Reviewed by Lady Macbeth
TITLE: Only You
AUTHOR: Nicole Dykes
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 202 Pages
RELEASE DATE: September 15, 2025
BLURB:
Tatum
My best friend is settled. He met the love of his life and was granted guardianship of his younger siblings. I’ve had the goal to help him for what seems like forever, and now that things are good for him, I should feel complete, right?
But there’s always been a piece missing for me. Has been for a long time.
Something I don’t think I can ever fix.
And then suddenly, that part of my past shows back up in my life. He should hate me. I hate me. But that’s the thing about Remy . . .
He’s far too good for this world, and I’m once again terrified I’ll break him.
Because that’s what I do.
Remy
I want to forget about my past. It’s my life’s goal.
I’m not that weak little boy trapped in foster care anymore. I’m stronger now. I’m the principal at a major school in the Kansas City area. I’ve grown into the man I knew I could be.
I don’t talk about the past. I refuse to.
But then it’s shoved into my face, and I can’t look away. I can’t walk away like he did all those years ago.
Sometimes I despise this stubborn streak inside me. I should stay away. He has.
But there’s this pull there—even after all these years.
I can put on a show for everyone else, but when he’s around, I start to crack.
Why can’t I be strong when I’m around him?
Tatum. The only one who sees right through me.
REVIEW:
Such a sweet lovely reading, I’m so glad the author chose to give Tatum his happy ending too.
This book is very low angst, everything happens smoothly and I appreciated this very much, since it’s still a story of two adults who, during childhood and teenage years, have experienced neglect, suffering and, unfortunately in Remy’s case, also more.
Tatum and Remy both grew up in foster care and from time to time they shared the same home. It was like they gravitated into each other during the years, until they were definitely separated.
Now Tatum is a mechanic and he has a best friend who’s like a brother to him, Kellan, and he’s part of his family: Kellan, his partner Phillip and Kellan’s 4 siblings are the family Tatum never had. He’s protective of all of them and he spends a lot of time with them (their story is told in Only Temporary)
Remy lives a solitary life, with no friends or found family, he keeps everyone else distant in order to protect himself. He’s also the principal at Cason’s school and that is where he meets Tatum again after 12 years.
They slowly reconnect and start spending time together, trying to get to know each other as adults. They changed, obviously, but they also have the feeling that they finally have the happy part of their childhood back.
Tatum also feels very confused because he’s always identify as straight and now he’s experiencing a strong attraction toward Remy.
I liked the conversation he had with Kellan about that, how he was open and, while he was scared to lose Remy again and he didn’t completely understand all this new intense pull he felt for him, he was brave and told him he was ready for more.
Neither of them has ever had a serious relationship, it’s all new, but they surrender to their feelings and start a beautiful relationship. It could seem too soon, but these guys have always been close and even when they were apart, they still stayed into each other’s heart, so their separation was actually only physical.
Their sexual connection is strong but it also happens very gradually and slowly and I appreciated a lot that they didn’t jump into bed and started having full intercourse right away: Remy is caring and very respectful about the fact that Tatum has never been with another man, there’s no rush at all.
Another thing I really really loved was that this book is not only focused on Tatum and Remy’s love story, but that there’s also a lot of space for Kellan, Phillip and their children. This is the story of a wonderfully imperfect family, where the most important thing is love, in all its forms.
The epilogue is the sweetest and honestly I wanted a little more of that.
Since Cason is almost 18 and he’s been loudly thundering all over the two books, I think it’s time for Nicole Dykes to give him his story.
RATING: 
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