Ehrenhaft Entlassen: Creek

Honorably Discharged #1

by Nora Phoenix, E.M. Lindsey, Chris McHart (translator)

Zu akzeptieren, dass meine Karriere in der Army vorbei ist, nachdem ich mein Bein verloren habe, ist schwer.

Aber der unausstehliche, attraktive, immer positiv gestimmte Surfer in meinen Physiotherapiesitzungen ist viel schlimmer.

Und Gott helfe ihm, wenn er nicht aufhört, mir Ratschläge zu geben.

Mit drei meiner engsten Veteranenkollegen in einem Haus zu leben, ist eine Herausforderung, da wir alle unsere Kreuze zu tragen und unsere Wunden zu heilen haben, aber meine scheinen mit jedem Schritt, den ich mache, tiefer zu werden. Ich muss mich an ein neues Leben als Zivilist gewöhnen. Da brauche ich nicht auch noch eine Sexualitätskrise.

Doch Heath lässt mich alles hinterfragen, was ich über mich zu wissen glaubte. Und obwohl mir das eigentlich Angst machen sollte, hilft er mir irgendwie, mich mutiger zu fühlen als je zuvor.

Creek ist das erste Buch der „Ehrenhaft entlassen“-Reihe. Es handelt von einem mürrischen, sehr reizbaren Veteranen, einen fröhlichen Surfer, der in fast jedem das Beste zum Vorschein bringt, bisexuellem Erwachen, einer gefundenen Familie, Hurt/Comfort und hat natürlich ein heißes Happy End.

Genres: M M Romance, Military Fiction, Romance, Disability, Enemies To Lovers, Contemporary, LGBT

392 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 28, 2024

About the author

Would you like the long or the short version of my bio?

The short? You got it.

I write steamy gay romance books and I love it. I also love reading books. Books are everything.

How was that?

A little more detail? Gotcha.

I started writing my first stories when I was a teen…on a freaking typewriter. I still have these, and they’re adorably romantic. And bad, haha. Fear of failing kept me from following my dream to become a romance author, so you can imagine how proud and ecstatic I am that I finally overcame my fears and self doubt and did it. I adore my genre because I love writing and reading about flawed, strong men who are just a tad broken..but find their happy ever after anyway.

My favorite books to read are pretty much all MM/gay romances as long as it has a happy end. Kink is a plus… Aside from that, I also read a lot of nonfiction and not just books on writing. Popular psychology is a favorite topic of mine and so are self help and sociology.

Hobbies? Ain’t nobody got time for that. Just kidding. I love traveling, spending time near the ocean, and hiking. But I love books more.

Come hang out with me in my Facebook Group Nora’s Nook where I share previews, sneak peeks, freebies, fun stuff, and much more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/noras...

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You can also stalk me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoraFromBHR
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On Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/nora-...

Reviews

[Cadiva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book ticked pretty much all my boxes when it comes to excellent disability rep, a general lack of angsty crap between the two main characters and no stupid third act break up!

I love it when tough men get vulnerable and come to realise it's okay to show they're hurting or finding things difficult to deal with.

Here we have Creek, an Army explosives and ammunition expert who lost part of his leg through the irresponsible actions of someone else. He's angry and not dealing with the end of his career unexpectedly, especially as two of his closest friends were also disabled and invalided out in the same accident.

His nemesis is the cheery surfer who's a few weeks ahead of him in PT recovery who he nicknames Point Break and who just gets on every one of his last nerves, for reasons Creek's not exactly sure why.

Of course, life's not exactly sunny for Heath, the former champion surfer and current PE teacher since he was knocked off his motorbike by a drunk driver and lost his lower limb, but he tries not to let that affect him and winding up Sergeant Grumpy becomes another great distraction.

What I think I loved the most about this book, seriousness about disability and learning to come to terms with being an amputee and knowing you have to create a new reality, is that there's no unnecessary drama.

We get tension caused by the difficulties of adapting to your changed reality, we get the anger and the frustrations, the guilt and the determination. But we don't get any stupid misunderstandings, no miscommunication or overly impressive recovery times.

