Review: 5 stars = I freaking LOVED this book
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 19, 2014
I have never read any of Ms. Collins’s books before, so I am not sure if Let Love Live is indicative of her normal style of writing or not. By this I mean, I don’t know if she typically treats readers to two stories or not because that is exactly what I feel I was lucky enough to read. The first part of the book chronicles Dylan and Shane’s life as high school seniors and college freshmen. Just in case young adulthood is not enough to deal with on its own, these young men have to deal with the realization that Dylan is gay and it causes a huge rift in their friendship, causing Shane to ignore him for months. The first part of the book titled “Before” is told from the point of view of both Dylan and Shane and to say it is heartbreaking doesn’t do it justice. I couldn’t help but feel so strongly for both of these characters as their story unfolded to an end I saw coming long before I got there, but still made me bawl like a baby.The second part of the story, entitled “After,” begins eight years later and chronicles Dylan’s life as he meets and falls in love with Conner - something he fights against for far too long. I will admit that Conner is the main reason I wanted to read this book. The idea of a gay MMA fighter is hot - seriously, all of that testosterone and muscle just makes me weak in the knees. But Conner endeared himself to me almost instantly. He has a wicked sense of humor that appeals to me and had me laughing out loud several times. I’m not one to quote lines from books much, but Conner left me no choice. One of my favorite lines from the book is actually one of his internal thoughts: It’s a good thing I’m not wearing workout shorts because nothing screams “I’m a professional” like sporting wood at the front desk of your own gym. Seriously, how can you not love this character? As both men come with baggage, their relationship is by no means smooth sailing and they have a lot of obstacles they have to deal with to make it work. However, passion is NOT one of those obstacles. Good grief the sex scenes were H.O.T. hot! There is just something about visualizing all of that muscled flesh … whew!!Ms. Collins gives fans of M/M romances not one, but two beautiful stories. As Dylan is a main character in both of them, we know the first doesn’t have a happy ending, but it is beautiful nonetheless. I love this book and look forward to reading it again. I just know to have my tissues handy because even though I know what to expect, I know I will cry again. For me, one sign of an excellent piece of writing is one in which the author can still make me cry even when I know it’s coming - it is the journey, not the destination that makes a book enjoyable for me and Ms. Collins took me on two beautiful journeys in Let Love Live.I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!