I'm rather sad that this is our final visit to the small Oregon town of Safe Harbor. It's the last book in what has been an amazing trilogy. Finally, we have the story of the couple who have been in the background of the previous two books, Sam Bookman, and his coffee shop, The Blessed Bean, who is, in many ways, the heart of the Safe Harbor community, and Worth Stapleton, who hasn’t been back to his hometown in decades, but we have seen parts of his story reflected in the other two books also. The murder of his mother, the blame that he and the rest of the town placed on his father. It helped to somewhat already know that things would end well for him eventually. Now he has returned, but we find that his life is crumbling about his ears. Anxiety, and depression his constant companion...he feels anything but "Worthy". I’ve been looking forward to his and Sam's story... to watch Worth come home and find his place in this small world. Sam finally getting the man of his dreams, the boy/man that he has loved since childhood...and we know who that is. Annabeth Albert always tells a wonderful story but has really done an above average job with this deeply emotional story about grief, loss and sadness, and the struggle to find a way back to the light. This trilogy absolutely must be read in order, otherwise you will miss meeting and learning about the wonderful residents of Safe Harbor, how their lives blend together, and seeing the stage being set for Worth's homecoming and his and Sam's "Happy Ever After". You are going to have to go to some great lengths to top this one Ms. Albert. ( )

the ending to a trilogy is always sad but Sam and Worth's story is heartbreaking on its own but a great ending to the series.

Sam has always had feelings for Worth ever since they were kids - and when he comes home to deal with a lot of mental health, death and other issues Sam automatically takes over.

I rounded this up because it felt a little rushed their relationship - yes they knew each other but both had changed heaps and I dont think this was really dealt with. ( )

There might be too much happening here to be covered properly in this book, but I did enjoy Sam and Worth’s story. I’m all for good mental health rep, but there’s no way Worth got from where he started to where he ended in what seems like a few weeks; his meds might not even be kicking in yet. Then there’s the wrap up from the other books which is likely needed as this doesn’t exactly work as a standalone, but I did want to see Worth come back to Safe Harbor which we got. Oh and let’s not forget the unexpected kink (which was in the previous book too so perhaps I should have expected it) which honestly didn’t quite feel like either of these guys. Anyway the end was lovely, and I do really like these two together; I’m just highly skeptical of their path to HEA. ( )