Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: Trust Goes Both Ways
SERIES: Third Time Lucky #2
AUTHOR: Aurora Crane
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 269 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 6, 2026
BLURB:
Grady risked his bruised heart and found the man of his dreams. Lake jumped in with both feet and couldn’t be happier and more in love. Now they just need to make it down the aisle.
Grady
Letting Lake in, despite all of the reasons why it was a terrible idea, was the best decision I’ve ever made. Now we’re getting married, and it’s nothing like my first almost wedding. If only I could tell that to myself and believe it. What if the reality of marrying a man is too much for Lake, and I’m setting myself up for another heartbreak? One I might not recover from this time.
ELake
Grady is everything I’ve dreamed of. The life I’d envisioned in my head—family, love, a happily ever after—is all wrapped up with him. There’s a lot to do for the wedding—not to mention wrangling an unexpected teenage addition to our lives—but I can handle anything when Grady is right beside me. Now I just need to convince him that he can trust this is real, that I’m here for the long haul.
Trust Goes Both Ways is the sequel to Third Time Lucky, an MM grumpy/sunshine romance filled with humour, antics, feels, and two men who are deeply in love building on their happily ever after. The duet must be read in order.
REVIEW:
I was so excited when I learned that we were getting a sequel to the grumpy Grady and sunshine Lake’s story. Weddings always excite me when characters I grow fond of invite us readers to their special day. But this book became much more than just a simple novella of that day. It took us instead on a journey to not only the planning of their day…but the angst and anxiety that was triggered from past trauma and heartbreak.
Australian Army Officer/Helicopter Pilot Lake McKenna can’t wait to be married to the love of his life, Police Detective Grady Donehue. He loves Grady with every inch of his body and soul. He would do it in blink of an eye today if everyone would let him. He knows they all think it’s fast but when’s man knows what he wants why wait around to comply with social norms? It simply isn’t who he is! However he also knows that he can’t disappoint his Mom and friends by eloping. So planning a wedding it is! Grady loves Lake💝 That part is so simple. The hard part is trusting. He trusted before…twice actually and being left at the alter, because your husband-to-be cheated on you with your mutual friend and knocked her up, can cause anxiety and wedding jitters. What if the formerly straight and extremely gorgeous Lake comes to his senses and realizes he’s not gay or really that into Grady? And how do they overcome this anxiety once and for all and learn that Trust Goes Both Ways???
I loved the effervescent and always cheerful Lake from the get-go. We first met him in his younger brother Avery’s story, Two Soldiers for Christmas, where he wound up with Lake’s two best friends in a wonderful Christmas polyamorous novella. Then we finally got his and Grady’s love story in Third Time Lucky. But knew there was more and have been waiting (or at least trying to semi-patiently wait) for the rest of their story. I’m thankful that Author Aurora Crane chose to share their whole story in this sequel vs just including the wedding in one of the other guy’s (in this large group of friends) book. We needed to know why Grady was the way he is and was questioning so much. It all became painful obvious when we learned what Grady’s triggers were. It wasn’t that he didn’t love Lake. He just has some emotional scars that are hard to heal. Trust has to be earned and it needs to come from both sides.
I think one of the parts to this book that I enjoyed so much was the Sebastian and Grady friend/enemy story line. I know that Quinn, Grady’s Detective Partner, would have liked to have Seb, one of his four lovers, and Grady get along better. But Sebastian’s powerful skills in the courtroom getting criminals off rubbed Grady wrong. They worked hard for those collars to just have them back out on the street because of Sebastian’s uncanny ability/skill set to get the criminals off he represents. At least that’s how Grady has always viewed it. I know that Sebastian has become more selective in whom he represents since he became involve in a loving and permanent relationship with Quinn, Will, Peyton, and Jericho. So watching Sebastian try to gain favor and establish a friendship with his boyfriend’s work partner was a fun and entertaining experience. Will Grady and Seb become besties? Extremely doubtful! But learning to tolerate each other, for the good of everyone else, is plausible at least.
I also truly loved the whole Mini-Riley storyline. Having been an educator for many years and witnessed the level of disregard that some foster parents gave was disheartening and frightening at times. Being a foster parent is not suppose to be paid career. It’s suppose to be about nurturing and caring for a child who has lost everything. Unfortunately I saw more of the Riley type stories than I wanted. Neglect of a foster child is serious and Grady did the right thing in making sure the authorities got Riley out of that situation. I would hope that since a police detective reporting this that their license should have been revoked for future children’s placement. Riley now has a future that is much more bright. 💝
But the most important part of the story to me was Riley and Grady’s consistent love and caring for each other. Communication is key but talking about past trauma and how it affects you can be super hard and cause more stress. Grady’s difficulty with his past and unfounded fears were real to him. He knew that Lake loved home. He knew that Lake wasn’t to be with him forever. But his mind still has difficulties with trust. And they needed to talk it out. It won’t just simply go away. It takes lots of work and patience. Something that they learned to recognize and work on…with a little help from som caring friends too! Them being separated helped cement it too I believe. It helped Grady to see what life without Lake was like and that was definitely NOT a good thing!
I am hoping that we will see more of Lake and Grady in future books. I know that Quinn and Grady get called out on calls that have crossed over into different series in this universe. But I hope we see more of Lake and Riley too!
RATING: 
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