Book Review: Crossroads by Riley Hart

Title: Crossroads

Author: Riley Hart

Publisher: Riley Hart

Pages: 241

Format: E-book

Published: July, 2015

Price: $12.84 -> Rp180.171 (Amazon)

Rating: 5 / 5 stars

Date started: August 25, 2015 - Date finished: August 26, 2015

Synopsis:

After divorcing the woman he’d been with since he was seventeen, Nick Fuller is starting over. He owns the restaurant of his dreams and he’s determined to meet new people, find new passions, and experience life to its fullest. Easier said than done—that is until he meets his new neighbor, Bryce Tanner…

Bryce is all about a good time. He plans to show Nick how it’s done, help him meet a few women, and enjoy the gift of the single life he’s been given. But things don’t go as planned, and soon they realize they’d rather be together than with anyone else.

Neither man has ever wanted another guy, but there’s a connection between them from the start—a spark they can’t deny. They find themselves navigating an unfamiliar new world and dealing with unforeseen obstacles. Physical desire isn’t enough, and now Nick and Bryce are at a crossroads. They have to decide which way to go: the easy path they’ve always followed, or the one that's determined to trip them up at every turn.

*this review is intended for mature audiences (18+ up)

Review:

Crossroads tells the story of Nick Fuller, a recently divorced 30-something year old man who is starting a new life after his wife cheated on him repeatedly and Bryce Tanner, a guy also in his 30s who is all about having fun and is not ready of settling down yet. By coincidence, they both moved in next door to each other in a house with a shared yard.

After meeting each other they started hanging out together, it started out on Saturdays where Bryce took Nick to meet new women and show him a good time, since he's only been with one woman his entire life. The more they spend time together, the more they felt comfortable with each other, they were inseparable—spending every free time together as possible. When Bryce took Nick to his brother, Mitch's birthday it was Bryce's brother and his best friend Christi that noticed the attraction between Nick & Bryce. Of course Bryce declined any attraction at all.

But when Bryce thought about it thoroughly he can't seem to get Nick out of his head. So, he decided to make a move and Nick was hesitant at first but he definitely feels the same way to Bryce and only to Bryce. After that both of them decided to give it a shot.

“It’s a crossroads, Bryce. Which way are you going to go?” Nick finally repeated the lines from his dream. “Whichever way you are,” he replied. He’d do anything for his man. Go anywhere. Being with Nick was where he was supposed to be. “You lead and I’ll follow. I’m right here with you, Bryce. Always.” “Nah, I don’t need to lead, we’ll go together.” Together, the way they’d done everything since they met.

This is by far the best adult fiction book that I've ever read. Well, to be honest I haven't read that many adult fiction books but starting right now if anyone asked for a recommendation of an adult fiction book this'll be my recommendation for those people. This was also the best M/M romance book I've ever read, granted I've only ever finished reading this but I've tried reading other M/M romance just out of curiosity and I dnf-ed it.

So the story is written from two POVs, Nick and Bryce so we as the reader got a clear picture of what both characters are thinking and all that jazz. I don't really have a particular favorite POV, but I do like Bryce's character more than Nick just because he's witty and superbly humorous that his jokes cracked me up. Nick is just a saint you know, he's the kind of guy that you see as "the perfect husband" material. He's an overall do-gooder.

“What do you want, Nick?” “Right now? Nothing, but you.”

Okay, so let me tell you my favorite things about this book. I liked that the pace of this book wasn't rushed. From the meeting of Bryce and Nick, to them hanging out with each other, and then them stating their feelings for each other, and of course their exploration to the world of M/M intercourse were all in a perfect pace, I kind of flowed through the storyline easily and I didn't feel like anything happened too fast or too slow.

Second is the characters, I mean obviously Riley Hart did a great job in creating Bryce and Nick as the main characters. I just can't help but root for them to be happy you know? Also the other characters were great too especially Christi and the other Fuller Brothers, they're all hilarious. I just kept picturing the Fuller family like "The McCarthys" (the TV Show sitcom).

Third, I liked the conflict that surrounds the romance between Nick and Bryce. Since they're both straight before they met each other the struggles that they have is normal LGBT relationship problem like coming out to your friends and family, thinking about how everyone is gonna react, and adjusting to a new relationship in which they have no experience of. Fourth, I loved the ending. It was very realistic. Except for the epilogue part, that's kind of weird that it could happen the same way as Bryce's vision. Nonetheless, the actual ending was very very realistic.

Overall, I would judge this book a great adult fiction for someone who wants to venture into the world of M/M romance since more LGBT books are surfacing. This book does have M/M intercourse scenes (If you're not comfortable with it don't read this book). The jokes in this book are your overall adult-ish jokes, if you watch "2 Broke Girls" you'll definitely get the jokes in this book.

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