I'm sorry, but I did not enjoy this book because frankly, I VERY strongly disliked all the characters.DNF because though I made it to the end, had to skim.
Josh never stood up for himself at all.
I'm going to just hide my very very long rant here: He gets severely beaten up when he is publicly outed. Dane, coward that he is, promptly leaves him beaten up and injured alone in the house for weeks because he is afraid people will find out that he is gay too. Josh's brother Jesse, also Dane's best friend, HEARS Josh being beaten up over the phone. And he absolutely tears into Josh for being gay and Dane stands by and does nothing even though he was the one Josh was caught having sex with (only Josh was recognized). Jesse is also a huge hypocrite, because his immediate reaction to Josh being gay is hatred, gives him the brush-off for weeks knowing he was beaten up and alone, yet is okay when he finds out his best friend is gay because it's apparently not the same thing.
And what does Josh's very best friend since kindergarten Sarah do once she finds out how Josh has been kicked to the curb by everyone in his life? She first splits up with Jesse once she finds out how he treated Josh like crap, so yay for loyalty and support between childhood friends...until she is easily convinced to ignore how he treats his family because 'that has nothing to do with what kind of person he is' and goes back to dating him so, so much for that.
And his aunt/uncle suddenly claiming their whole 100% support and acceptance of him...where were they when Josh was alone and injured in his house and knew he most definitely could've used their support after his own brother and town viciously rejected him?
Josh was a doormat who just let Dane push him around. He just easily forgave everyone who treated him like crap and abandoned him, welcomed them back with open arms. I get that Dane had PTSD, but to me, it still didn't seem a valid excuse for his hot-cold routine and just how much of an overall inconsiderate and selfish jerk he acts like. The D/S aspect doesn't bother me at all in other stories, but I did not like it here because it seemed like that was all that existed between Josh and Dane. Every scene they're in, either Dane is rudely brushing him off or forcing him to have rough sex even when Josh is hurting. How does that turn into love?
And I did NOT like how the last sex scene was Dane asking Josh to top him as 'forgiveness'. And asking to go bareback all of a sudden.
I definitely wasn't in the right mood for the way this story turned out, and the way the characters acted.
I think this book rubbed me the wrong way and I was definitely not in the right mood, so forgive me if my feelings seem strong! So I'm going to leave this unrated. If my family and friends behaved this way to me, I would not have forgiven them as easily as Josh does.
I guess this book just wasn't for me! >.<
