobby's connection is so strongly established, but I was convinced by the end of the book that these two guys couldn't possibly be 100% happy without each other. Sometimes I read stories in which I like the two guys together, but I'm not convinced that they're MEANT to be together. Not so in this story: these two struck me as soul mates.CONS:- Much of the story is told in flashbacks that provide background information that is necessary to understand Alejo and Bobby's complicated relationship. They're not badly written, but I think the flashbacks could have been woven into the story a bit more smoothly.- I found the story to be a little too angsty for my taste. Most of the flashbacks--as well as some of the scenes that occur in the present--relate heartbreaking scenes in which the two men are like ships passing in the night: desperately in love with each other but kept apart by a variety of external circumstances.- The transition from "Alejo's worried about coming out to everyone and admitting he's in love with Bobby" to "Alejo's asking Bobby to move in with him" struck me as rather sudden.I also thought the ending was a little abrupt. It's not a bad ending by any means; it's just that I'm not sure I liked the specific scene the book ends on. I thought that particular part of the story could have been told a little earlier, and the final scene could have been something different.Overall comments: This is the third story I've read by this author, and she's growing on me. I'm not sure whether she's improving measurably with each book or whether I'm simply growing fond of her writing style, but I thought this was a sweet story despite the angsty moments. Good characterization, men who have faults rather than being perfect, and sex scenes that are tender and passionate.