Sierra Riley

Terrific feel good romance.

Shane was a tough character to get to like, but the dynamic between him and Aaron works, rocky as it is. I liked the themes, and how visceral Shane's flashes of PTSD were. The disorder is no joke and hell to live with. Riley made it feel like hell. The solutions were hard-fought, and earned. I left off a star because the father-daughter subplot felt shallow to me when it is a key element. But that's my only quibble.

This is a tale of two guys who teach each other how to be honest, each with himself, before they can be sincere with each other. I found each of them compelling on their own, and the dynamics together, opposed or not, even better. I found it an emotional read, and believable, and so I recommend it. All the stars.

It is an art form, to create two disparate characters and then bring them gradually into close orbit in a believable way. It's done really well here. In particular, the ways in which each misinterprets the actions of the other is so realistic that I had writer-envy a little bit. The author has a couple of writing quirks that bug me, but you may not notice. This story is compelling and I recommend it.