Review: Totally worth it
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 23, 2014
This was just simply a feel-good, well written romance about 2 long time friends who move into a romantic relationship.I'm glad I gave it a chance since I was put off by the premise of the book: a hetero divorced man suddenly develops romantic feelings for his  long time male friend & business partner who is married & has 2 kids. It sounded like a mess to me & I dont like infidelity in any relationship. I was afraid that the wife was going to be a one dimensional bad guy in the book. It's also difficult sometimes to write kids into a story without being overly precious or dumb or too young/too old for their ages etc etc. So yeah, I had some reservations about the book going in but I'm glad to say that Eli did a wonderful job on all counts.The MCs were genuine, suitably angsty, & sexy. The wife was hell on wheels but she evolved over the course of the story, & there was enough background info peeking into her motivations that made her a real person, not some cardboard cutout of a villain. The kids were also well written, just adorable & sincere enough to make the fight for them worth it & believable (not that a parent wouldnt fight for their kids in a divorce, but the stakes seemed that much higher because of the genuine likeability of the kids). Daniel's dad, Frank, was also a nicely wrought character, and it was great to see former MCs in book 1 make an appearance in this one. The 1st appt Daniel had w/ Dr Jack Halloran had me laughing. I loved how he embraced his newly discovered sexuality. It was refreshing.Both Daniel & Nick were so likeable (a very important aspect to any book I like). I dont always have to love a character from beginning to end, but I definitely want to end up feeling like I'm leaving friends by the time I finish a book. I felt this way with these 2 guys & all of the supporting characters in this book. Daniel was single minded in his pursuit of Nick, but not ruthlessly so. His sexual discovery was fun but his earnestness & loyalty were amazing. Nick had a lot of baggage, a lot more to lose, & was incredibly unhappy. It was nice to see him rediscover his secret longings & know that he really did deserve to be happy, & it was not at-all-selfish-costs. Daniel was a fantastic take-charge guy which was sexy as hell. The guys were like 2 puzzles that fit together & there was just enough awkwardness & heat to make you root for them.I really like Eli's writing style, her turn of phrase, & characterization. I feel like I came along for the ride, not manipulated. I will definitely continue to read Eli's stories & look forward to more in this series in particular.I highly recommend both books in the series (to date).