What we're given is a really beautiful bisexual awakening as Creek, following a few enlightened one-to-one's with his best friend and former boss Nash, realises he's been doing the equivalent of pulling Heath's pigtails because he wants his attention.

When he steps over a line, there's immediate fallout which results in a honest evaluation and conversation about how he's feeling, what he thinks he feels for Heath and a genuine connection that grows steadily and surely.

This is slow burn, it's both necessary and utterly understandable for the narrative, but that doesn't mean it's not hot as Hell, or as filled with emotional development as both men learn to lean and open up to the other.

I read this in a few hours, the pacing was excellent, it draws you wonderfully into this new world with the disparate characters who make up Heath and Creek's friends' group and Creek's younger brother Forest, who I'm thinking may just be arriving in time to be Nash's love interest later down the line!

The whole book feels realistic, it's a solid grounding in both its setting, San Francisco, and in the people who inhabit the world. I'm intrigued and cannot wait for the rest of the gang to get their stories.

#ARC kindly received from the authors via Chaotic Creatives, I am voluntarily leaving a review

[Kaity]

Audio: 4 stars, John Solo might be making a comeback for me? Haha

Book: DNF @73%

Um.. the beginning started out good, but then they started in a relationship and the pacing got fucked. Everything was too rushed and didn’t fit with their personalities.

Overall didn’t work for me.

[Heather K (dentist in my spare time) · Rating 2 out of 5]

(hides face)

I'm going to be honest, this book is one of my biggest disappointments so far in 2025. I had HUGE expectations, and even got this signed by E.M. Lindsey. But, alas, I could barely finish this one.

Creek has SO many elements that I usually love in a book.
Sexuality discovery story
Amputees
Hurt/Comfort
Grumpy/Sunshine (more on this later...)

but none of them came together for me. These two just did NOT have any chemistry, and I failed to see why they even liked each other to begin with. Speaking of chemistry, I'm a lover of the grumpy/sunshine trope, but these two were grumpy/grumpy. Sunshine where?? I just thought they brought each other down. I think the physical therapy rehab setting was interesting, but it just didn't go anywhere for me.

I think the vibes of the book were too bro-y and just not enough of what I like to read. I'm sorry, Nora Phoenix, I'm dinging you again but I think I'm just not into your style of books.

goodreads|instagram

[Ky · Rating 4 out of 5]

* 4.5 stars *

EM Lindsey has a knack for writing characters with disabilities and each time they venture into something different, so I assume that a lot of research, effort, and care goes into each character and their unique needs and limitations.

This time they have partnered with another author whose contemporary works I often like, Nora Phoenix, and the result was amazing.

Heath and Creek are both recent amputees, they have similar injuries and they happen to go to the same PT center and have the same trainer. Their current situations may be similar but their journeys until then were very different. Their characters as well.

Creek is a military man and his injury was the result of someone else's carelessness. In addition to learning how to walk again, he also has to readjust his whole mindset in being a civilian since his medical discharge from the army is pending.

Heath is a PE teacher in a high school, a surfer, and a rider. He has a positive attitude most of the time but his family is a difficult subject for him.

When the two meet they start antagonizing about their recovery progress but I think their rivalry was just masked attraction. Once they began acknowledging and accepting their feelings, especially Creek who thought of himself as straight up until then, their interactions changed rapidly.

Heath and Creek had a lot in common and also had a lot of differences but neither stopped them from supporting, protecting and encouraging the other in their respective journeys.

As the story progressed, Creek's character development was bigger than Heath's so he's the character that changed the most. By the end of the story, he was much more self-aware and in tune with himself than he was in the beginning. I liked both characters equally from start to finish, they were so different that each one brought his own thing to the story.

I think this was a great start for this new series. I look forward to seeing what the next ones will be about.



