lilysreviews

Book Blurb: After an accident left him broken in body and spirit, Charlie Howard retired from the police force to teach at a community college. Life has taught him that he’s unlikely to get what he wants, so he’s stopped asking. Instead, he hides from the world in the apartment complex he manages. After all, no one can leave him if he doesn’t let anyone in.

Will, a sexy, classic-film-loving twink, moves into the apartment across from him and—to Charlie’s surprise—makes it clear that he’d like nothing more than to hole up with Charlie and get kinky. Will has no problem expressing what he wants in bed or out of it, but he’s never dated anyone long-term, and Charlie isn’t sure Will’s ready for anything serious.

Charlie is a serious kind of guy. He wants Will and everything a relationship could mean, even if he doesn’t have any experience in that scene—even if that makes him vulnerable. As they grow closer, Charlie realizes that it’s time to start asking for what he wants, and if he wants to be happy, he’ll have to risk everything and ask Will to stay.

Review:  While I generally liked the characters in the story, and Charlie is generally one of my favorite types of characters, there was something about the story that made it a little tedious and a bit of a chore to finish.

For me, it stems from my perception of the story seeming like a long string of misunderstandings and miscommunications that made it sound like a slightly sour note rather than a melodious one.

I did like the characters, where they were coming from, and where they might be going to, but the rest of it left me feeling a little wanting.

Other readers might certainly have different reactions from mine and I would read more of R. Cooper's works in the future as this just might have been this work at the particular time I read it that accounted for my reaction.

(Review copy courtesy of Netgalley.  Image and book blurb found on Amazon.com, (c) Dreamspinner Press.)