Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Marshmallow Mountain

SERIES:  Big Boys Small Places

AUTHOR:  M.A. Wardell & A.J. Truman

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH: 298 pages

RELEASE DATE:   October 22, 2024

BLURB:

What’s worse than being snowed in with your ex? Literally nothing.

Initially, the only thing Marshall and Marshall had in common was a name. Marshall (aka Data) lived his life around spreadsheets, while Marshall (aka Marsh) was an F5 tornado of chaos. Yet for eight years, they were madly in love. Until Marsh abruptly ended things with a half-baked excuse.

Six months later, Data gets a text from Marsh out of the blue: they need to clean out their cabin in Maine and sell it ASAP. He can make it through one more weekend with the man who broke his heart.

Marsh loved adding squiggles to the straight lines of his boyfriend. If only he could’ve lived up to the potential Data saw in him. If only he didn’t feel like he was one big miscalculation on Data’s ledger. Saying goodbye to Marshmallow Mountain will be the final tie to sever, even though he still pines for his number-crunching teddy bear.

But when a massive snowstorm traps them in their small cabin for days, they’re forced to confront hard truths about their breakup…as well as resist the sweltering heat raging between them.

These boys might be headed for a second act, but only if they can make it off Marshmallow Mountain.

REVIEW:

This is my first book from M.A. Wardell but I’ve read most of A.J. Truman’s books/series.  This book has some of what I consider the hallmarks of those books – humor, sweetness and heart.  Oh and throw in a some spice 😉

Marsh and Data start out in a not great place.  Marsh has broken up with “other Marshall” after a series of setbacks.  He feels like his life is a mess and he doesn’t see a way out.  He does know that he doesn’t want to pull Data down with him.  Data doesn’t deserve that.  So Marsh just calls it off.  After 8 years.  Data is devastated not just because he’s lost his partner but because he really doesn’t know why.

Marsh is an aspiring comedian.  After a personal situation with his father, he tanks at an important showcase.  He’s done.  He left his father running the family business that was supposed to be his legacy and now he’s nearing forty without anything to show for it.  Things are not going well with his father who now needs full time care or with his career.  He reaches out to Data to suggest that they sell their cabin.  Data hasn’t heard from Marsh since he moved out, so he’s shocked and it brings it all back up.  Nobody has moved on.

When Data arrives at the cabin, well Marsh is there and not in the way Data expected.  He’s not planned the packing too well and so Data has to take charge.  He’s always the one who made the plan and the list.  Some things don’t change.  Despite Data’s best friend/neighbor suggests that Data just needs the breakup sex – one and done to “close the loop” – that doesn’t really work as intended 😉

As they start packing and reminiscing things are a bit tense.  However, after they wake up to a snowstorm and are clearly trapped together in the cabin for the foreseeable future, truths start coming to the surface.  Neither of them have had easy lives. The miss not just each other but the lives and families and friends that they lost after the breakup.  Marsh’s dad is getting worse.  Data’s life has fallen back into focusing on his job that he doesn’t enjoy.  The interesting thing is that now that they are not together, they are finally being more honest than they were at the end of the relationship.  Could they really get back together?  Can they change their path forward?

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this story!  These characters, the two Marshalls are so adorable.  They really did fit together so well and once they started being honest with each other and then more importantly with themselves.  I enjoyed watching them walk down memory lane as they are packing up the cabin for sale.  This brings up a LOT of things from their pasts – as individual and as a couple.  Both men have supportive friends who alternatively encourage and discourage these two in figuring out what they are doing.  There is a realistic and heartfelt description of dealing with aging parents and also trying to live up to a parent’s expectations after one is an adult – nearing middle age 😉  There is plenty of humor as the Marshes are dealing with being stuck in the cabin.  There is also soup!  This is a truly heartwarming, entertaining and sweet story with two men who really do belong together but have lost their way.  Super sweet with enough spice to keep it interesting 😉  I cannot wait for the next book! Recommended.

RATING:

BUY LINK:

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