New Release Review: Too Close To The Flame by Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood #Review #Giveaway

Title: Too Close To The Flame
Authors: Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood
Self Published
Publication date: July 31, 2020
Length: 298 pages

Reviewed by Truus

Synopsis

Can he ever learn to trust again?
Brandon Weber’s old boyfriend almost beat him to death. Brandon survived, but still bears the emotional scars. Eighteen months later, he has withdrawn into himself, convinced he’ll never be able to trust another man.
Devin Macadam, fresh out of law school, has an exciting new job. He is also on the lookout for just the right guy, someone to take care of and love.
When Devin shows up for the first day of work at his new office, he meets Brandon, a legal assistant there. Sparks fly, but Brandon is paralyzed by fear and isn’t about to give another man the power to hurt him again. Devin, never one to give up easily, doesn’t want to take no for an answer. Both men feel the magic, but can their relationship ever get past the friend zone?
Too Close to the Flame is a dark-to-light, sweet romance featuring out and proud gay men, lots of feels, steamy love scenes, and a wonderful happy ending.
Trigger Warning: Too Close to the Flame contains specific memories of physical abuse. That said, the book is about Brandon’s recovery and HEA romance with Devin. Our goal is to bring attention to the often neglected issue of abuse in gay relationships.

Purchase Link

Review

Brandon is deeply hurt by his ex, mentally as physically. He’ll expects himself to get old alone probably with a wrist injury, because a relationship asks for trust and that’s something Brandon lost on the way.
Devin got a job at his cousin's law firm. They grew up with each other and are still close.
When Devin meets Brandon, as his cousin's assistant, he can’t keep his eyes off him. After a few weeks, he asks Brandon for a drink.
A nice invention from Devin of course, only it will never be more than just a drink.

But two broken hearts recognize each other and pull at each other’s strings.
Very very gently Devin approachs Brandon and with a mountain of hesitation Brandon lets him.
They start a friendship and more.
We can follow them, It’s almost inevitable they’ll end up together. Besides Brandon’s trauma, the whole story is quite mellow and sweet. I expected a bit more variety, near the end it got some action, but at that moment it was, unfortunately, a bit predictable.

Both men are very kind and considerate. There was a lot of attention to Brandon’s healing process which was well done. There was less focus on Devin’s hurt, I would have loved some more development there, it was almost all about Brandon.
The story was entertaining, gentle, and engaging. Besides the main characters, we meet the family and friends, a good addition to the story. The writing style was captivating even though the story was for me a bit too stretched the way of writing kept me to the pages.
The end was very satisfying.

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