Reviewed by Ro
TITLE: Chai Love You A Latte
SERIES: Boyfriend Café #3
AUTHOR: F.A. Ray
PUBLISHER: Self published
LENGTH: 341 Pages
RELEASE DATE: January 9, 2023
BLURB:
Loving him is the easiest thing I’ve ever done. Being just a friend? Not so much
Gabriel
I’ve loved my best friend Trent since the day we met. The only problem? He’s straight, and I’m definitely not. Our differences have never come between us, but sometimes the line is so blurry I don’t know where “friend” stops and something more begins.
And Trent is really not helping matters.
We’re so close people mistake us for brothers or lovers. He’s my favorite pillow to sleep on, my favorite shoulder to cry on, my favorite arms to fall into. Is friendship really all this is or dare I try for more with the man I’ve always loved?
Trent
When Mom left, it broke something inside me. I’ve been a loner ever since, terrified to hold on to anyone. There are only two people in my life I dare to trust: My dad and Gabe.
Maybe I’m a little clingy with Gabe, a little too affectionate, but he’s half of my world. If he ever left the way Mom did, I don’t think I could take it.
When things between us start blurring the line between “friend” and something more, it terrifies me. I’ve only been with women. What if I mess this up? What if I’m so bad at it that Gabe hates me? What if I’m not good enough and he leaves?
If being with him will push him away, maybe I’m better off stuffing these feelings away.
Chai Love You A Latte is a childhood friends to lovers MM romance with a bisexual awakening, first time experiences, spicy open door scenes and co-dependent best friends who turn into so much more. You can find CWs at linktr.ee/faraywrites
REVIEW:
Trent and Gabriel have been best friends since they were little, as their families live next door. They are now college roommates and not only support each other, but they are the epitome of soul mates, except for that pesky fact that Trent is straight. Trent is very introverted, and his social meter can’t take too much. Gabriel is the opposite, sunshiney, outgoing, and thrives in a social situation. Together, they fit perfectly. They work together at the Boyfriend Café and usually work as a pair. It is here that Trent meets Irene, who is edgy, beautiful and cool. Normally, Gabriel doesn’t mind when Trent dates but something about how perfect Irene is gets to him. Oh, and did I mention Gabriel has been in love with Trent forever? Gabriel wants Trent to be happy and he’s a fair man. “…Irene has done nothing wrong. Trent has done nothing wrong.”
For his part, Trent has a wretched witch of a mother who left when Trent was young and doesn’t make any effort to talk to him, let alone be part of his life. He has some big abandonment baggage from this, and there are exactly two people he truly trusts in life: Gabriel and his dad. So he is careful to not do anything that might make either of those people leave him. He starts to do dinners and outings with Irene and worries that something is up with Gabriel.
We get to watch as these two try to be selfless and maintain their friendship and NOT COMMUNICATE! The one thing that did bug me was when someone asked both of them a question and the reaction Gabriel had to what Trent said, after Gabriel didn’t response. I felt Trent was actually protecting Gabriel, and I was ready to scream. Luckily I didn’t have to because Gabriel’s sibling, Avery, did that for me, as well as calling Gabriel out for his rare bout of thoughtlessness.
This is a sweet, no-angst story. I loved getting to revisit people from the other Boyfriend Café stories, especially Albert and David. Even though this is the third in the series, it is not dependent on having read the others.
RATING: 
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