Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Only You
SERIES: ’90s Coming of Age
AUTHOR: Leta Blake
NARRATOR: Michael Ferraiuolo
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 14 hours and 6 minutes
RELEASE DATE: October 11, 2023
BLURB:
Join Peter Mandel on his final steps to love in Only You, the highly-anticipated third and final book of Leta Blake’s ’90s Coming of Age series.
Despite the lingering wounds of his past relationship, Peter is ready to take a chance on finding love and embracing his true self.
Peter and Daniel explore their connection despite Daniel’s complicated home life. But when Adam resurfaces, desperate to win Peter back, Peter must confront his complicated feelings and the painful ghosts of their shared past.
Only You is a powerful and emotional conclusion to the series, and a must-listen for fans of new adult romance and coming-of-age fiction.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the third book in this series. It is not recommended as a standalone as the story picks up immediately from the point of the end of the second book.
Peter has finally left Adam for good. After their last encounter and blowout fight, Peter has had enough. He’ll never be enough for Adam and Adam is not going to come out. Peter believes that Adam really does love both him and Leslie, but it’s not fair to anybody in this scenario. Peter feels guilty and hates what he’s been a part of – especially when it comes to the lying to their friends. And considering what happened with Daniel and how he didn’t pursue what was definitely a healthier relationship to give Adam one more change – well he’s very unhappy about that too. Now’s he’s hurt a good guy and doesn’t know how to try to get back in his good graces. Oh yeah, and he’s finally starting college and ready to be his true self.
Daniel has a LOT on his plate as well. He’s got a rough family situation which Peter was not aware of. He’s taking care of his siblings, his mother and the pet of a guy he’s been taking care of who has AIDS. Their time is somewhat limited, but Peter wants to be Daniel’s friend and hopefully more. Daniel has no desire to take over his father’s business. He wants to be a nurse but he’s getting a lot of pushback on that too. Peter’s part time job changes too and he gets more opportunities at the university,
Peter’s parents are dealing with his coming out. His mother is trying to overcorrect and Peter would rather she didn’t now try to mother him so much especially after give him a wide birth for most of his life. Even understanding why, he’s not comfortable with her being all in his business. He is interested in the family he wasn’t aware of before. When it turns out that his uncle had a connection to a famous photographer, well that peaks his interested since he plans on pursuing photography as his career as well. He’s doing very well in school and he’s even got darkroom time!
As the semester goes on Peter and Daniel get closer. Daniel’s friend Minty is in a class with him and he continues to give Peter a hard time about how he treated Daniel – basically the shovel talk 😉 Peter tries to get Minty to believe him when he says that he’s really sorry and that he and Daniel are working things out. Minty has his own issues which Peter gets a front row seat to and he’s afraid for him. Daniel and Peter do what they can to try to support Minty.
The holidays come around and there is some very surprising visits! Peter is excited about the future. Daniel and Peter are solidifying and defining their relationship once and for all 🙂
Michael Ferraiuolo does another outstanding job bringing this story to life. There is a LOT in this book. Happiness, despair, anger, resignation, consolation – these characters are all over the map. Much like the previous books, this is a bit of an angst fest for a lot of the story and Mr. Ferraiuolo makes us feel the emotional ups and downs that the characters go through. Male, female, old, young, bitter, innocent, jaded, sarcastic – this narrator is able to convey all of these varied personalities in this series consistently. He is able to bring depth to each of the main characters as well as the many secondary characters in this series. One of my favorite narrators, I never tire of his listening to his skilled interpretation of these books.
I enjoyed this book the most of the three – probably because there is less Adam. He still just strikes me as such a selfish person which annoys me. Adam really has a lot of issues but Peter is trying to move on. Daniel has a lot of trust issues – his life has been a total a rollercoaster and he’s been asked to take on a lot of responsibilities that were not really his to do. It’s affecting his life and his schooling and just about everything else. Thankfully he has family members that stepped in to assist. Peter really grows up a lot in this one. He takes responsibility for his actions in an incredibly mature way. He handles the situation with Minty’s self-destructive behavior by calling out the troops. It’s clear he cannot convince Minty to watch out for himself. His relationship with his parents is settling in to something that everyone can live with. Robert and his fabulous self are still part of the fabric of this little group of found family and provide some guidance and support throughout Peter’s journey into young adulthood. Despite the specter of AIDS and first effective treatment, these young men are determined to live the lives they envision for themselves in a world that isn’t necessarily ready for them to do so. I’d like to think Peter and Daniel are living their happily ever after. Recommended.
RATING: 
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