Reviewed by Chris
TITLE: Hard Truths 
AUTHOR: Alex Whitehall
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 248 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 1, 2018
BLURB:
He can’t have the family he wants, but he may get the love he deserves….
Isaac didn’t expect to find love at his family’s Christmas dinner, but that was before he met his sister’s new fake boyfriend. Tall, muscular, and tattooed, Logan is what Isaac would love in a partner — and also everything his parents would hate in one. Not that they know Isaac’s gay.
That doesn’t stop him from dating Logan — unbeknownst to his parents, and with his sister’s approval after she fake dumps him. The pair dive into a whirlwind romance of motorcycle rides, cheesy puns, and hot sex. They meet each other’s friends and fill their time with happiness and laughter. It’s all perfect.
Until Isaac suggests they move in together, and Logan asks Isaac to come out to his parents. Isaac wants to, but he’s scared; he doesn’t want to lose his family. Unfortunately, he can’t see that his real family has been right beside him all along.
REVIEW:
It is never a good idea to be checking out your sister’s boyfriend during a Christmas visit at the parents. But one look at the tattooed man hanging off his sister’s arm, and Isaac is lost. Luckily for him–and his sister–Isaac soon learns that Logan is more a boyfriend-for-hire than anything else. Also, incredibly gay. Which works great for Isaac, but probably not so much for his sister. And, it turns out, it works out great for Logan since he and Isaac quickly hit it off. But trying to combine their lives might just be the thing that breaks them apart.
This book had a great first couple chapters, an ok middle section, and an ending that had me in tears. But that might just be because it hit a few of my current weak spots. It wasn’t particularly sad, it just prodded me just enough to make me start cursing my lack of kleenex. Don’t know if anyone else will have the same reaction, but it was enough to move the the story from “yeah it was ok, I guess” to “well, that was a good read.” Not a huge shift, but one I was glad to have happen. Even if unexpected tears did end up happening.
There isn’t a whole lot to this story, plot wise. Isaac and Logan meet, they fall in love, and the well telegraphed conflict happens. I can’t say I was ever shocked, but I was rather pleasantly pleased. There are a few twists near the end that I really liked. In a “I wasn’t expecting it to go that extreme” kind of way.
A lot of the weight rested on the characters instead, especially Isaac, our pov character. And for the most part that worked. Logan and Isaac work well together, and their various interactions with their friends made for some great scenes. I tended to really identify with Isaac, so that made things a lot easier for me as well. He wasn’t perfect (and neither was Logan) but their imperfections all rested well inline with who their characters were at their core.
Overall this was a good read. The slow down in the middle is something you have to just push through, but I think the end makes up for it. These are two very relatable characters, and their love story was rather…well, lovely.
RATING: 
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