Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Reveal

SERIES: Men of Hidden Creek season 4 #4

AUTHOR: H.J. Welch

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 323 pages

RELEASE DATE: September 6, 2019

BLURB:

“I wish this were real with you.” 

Geeky Jason Miller has never really been with a man, and his bullying colleagues at NASA know it. But when an innocent white lie gets out of hand, Jason never would have guessed his gorgeous-but-straight childhood friend would leap to his rescue. 

Firefighter Channing Forster saves people every day, so when protecting his former next-door neighbor turns into faking a relationship for a work getaway, he doesn’t hesitate. As the weekend goes on, though, Channing starts to think that he doesn’t just see cute Jason Miller as a buddy anymore. 

Are Channing’s feelings for Jason real enough that he could be his first? Jason needs to accept his true self before he can love another. But when his colleagues and boss discover his many secrets, will he lose everything forever, including Channing? 

Welcome to Hidden Creek, Texas, where the heart knows what it wants, and where true love lives happily ever after. Every Men of Hidden Creek novel can be read on its own, but keep an eye out for familiar faces around town! This book contains not-so-fake boyfriends, a stowaway kitty, and enough fireworks to out-shine the Fourth of July. 

REVIEW:

It’s kind of funny, because before reading this one, I was actually talking to someone about the fake boyfriend trope and how we feel about it. My whole thing about it is, it becomes difficult when feelings change from being ‘fake’ to being real and one of the boyfriends realizes that he’s gay or bi when he always thought he was straight. So when the feelings change, how is it supposed to be believed? And is the other supposed to trust that it isn’t just a phase or a curiosity thing. Sure, it makes for a good story. But I feel sorry for both parties, to be honest. Because they both begin to question everything about each other and themselves and everything around them. They usually end up miscommunicating and it ends bad or don’t communicate at all because they’re scared of rejection or something of the sort. And the one who actually is gay or bi, it’s even more terrifying because you feel like you’re just an experiment or something. So it’s a complicated trope. 

And this was pretty much what happened here. Jason was being bullied by a homophobic prick he worked with at NASA all the time. He was constantly picked on, teased or made to feel like he didn’t measure up because he was gay or single. Nevermind that he usually did more work in less time and was smarter than the other idiots. When he runs into his old friend Channing, it’s awkward. Channing is gorgeous but straight. And it’s been a long time since they’ve spent time together. But as Channing walked away, he couldn’t help but overhear Jason being bullied and he decided to step in and announce he was Jason’s boyfriend. Well of course, the prick had to go running to the boss and tattle, all while sneering at him, watching him and sneaking and spying on him to catch them in a lie or something. He was a douche and a creep. And worse, we find out later. But Jason now needed his boyfriend for real to meet his boss, but he’s scared Channing won’t approve. Channing does and they seem to be having a great time. Channing is helping Jason feel more confident and Jason is showing Channing a side of himself he always his. Not on purpose. He just didn’t realize it about himself. But the prick outed them when he overheard something he was spying to hear and set a course of bad all around. Everyone turned their backs on Jason, following the pricks lead and Jason wanted to save Channing the heartache and let him go. And Jason was left to cry and drown in himself. But Channing doesn’t want to let Jason go and he’s trying to get him back. But it’s up to Jason to learn to love himself first so he can love Channing. And that’s the hard part.

This is another one of those books I get violent with. I wish to be able to reach through the book and throat punch that douchecanoe. Gah, I hate bullied and homophobic pricks. Poor Jason. He couldn’t win with that asshole and his boss made him feel like he wasn’t good enough because he wasn’t married. He loved his job as a whole but the people…..not so much. But one thing that surprised him were the wives on the retreat. At first they didn’t stand up for him at the end. They did on and off throughout the retreat, but in the end, they didn’t and they were so sorry. But they more than made up for it. And I loved those women. I loved all the guys gathering around Jason too, to help him feel better about himself. (And gals). Makeover heaven lol. 

What I love about Channing, though, is that even when he realizes he’s bi, he just rolls with it. Sure, he has thoughts that kind of scare him. He doesn’t know why because he’s always been accepting of LGBT people but it really doesn’t faze him. And when Jason gets scared and beaten down emotionally, he gives Jason the space he needs but he’s miserable and he does all he can to keep talking to Jason. He’s patient but persistent, even when he feels like giving up.

They’re good for each other. They bring out things in each other that they both need. And it turns out it worked out for the best.

RATING: 

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