~~ Elsbeth ❤❤❤ MM-Romance ~~

Somehow this is a difficult review to do. This could’ve been a solid 5 star review hadn’t some things really bugging me.

I expected to be devastated by reading about Derek’s on-page-rape. Yes, it was horrendous en it was devastating to read about what it did to Derek’s self confidence. But his emotionally down fall because of it really was heartbreaking.

His career was over. His relationship with Tim was crumbling. He had a mortgage on the cabin and no income. He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t stand the thought of sex. His entire life was falling apart. Victor had won.

He’d destroyed Derek as utterly as if he’d put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

So I was very involved in Derek’s story. I’m usually a big fan of changing POVs but the POV of Russ in the first half of the book, I didn’t like at all. I wasn’t interested in Russ’s story where he was hooking up with guys, trying to find love. It felt off besides Derek’s pain…
Not until Derek and Russ came together, that I was enjoying Russ’s POV more. I loved how he put his own needs after Derek’s needs. Russ was amazing!

I also loved how Fessenden made this so real. No Disney-like HEA and kept it real.

Derek would never be “over” what Victor had done to him. He would never forget it. It would never go away. It would always influence his feelings about sex, about men, about friends. But he and Derek could still built a life together. They could still love each other. Russ just needed to let Derek heal in his own way, over the rest of his life.