~ Copy provided by Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure. A review wasn't a requirement. ~

[L Ann]

dnf @15%. I'm not sure if it's the story or the audiobook, but something just isn’t working for me. Why does John Solo always make every character sound at least 10 years older than they're supposed to be? I may come back to this after I get his voice out of my head, but right now, I'm calling it quits.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really impressed with this book (and the other of this series I have read). It is so good in so many ways, first the representation where both MCs are recent leg amputees, their jobs, their backgrounds. Their relationship starts trope-ish grumpy/sunshine (point break and sergeant grumpy) and it erred on the too grumpy side a bit for me but that was fixed relatively quickly. It's an incredibly positive book and really well done in all ways...

But there is a but for me, and it is undefinable but made my hand kind of slide down to 4 stars, there was something undefinable missing here, maybe a sense of urgency, a sense of romance or yearning, or maybe even that dratted conflict. I was almost bored at parts, while still liking the characters so much and rooting for their HEA. Maybe I am just in the mood for something more dramatic right now, but I will certainly be checking the one book of this series I have not yet read (and there might be another, the final one, soon).

[❀ Jess ( Semi hiatus )]

I don’t think giving this a rating would be fair considering how much of it I skimmed.
I didn’t really feel the connection between the MCs.
I loved Heath but wasn’t a fan of Creek, not until they started dating.

Also, before the MCs get together and Creek found himself checking out Heath in his POV he’s thinking of going on Tinder to get laid, chapter ends and it’s Heath’s POV and then once we’re back to Creek’s POV there’s no mention of whether or not he ever did the hook up? If he did, it wasn’t on page and it wasn’t ever mentioned from what I saw 🤷🏻‍♀️ Once they start getting together Heath says he’s clean and hasn’t been with anyone since his accident and they’re talking about Creek going on PrEP but doesn’t mention how long it’s been for him? Then later on in the story he says his hook ups have been far and few between ? But there’s never any talk of ditching condoms on page.

Lots of stuff happened off page and we’re told rather than shown. There’s also a lot of time skips so it made it difficult for me to accurately tell when it was.

Their first kiss came out of NOWHERE, to me? I was so shocked, I didn’t see the build up coming at all. 🤷🏻‍♀️

There’s also no epilogue set in the future, it bummed me out a little bit, I wanted to see what their future was going to be looking like, especially with Creek wanting to stay in the Army, I wanted to see if he ended up finding a different job that appealed to him, I wanted to see them at least moving in together. We get shared ‘I love you(s)’ which was nice but during the epilogue where they’re hanging out with friends and obv future MCs, one of them mentions marriage and kids and Creek almost has a panic attack and talks about how he’s not ready to move out of the place he shares with his army bros, that he’s going through too many life changes right now and that Heath understands. It’s all very realistic but it made me feel a little off being reminded of that in the epilogue since I like my endings to be more… complete?

They’re in a good place at the end, in love and continuing to support each other’s healing journey but I just felt like there was a lot missing for me when it came to the romance. I’m sure they will appear as the series continues but I won’t be reading the next book since I don’t like the tropes. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Crisana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one more than I thought. The characters were well fleshed out and they seemed to fit together quite well.
The lack of unnecessary angst was also good to see, as lately I have no patience for fabricated over the top angst and silly miscommunication.
But what I liked more was the fact that this was just two men getting to know each other and then getting together, no kink or power exchanges needed. No kink shaming but lately pretty much every book seems to have some form of it and it's getting really tired, outdated and like reading the same book all over again.

[⋆｡°✮ Lucy InTheSky ✮°｡⋆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐

There's a lot of things I liked about this book.

The setting was good - a small community of disabled military veterans who have served together and are now there for each other in the worst of times.

I liked the fact that their ranks translate into civilian life as well, so even though they're friends and live together, there's a hierarchy there and it's respected - I very much liked that.

Consequently, Nash is right off the bat my favourite character in the series, hands down, I just know nothing's going to change that and his book comes out in December, so I'm really hoping it's going to be better than this one was.

🟢 Army vet / PE high school teacher
🔵 Grumpy/sunshine (mush)
🟡 Both disabled (missing leg)
🔵 Age gap 29/34
🟣 Gay/bi-awakening
🟢 Found family
🟠 Toxic family, homophobia, coming out, recovery, therapy
🌶️ Good, descriptive sex scenes, but scarce, could've been more; first times; frotting, oral, penetrative; both vers

The story starts out pretty good, it's a lighter story despite the heavy topics, so I read it quickly - I also read it quickly because the love story was lackluster. It started out just fine with a bit of that enemies to lovers vibe, but it threw me off with the first kiss and how everything after that just completely turned around in an instant and became almost too lovey dovey.

