Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: Keeping Casey
SERIES: Keeping Him #1
AUTHOR: Amy Aislin
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 258 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 23, 2021
BLURB:
Casey Preston is the guy with the plan. The list-maker. The one who micromanages his own life.
Spontaneously offering to be his best friend’s fake boyfriend to get Ethan’s annoying team captain off his back?
That’s not thinking things through. It’s not even smart given Casey’s been fighting his feelings for Ethan for years.
Ethan Rain just wants to play hockey and get his college degree. Adding a fake boyfriend to the mix? He doesn’t need that complication.
If Casey were his real boyfriend, though? If he got to keep Casey forever? Now we’re talking.
But what if Casey doesn’t want to be kept?
REVIEW:
Keeping Casey is a sweet love story featuring life-long, best friends turned lovers, Ethan and Casey. They are two young men struggling to find themselves – individually and as a couple – as they begin their college careers at Glen Hill College in Vermont. Ethan faces homophobia and battles a serious health issue, while Casey contends with grief and fear. He works to establish connections on campus with people who have similar interests, and they both juggle strenuous course loads. But always front and center are the torches they secretly carry for each other.
Ethan is a quiet, unassuming guy who lives for ice hockey and is now playing on the college team. He’s driven to prove himself to everyone while also working to never burden anyone. He’s gay and demisexual but has never formed a special connection with anyone to where he felt sexual attraction. Other than to Casey, that is. Casey doesn’t apply a label to his sexuality, but it probably falls somewhere around bi or pansexual. More accurately, he’s Ethansexual. He holds himself back from revealing his feelings to Ethan because he thinks he’s too emotionally damaged and not good enough for his best friend. Both men are highly likable, well fleshed-out characters.
Ethan and Casey are the kind of friends who always have a peripheral awareness of each other, the kind who often fall asleep pressed together in a single bed. Sigh. They became buddies in early childhood, and then as teenagers they bonded further because of a shared tragedy: Ethan’s mother and Casey’s father were both killed in a workplace accident. Five years later, Ethan’s doing ok but Casey hasn’t fully processed his grief. He’s so afraid of losing someone else, in particular, Ethan. Over the years, he pushed everyone away out of fear; Ethan was the only one who hung in there for his friend and wouldn’t allow him to retreat into himself.
In addition to the friends-to-lovers trope, Amy Aislin employs a fake boyfriend trope. The homophobic team captain is harassing Ethan by constantly trying to set him up with women, so Ethan and Casey decide that pretending to be boyfriends will get the captain to knock it off. Hmm, how’s that working for you? The rationale for the fake boyfriends felt weak and somewhat contrived, but it was nonetheless enjoyable.
It’s adorable that everyone seems to know the guys are a romantic couple long before they figure it out themselves. People recognize a quiet familiarity and a subtle energy that speaks of something more than friendship. This is especially true of Ethan’s fellow freshman teammates, Theo and Brant. I love these two. Their camaraderie with Ethan and even Casey is a joy. There are numerous wonderful, secondary characters including Ethan’s NHL mentor Roman, his husband Cody, and other familiar faces from Aislin’s Stick Side series. There’s a neat twist involving Joyce, the owner of an antique shop where Casey works part time.
The author gives more than a cursory glance to several areas, providing the narrative with more depth. For example, Casey’s academic work, his love of archeology and antiquities, and his job are all explored. Ethan’s mentorship with a local NHL player broadens the story, as well. Aislin’s attention to these minor plot points was time well spent as they enrich the book. She also does a great job tying up all the loose ends in the epilogue, which jumps to the summer after freshman year. Theo is gay and Brant is bi, so we know who’ll be appearing in future novels, yay! In the meantime, grab this one for a very enjoyable read. I happily recommend it.
RATING: 
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