Red Maine’s blue-collared bad boy, North Underwood, has a dirty little secret—Will Tanner. Friends since kindergarten, North had been the one to jump first, and his fall into Will’s bed ten years ago had been no exception. Will and North had been inseparable, but things change, people grow apart, and even a blazing flame can dwindle to a dying ember over time. The more things change the more they … time.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
After a run-in with a bottle of Bundy rum, Will and North find themselves in a compromising and all too familiar position.
Blurred lines, bad decisions, and one wrong foot after another lead these two down a spiral of sarcasm, secrets, and shame, but when North’s hetero status is called into question, he can’t figure up from down.
And despite Will telling himself he wouldn’t fall again, he’s head over heels and wandering without a compass.
Love is love.
Love is truth.
Love … shouldn’t be this damn hard to figure out.
more
Re-Read.
I think I’ve been in a good mood and been to generous with my stars when I read this book the first time! So I change my stars from 5 to 4. It’s still a very good book, but there are just some things that don’t make sense.
We switch between that past and present
Will is gay and live with his father who owns a bar, where they live too.
North live with his homophobic/alcoholic/asshole father.
North & Will are childhood friends, they do everything together and you can really feel how strong their bond is.
But something happens when they are 18 years old and North push Will away.
Now 30 years old, Will is the bartender and North is the one who drinks too much!
This is what I don’t fully understand, North has been going to the bar for god knows how long and they have never talked about what happened to them when they were 18 years old. And one would think, they would talk about it as they reconnect, but no, they do not!
That aside, I was glad to see them find their connection again, although there was a lot of angst (Which I don’t mind) It could have been avoided if they had just spoken to each other.
I heard a lot about this book and I won it through a giveaway but just now got up to read it. And oh boy, I really liked and enjoyed this one, I love a good m/m book 🙂 The way the story was portrayed and written, you just couldn’t help but fall in love with not only Will but North too. although I had some difficulties with North in the story, I understood why he felt the way he did. Will and North grew up together and were inseperable until North broke his heart. Not really because he wanted too, but because he wanted to protect him even though that meant losing someone who was dear to him.
I just love Will’s attitude in the story and the way he really doesn’t care what other people say or think about him. I would like to have that quality too someday. You know, in life we really face some very hard times and people can really be cruel, not only in words but in actions too. Love is Love and that’s just the way it is! Wished we all could look in the mirror and just see who we want to see and not care about anyone else’s thoughts but ours. We all have the right to love and be loved… This book is definitely worth the read but get ready to get some tissues out too 🙂
Freefalling straight into perfection
“I hope I always feel like this. I want to always be right where we are now, my hand in his, freefalling. Not into the water, but into one another. But even twelve-year-old me knows that once North finds out my secret, this feeling, these butterflies torpedoing inside my gut, will all be ripped away, replaced with thorns, fear, hatred, and ugly words.”
Carmen Jenner is one phenomenally talented Australian author and when I realised that she had written a mm (male-male) romance novel I was shocked but not surprised. And only shocked because it wasn’t until I read the blurb that I realised it was about two guys … Carmen’s talent is boundless so I knew that if she wanted to write about two men falling in love, it’d be a fabulous story. And Finding North is certainly one incredible romance.
Will and North are best friends – well, were best friends until an incident that happened 12 years ago pushed them and their potential love apart. Will is openly gay; something that isn’t easy to do in a small steel mill country town in NSW, Australia. And North, he’s the one man that Will has truly loved and the one man who has the power to break Will’s heart over and over again. North has a lot of demons to battle when it comes to his sexuality, but the biggest is the fear of losing Will, if only he was brave enough to admit it. He’s not keen on labelling whatever it is he feels for Will, and herein lies the problem – because when you live in a town full of prejudiced, homophobic people, not making a decision about who you are can almost be as bad as identifying with a group that is (unfortunately) looked down upon.
“Everywhere I look it seems everyone is comfortable in their skin. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like that—completely comfortable with who I am.”
Carmen treats the subject of gay romance, of love between two men, of homophobic behaviour and homophobia, with such respect and realism. My heart was in my throat for so much of this book and I spent a good portion of the second half with tears pricking my eyes. Will and North are characters you can’t help but fall in love with and I am no exception. Their story isn’t easy, it isn’t without heartache, it isn’t a comfortable read – but it’s a book about learning to love yourself, learning to accept that you can fall in love with a person regardless of their gender, and learning that there are some horrible people in this world but you can’t live your life for them, you have to live it for you.
I absolutely adore this book – words can’t adequately express how much I love it. Will and North are two men who won’t be leaving my heart and mind anytime soon.
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