Ryan:After my divorce to Barb, my life has been just me, my little boy and my job. Some people might call me overprotective, but as the Sheriff of Umberland, I know a lot more than they do about what can happen when you let down your guard. When my high school best friend Christian comes to visit, sure, I remember experimenting with him as teenagers, but what I can’t ignore is the fierce … the fierce attraction that still burns between us.
What’s even more, Christian makes me feel safe and protected—something I do for everyone else.
I’ve never been attracted to a man since Christian… but as soon as I lay my eyes on him, I don’t think I’ll be attracted to anyone else ever again.
Christian:
I knew I was gay forever, it seems. But my first love was the one that stuck with me all these years: Ryan Rainier. He’s a big deal in the police department now, and as a man in uniform, he’s every bit as gorgeous as he was in those young years.
But Ryan’s straight, right? So why does he keep looking at me that way, with hunger in his eyes?
Am I just seeing what I want to see? And can I risk losing a lifelong friend for a shot at love?
Breaking In is the second book in the Rainier Family series and can be read on its own. 62k words of trusty, lusty, second-chance love, breaking down walls, Rainiers for days, and a whole big, bustling, small-town family waiting for its HEA.
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Breaking In is the second book in the Rainier Family series, and although I thought it was more fun to read this book in the series order, it can easily standalone. Ryan Rainier is a single father and the Umberland Sheriff. He’s recently been through a difficult divorce that only adds more stress to his life. Enter Christian, Ryan’s best friend from high school, who has finally come back to Umberland. Christian turns out to be not only everything that Ryan ever wanted, but everything he needs as well. Which is extremely important, because Ryan will be faced with every father’s worst nightmare and will need to lean on Christian’s strength. I loved the family dynamics and second chance love elements. The drama was exciting, and the romance was tender and sweet. I really enjoyed this book.
When word of his best friend from high school’s divorce reaches his ears Christian takes a chance to chase after who he’s always wanted and heads home to a town he was sure he’d never see again. For Ryan it’s a welcome surprise that has unintended consequences. Their past is one of friendship and a bit more, but that extra bit is something Ryan would like to forget. Except forgetting it is the last thing on his mind when seeing Christian all grown up does things to him that make him think there could be a real chance at a forever happiness if he relents and goes all in this time.
Christian and Ryan both started out interesting with a life beyond the one they had together as teens. There was depth and experience hinted in their inner monologues, but as the story progressed that depth didn’t exactly deepen or broaden. The men we got in the beginning are the same ones we got in the end. It’s not like they were inadequate, boring, or insufficient as they were, they just didn’t grow to be more.
And by describing them as best friends and recalling that “fact” repeatedly throughout the story I got the very obvious impression that that was just something they said. They didn’t feel like best friends at all. As if we were to believe that they knew so much about one another and had such great times but none of that was something I actually saw or believed in the course of the story. I saw angst over their current attraction, angst over what their teenage summer meant for them now, and a whole lot of manufactured drama that didn’t really enhance their interactions or deepen their relationship. The closeness of best friends and something in the way of being comfortable with one another was missing.
Overall it felt like they were trying too hard. Too hard to be vacillating, dramatic, passionate…just too hard. Though the best part was how we saw Ryan discover that peace could replace panic with perspective. I do think they were a good match for one another, it just didn’t come together in a way I was hoping for.