When Felice Stevens decides to toss in the angst, she doesn't do it with a shovel. Rather, she mounts the back hoe and just dumps it all over her MCs and leaves them under a pile of dirt and rubbish that needs more than a couple of friends to clean up the mess.
Such is the case with Benny Demarco and Gino Acosta, two lower middle class late 20's from Brooklyn who work at the gym owned by Jeremy Strauss of "Perfect," one of the three books in Stevens' Soulmates series. In that one Jeremy was pushing these two together but without much success.
The reasons are fully explored in the opening chapters of this one--mostly because both Benny, who is the operations manager of the gym, and Gino (on the cover), the stunning model-in-training and all around customer service guy at the gym, have identical trust issues as well as very similar personal family histories of abuse and neglect. The back and forth between these two is shaped in the first two POV chapters where they admit to the reader that the other one is the crush of his life.
After that we are on a sometimes gut-wrenching but eventually smoldering and then scorching issues-plagued romance that brings in Benny's friend, the ex-con Justin and his lover Foster from the first book in the series . Eventually we also renew acquaintance with Asher Devin from "A Walk Through Fire" from her To Hell & Back series aa well as Oren Leavitt from "One Call Away" in the Soulmates series.
This is a brilliant way of bringing in a wide cross section of gay men from all walks of life and social and economic backgrounds to deal with two young men who are absolutely perfectly drawn for who they are supposed to be and where they come from.
Trust me on this--I'm from the outer boroughs and know Manhattan like the back of my hand and am constantly astounded at how Ms. Stevens gets everything right about New York City and its opportunities, drawbacks, prides and prejudices. In the end this is what makes this book work, and when it takes off, there's no turning back.
I think everyone who reads this one will know which characters may get their own book in the future, but until then this one is another jewel in the increasingly heavy crown of virtual perfection that sits on Ms. Stevens' head.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card
Next 2 for you in this series
See full series
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2019
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2020
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2019
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2019
Top reviews from other countries
Fiona
Emotional tale of love overcoming fear
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 27, 2019
Kindle Customer
Finding the true me
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 15, 2019