Best friends who stay together through thick and thin are rare, and those who meet as children and stay together over years are even less frequent. In this book Rod, a famous rock star, and Hawk, a dedicated doctor, have been friends pretty much since kindergarten and have already been through a lot – what with Rod’s addictions, various rehab programs, and constant absence. Both men have secretly carried a torch for each other for a long time, yet they have never taken the next step. This is the story of how and why they realize they belong together as far more than friends.

Rod is a successful rock musician, with all the issues that come with stardom. He travels a lot, leaving him lonely in hotel rooms all over the world. He has repeatedly faced addiction to alcohol and drugs – but has finally managed to pull out of that bad habit with the help of Hawk, who was no longer willing to see Rod destroy himself. He has been sober for three years, but the one addiction he can’t get rid of – not that he has ever tried - is his secret love for Hawk.

Hawk is a great guy: supportive, selfless, and a motivated doctor in a reservation clinic Rod helped to set up. He loves Rod to distraction, but has never said anything because he is the settling-down kind, and Rod needs to spread his wings. But now Hawk faces a serious problem and he needs Rod to be there for him because some things are too scary to go through by himself.

If you like stories about two lonely friends becoming lovers, if you think a rock star with wanderlust and a doctor who want a permanent home can make it, and if you’re looking for a read that goes from entertaining to serious and is as heartwarming as it is hot, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by MLR Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )

I would give it 3.5 if I could... it annoyed me how quickly they were signing for each other. Maybe I misunderstood, but it seemed as if they learned sooooo quickly. Anywho, nice romance between the friends. ( )

This is a novella about dependency and the safe shelter love can give to you. At the beginning of the story, it’s Rod who apparently needs Hawk, and it’s a need way bigger than simply material things. Rod is a famous rock star with plenty of possibilities to get laid, and instead we find him alone in his hotel room, and the only thing that can soothe his ache is the voice of Hawk, his childhood best friend, a Native American doctor who is living in a reservation and helping his people, like he helped Rod. It was Hawk who was with Rod while he was trying to rehab, it was Hawk who never forgot who Rob really was, who never changed around him. It’s clear that, even if they are not lovers, Hawk is in all aspect other than sex, Rob’s partner, and that, when Rob will be ready to come home, Hawk will be there, waiting for him.

And until Hawk’s needs are material, like having a new machine for his clinic, Rob can help him from afar, and Hawk has never asked Rob to come home and stay; they have never moved their relationship to the next level since both of them know that, if they do that, they would never been able to stay far from each other for long. But this time, when Rob comes home for one of his brief visits, Hawk is demanding, for the first time in their relationship, he is pushing to get physical. Rob can’t resist temptation, but he is also aware that something is wrong with his friend.

I like the novella, and fortunately it’s less dramatic than expected. True, Rob and Hawk will have some issue, but nothing that love can’t help them overcome. In a way, Hawk’s problem is another prove that Hawk wants Rob despite him being a famous rock star, Hawk sees in Rob the little boy who was his friend, someone who knows him as good as himself. And Rob knows that Hawk will be always near him, since he was the only one to force him to face reality. Right for this reason, since Rob knows that he can be wrong, and being nobody, and no one, in a bit, even if now it’s Hawk who needs him, their relationship is still on the same level. Doesn’t matter that Hawk is not famous, doesn’t matter that he is simply a country doctor who probably would not be able to maintain himself, let alone a family, without Rob’s money, Hawk is still Rob’s pair, same as he was when they were two little kids.

Hawk and Rob’s relationship is a mix of love and friendship, and even if they had other partners in the past, I think that they were always a couple, they were only waiting the right time to become lovers other than friends.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003O86FPY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20