I usually don't read man-loving-man romances. Nothing against them, of course, I just haven't really read very many. However, I saw this book at Barnes and Noble and thought it looked cute. I mean look at that cover, it's lovely. The description on the back also sounded interesting so I was like "time to give this a try"! And I am so glad I gave this book a chance because I loved it.
The story follows Xavier who is a black gay MBA holder whose plans sort of fall through all at once and he ends up having to move home with his parents (which is so relatable for me). He always looked at the town he grew up in as a place that was holding him back from his future. He worked really hard to get out of it and pushed himself to be successful. So he's embarrassed to be back living at home, and he's not sure what he's going to do with his life. All very relatable things for people in their 20s and 30s and every other year of life. He meets this man named Logan and they immediately don't like each other, but Xavier's a friend of his parents and the most eligible bachelor in the town.
Logan had moved in while Xavier was off at college. He opened a restaurant called the Wharf and has a teenage daughter. Logan just happens to be looking to hire someone to work at the restaurant and Xavier just happens to need a job. So he ends up working for Logan which is where their friendship blooms. And of course, this is a Berkley Romance book so it has romance. The two have their relationship go to the next level.
I really liked how relatable Xavier is. I liked how sarcastic he is. There is a great representation of friendship in this. There is a really sweet romance of course. What I liked most though is that Xavier grows as a person. I love character growth especially in a romance like this because I like seeing that the characters are people outside of the relationship they're in.
This book does have intimate adult relations depicted. This depiction is minimal but I would consider it to be somewhat explicit so that is something to be aware of. You could definitely skip over it if that is something you don't like in your books. For other content warnings, I would say homophobia, biphobia, and more, but those are the main ones I can think of. As always, I point readers in the direction of StoryGraph for a full list of possible content warnings as provided by other readers.
I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. It was a great read around Valentine's Day for me ( I did read it earlier this month). I also think it was a great Black History Month read. I believe in celebrating and learning about people who are different from myself be it skin color, religion, national origin, etc, but I think looking at the joy of those groups is very important too. I am also a strong believer in supporting BIPOC authors. I am a strong believer in consuming media we enjoy, but I also believe that we should consume media that features people different from ourselves.
I really enjoyed Kosoko Jackson's writing and am looking forward to reading his other book I'm So (Not) Over You as well as his upcoming thriller The Forest Demands Its Due. I definitely think he is going to be an author whose works I really enjoy and I'm excited to see what else he writes.
As always, happy reading. I should be back soon with a review of my current read The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks which I am really enjoying so far.
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