Reviewed by Lady Macbeth
TITLE: Sunrise and New Beginnings
AUTHOR: M.J. Sivilo
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 303 Pages
RELEASE DATE: February 13, 2026
BLURB:
Harlan:
I broke the heart of the only man I’ve ever loved.
I had it all: a job that I adored, in the only city that ever felt like home, and a steadfast unshakable love.
After the worst decision of my life, I’m forced to return to the UK where I’m left to deal with the wreckage I’ve created. Healing is anything but linear and I don’t know where to begin.
Darío:
Losing him was like losing a vital piece of myself.
Picking up the pieces of a life that was always supposed to include Harlan seems impossible. He is woven into every corner of the place we called home. I’m learning that time doesn’t heal all wounds and sometimes the heart wants what it wants. Even if it’s the very thing that destroyed you.
The road to new beginnings starts with the sunrise.
REVIEW:
This is definitely one of the most beautiful second chance romances I’ve ever read so far!
Darìo, baseball player, lives in Brooklyn with his longtime boyfriend Harlan, a British lingerie model and designer, who’s been living in the States for 6 years.
Their relationship is solid, they love each other very deeply and have a tight group of friends who have become their family. Harlan also has a very good relationship with Darìo’s family, who love him unconditionally.
All is perfect until Harlan’s visa is revoked and he has to leave the States within a month. This unexpected problem cause a huge distress for both of them, but, while Darìo is ready to commit to a long distance relationship and to work hard to make things work, Harlan starts to spiral and to push his boyfriend away, until he takes the worst decision in history and cheats on him with a meaningless man in a club.
There’s literally no justification for what Harlan did: he had everyone on his side, from his boyfriend, to his siblings in law, to his bestie Penny and Aj and Jules (Darìo’s teammates and friends to them both), who were all ready to support him anyway he needed. And yet threw all away for nothing.
I really really appreciated that the author didn’t make any excuses for him nor did she try to blame the stress or Darìo. It was completely Harlan’s fault.
The aftermath is devastating and heartbreaking: Darìo’s feelings from disbelief to disappointment to rage and hurt were beautifully written, I could feel all his emotions and the literal crack of his heart.
The days and the first months after their break up are very hard and, again, the author didn’t spare us anything: Harlan is miserable and depressed in London, while Darìo is angry and heartbroken in New York. Neither of them is able to face the grief and the loss of their love.
There were a couple of moments where Harlan and Darìo could have reconnected, but I’m so very glad that the author gave them more time: they weren’t ready to be together and the additional long months were absolutely necessary for both of them to get better. Their journeys needed to be made separately.
During this long time apart, both Harlan and Dario have other relationships. I know that this will be a deal breaker for some readers, but I think that is what happens in everyday life, people break up and move on. Or try to.
I feel bad for Jasper and Oliver who were nice men and they tried hard to make their relationships work. But Harlan and Darìo were soulmates and even if they knew they couldn’t be together again, they still inevitably loved each other .
Their reconnection is perfect: slow, tentative, not rushed. They went back to the origins, when they were friends before lovers and were able to rebuild a life together.
If I should point out the only thing that bothered me a bit, I would address the fact that during their “goodbye” intercourse, neither of them thought of using condoms, they just went bare like they were used to. And I get that the risk of having caught some STDs for Harlan was very low, but the hookup was still a disruption of their dynamic, something external that inserted itself into their relationship and I feel like maybe Darìo would have needed that “barrier” between them.
The side characters of this story are all amazing and they all loved the two MCs very much. I loved that, while they acknowledged that what Harlan did was wrong, they didn’t forget him, but they all offered him support.
I also hope that the author will consider writing a story for Aj and Jules because those two are something else.
The epilogue is absolute perfection!
I’m so happy I got to read this book, a very fantastic read that I absolutely recommend.
RATING: 
BUY LINK:
