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Blurb
Aaron Costa’s summer was all planned. Despite having to remodel the family lake house, it would be a vacation of sorts, and he had every intention of enjoying it – until the friend who was supposed to help him got injured and left him in a lurch. He decides to take the opportunity to bond with his son and hires Julian and his roommate, Malachi, to assist.
As a broke college student, Malachi could use the money, and spending the summer with Aaron for eye candy sounds like a dream. “Look but don’t touch” becomes his motto. But when Julian starts flaking on his responsibilities and Malachi and Aaron are forced to spend long hours alone together, their mutual attraction is impossible to resist.
Aaron can’t fight the temptation sexy Malachi presents. But more than their age difference stands in their way, not the least of which is Aaron’s semi-closeted status and the fact that he’s never openly discussed his sexuality with his son. He has no idea how Julian will react when he learns his father is not only gay, he’s also dating his best friend.
Review
This is a pretty straight forward May/December story. Aaron is a contractor, fixing up his own house with the help of his son Julian and Julian’s friend, Malachi. Aaron got his high school girlfriend pregnant, so though there is a considerable age gap (16 years), it isn’t too large to overcome. At this point everyone is over 21 and well over the age of consent.
It becomes evident early on that Mal finds Aaron attractive, but Aaron tries to do “the right thing” and abstain. Temptation gets to be too much and a lot of very hot, hot sex ensues.
Meanwhile, Julian acts like an ass, discovers Aaron and Mal’s secret and Aaron breaks up with Mal for the sake of doing “the right thing”, again.
But… Aaron reconsiders and tracks down Mal and a very satisfying HFN/HEA is what we are left with.
**
I really liked the characters, Malachi especially. He was brave and hot and temptation on a stick. Aaron was a little less likable, mostly because I didn’t like how he let his son get away with acting like a douche so much of the time.
The sap in me wanted the story to end on more secure footing, we never really got to see them as an “out” couple, and it’s hard to judge the success of a relationship based on the hotness of the sex, but I got the impression that things looked optimistic for Mal and Aaron to make things work long term. Since this is the first in a series maybe (hopefully!) we will see more of them over time.
Audio:
Paul Morey does a great “growly” voice and he is a perfect choice for Aaron. I always enjoy his narrations and thought that listening to this was even better than reading the book.
Writing/Editing 5
Romance 4
Sex/Heat 5
Storyline 4
World Building/Characterizations 5
Audio 5
Overall 4.7 of 5 hearts!