Creek is a grumpy army vet who's lost his leg on a mission and now he's going to physiotherapy with Heath, the blonde, long-haired, lean, cute, positive gay guy who's stepping on Creek's toes on purpose, joking and trying to make a dire situation light and that absolutely bothers Creek, who's intensely angry and grieving the loss of his very successful military career and life.

There's a lot of tension between them at first, their first kiss that happens is out of nowhere, I didn't expect it because nothing was said about Creek's bi-awakening until that point - and don't hate me here but I also think a too big of a deal was made about Creek kissing Heath without his consent, I mean the author set the scene with tension and unresolved attraction, made them look at each other naked in the bathrooms, working out together and talking to each other all the time and Creek reacted in one of their fights and grabbed Heath and kissed him.

"Oh, for fuck’s sake. That was it. I looked at him, wrapped my hand around his neck, and yanked him onto my lap. He squealed, but I caught the sound with my lips as I kissed him with every ounce of frustration inside me. He was rigid for a second, then moaned into my mouth, and god, that sound… It shot straight to my balls, to my cock, which grew hard in seconds. My tongue slipped into his mouth, and he met me there, and we tangled and danced."

Heath could've reported the guy and be done with it, definitely not moan and kiss him back, right? The problem here was more that Heath thought Creek was using him just to experiment than consent itself, but on the other hand, talking about consent is always important. Especially when you're in such a vulnerable position. And it was a sensitive setting, they're both disabled, so completely understandable.

If only that energy and tension would move forward and stay there while they got together, but suddenly, in the second half of the book the whole thing turns completely around and Creek goes from a standoffish guy to darlin' and a serious boyfriend real damn quick.
I definitely needed something more for that transition from strangers who disliked each other to that kind of intimacy.

Creek and Heath didn't rush into moving in together and talking about marriage, which I appreciated, Heath found his person when he felt so out of place for most of his life and they both found happiness amidst of this insanely terrible, awful, sad time in their lives, but even if I really did like a lot of aspects of the story, when you combine them, it's not really that exceptional.

I definitely am looking forward to other books (Nash, Forest, also maybe Heath's brother?), but I'm not expecting much.

[SJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 I haven’t read a Nora Phoenix in a while. They always provide a solid MM story. Some reviews mention how well co-author E.M. Lindsey does with a story about disabilities. I wondered why Nora’s ‘No Shame’ series wasn’t mentioned. Those books were my first MM romance reads with a seriously disabled MC. The memorable character of Noah was superbly written in that series.

In this book, both MCs are healing from amputations and training their bodies through the changes. It was an interesting premise, having their physical struggles almost mirror each other. The mental challenges were different for both as this is an opposites attract romance.
Bad tempered Army sergeant Creek was a contrast to fellow physical therapy patient, the always cheerful Heath.

The story was nice. The two men were good for each other. Creek quickly settled into a gay romance after realizing he is attracted to a man. Their sex scenes were well written and I liked the emphasis on kissing throughout the book.

The story has a lot of side characters who are important to both MCs and will be getting their own books, I’m sure. I hope that Noah’s story will be more passionate than this one. The story is centered around the recovery for Heath and Creek. Their feelings are deep for each other, but I would have liked maybe some crazy love or grand gestures.

[ML]

RTC

[Barb ~rede-2-read~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable story between a grumpy army sergeant who is facing an honorable discharge due to a leg amputation and a sunshiny schoolteacher who has also had a leg amputation. They meet in rehab and Creek, the vet, hates Heath with a passion. He's way too upbeat and way too far ahead of Creek's slow progress. But Heath hides his own hurt and anger at losing his leg. He's a surfer who wants to get strong enough to get back on a board. His goal keeps him going.

