Can’t Live Without You

4 1/2 - 5 Hearts Reviewed by Pixie

When Justin left his hometown he never looked back, he might have thought of his first love George often but he has no intention of ever returning there. When he gets a call to say his estranged father is dying Justin knows he has to go to at least lay some of his ghosts to rest. George was devastated when Justin up and left in the middle of the night, now Justin is back and while George wants answers he’s just happy to see him again, their feelings for each other have never changed but can they really have a relationship when George’s life is in Pennsylvania and Justin’s is in California.

This is a wonderfully written story that has both joy and sadness, it has forgiveness and letting go of the past and it has stunning revelations and rekindled love. Justin has never let go of his bitterness towards his father for kicking him out for being gay and even though he has a successful movie career and has created his own family with his best friend Ethan he still stings from that rejection. Returning home to his father’s deathbed is hard for him and it comes across jumping off the pages so you feel his confused twisted feelings and the bitterness that still plagues him.

George stuck around town and has been Justin’s fathers nurse for a while, he’s learnt to, in a way, to forgive what the man did to Justin and himself, he’s learnt to let it go and to move forward. George and Justin rekindle their relationship while Justin is in town, but Justin has never told anyone the truth about what happened to him that long ago night. So there’s a bit of a mystery going on that is shocking when revealed.

This really is a wonderful story and the characters are great, we get a good depth to them and we can connect with them, we understand why George has let go of his hard feelings and we feel and understand Justin’s bitterness towards his father… ohhh I could so totally relate to how Justin felt as everyone sang his father’s praises *grrrrr*. Seeing George and Justin come together and finding their love for each other is still there is a wonderful thing, these guys have both tried to move forward but their hearts only want each other.

I recommend this to those who adore rekindled love stories, brilliant characters, fantastic storylines and a wonderful ending.

I love second chance romances and this is one of the best. Justin is a movie star who works very hard at his craft and at the same time keeps his reputation clean. When Justin receives a phone call that his father is dying and would like for him to come home it triggers a reaction that guts Justin. His father kicked him out of the house when he revealed he was gay and Justin took off for California to pursue his dream of becoming a movie star. But, is that the whole sequence of events? One person was particularly involved in Justin’s life at the time and he never understood being left behind without a word.
George was Justin’s boyfriend in their small town in Pennsylvania. Both George and Justin talked about a future together and then suddenly Justin was gone, with no explanation. Several years pass and both George and Justin have tried to move on but for each of them, their first love still smolders in their hearts.
When Justin returns home in response to his father’s request to see him one more time, Justin expects to fly in, see his father, whom he still despises, and leave immediately. When he finds that George is his father’s home care nurse one complication leads to another, keeping Justin in town longer than he expects.
Andrew Grey writes characters who are well developed and three dimensional. There are a number of secondary characters who are critical to the story. Some are positive forces in Justin and George’s lives while others are malicious. George’s mother and Justin’s best friend Ethan are very important characters. There are a two or three less than well-meaning characters, and in fact one is downright evil. If you expect everyone to get their just due you may find that you don’t always get what you want. I loved George’s mother and Ethan was probably my favorite character in the book.
Mr. Grey has written so many novels you might think he must be starting to repeat stories and characters. Let this book demonstrate that such is definitely not the case. Can’t Live Without You is a sweet romance with just enough sorrow and fear to keep you on the edge, trying to figure out how the author will get us to the HEA we’ve come to expect from Andrew Grey. This is a lovely story that I recommend to lovers of romance novels.

Reviewed by Meredith for Diverse Reader

Second chance romance anyone? Movie star and nurse? Yeah? Well, this is the book for you! Fairly low angst, very high romance!

I absolutely love the books that wrap themselves around you and make you feel. Not the painful kind of feel that turns you violent but the kind that makes the silent tears fall down your cheeks. The kind of feels that make the laugh burst out of you because a character took you by surprise. I love finding myself telling characters I’m proud of them. Like they are real or something.

Can’t Live Without You was like the best comfort food. It was feeling like your dreams were lost only to realize they were simply in hibernation.

The characters. Justin and George. These are the MC’s and the lovers. Childhood friends who fell in love. Justin is kicked out of his home just shy of 19 and George’s family wants to take him in but something horrible happens to Justin and forces him to run without ever saying goodbye to George. *sigh* I know!

That’s all you’ll get out of me. How does a big movie star from L.A. end up back in Pennsylvania and face to face with the love of his life? I’m sayin’ nuttin’. It’s wonderful though.

There are gray areas where sadness lingers but never stays too long. George is Justin’s sun and they are brilliant together.

The secondary characters, Ethan, Shirley, and all the rest really round this book off perfectly. Really love Ethan and what he is for Justin. We all need an anchor when we find ourselves adrift and that is what Ethan does.

Lovely book by Andrew Grey! Adored it!

Andrew Grey is an auto-buy author for me and I can’t say that I’ve ever been disappointed by a book. Like all things, I love some more than others, but there is just something comforting in the stories he writes that keeps me coming back for more. In this case, a second chance romance, which I’m truly a sucker for!

Justin, a one-time small town boy turned Hollywood mega-star, is returning home because his estranged father is dying. The man who kicked him out for being gay wants to see him and despite all the reasons to the contrary, he agrees to go. As if that’s not already stressful enough, he comes face-to-face with his first and only love. In an odd twist of fate, George has become Justin’s father’s in home nurse and, even knowing what went down between father and son, he’s determined to show Justin the man regretted his actions.

George is harboring some resentment, which I get. His family was willing to take Justin in when all that went down with his father, so he doesn’t understand why he left. Still, becoming the father’s champion in the end bothered me. And his reaction when he does find out why Justin really left, why he ran and why he’s still afraid, was kind of…not enough. For me.

Several times through reading this book, I had this feeling that I wasn’t connecting with the love story and then suddenly I’d find myself tearing up. Then I’d find myself annoyed with George, but then rooting for them too. Riding that roller coaster of feels is always the sign of a good story, in my opinion.

If I had one real complaint, I would’ve have liked to see some consequences for the reason Justin left. I get legal statutes, etc., but some karmic justice was in order and not getting it left me worried that reason would/could come back to haunt them again.

*I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

**4.5 Stars**
Can’t Live Without You was my favorite books by Andrew Grey in a long time. This story was so fresh and new – and so well written and planned out, it was a pleasure to read from beginning to end. I always love a good love story, and this definitely didn’t disappoint.

When you meet one of the main character’s, Justin, he’s almost… unlikeable. There was something about him that was so unhappy and almost detached from “real life.” Almost instantly though, his many layers are revealed and his depth and character was so intriguing to learn about throughout the book.

And you can’t forget Georgie – just the fact that we meet him as he known, nickname and all, when he was 18 years old and has grown into such a wonderful man, had me swooning. He wasn’t perfect – but pretty dang close to it. Together, Justin and George were heat and love… and believable.

This book is for anyone who loves a good love story, with a side of Hollywood madness and deep subjects. It truly was one of Grey’s best works in a long time. I can’t wait to read the next one – hopefully starring Ethan!"

Review Copy of Can't Live Without You provided by Dreamspinner Press for an honest Review.