Eli Easton Reads

A very well-written book by Sue Brown. Everything about this was well-done, realistic, and deeper than your typical m/m romance. I enjoyed the set-up with a gay man, Andrew, living in a marriage for the sake of his child and his mother. His wife knows he's gay and they live in different parts of the house. He meets the new neighbor, Nathan, who is young, newlywed, and dewy-eyed. Nathan and Andrew feel an immediate attraction, despite Nathan being straight.

I loved the early development of Andrew and Nathan's relationship and did not mind the cheating on the wives (well, Nathan does, at least, because Andrew's wife knows he sleeps with men). Honestly, marriage is not a panacea and sometimes two people are just not meant to be together so that did not bug me. However, Andrew and Nathan then end up separated for quite some time. There is no resolution of the primary relationship til the very end after much angst. Specifically...

While I didn't mind Nathan cheating on his wife (because he was not in love with her at that point), I did lose a little interest when Andrew got involved with another man, Rich, and then married him. I'm very protective of my primary relationships in a romance novel and the fact that Andrew got so involved with another man after he and Nathan fell in love just put me off a bit. It was realistic, absolutely, and I understood both character's motivations and even the important role Rich played in the story. It was just hard to take and I'm not a fan of drawn-out angst.

Basically, this is an excellent book that objectively deserves 5 stars. But it was angstier than I prefer in my romance so for me it was a 4. Highly recommended though, and I'm very glad I read it.