Two very different men have a chance at happiness, but only if they can let go of their painful pasts and allow love to take precedence.
After spending his teens and twenties raising his son, James Maron is now dating Gabriel Juarez, the wealthy and sophisticated CFO of the TechPrim technology empire. But after a life of proudly holding his head above the poverty line with the ethos of work, priorities, responsibility, and thrift, he is not looking for a Sugar Daddy, he does not need to be rescued, and Gabe’s wealth is as terrifying as feeling love for the first time.
Gabe has never been good at balancing his high pressure job with his relationships. Money usually clears most of the bumps, and when a boyfriend walks away, Gabe figures it’s for a good reason. But James isn’t like other boyfriends. He doesn’t want Gabe’s money for one, and if Gabe wants to keep his relationship together he will have to finally face the ghosts of his own past and reconsider his priorities.
Gabe carefully rubbed his shoulder. He had never been a masochist, a little hair pulling aside, but sweet, mild-mannered James sinking in his teeth like that had taken him to a whole special place. Knowing that he would be walking around with evidence of James on his body for at least a week was going to be very distracting. Not that he minded. Other boyfriends had tried marking him in the past, like they were claiming territory. Those boyfriends got tossed out of bed. Not James, though. He wasn’t “other boyfriends.”
James hummed and opened his eyes. “What are you thinking about?” he half mumbled.
“Not much, just a bit of free-form thought flow.”
“Don’t believe you.”
“Thinking about how sexy you are when you let yourself let go.”
James lowered his eyes. “What else are you thinking about? It can’t all be about me.”
“Thinking about work, a little. Thinking about all the things I’m going to need to do to get the ball rolling on certain plans. Thinking about this place I know in New York that makes amazing donuts.”
“That’s a lot of thoughts.”
Gabe ran his fingers through James’s hair. James pressed into his hand as if he was about to start purring. Gabe did have a lot of thoughts, and too many were swimming around alone, unvoiced, and disconnected.
James and Gabriel’s story continues in Bowerbirds.
We find them at a stage where the novelty has started to wear off and things are starting to get serious. It is also the stage where doubts start to arise.
I was so anxious to read this book since the first volume ended with what might be considered a little bit of a cliffhanger. I was dying to find out what happens next and I have to admit that I liked Empty Nests better.
It wasn’t badly written or something like that but there were things that I didn’t like very much, such as James’ childish behavior.
In a way, I totally understood his reasoning. When you’ve had no one to lean on your entire life, it’s perfectly normal to be a little bit skeptical and to have a difficult time accepting the fact that when someone gives you something is not always out of pity.
On the other side, him dropping the towel whenever things get a little bit strained between him a Gabriel got on my nerves. For someone who claims to be mature and responsible he behaves just like a moody teenager.
Another reason I couldn’t really get into this story is the fact that the connection between them this time around seems forced and the story, in my opinion, was rushed.
But this is just my opinion and I don’t regret reading this novel. You should definitely give it and Empty Nests a chance.
There were tender moments, funny ones and even some that made my chest constrict and I have every intention to re-read this series sometime in the future.
I recommend.
ADA MARIA SOTO is a born and raised Californian Mexican-American currently living as an expat in the South Pacific with her toddler and partner.
She has studied and worked in theater, film, and television with all the usual crummy side jobs of a struggling artist. She has dysgraphia and phonological dyslexia but refuses to let that slow down her writing.
She is a sports fan dedicated to the Oakland A’s, San Jose Sharks, Auckland Blues, USA Eagles, New Zealand All Blacks, New Zealand Black Caps, and the Chennai Super Kings.
She loves to hear from her fans, or really anyone who has read her work.
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