‘Because when you didn’t have home something thirsty inside you shriveled up and died a little more every day. The tether that connected you to the earth wore a little more thin.’

Oh wow. This book just grabbed my heart and ran with it. Josh has been dealt such a lousy hand by life I just wanted to wrap him up in my arms and keep him safe…and warm. Boy did I want to keep him warm. Just eighteen year old he’s gone through enough pain and despair to bring the strongest of souls down. Life has never given him a break so it’s no wonder he’s tempted to just leave life behind in the hope that whatever comes next will be kinder to him.

Mark hasn’t had an easy time of it either. Always feeling the odd one out and not manly enough in the house where he grew up, he hoped that joining the marines would prove he wasn’t weak and sentimental but all it did was show him that he wasn’t made to kill or be surrounded by dying and violence.

There’s a very poignant scene early in the story when Mark sees Josh walking down the road and recognises the empty look in his eyes exactly for what it is; the desire to give up. So when he’s given the opportunity to help the younger man, he grabs it with both hands.

Two wounded men slowly come together, and as they fix an old house together, they gradually fix each other too, even if neither of them is aware of that for the longest time. Once the feelings they’ve been developing for each other at last come out into the open, their coming together is beautiful, heart-warming and enticing. It isn’t the solution to all their issues though; it couldn’t be. The burdens they’ve been carrying for so long won’t be erased by amazing kisses and mind blowing orgasms alone.

The descriptions in this book took my breath away. Seriously, I’m in awe of the way Eli Easton made me see all the fall colours on the trees and had me experiencing both the beauty and the ice-cold danger of the snow. I didn’t even have to close my eyes to see the bridge and the pond because the writing took me there, planted me right in the middle of setting of this story.

This book touched me deeply, especially Josh. His wish, not so much to die, but to not have to live anymore, resonated with me. In fact, almost everything in this story hit me right in the heart in one way or another; Mark’s wish to do the right thing for Josh when he couldn’t quite figure out what might be best for himself. Josh’s determination in the face of hopelessness. And more than anything else, the way both men fought to find the strength to be the person the other man needed—all of it had me turning the pages as fast as my eyes could read the words.

All of the above may well give you the impression that Falling Down is a story with wall to wall angst. And in a way you would be right. But in a far more important way that is not what this story is about at all. This is a story about hope, about recognising opportunities and embracing them, no matter how scary it is, and about love being more important and stronger than fear and despair. Or, to summarize, this is a story to cherish.