When Drew meets Ezra, he doesn’t expect much. A one-night stand and a quick goodbye in the morning. That’s how these things usually go. Only there’s nothing usual about Ezra and the connection that forms between them.
When Ezra meets Drew, he doesn’t expect much. A distraction and parting as strangers after a night of meaningless fun. That’s how these things usually go. Only there’s nothing meaningless about Drew and the relentless spark between them that just refuses to disappear.
When Bas meets Ezra… things get complicated. As if being hopelessly in love with his best friend isn’t painful enough. Throw in an unexpected friendship that develops with the one-time hookup of said best friend, and the results are messy at best.
But sometimes beautiful things emerge from messy and complicated beginnings, and where two isn’t enough, three might be just perfect.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
I loved this book so much. If you’re looking for an action-packed, fast-moving plot, this ain’t it. Instead, it’s a character-driven novel of three men finding happiness together…sometimes despite themselves.
Ezra comes from a rough background, going to community college and trying to build a better life for himself after moving away from his often-jailed father and brothers. Bas and Drew are fortunate enough to have grown up in well-to-do households and are now successful on their own, Bas as a musician and producer, Drew as a sports lawyer. The two have known each other since childhood, and each carries an seemingly-unrequited love for the other. This is further complicated by the fact that Bas is ace (asexual).
When the three of them come together, each finds something in the other two that fulfills them, and they slowly, haltingly build a life together. The barriers are clear – Ezra’s unwillingness to trust anyone but himself, Bas’ belief that he can’t bring anything to a relationship, and Drew’s struggle to find acceptance with his homophobic family. Seeing these three navigate these obstacles to a happily ever after is wonderful, and made me smile a lot (and tear up a few times).
As a gay grey-asexual man, I can fully sympathize with Bas’ worries, and seeing him find happiness meant a lot to me. I really appreciated that Prescott explains (and shows) asexuality in a thoughtful way, and no one tries to “fix” Bas, nor does he suddenly discover he isn’t ace. It’s part of who he is, and that is respected.
If I have any complaint, it’s that I’d like a little more character development with Ezra. Also, for all that the book takes place in Boston, there’s not much interaction with the city (aside from the weather) to give it a sense of place. These nitpicks aside, I found this to be a really wonderful book, and highly recommend it!
I listened to the audiobook, performed by John Solo. His work here is excellent, with good differentiation between character voices, great pacing of the narration, and an ability to express feelings of anger, desperation, hope, and love to the reader. This is another solid performance from Solo.