Reviewed by Nikyta

TITLE: You Were Always the One
AUTHOR: Hollis Shiloh
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 104 pages
BLURB: Max struggled through every day in high school, especially when his hormones seemed to crave boys rather than girls. His best friend Mason and Mason’s younger brother Jamie made a bright spot in his teen life, until he confessed to Mason he was gay. Mason responded by ripping away all his joy, ending their friendship, and warning Max against seeing Jamie. Max is a policeman now, comfortable in his sexuality but private and wary, taking solace in his job and the friendship of his golden retriever, Alex. But the past he thought was behind him demands resolution when a prickly, wounded, shockingly sexy Jamie gets arrested, and Max comes to the rescue.

REVIEW:

This is the story of Max, who’s built a content life for himself as a good police officer. When he realizes that Jamie, his high school best friend’s brother, has been arrested for possible prostitution, he simple can’t believe it. With permission from his captain, Jamie is released into Max’s custody for the night. One night is all it takes for Max’s old feelings about Jamie to come to the surface. But Jamie is no longer the sweet, innocent kid he used to be. Now, he’s jaded, vulnerable and needs Max more than ever. When Max finally puts aside his guilt and takes what Jamie is offering, will their relationship last through all the troubles that seem to keep finding them?

This was a very sweet story. One of my favorite themes is brother’s best friend or best friend’s brother. I can’t help but love the fact that the best friend always seems to feel guilty for desiring the brother. This is no different in that Max has a bunch of guilt, thinking that his desires for Jamie when they were kids was wrong. While he’s not in denial about his sexuality, he still thinks wanting Jamie isn’t right. Regardless, I liked both characters. Max is a sweetheart and he just wants to take care of Jamie. Jamie is a spitfire but so vulnerable I just wanted to hug him tight. They’re both emotional and yearn for each other. They’re perfect together but they have a lot of things they need to overcome before they can have a good relationship.

That’s essentially what this story is about. Max gets reacquainted with Jamie and while they don’t jump into a relationship because of Max’s misguided opinion that Jamie deserves better, they do form a friendship that becomes more. When things start to get intimate between them, it’s one problem after another such as Jamie’s hot headed brother, Mason, Jamie’s past, and something unexpected that’s really heartbreaking.

They’re good conflicts but I think the biggest problem with this book is the length and the fact that there really isn’t any depth to the story. We get multiple issues but they don’t delve below the surface so nothing is explored too deeply. They’re not elaborated on at all so that Max will narrate them but then the resolution to them is either glossed over or ignored to the point that I didn’t actually feel the connection between Jamie and Max, in any way. I had a few other issues, though, such as the fact that Jamie felt more like a ‘buddy’ to Max (his words) than someone he wanted to be intimate with and the fact that a lot of this story is told instead of shown.

All in all, this was a cute, very easy story to read. I enjoyed it because it did make me smile and I did like where the characters ended up overall. With a little more description and meat to the book, this one could have been very good. As it was, I’d recommend it to those looking for something quick, easy and cute that doesn’t require much concentration.

Nikyta rates it – 

BUY LINKS: Dreamspinner Press

==================================
Nikyta is one of the official reviewers on The Blog of Sid Love.

To read all her reviews, click the link: NIKYTA’S REVIEWS
==================================