Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE: The Boyfriend Gambit

SERIES: Crimes of the Heart #3

AUTHOR: Elle Keaton

PUBLISHER: Dirty Dog Press

LENGTH: 230 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 30, 2021

BLURB:

How do you repair a broken heart when you were the one who broke it in the first place?

Charley

It’s been four years since Simon broke up with me, but who’s counting? I’m fine these days, thank you very much. I don’t need a man to make me happy.

Simon

Past me had to make a choice. Current me knows it was the wrong one. Future me hopes I can fix it. I’ve never stopped loving Charley this is my last chance; our last chance.

REVIEW:

The Boyfriend Gambit is an enjoyable second-chance romance with a beloved trope – getting caught in a snowstorm and shacking up in a cabin (villa). There’s more than one bed this time – five, in fact – but they only need one and make the most of it.

Simon and Charley were a couple until Simon broke Charley’s heart nearly five years ago. Now Simon’s trying to win him back but they both carry a plane load of emotional baggage. Charley is afraid to commit. He’s learned from his past with Simon and his screwed up family that love isn’t worth the pain. As much as he longs for Simon, he’s too afraid of being hurt again. Simon has been scarred by the few loved ones in his life dying and leaving him alone in the world. The men had vastly different upbringings, both troubling in their own ways.

In the years they’ve been apart, Simon has become an associate professor while Charley has given up his work as a no-sex escort for a position in an art museum. With the exception of his sister, Charley chooses to spend as little time as possible with his family. Instead, he embraces a found family consisting of his best friend, Tobias, and his fiancé Arnie, friends Jacob and Duff, Jacob’s warm and fabulous grandparents, and Charley’s Uncle Michael.

Arnie takes it upon himself to orchestrate a way for Simon to win back Charley in grand fashion. When Simon shows up at Charley’s black-tie art show opening in a red plaid flannel shirt, jeans, and hiking boots, he certainly makes a statement. It’s not a sparkling success, so Arnie’s next bit of advice is for Simon to woo Charley. Charley doesn’t easily trust Simon, though, and doesn’t know if he should give him a second chance. He doesn’t know why Simon broke up with him and ghosted him five years earlier, and thus doesn’t know why he’s back now. But then when Simon accompanies Charley on a work-related day trip, they get snowed in and things really heat up. All the while, Charley’s sure something bad is going to happen to ruin their new found happiness. And it does, in the form of Charley’s manipulative, controlling father.

I really liked this book even though I began it quite grumpy because the first two books in the Crimes of the Heart series came out so long ago – fifteen months and nine months prior – and I can’t remember much. I get cranky when authors publish several series simultaneously (in this case three), resulting in all of them getting strung out. The MCs in the previous books have significant roles in this book but I can’t remember much more than their names. More problematic, I know Charley was featured before so I worry I might have forgotten some of his backstory. I have no idea if Simon was included in the other books.

That aside, this is a solid romance. Simon and Charley are likable characters you’ll root for. The plot is interesting, and the side characters are great. Found family is always one of my favorite themes. The best part of the book, though, is the fabulous epilogue which will satisfy even the most romantic of us.

RATING: 

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