Publisher: Forever Yours (September 3, 2019)
Series: Arden St. Ives, 3
Genre: Contemporary Romance (Queer, M/M)
1st POV
If you love someone, set them free...
I thought I'd be okay when Caspian Hart left. He was a brilliant, beautiful billionaire with a past he couldn't escape. And I was ... just me: an ordinary man lost in his own life. It would never have lasted. It should never have happened. Not outside a fairytale.
And I am okay. I've got my job, my family, my friends, and everything Caspian taught me. Except it turns out he's going to marry his ex-boyfriend. A man who doesn't understand him. A man who almost broke him. And I've finally realized it's not enough for me to be happy. I need Caspian to be happy too.
Problem is, I've already done all I can to help him. I've followed his rules and broken his rules and learned his secrets. And he still won't believe I can love him. So now it's his turn. His turn to fight, and trust, and hope. It's time for Caspian Hart to choose me.
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Melinda's Review:
I have such complicated feelings about this book! Thanks to @stargirlriots at Love in Panels who helped me talk through my feelings on this one. My feelings are hard to talk about without spoilers so read this knowing you’re going to get spoilers just FYI.
I love this author's writing - it's beautiful and funny and this book is no different. And for that reason I did love parts of this so much. This book felt very much like a very long 2.5 in a series as Caspian and Arden spend much of the book apart - with Arden having sex with other people and Caspian in another relationship. I knew they were going to be apart going into it but didn't expect it to last quite so long. Caspian is engaged to Nathaniel and I didn't love the way the book or Caspian treated Nathaniel. Arden is the only one who seems to realize he’s a human being, and arguable Arden is the only one who has a reason to treat him in a crappy way. I never felt like Nathaniel ever got resolution really which seemed off to me.
But Arden’s side relationship with George was one that I enjoyed as it was simply a friends with benefits that had chemistry. However mostly I really disliked the throwaway suicide jokes Arden makes early in the book multiple times. I felt these could easily be removed from the book without issue and have no impact to the plot, character, or really anything. It surprised me from this author.
Arden choosing to do cocaine with Ellery part way through and it felt very much out of character for him. I don’t have issues with drug use in books, and he’s done other drugs in the books but he seemed really uncertain about it. This impacts his relationship with Ellery because he tries to kiss her – but in all honesty I was really confused on why it impacted the relationship so much because he immediately stopped and apologized and realized how screwed up this was. She leaves and doesn’t come back for most of the book…and I couldn’t quite figure out why? They talk about how their relationship isn’t about Caspian but I also didn’t understand why a kiss would mean it was.
Honestly this book felt almost like mainstream fiction as the romantic relationship was almost secondary. Arden’s emotional journey was the main point of the book – and since I was here for him I was semi okay with that? Caspian and Arden’s relationship was maybe 15% of the book, if that. Most of it was Arden healing, growing, and recovering from everything that’s happened previously or helping Caspian with his own issues.
There is a beautiful epilogue I loved that gave the series great closure but it felt so short after the whole book of the couple being apart. I’ll be waiting for Alexis Hall’s next book, but this one left me a bit wary.
3 STARS!
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Source: eARC
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Thanks for the review, Melinda!
Enjoy!
Until Next Time,
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