Empty Hands and Empty Rooms

by S.Y. Tyler

Andy MacLaine runs away from home at eighteen, straight into the arms of Simon Wray, who shares his studio flat with Andy for the six months before Andy fulfills his lifelong dream of enlisting in the military. Fourteen years later, Andy is forced to retire early after an injury, and returns home to retrain as an electrician. He isn't expecting his first journeyman to be Simon, whose heart he broke all those years ago, when they shared a flat and a bed and one single kiss. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Simon Wray has had more than his share of tragedy, by the time he's thirty-four. An abusive childhood, a broken heart, a traumatic career in the military — he's had enough of opening himself up to others. The exception, it seems, is Simon's coworker Jakob Kühner. Jakob isn't inherently trusting, either; after years spent struggling to make people understand that his asexuality isn't temporary, his aromanticism isn't a flaw, and his anxiety isn't just "shyness," Jakob doesn't easily let anyone close. Somehow, that's exactly where Simon finds close to Jakob, and the happiest he's ever been because of it. When Andy reappears, Simon finds that the boy who broke his heart still has the power to do so, even fourteen years later, because Simon still, still, loves him.

443 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 2023

Reviews

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book. Tyler's writing is so vivid, the characters' emotions so palpable, I really couldn't put it down. I finally got my hands on a hard copy from Amazon and read the entire thing again on a long plane ride and legit was teary-eyed. 5/5 stars loveeeeeee