Reviewed by Lesley

TITLE:  Besties

AUTHOR: Parker Williams

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 246 Pages

RELEASE DATE:  September 15,  2023

BLURB:

What do you call the man’s who’s been there for you all your life? The one who’s been the rock you cling to when your life is swirling down the drain? The person who’s now, still, and always, willing to fly a thousand miles at a moment’s notice simply because you need a hug?

You call him your bestie.

Max Henry has the worst luck in love. Every guy he’s ever been with has treated him terribly, but the last one was the worst of the bunch. He’d stolen not only Max’s money but his dignity as well. To top it off, he’d been selling drugs from their apartment and was the reason Max got arrested, evicted, and lost his job.

Horror.

Richie Ryland wants to run over Max’s ex with a car. Just the sound of Max’s voice on the phone, how desperate and sad he sounded, tore his heart in two. There was no question that he had to see him. Jumping on a plane to reach Max and offer him a new—and hopefully better—life seemed the only logical choice. But can Richie help Max rediscover the person who was once so confident and strong? Can he show him it’s okay to lean on your best friend? Or will he be unable to do anything as Max sinks into doubt and self-loathing?

More than anything, can they each find the strength to admit to the other the secret they’ve been holding in their hearts for years?

REVIEW:

Richie Ryland has always been Max’s saviour, hero and best friend since they were in school. He has also been Max’s secret crush. When Max’s life was crumbling as a child Richard offered him a hug to keep make him feel better. Now when his life is falling down around his ears again just hearing the words “Do you need a hug?” and knowing that his best friend will travel thousands of miles to give him one is exactly what Max needs.

Richie considers himself as an unattractive, slightly overweight, nerd. A very successful nerd but still a nerd. One who has started his own educational software business. Not that he takes the money for himself, instead he reinvests in the schools that use software. He wants to be more than Max’s protector but is scared he will damage his relationship with his best friend if he ever admits it.

In the interest of transparency, I started reading this straight after the Matchmakers True Colors Trilogy and I just expected more of the same trope. Best friends that have secretly crushed on each for years brought together by a well-meaning family member/friend….

Well, yes that is part of the story but only a part of it. There is so much more to this story.  This isn’t just a love story. For a start when someone is threatening Richie’s business its Max’s turn to become the strong one.

In this book there is really good character development of not just Richie & Max, but we also learn about the backgrounds of the secondary characters such as some of Richie’s employees & Max’s Mum.

There were a couple of characters towards the back of the book that I thought, I feel there is a story here, (not in a distracting way) and I later found out that yes there is. They are from Crossbow Protection the series parker Williams co- authors with K.C. Wells.

I definitely recommend this book and would really like more in this universe, maybe Jeff & Nico, pretty please.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon