This is a m/m romance set in Wellington, New Zealand. Ben is single-handedly raising his brother Milo after their parents died, and Jack is a teacher at Milo’s school. After Ben and Jack meet under less than desirable circumstances (and I could totally picture the muddy slide across the grass!), Jack ends up moving in to Ben and Milo’s parents’ house to renovate it in preparation for sale. Meanwhile, Ben and Milo are living in the guest cottage within easy reach.
The characters are fabulous. I loved Ben’s flirtiness and Jack’s steadfastness. Milo was an integral character all the way through, and provided balance, humour and of course many reasons for Ben and Jack to interact.
There were a number of things that were uniquely New Zealand about this story, and as a New Zealander, I loved that. It felt easy and natural, and I could picture it all vividly. However, I do wonder how easily someone who isn’t familiar with New Zealand would fare with this story.
The story had great pace and was very easy to read. I really enjoyed it. It’s book two in the Love and Family series, but I read it first and it can definitely be read as a standalone. Of course, I immediately wanted to read Luke and Sam’s story!
The road to Elle 