Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: And for Us
SERIES: Ripple Effect
AUTHOR: Alise Monroe
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 465 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2026
BLURB:
Four years ago, two men met by chance at the Annual National Whiskey Convention in Kentucky. It was supposed to be a one-time thing; no names or numbers exchanged. The next year, the attraction was still there and neither could resist. Their yearly one-night stand stayed in Kentucky, but their emotional connection continued through texts and calls.
Now, Ripley is helping his best friend prepare for her wedding as her man of honor while mending a broken heart from the last time he saw his stranger. He’s tried everything—including having someone else in his bed—to get over him. The last thing Ripley expected was for him to show up in his small town of Indigo Hill; even worse, he showed up as the groom’s best man.
Seth is in Indigo Hill to support his best friend by standing at his side in his wedding and helping the bride with her bed-and-breakfast expansion. He’s already stressed about missing work and leaving his sisters in Seattle with his volatile father, but then he sees the man whose heart he broke months ago because he couldn’t let himself be happy. With the mystery of his identity blown to shreds, Seth is spiraling and terrified his secret will get out.
Can he deny himself the man he loves again? If he does, can Ripley survive heartbreak for a second time? Or will they allow themselves to be loved the way they deserve?
REVIEW:
So this is a new author to me and this is the third book in their first series and their first MM romance. And boy is it a doozy! It’s angst with a capital A. Honestly it’s been quite a while since I read anything very angsty given the state of the real world these days and at first I though, wow. Maybe I’ve made a huge mistake here. I’m not sure I’m ready to face what Seth in particular has to go through in his life. His childhood was horrible. He’s concerned about his younger twin half-sisters. He’s pined for years for his straight best friend, Cary who is also a partner in his restaurant. He’s been in the closet forever and he’s not planning on coming out any time soon. He just keeps himself focused on his Seattle restaurant business and controls the things he can. Completely. His only outlet has been his annual fling with a guy he calls East (as in Coast) meets at a Whiskey convention every year in Kentucky. They keep it anonymous. No real names. Nothing to reveal their real identities. After a couple of years, they text and call each other, but still nothing more. When East tries for more, telling West he wants for them to be together, West tells him no. He doesn’t do relationships.
Ripley has rebuilt his life in his small town in South Carolina. His best friend Thea has been his lifeline – well they were each other’s lifelines really. But now he is her “man of honor” and he’s got to work with Cary’s best friend who is his best man. He’s gobsmacked when he turns around to discover that his long time fling who broke his heart turning him down in his bid for them to be something real turns out to be none other than his “West”, aka Cary’s friend Seth. Who Thea does not like. He scrambles back to the distillery to clear his head when Cary’s brother Brooks walks in and sees him freaking out. He can’t help but blurt out that Seth is West. Oh god, how can this be happening?
Eventually Seth and Ripley have to spend time in the same room and it’s more than a little awkward – especially since West and East know everything about each other except for the little detail of their best friends are getting married and they are going to have to work together on this wedding. It’s worse though because Seth is staying for a month to help Thea and Cary get their B&B off the ground. And Thea of course knows about West, so this is even worse for Seth.
When Seth ends up needing a place to stay after the one hotel in town has plumbing issues, Thea offers up Ripley’s spare bedroom. Uh-oh. This just went from awkward to untenable. These two could not be more different. Seth is completely buttoned-up, rigid, focused, driven, scheduled, regimented. Ripley is kind of a slob and fly by the east of his pants in everything except the bourbon distillery. Also he’s had a fuck-buddy for a few months that nobody can know about. Turns out Ripley is closeted to almost everyone as well. This next three weeks is going to be TORTURE!
When the wedding arrives, well things get real. Seth has to make amends. Ripley is so happy for his best friend Thea who has waited a long time for her happy ending. But then two things happen that make Seth freeze and retreat back into his aloof mask. Can Ripley survive a second heartbreak with Seth? Can he maybe get what he really wants?
GAH! This story made crazy so many times. I totally understood Seth’s reaction to his upbringing and horrible family life. I totally understood Ripley’s reaction to his crappy family also. The thing I couldn’t get over was that NOBODY in this group was in therapy. They needed a group rate! Apparently the first two books in this series are about Cary and Thea and the second book is about Brooks and his girlfriend Margot and I’m guessing there are some timeline overlaps. I haven’t read those books, but I’m guessing if I did, I might be more sympathetic to the folks in this story, but seriously. THERAPY!!!!I was so rooting for Seth and Ripley. Seth was so battered by his father and the homophobia that he has so much internalized homophobia that clearly is stopping from living authentically except for his one best friend who knows his secret (and it’s certainly not Cary who he pined over for years). He seems like such a bright guy, so I was surprised he hadn’t sought help for what is clearly CPTSD. Ripley is such a heart on his sleeve kind of guy, so they struggled to get on the same page at the same time. My heart broke for them both. Their HEA is really hard won. I was won over by the writing of this book and will definitely look for the other books in the series to find out how this couple came to be 🙂 Highly recommended especially for fans of high heat, heavy angst and a hard fought HEA.
RATING: 
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