We can’t run out of second chances…only time.” ― Robin Jones Gunn
Author: Sloan Parker
Publisher: Loose Id
Pages/Word Count: 120 Pages
Rating: 3 Stars
Blurb: When roommates Grady and Mateo give in to their growing lust, it’s the best sexual experience of their lives. But are they really gay? Is this just sex or something more? It takes time for confused Grady to figure that out, but once he does, he’s determined to have all of Mateo. Too bad tracking down brokenhearted Mateo proves impossible.
So what’s a horny gay virgin who wants only one man to do? Grady posts an ad online to encourage his friend out of hiding and into his bed. Once he gets Mateo between the sheets, he’s sure he can convince him that what they had together was no college experiment. But Mateo’s been hiding from something—or someone. Grady is determined to tear down all Mateo’s walls so he can find out what happened to him and help heal his wounds, and in the process show his best friend that he won’t run.
Not this time. He swears.
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Review: One of my all-time favorite types of stories is the second chance at love story. I love to see two people who’ve royally screwed their relationship up the first time around get a chance to make things right and find a happily ever after together. Sloan Parker is an auto-buy author for me, and I couldn’t wait to jump right into this book.
After Mateo and Grady give in to their desires just weeks before graduation, Mateo is thinking this could be forever. Unfortunately, Grady is thinking more along the lines of, “how do I get away from this fast?” Grady doesn’t realize until years later when he sees Mateo on the street that he is now and has always been in love with Mateo. His college aged self just wasn’t ready to come bursting out of the closet. Because of that, he lost Mateo, and it will be a battle to get a second chance with the love of his life.
Grady does everything he can think of to get in touch with Mateo. He comes out to every person he knows when he posts his love for Mateo on Facebook, he tries an ad on Craigslist, and as a last ditch effort, he gets his police officer brother to run a search for him. All of these efforts seem to fail until Mateo finally contacts Grady, but he is devastated when Mateo tells him to basically pound sand and to leave him alone.
Not one to be put off easily, Grady tracks the man down and convinces him to give them one weekend to try to repair what Grady broke years before. Eventually all of the past hurts are getting sorted, and the two men begin to form a new, more mature, bond. With this bond come some very hard truths for Mateo to share, and Grady realizes that both of them may be in real danger from Mateo’s past. When that past comes calling, it will take everything Grady has to protect the two men and make their future possible.
As I said before, Sloan Parker is one of my favorite authors, a master of the M/M craft, and I was so looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, this book did not live up to my expectations. Normally this author shows amazing skills at character and plot development, but this time around I found it hard to connect with the characters, and the plot was very predictable.
I believe the story could have been so much more, because this was a truly wonderful premise, but for some reason it just didn’t work for me. While the writing style was true to her norm, something was missing in this book. I will still be first in line for her future books, but this was a miss for me.
You can buy Missed Connections: I Swear to You here:
