REVIEWED BY CINDY
TITLE: Detour
SERIES: Transportation #1
AUTHOR: Reesa Herberth & Michelle Moore
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: May 5th, 2018
RELEASE DATE: 302 Pages
BLURB:
Ethan Domani had planned the perfect graduation trip before tragedy put his life on hold. Smothered by survivor’s guilt and his close-knit family, he makes a break for the open road. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for, but he’s got the whole summer to figure out who he misses more: his boyfriend, or the person he thought he was. It’s just him and his memories . . . until he almost runs over a hitchhiker.
Nick Hamilton made some mistakes after his younger brother died. His violent ex-boyfriend was the most dangerous, and the one that got him shipped off to Camp Cornerstone’s pray-the-gay-away boot camp. His eighteenth birthday brings escape, and a close call with an idiot in a station wagon. Stranger danger aside, Nick’s homeless, broke, and alone. A ride with Ethan is the best option he’s got.
The creepy corners of roadside America have nothing on the darkness haunting Ethan and Nick. Every interstate brings them closer to uncharted emotional territory. When Nick’s past shows up in their rearview mirror, the detour might take them off the map altogether.
REVIEW:
If you’ve read any of my reviews, you know I don’t give a 5 heart rating very often, but with this story, I couldn’t do anything less.
The back stories for both Ethan and Nick are absolutely heartbreaking and I don’t want to give anything away so I’m just going to say if you don’t fall for both boys in about 5 seconds flat, I question your humanity.
The real star of this story is their chemistry. It’s not all sappy and lovey-dovey at the beginning, but they do understand each other very quickly and how they react to each other is amazing. The back and forth is funny and sad and completely honest. I know friends and lovers who are like this and it makes me jealous to see how in tune with each other they are.
Even when they don’t know each other yet, when they’ve just met, they grief they are both carrying helps them make an instant connection, one that I’m okay with because it makes complete sense, given what they’ve both been through.
The differences between their families is a contrast that works, mostly because it highlights how different people react in similar circumstances. Trust me though, you’re going to want to hug Nick a lot.
The road trip they embark on (accidentally) together made me smile, as there are just as many light-hearted and sweet moments as there are sad ones. Everything works with this amazing balance that the authors pull together seamlessly and let me tell you, giggle crying is really one of my favorite reactions to a story.
Everything about this story is believable, especially the reactions of these two young, barely adult men who are both looking for a reason to keep going, in more ways than one. Watching as these guys look for their future while dealing with the consequences of their past was a real treat for me.
The authors put this together beautifully and it is probably one of the best stories I have read this year.
RATING: 
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