Reviewed by Taylin

TITLE: Gateway to Love

SERIES: States of Love

AUTHOR: Sarah Hadley Brook

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 98 pages

RELEASE DATE:  October 19, 2018

BLURB:

Ten days to finally make the leap from friends to lovers….

Craig and Mitchell have been friends for years, but each of them reached a point where that camaraderie became… more. Mitchell’s kept his feelings close to his chest. So has Craig, but now that they’ve graduated from UMKC, he knows it’s his last chance to show Mitchell they’re meant to be before their careers take them to opposite sides of the country.

He insists they can’t leave Missouri behind without one last adventure. Mitchell agrees to a road trip to visit all the touristy spots and say goodbye to their home state.

As they spend their days and nights together, buried feelings rise to the surface and hope blossoms. When their journey ends with a dance beneath the Branson stars, will they find love and a future together at the end of the road?

REVIEW:

When touched by Craig, every part of Mitch’s body reacted. His affections for his best friend had been hidden for years. When only two weeks remain before they head for jobs on opposite coasts, Craig suggests a road trip. Mitch accepts but is fearful that his love for Craig will not remain a secret. What he doesn’t know is that Craig wants the trip to show Mitch the feelings that have built up for him, too. It’s a question of following the boys until the dam breaks.

This is a sweet story. The characters are likeable and been as Mitch and Craig have crushes on each other, I don’t believe anyone will have any surprises either.

Told in the third person with chapters dedicated to either Craig or Mitch’s pov. There are a couple of things, although sweet, realistically speaking don’t tend to happen, which was also confirmed by a writer’s conference I attended. After sex, it is not the norm for men nor couples in general to rush off to the bathroom to get a washcloth to clean each other up. Tissues, wet wipes or the nearest T-shirt suffices. Also, this is another story with another series of bitten lips and a ‘come for me’ in it. Please, writers, are supposed to have an imagination, so why do I read the same line in every other book. ‘Use the force Luke, let go’ (thank you Star Wars) will do, so long as it isn’t ‘come for me’. As for nervous reactions, biting the inside of the cheek works, or rubbing one tooth on another – gahhhh – there are plenty out there to choose from.

Anyhow, rant over, back to the story.

Both know their own feelings but are blind to the others. Not wanting to jeopardize their long-term friendship while realizing something must change has them both in a quandary.  Questions, doubts and second-guessing actions are prominent features. No matter what Craig does, Mitchell can’t get it out of his head that Craig is only doing it because he’ll miss him when they go their separate ways. In the interim, their closeness is also tearing Mitchell apart. He’s a guy that seems to need the idiot’s guide to ‘I want you’. I liked Craig a lot. He knows what he wants and intends to find a way to get it. His problem, too, is second guessing actions that came naturally during four years of friendship.

Although these guys are sweet and adorable together, I can’t help feeling their scenario just gets repeated in different locations. Intimate, questions, crossed wires, drive to another town and then start all over again. ‘They/we needed to talk’, is a frequently occurring phrase.

Gateway To Love, is a sweet, light read with some sexiness and no high drama’s. Yes, at times I found it frustrating, but I also enjoyed it too. It is a perfect afternoon’s read when one is looking for a book with that awwww factor.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon