4 Stars for Gnarly from Caroline at Love Bytes Reviews

CAROLINE’S REVIEW:

This is quite a gentle love story about three men who are each lonely and dealing with problems in their lives that seem insurmountable.

Javi and Ed had a wild fling thirty years ago before Ed returned from Europe to the States to begin his gruelling college life on his way to becoming a Doctor. Javi fell hard that summer but never spoke up about his feelings until it was too late. Ed arrived at college met his future wife, married and had a family and never gave much thought to Javi for the next thirty years.

Three decades on Ed finally returns to San Sebastian where he spent that carefree summer with Javi. The trip is supposed to give him the jolt he needs to get over the grief at losing his wife and inspire him as to what he wants from the rest of his life. The first thing he does is look to see if Javi’s family is still around – they are but the Javi he finds is not the man he once knew. After a shark attack Javi lost his foot and he sits in his apartment too depressed to see that his life isn’t over.

Ed is exactly the right medicine for Javi and his outlook in life changes overnight. There is an obvious sexual attraction between the two but for anything to happen Ed must first make peace with the fact that his wife is gone and he is a bisexual man. If that isn’t confusing enough for him he soon has to face up to wanting two men at the same time when he meets Iker, a man who has been forced to retire from his sport, and who is also trying to work out his future.

I loved that this story was about older men who were getting their second chances. Although their feelings rose and were declared quickly the author didn’t just drop the three into a perfect relationship. Their lives and their problems were very real and each had to be dealt with – I guess what I’m trying to say is the story had a gritty feel to it. The MC’s weren’t perfect and they had lived their lives to the fullest until each of them was struck down by adversity. They were good together and even the ending wasn’t wrapped up neatly with a bow on it – they were more a work in progress but you are left sure that they will work it all out.

RATING: LoveBytes_4Hearts