I love the way this story starts, the slow buildup of attraction between the two, Creek's realization that it is indeed attraction he feels, their evolution to friendship, dating, and ultimately their journey to their HEA which includes acceptance of their amputations and both surfing for Heath and a new job and new outlook on life for Creek.

I'm looking forward to more in the series, hopefully starring the rest of the wounded vets in Creek's home. Very nice start to a series.

BTW, I listened to this in audio but the audiobook is not listed as its own edition on Goodreads so this is marked under e-books. John Solo did an outstanding job of bringing Creek and Heath to life. Kudos!

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Underwhelming.

I appreciated the disability rep, but it just didn't pull me in. Creek's petty anger towards Heath was pretty off putting, even if the anger stuff was part of his arc. Way too many side characters, and once they got together, all momentum and tension just... stopped. The last 30% of the book could have been seriously edited down, and the schmoop was a bit much. The summary of the next one intrigues me, but I'm going in with tempered expectations.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was surprisingly good. I was hopeful but unsure of how much of my vibe it would be as I'm not an enemies to lovers fan and it has that, but I actually liked it.

[DeniReadsMostlyMM · Rating 5 out of 5]

***ARC Review*** 4.5 stars

This is my honest and voluntary review for the ARC I received.

Nora Phoenix and E.M. Lindsey have delivered a beautiful book about two men at different stages in the healing process. The disability representation in this book is excellent. Our MCs, Creek and Heath are both recovering from lost limbs (both have below-the-knee amputations) and all the changes to their way of life that this new reality brings them.

Creek and Heath are total opposites and handle their recovery in immensely different ways. Heath may be upset at the events that took his leg, but overall he has a very sunny and positive disposition. There are some things that he is struggling with internally - some related to the injury and how it affects his ability to surf; some related to his less than stellar family members and their hurtful/negative attitudes towards him.

Creek is the grumpiest of grumps. He isn’t just grumpy, he’s genuinely angry at his current circumstances. Losing his leg is jeopardizing his career in the Army and he struggles dealing with all of the unexpected changes that have recently occurred. It’s a good thing that Creek has his found family in Nash, Bean, and Tameron. These Army buddies are his brothers and the support system that he needs. His actual brother, Forest, is pretty great too. (Heath has Kurt, Kaleo, and Zayd in his corner, when things get tough).

Creek and Heath are so at odds at the beginning of this book, that it’s almost hard to imagine how they end up falling for one another, but everything happens in due course. There is also the fact that Creek considers himself to be straight. Along the way, Creek figures out how to process the maelstrom of emotions he feels towards Heath (and believe me it’s a journey) and Heath discovers that people aren’t always the first impression they make.

This book is very vulnerable at times, especially as Creek and Heath get over their feuding and open their minds and hearts to one another. These two men push each other (‘s buttons at first) to be better men. The care and consideration they feel for one another leaps off the pages. The pure and powerful connection between Creek and Heath is simply breathtaking. I loved the natural progression of their journey from strangers who clash to boyfriends who cherish one another. This book is a slow burn, but it works as it is the first in the Honorably Discharged series, and is setting the stage up for everything.

Lastly, Bean totally had my heart during the epilogue. I’m very much looking forward to his book, up next in the series.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️. This was so well done. This is a character driven story with smart, mature characters dealing with the unthinkable.

It is the story of two very different men - Creek and Heath - both enduring the pain and struggle of losing a limb and their path to recovery.

Heath is a beloved high school PE teacher, surfer and motorcycle enthusiast who tragically loses his leg in an accident w a car. Creek is a Sergeant in the Army who loses his leg during a munitions mishap. They meet when they both work with the same physical therapist, Kent. It is the story of their personal and relationship growth as they work through their recoveries.

