Jake Hansen has been crushing on Gabe Byrne for half his life, but since Gabe is a straight, self-proclaimed commitment-phobe who moved away years ago to join the Marines, that crush is strictly a fantasy-best-enjoyed-in-private. And even when Gabe starts to flirt with him like crazy, Jake still knows better than to think it means anything.

Because falling in love with your straight bestie? Not just a cliche, but a guaranteed recipe for disaster.

…right?

Growing up, Gabe never saw “Little Jakey” as anything more than the kid who always liked to tag along after him and his brothers, but somehow, being friends with Jake has become the best part of his day. And after a seven-month deployment? Seeing Jake is the one thing he’s looking forward to the most.

He just didn’t expect that hanging out in person again would be so confusing… or keep blurring the lines about how straight he is… or keep making him want things that he never thought he would.

Things that seem a lot like forever.

 

Review

I liked this book despite myself. 

I adored Jake. I loved his self awareness and fun. 

Gabe is a commitment phobe and a reactor so not my favorite character type. He also is in the I have never felt desire for any other man but you type and not a demisexual so also not my favorite. He does a lot of not self aware stuff. 

And yet it is a sweet romance and I liked Jake enough and he liked Gabe enough that I enjoyed myself. 

A nice circle of friends and family. I have already started the next book in the series which is way sweeter and I like it much more.

Utterly adorable Christmas story that I snagged when it was offered for free on Amazon. Excellent story-telling, and such a sweet romance. I adored Elliott - he was such a sweetheart, and so very kind to everyone, always believing only the best of people. And I loved watching Ash grow throughout this book and believe that he could be more than what he had been.

A great addition to the series. This story focuses on Zach Hunter, who readers first meet in Gabe and Jake's story "Ready For Love (Semper Fi, The Forever Faithful Series Book 1)". Zach has been looking to settle down but he's finding it hard to find "the one" but he hasn't given up hope. His elderly neighbor is also praying that he'll meet the one.

Micah Finn Rawlings use to blind but after a successful operation, a year ago, his relative small world has become huge. He has to relearn the things that come so easily for individuals who have always had sight. During one of his outing to people watch, he catches sight of Zach and can't help but be drawn to him. Before he knows it, he finds himself literally falling down at Zach's feet. Zach being the help and caring medic, comes to Micah's aid.

This was a wonderful read and I loved getting to see little tidbits of Jake and Gabe. Reading the view and perception of the world from Micah's standpoint was quite refreshing and very thought provoking. Micah's family and Zach's supportive friends were all awesome and made the story even more enjoyable. I hated Janae and I just wanted to shake Zach for falling for her trickery.

A free copy was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

Looking for Love is one of those feel good, leave you with a smile romances. It's not all sunshine and roses; it does have some angst, but the story is more about Zach and Micah finding each other and holding on in spite of that angst. It is lengthy, but with Starling's writing style and gift for storytelling, the time seemed to fly by. This is not a book that you can read one chapter and put it aside - I didn't want to put it down. 

Zach is a serial dater, always looking for that spark that leads to a lifetime love while Micah has never even had a romantic partner. Their different in so many ways, yet absolutely perfect together. Micah has an innocence about life that is sweet and endearing, and Zach has seen some of the worst things in life, but he's determined to be better than the examples set for him. 

To say more would give spoilers and this is one that you need to read and enjoy for yourself. It is the second in the Semper Fi, The Forever Faithful series, which is a spin-off of the At Last, Beloved series, but you won't have any problem following Micah and Zach's story. Warning: once you've read this one, you'll want to read the others. The characters are addictive!

Ready For Love - Stella Starling This is the first book in the Semper Fi, The Forever Faithful series. Before you give this a read I recommend you go back and read this authors entire backlist. The characters are kind of all linked together. For sure, I would suggest you read at least this author’s At Last, The Beloved series ([b:Be True|33874558|Be True (At Last, The Beloved Series Book 1)|Stella Starling|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1484625297s/33874558.jpg|54713396], [b:Be Mine|33985337|Be Mine (At Last, The Beloved Series, #2)|Stella Starling|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1485363120s/33985337.jpg|54978534], [b:Be Loved|34457919|Be Loved (At Last, The Beloved Series Book 3)|Stella Starling|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1488588418s/34457919.jpg|55554158]) books since readers meet the characters in this series in that series first. The At Last series are happening in concurrent to each other (the story unfold within the same time frame) so if you read one you should read them all and chronologically. If you read Be True (Book 1 in At Last) you should probably read All I Want (her standalone story) first. I didn’t and I felt like I ruined the story because it was alluded to in Be True how the couple, Elliot and Ash, ended up together. Of course they all can be read as standalone but work better together in my opinion.

Anyway, readers who read Be Loved (Book 3 in the At Last series) will remember Gabe Byrne, Brandon’s brother and Jake Hansen, the flight attendant that the Byrne brother’s mother had tried to set Brandon up on a blind date with (see Be Loved to read the blind date and get an intro to the Byrne family).

After the Gabe and Jake reconnect, they start hanging out with each other, just as friends. Jake has always had a crush on Gabe but Gabe is as straight as an arrow. Gabe is a hard addiction for Jake to kick and frankly he doesn’t really want to. Needless to say he does try and fails epically. Jake is talked into a night out on town with Gabe. Their time at a gay club changes things in their relationship. Before Gabe knows it he can’t stop thinking of Jake in a new light but fights it. When they start drifting Gabe knows he has to take action their relationship will be doomed.

I really enjoyed the story. I loved the chemistry and both Gabe and Jake were fun and nice characters. They were very likable. I loved seeing them go from friends to discovering what it all could be if they became more than that. I loved that they were so supportive each other and made their log distance relationship work.

An ARC was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.