2.5 starsIt's hard to explain my feelings on this one. There's nothing overtly wrong about it. It just feels like not much happens within the story beyond some unnecessary angst and lack of communication but I can't deny that there was potential to the story and that I did find pockets of the book that held me captivated.
It was hard for me to connect with the characters. I didn't mind that Derrick held a lot of inner monologue. He's a loner so I can understand why he over analyzes and over-thinks everything. Gavin was an interesting character but I couldn't connect with him either. He's emotionally damaged but I didn't feel that from him. Considering that most of his interactions with Derrick involved flirting, it was hard for me to connect that character with the one that was supposedly still traumatized over a past relationship. IMO, I didn't feel like the characters were fleshed out enough to make them really intriguing.
I'm going to freely admit that I've been in a funk so maybe the reason why I didn't enjoy this story as much as I could have was because of that but I found myself unable to connect with either characters. In fact, they annoyed me at times. Derek's inability to talk about his past and the fact that Gavin was ashamed of smoking but still made no effort to quit got me frustrated. More than that, the story doesn't have any big climax that makes itself noticeable so by the time they start their relationship, the story ends rather abruptly. Although, given that this is more of a serial than an actual series, IMO at least, I can understand why it ends at that moment but it doesn't stop the fact that I felt irritated by the unanswered questions and unresolved storyline. I also didn't like how the ending had so many sex scenes clustered together.
Overall, this wasn't necessarily a bad story but it was hard for me to enjoy it to its full potential. It dragged for me because it didn't feel like anything monumental was happening and I honestly think if this was one big story, it might have been better for me but I don't have the heart to move onto book two right now considering this was a lackluster read for me. Others might feel differently but if you don't like a lot of inner monologue then this story might not be for you.