- enemies to lovers
- disdain/competitive jealousy to mutual respect
- mm; bi awakening (Creek)
- Supportive friends/both have difficult family situations
- Creek lives with his 3 army buddies including his senior in the Army, Nash, who serves as his mentor; Heath has Kent (PT therapist), a buddy at school, and another surfing friend.
- both struggle with their recovery and reclaiming their lives; Creek battles his anger at first and lashes out verbally at Heath
- lots of time spent showing us the physical struggles related to their missing limbs; the author does a beautiful job allowing us to feel their psychic and physical pain
- nicknames - Point Break, sunshine, baby, darlin’; sweetheart, baby, sergeant grumpy
- first kiss that is borderline assault and immediate regret by Creek who sets out to apologize and make it right; thjs sets them on the course to see each other differently
- mutual respect
- amazing communication
- Spice. - first kiss around 30%; real spice starts around 50%. Open door. I liked how the spice added to their emotional connection and while steamy, the spice was purposeful.
- no third act breakup
- dual POV; HFN “I love you’s “ and commitment to be together.

I really loved these two and their story. We see them at the very early stages of their recovery as they tackle the grief, anger and work toward accepting their injuries and impact on their lives. We see them support each other and ultimately provide each other with a safe place to share their fears and hopes.

It’s a truly beautiful story. ❤️❤️

*The beginning moved a little but slowly for me and Creek’s change of heart seemed a bit fast, hence the 1/2 star drop.

[Audiobook S1ut · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars. I'm a sucker for military men, and grumpy/sunshine. Creek gave me everything I wanted!

Losing his leg destroyed Creek's whole identity after a decade in the army. Heath, our Golden retriever, only appears to be happy on the outside after losing his leg in a motorcycle accident.

Thus, a grumpy/sunshine dynamic is born. What I loved the most about this book, aside from the bi awakening (one of my favorite tropes) is the disability representation.

Both characters initially dislike and misjudge each other. But both of them are grappling with serious issues surrounding their recovery. What surprised me most was how much I laughed. I loved that the authors were able to find humor in the darkest of situations, and humanize disability in our MCs.

You don't wallow in misery with the MCs half as much as you find humor and hope in their situations! This easily could have been a deeply depressing look at how the MCs struggle and suffer, and while they do suffer quite a bit, there is a lot of joy and (angry?) flirting that injects levity into the story.

I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in the series!

[Candice Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up on a chance. I was so pleasantly surprised. I have said it before and I will say it again I love a bi-awakening that doesn’t cause internal stress or denial. You are attracted to and love who you love.
Creek and Heath start off hating each other even though Heath has an intent attraction and is aware he always falls for the “straight” guy and gets hurt. When Creek gives into his feelings their story of healing and love is beautiful.
They are both healing both mentally and physically from accidents where they have lost a leg. You can see their progress and growth through the pages.
As their relationship develops they are so sweet and supportive of each other. While their feelings develop quickly they both understand Creek is not in a place to jump into the future but rather continue at the pace that feels right. And can we just take a moment for the nicknames “Point Break” and “Sergeant Grumpy” lol.
The found family in this book with the Army brothers is great and I can’t wait to read all their stories.
This is a great start to the series I am looking forward to what’s next.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

He smiled, then leaned in before freezing. “May I?” “At this point,” I interrupted, feeling bold enough to interpret his moves, “you don’t need to ask for permission. My lips are yours.” He closed his eyes, took a breath, then took everything I was willing to give.


Cute!!! I love the idea of two people going through a similar situation and seeing how differently people can react/handle it.

Creek and Heath are both single leg amputees, though on opposite legs so basically they are soulmates. Creek is having difficulty with his new normal and his transition to being a civilian again. Heath is a few weeks ahead in his recovery which frustrates Creek. The two start off rocky but slowly but surely find common ground and learn to share their frustrations on their recoveries and lean on each other for support.

One thing I really loved was how Creek and Heath falling in love didn’t save either of them. Creek not immediately moving in with Heath and recognizing he needs his brothers and isn’t ready to move on from the army was actually very realistic imo! I love fiction but it is always nice when there is a little more realism in it.

Also…Forest and Nash right???? Right???

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

4.25 stars

Creek is the first book in the new Honorably Discharged series by authors Nora Phoenix and E.M. Lindsey. I am a huge fan of both of these authors, so I was thrilled to see they were co-writing a series. I wouldn’t have necessarily paired their styles together, so I was curious to see how their collaboration would work, but I am happy to say I found it seamless and I enjoyed this story quite a lot.

