“Time is the longest distance between two places.” ― Tennessee Williams
Title: Walk With Me
Author: Cardeno C.
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Pages/Word Count: 224 Pages
Rating: 5 Stars
Blurb: When Eli Block steps into his parents’ living room and sees his childhood crush sitting on the couch, he starts a shameless campaign to seduce the young rabbi. Unfortunately, Seth Cohen barely remembers Eli and he resolutely shuts down all his advances. As a tenuous and then binding friendship forms between the two men, Eli must find a way to move past his unrequited love while still keeping his best friend in his life. Not an easy feat when the same person occupies both roles.
Professional, proper Seth is shocked by Eli’s brashness, overt sexuality, and easy defiance of societal norms. But he’s also drawn to the happy, funny, light-filled man. As their friendship deepens over the years, Seth watches Eli mature into a man he admires and respects. But when Seth finds himself longing for what Eli had so easily offered, he has to decide whether he’s willing to veer from his safe life-plan to build a future with Eli.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Review: I went into this book with a bit of melancholy. I have read the other books in this series a few times each, and I just adore the entire series. When I read in the author’s acknowledgments that this would be the last in the Home series, I have to admit that I teared up a little. I have loved the boys of Emile City, and I will miss them terribly. This final book of the series was one of the best as far as I am concerned.
Seth Cohen has just received his first job as a Rabbi, working and training with Avi Block in Emile City. Seth has worked hard in school and not had much of a social life in the past. His first day, sitting in the senior Rabbi’s home, he meets Eli, Avi’s son. Eli is eighteen and overrun with hormones. It seems he had met Seth at a summer youth camp when he was younger, and is still holding onto his youthful crush on the older man.
Eli was never one not to go after what he wanted, and Seth was what he wanted. Unfortunately for Eli, Seth is not a quickie type of guy. Seth has only had a few relationships, and even fewer bed partners, all of them women. Before Eli leaves for college, Seth has to turn him away again and tries to let Eli know that he believes there should be more between two people than just sex; there should be love and emotion before you even get to the bedroom. Eli, however, is dead-set on losing his virginity, and he promises Seth that if it isn’t him, it will be someone else.
Over time, Eli and Seth settled into a friendship. Eli still wanted Seth with every fiber of his being, but Seth was still on the fence with what he should do about his attraction to Eli. Seth has never identified as gay, but he can’t deny the feelings he has for Eli. Eli, on the other hand, realized that if he couldn’t have Seth the way he wanted him, then he would keep him close by, offering friendship.
This friendship grew over the years. Eli went to college, and even though he loved Seth, he tried to have relationships, but none of them ever lasted. Seth didn’t even try going the relationship route, no one appealed to him except the one man that he wouldn’t let himself have, if it couldn’t be forever.
Seth did however test out his desire for men. While in New York, he decided to try a date or two with a man, and he found out that men worked for him just as well as women did. Unfortunately for Seth, six years into their friendship, Eli finds out about this experimentation. Eli has always believed that the reason he and Seth weren’t together was because Seth was straight. When he finds out that may not be the case, he is devastated.
Seth realizes that the time has come to either be with Eli or let him go. When Eli calls him sobbing about the man he dated in New York, Seth has a moment of clarity and puts the wheels in motion for the future he and Eli have been moving towards, even if neither of them realized it.
That is all I can tell you about the story without giving it all away. Cardeno C. has once again created a wonderful story of love. I am a huge fan of the slow burning love affair, and this book is definitely that. Over a six year time period, I got to see these two learn everything about one another and fall in love. There were some tears and WOW, there was a lot of laughter. It seems that Seth was cursed to officiate every theme wedding known to man, and none of them ended well!
Overall, this book was a great representation of what I love about Cardeno C.’s writing. These two were meant for each other, but they had to come together at the right time, when they were both in a good place in their life. I highly recommend this book and yes, I am still sad that this will be the last book in the Home series, but I am sure that I will love whatever comes next.
You can buy Walk With Me here:
