Title: Choices and Changes
Series: N/A
Author: K.L. Belanger
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (258 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (February 11th, 2013)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3Hearts
Blurb: On the cusp of his twenty-fifth birthday, Bo Sanford grows frustrated with his directionless life. Slaving away at his father’s construction company all week and partying every weekend leaves him little time for introspection, but he knows it’s time for a change. When his best friend, Mac, drags him to a college party, Bo catches sight of a girl. But not just any girl—the girl of his dreams: a delicate blonde-haired beauty with a pink scarf and a smile that promises warmth and humor. There’s just one problem: she isn’t a girl.
Even after Bo discovers the truth, he keeps seeing Erick, and the choice to follow his heart despite the obstacles has profound repercussions on not only his sense of self but his relationship with his family and even his job. Being with Erick makes him all the more determined to be his own man and claw his way out from under his father’s thumb.
But Erick faces choices of his own: the choice to get involved with someone redefining his sexuality, the choice to trust again, and even the choice to believe love can last beyond the temporary
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3566
Reviewer: Tams
Review: When Bo meets Erick at a party, mistaking him for a girl, he’s completely caught off guard by his charismatic charm, thousand watt smile and sparkling eyes. He is straight after all, and Erick is a guy, a guy he shouldn’t be attracted too, and yet…he is.
Tampering down his initial instinct to run like hell, he takes a chance and the two go for coffee, and end up talking all night, developing a fast friendship. Erick is completely honest from the start admitting his attraction to Bo, and his fear of “falling for the straight, unavailable guy”. The last thing Bo wants to do is hurt Erick, but as their friendship grows along with the foreign feelings he has for Erick, he continually ignores his heart and listens to that tiny voice in his head repeating, don’t go there.
Their mutual attraction that grows stronger everyday coupled with the bonds of friendship they are forming is the least of their worries. Bo is fearful of his family and friends reaction if they find out he’s dating a guy, not to mention the scars both men carry from troubling events in their pasts. Bo and his best friend have a huge falling out when Mac learns the truth, but is it because he’s dating a guy, or because he’s been lying about it? Erick is half way in and half way out of the relationship before it even starts, fearing it’s doomed from the beginning just like everything else in his life.
Belanger has written a wonderful tale of love, uncertainty, fear and coming to terms with who, and what you are, regardless of the past. The love story between Bo and Erick is slowly built around friendship, honesty and trust. Even if they don’t share everything about each other from the start, they don’t lie. Erick teaches Bo how to love through friendship, and Bo teaches Erick that love is unconditional. The question is, can they overcome their demons and be together, completely? Or will they allow the shadows of the past to dominate their future?