In Which The Past And The Future Discover "Forever Is Now"

“Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it inflames the great.” ― Roger de Bussy-Rabutin

In high school Alex and Chance were young lovers. Chance always wanted to be a rock star but he didn’t feel he could do that and be gay. Alex loved Chance and he believed they could be whatever they wanted to be no matter their sexuality. The young lovers snuck around together until the one fateful night when Alex’s father catches the boys together. When Chance is threatened to be outed, he does the only thing he thinks he can—he runs. Alex is devastated when he realizes that being a rock star means more to Chance than loving Alex.

Nine years later, Alex has moved on. Sure he went to see Chance perform with his new band, but he also saw Chance playing it straight. As much as his heart still pulls at the sight of Chance, he knows he could never compete with Chance’s career. Alex had made peace with that fact until Chance’s band releases their new single, and it is a song Alex wrote for Chance back in high school. Alex is furious to say the least. He devises a plan to finally get some revenge on Chance for walking away nine years earlier. He volunteers his crew to do a documentary for the band, and he plans to use the opportunity to confront Chance and get some answers.

The only problem with his plan is that when his eyes meet Chance’s, the heat and attraction are still there and they are still as strong as they were in high school. The two men trade some barbs back and forth, each trying to hurt the other, and Alex is afraid that seeing Chance again was a mistake. Eventually they realize the animosity is desire in disguise, and the men come together again. The sex is off the charts, and they both know that they still love one another. Unfortunately, it can never be that easy. Chance is still deeply in the closet, and he is worried that coming out could ruin his career, and that would affect more people than just Chance.

Alex doesn’t know if his heart can take it if Chance walks away again, so he is guarding his heart as best he can. He tells Chance they can keep quiet for a while but with as high profile as Chance is, the secrecy won’t last forever. The two men are trying to figure out how to handle the potential fallout when the decision is taken out of their hands. This causes a rift between them, and both men walk away angry. It will take some apologies on both of their parts to work this out.

Kimber Vale wrote a great story of young love in this book. Sometimes when we are young, we believe we are in love and that love will conquer all. Once we grow up and get some life experience, we realize that real life is much harder than our parents ever let on. I think Chance and Alex needed their time apart so they could live their individual dreams before they tried to merge them together. As much as it hurt them both to be apart all those years, it also made them realize that they didn’t want to be apart like that again.

The loved this story and I will be watching out for the next book in the series. The secondary characters weren’t very deeply explored, so I don’t have any clue who the next book will be about, but sometimes I like surprises!!!

Reviewed by: Jackie

You can buy Forever Is Now here: