Nice guys always finish last, and Coby Epstein is sick and tired of being last. After his boyfriend dumps him, Coby vows to take it slow and not jump into another relationship, no matter what his ninety-five-year-old great aunt says. When Coby sees his ex has moved on, he goes on a series of disastrous first dates and swears off men, determined to be alone. His best friend disagrees and finds the … the “perfect man” for him online and arranges a date. The only problem? Coby has no idea what she’s done.
Since childhood, Eli Kaplan has been his father’s greatest disappointment, a fact he’s reminded of at every opportunity. For years, he’s struggled with the knowledge that dating women doesn’t work for him. A late-night confession to his brother changes everything and Eli realizes, maybe, just maybe, he can come out, find himself, and find love. Eli takes the plunge and creates a profile on a dating website, not knowing what to expect. One night he chats with an intriguing man, and despite his nervousness, they arrange to meet for coffee. No big deal. They’ll probably never see each other again.
On the day of their first date, nothing could surprise Coby and Eli more than to discover that they live in the same apartment building, on the same floor. In a city of eight million people, coincidences don’t get crazier than that. But as the two men begin to weave their lives together with cautious optimism and hope for a future, they find an even greater thread holding their families together—one born from the ashes of a final solution that couldn’t destroy their ancestors’ courage, leaving scars that remain almost a century later. Past lives torn apart can be pieced together by a future no one could have ever imagined, where love is more than fate or coincidence. It’s meant to be.
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I am a big fan of all her books
The Coincidence is Felice Stevens’s best book yet! It is so well written and drew me in from the first page. I enjoyed how Felice set up the background story for each MC separately. She introduces readers to their friends, families, and history before bringing them together. As a result, I found myself invested in their happiness and rooting for them. Once they finally meet, under an interesting coincidence, they hit it off quickly. They enjoy each other’s company and humor, in addition to an underlying attraction they feel right away. I appreciated the slow buildup between them. Coby isn’t ready to rush into anything after a series of failed relationships where he jumped in too soon. Eli needs to take things slowly because he hasn’t had a relationship before, and he’s just coming to accept that he is gay. What develops is a beautiful love that is meant to be. A love they realize is fated after discovering an even greater coincidence from their families’ pasts.
The Coincidence made me laugh and smile from the wonderful, snarky banter. I adored Tante Fay and Coby’s mom. It made me ache for Eli, whose parents are more concerned with outside appearances than with their sons’ happiness. And I swooned over these two beautiful souls who are just perfect for each other.
3.75 stars–THE COINCIDENCE by Felice Stevens is a contemporary, adult , stand alone M/M romance story line focusing on personal shopper Jacob ‘Coby’ Epstein, and court officer Eli Kaplan.
NOTE: THE COINCIDENCE contains same-sex scenarios that may not be suitable for all readers.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Eli and Coby) THE COINCIDENCE follows the building relationship between personal shopper Jacob ‘Coby’ Epstein, and court officer Eli Kaplan. Eli Kaplan knows something is missing in his life but has yet to come to terms with the possibility of being gay. Meeting Coby Epstein, a man whose most recent relationship crashed and burned, found Eli thinking about a future with a man whose family history had crossed over with his own. What ensues is the slow building romance and relationship between Coby and Eli, and the potential fall-out as Eli struggles to come to terms with a father who sees him as a failure and nothing more.
Eli Kaplan is close with his brother Darren, a successful lawyer, married to a wonderful woman, and the mother of his two children but Eli finds himself wanting what his brother has, someone to share his life and his love. Lonely, Eli agrees to let his sister-in-law set him up but comes to discover his future lives in the same building as does he. Coby Epstein wants nothing to do with relationships but meeting his neighbour finds our hero battling between head and heart, and the possibility of what may never be. Helping Eli come to terms not only with his sexuality but with a father who expects more than Eli is willing to give, Coby and Eli begin a slow seduction towards their own happily ever after.
The relationship between Coby and Eli is one of immediate attraction; a slow building romance wherein Eli discovers who he is, and what he wants. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
We are introduced to Coby’s mother Jennifer, and his great-aunt Fay Rubin; his best friend Addie and Dr. Dave, as well as Eli’s brother Darren, his wife Isabel and their two children, and their parents Ezra and Mrs. Kaplan.
THE COINCIDENCE is a story of family, friendship, history and love. The premise is heart warming and seductive; the characters are relatable and real; the romance is intimate and intense. THE COINCIDENCE is a story of fate, coincidence or not, but a fate that has brought two families together, once again.