This is also a bi-awakening story as Creek comes to realize his attraction to Heath. Creek’s brother and his best friend are both gay, and so he is pretty comfortable with the idea quickly, even though he never considered himself anything but straight. Once the men move past the early bickering phase into friendship and more, things more quickly and easily for them and they fall hard for one another. I think given all the external struggle that they are both dealing with, it makes sense to have the romantic side be a little more straightforward, and I enjoyed these guys together.

Read Jay’s review in its entirety here.

[Ethan · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 15%. Maybe I’ll pick this up later, but tbh I really could not stand Creek. Like - talk about a prick. Heath was amazing but I couldn’t tolerate Creek and his piss poor attitude and the things he said and though were way over the top, almost hyper masculine bro. Just not for me I don’t think.

Update: I read another 5% and decided yes, I’m going to go ahead and rate this book. At 20% there’s zero character development on Creeks side, and hearing him openly objectifying Heath in the showers?? Wondering if he’s a top or bottom? Huh?! And then immediately talking about how he shouldn’t be stereotyping. I’m sorry but no. Not for me.

[Molly Otto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not what I was expecting by any means necessary, and wow, is it just wow. Two men both lost their legs in completely different circumstances, as they are completely different men. Creek is not ready for all the change in his life that all happened in a flash, but thanks to his best friend's and now Heath, he is getting by. Heath just goes with the flow of life and just moves forward, not expecting Creek a grumpy Sargent who he just can't read. The two of them start with a banter that may not be always nice, but it's real. When Creek makes a mistake, he proves to Heath what kind of man he truly is deep down. The bond of Creek and his housemates is that of pure love and support that you can only hope all people will receive at one point in their life. And Heath gets it he doesn't interfere with their bond he embraces and encourages them to be able to heal and one day move on. Their are no expectations from either side, just a love so strong they will go at each other's pace for their eventual happily ever after. I can't wait to read the rest of the stories of these men to see how they grow.

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5☆

ᔑᑭᏆᑕᗴ: 🔥🔥🔥
しᗩᑌᏀᕼᔑ: 🤣🤣
Ꭲᗴᗩᖇᔑ:😭😭😭
ᗰᑕᔑ: Creek,Heath
ᑭᝪᐯ: 1st, Dual
Ꭲᖇᝪᑭᗴᔑ: Found Family, Bi-awakening, Grumpy Sunshine.



Este tipo de libros me enamoran, Creek un mega gruñon(entendible) y Heath todo alegría y luz son tan opuestos pero a la vez son tan geniales sus odio inicial su primer beso todo esto entre ellos hace que los ames aún más en especial a Creek. Es una hermosa historia con risas, Lagrimas y un gran HEA espero ya pronto leer el 2do

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 stars for a lovely enemies to Lovers story.

I loved how these two found their way to each other.
Both had different difficulties with their injuries, which showed perfectly that everyone sees things differently
I loved how the author dealt with these sensitive topics

A very thoughtful book with a great love story

[Michelle Elman · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story just wasn't for me. I loved the idea behind it but the story just never took off for me. The relationship did not progress and I couldn't find the attraction between them. This was a no go for me.

[Aki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nett im Urlaub zu lesen. Bin schon gespannt auf die nächsten Teile.

[Yuli Atta · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with all great books, I started this on a whim and ended up reading it in one sitting.

This was such a good story and everything I needed and wanted from it 🤩

Now I'm off to the next one 🥹

[Mireya · Rating 4 out of 5]

los amo tantísimo

[RedsBookReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

Wow, this is such an amazing start to this series and I cannot wait to see how this progresses. Creek and Heath are such an amazing couple and they were just so good together. I also loved the whole host of supporting characters and I really hope some of them find their partners in future books in this series

[amina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure what exactly didn’t work for me here.

The story was very good and the topic of people adjusting to new reality is covered quite well. I liked the characters as well. But something was just missing. Maybe I became too spoiled and the writing is too simple for me, I honestly don’t know, but I did have to push myself through the last couple of chapters.

I would recommend the book nonetheless.