5 I think this is my favourite book of the year stars
“Nothing makes sense to me the way you do either. My whole life I wondered if something was wrong with me, if a part of me was broken, but it wasn’t. It was just waiting for you, waiting for the time to be right.”
Sweet jesus this is going to be a long review because I stayed up way too late to finish this last night and because I cried so many times during this damn book. Expecially the last 15%, that was such a rollercoaster of emotions, there was a scene so emotional in there I was just bailing my eyes out.
I have enjoyed most of my time in Havenwood and I was so excited to finally get to read Griff and Josh’s story, I feel like i’ve been waiting for it for ages, I just wanted to see how these two would get together and how they would fit together, because on the surface they seem so different.
But what you get is two men who are clearly made for each other fighting with all they have to be together.
I love when my books are all about the characters and their relationship. This is the case here, Griff and Josh are front and center, it’s all about their feelings and their lives and how they evolved as characters to become two men who fit perfectly together and who couldn’t deserve each other more. I asolutely loved how much character development was in this, you saw both of these men grow so much during the course of the book.
Man do I love Griff. He’s such a pure soul. He’s always been there for everyone but he never had someone be there for him. He just wanted to find his place in the world and he ended up finding the perfect place for himself. I loved how him being on the axesual spectrum was explored. That was so well done. You could see clearly how he worked and how he never really wanted anyone until he found the one person who pushed his buttons and worked for him. That was so so well done. I always love a good well done representation and it was the case here. I also loved how there was no angst when he realized what he wanted, as soon as he knew that he wanted Josh, even if he never really wanted anyone before, he went for it and got what he wanted, and I adored that. I always love a good sexual exploration story and I loved that we got to be there to see the switch from Griff not being able to really enjoy sex to Griff finding his person and exploring sexually for the first time, and loving it, we got to see him get his first blowjob, him give his first blowjob, all the frotting, his first time with a man, his first time toping. I loved all of it. And I loved being there as Griff discovered that he can enjoy sex too, it just had to be with the right person, and boy did he enjoy it.
Also, one thing I truly adored was the build-up to their relationship. You could see them spend more and more time together and you could clearly see the feelings starting to grow and slipping through the cracks. Nothing felt faked or put there to advance the story. This was just the story of two men going on with their lives and falling a bit more in love every day and not really realizing it, but it was there all along. And I loved that. The love they had for each other was so pure and so well shown that it was so easy to see why these two would love each other and why they fit so well together. You see them falling in love plain and simple and I really really loved that part, that was perfectly done.
Also Josh, what a character. I was a bit worried about him, he seemed like he had the potential to hurt Griff so much from how he acted in the previous books. But man did his story break my heart, poor guy, I can’t imagine how heartbroken I would have been to go through what he did. And hell, he was so perfect for Griff. I really really loved how his backstory was told and handled. It showed that sometimes things happen and they can change who you are as a person and it’s all about you deal with those things. And Josh dealt so well with them, in the end. He used to let it overcome him and he wasn’t sure he had any love to give to Griff at first (because of something that happened to him in the past). But once he decided that he wanted his Griff, that was it for him. He fought with everything he had to he able to let himself love again and to have his man. I loved how that was done. How he didn’t try to deny himself or his need for Griff. Even if he wasn’t sure he could allow his heart to love Griff, he never pushed him away (loved that), he kept fighting and fighting to be able to deserve his man. And I really loved that about him. I loved that he knew what he wanted and fought with all he had to get it. I loved how he didn’t really try to pretend or try to put a stop to it, he knew what he wanted and went for it. He was scared and wanted to stop it, but he never did and I loved him for him, so much.
One more thing, the passing to this was perfect, by the time they start seeing each other you can clearly tell that they’re meant to be and by the time you get close to the book ending, you can clearly tell how in love with each other they are.
Also, bonus point to the communication these two had. They were so open and honest with each other and they always talked about their feelings and their issues. They didn’t hide stuff from each other and if there was a problem, they talked it out. I loved that. There is nothing I love more than a couple who communicates well with each other. And I loved that Josh told Griff his big issue before they started dating and that it was never hidden, I hate when one of the main character hides what could be considered a big problem for the relationship and it only comes out towards the end of the book. I loved that it was not the case here, these two were so open and honest. I mean, there was this one secret that was kept for most of the book but it wasn’t very important in the grand scheme of things that i’m choosing to overlook it. The still had a perfect and honest communication, to me.
I loved everything about this book, but mostly I loved seeing Griff and Josh slowly falling in love with each other and then fighting like crazy to be what the person they love deserve.
Also, bonus points to Josh’s nipple piercings and Josh winning Griff a stuffed bear, both very enjoyable things in my opinion.
Also, side note, I loved how we got to spend a bit of time with all of the previous characters, they’re all are so nice, they just seems like a bunch of lovely people and loved being able to see everyone going strong and all the love between them. The characters are definitely the best part of this series, I just love everyone in it and i’m so happy that we got to see how happy they all are one last time.