Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: wake
SERIES: Bonds We Share
AUTHOR: Anyta Sunday
PUBLISHER: Sunday Publications
LENGTH: 235 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2026
BLURB:
a love story that ripples deep
Waves
Dylan’s anchor line was cut a long time ago. His life can be packed up and moved on at a moment’s notice. But when the one thing he holds on to—his beloved improv studio—starts to go under, he knows he needs to find safe harbour.
One year. Room and board.
All Dylan has to do is pretend to be someone he isn’t. Play a role that matters far more than it should.
Currents
A charged glance with a stranger outside a Wellington theatre.
A pull he can’t explain, leaving him breathless and disoriented.
Trent is intense, private, and grieving something he refuses to define.
Living together drags and lifts in equal measure. Secrets that feel dangerous. Late nights where thoughts sink too deep. Shared meals, a silly chicken, a riotous grandpa.
A slow, intimate pull towards shore.
Undertow
But grief can drag you out too deep.
Dylan finds himself caught between truth and tenderness, between who he’s pretending to be and who he might finally become. When the past surfaces, they must face what they’ve each been running from . . . and the love they could have if they stop.
~ ~ ~
wake is an intimate, slow-burn gay romance about grief, found family, and the courage to stay anchored when the sea keeps pulling you away.
It’s a story of emotional healing and quiet devotion, of two men learning that love doesn’t rescue you from the storm. It teaches you how to stand in it.
Perfect for readers who love:
• forced proximity
• grief-to-healing romance
• emotionally restrained slow burn
• found family warmth
• mature, literary contemporary love stories
REVIEW:
Trent wants to give his grandpa the best last year of his life. So he advertises for an actor to play his deceased brother who has been gone from home for some time. He just wants to give his grandpa smiles and comfort.
Dylan is an actor who needs a miracle to keep the improv/actors studio he works at alive. So he answers the ad. When he finds out what the gig is, he’s put off. It’s not clear exactly why. But then the studio closing is imminent, so he decides to take the gig anyway.
When Dylan shows up to play the role of “Ika”, things get very real. He has to share room with Trent. There is a spark of attraction between them, but they are supposed to be brothers. This is getting more complicated.
Trent asks to work in Dylan/Ika’s studio, so they end up spending even more time together. Dylan also helps support one of the students, Holly, after hours. Holly has also suffered loss and Dylan really wants her to be OK. Trent watches these interactions and he is curious. Where is Dylan’s family?
There attraction continues to grow, but there are so many potential complications. For both of them.
I didn’t love this one as much as the previous book in this series, rock, for whatever reason. I think the nature of the fake relationship and the fact that Dylan’s past is slowly revealed through the story whereas the past was the story in rock made a big difference. There is the same spark between Trent and Dylan/Ika that we get in most of this author’s writing, but because of the nature of the “role” that Dylan is asked to play, thing stay platonic for a long time despite their longing. One disadvantage I think is that the entire story is told only from Dylan/Ika’s POV and I would have like to have seen some of Trent’s perspective. Both are dealing with trauma and loss and are protecting themselves and their own secrets. There is plenty that is quite heavy in this story so I would definitely label it as angsty. Not just with Trent and Dylan/Ika and grandpa, but with some of the supporting characters as well. Turns out there is a lot more going on under the surface of this story than meets the eye. Luckily there are also some moments of levity – Grandpa’s party, the impudent chicken and the other senior citizens at Grandpa’s daycare. This dance is quite tangled and their push/pull takes so much time as layers are revealed.
I did really like the chapters relating to sea creatures as the previous book was tied to rock types. The connection between these characters is very different because they are both adults, so there isn’t such a linear progression of their story. They have both had lots of time to build walls and it takes a bit to dismantle. The sort of “taboo” nature of the story is a different one here, but still plays into their dynamic and what they are trying to accomplish for the sake of someone else – here grandpa for the most part 😉 Overall I enjoyed this book quite a lot and can definitely recommend particularly for fans of this author’s particular flavor of slow burn yearning.
RATING: 
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