Title: Eight Days
Author: Cardeno C.
Genre: Contemporary, Hanukah
Length: Novella (80pgs)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (1st December 2012)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Maccabe Fried and Josh Segal have nothing in common, but they’ve been friends forever. Maccabe is an athlete with dreams of playing professional baseball. Josh is a good student with dreams of being with Maccabe. Then both dreams come true.
Maccabe and Josh fall into a passionate long-distance romance, and after years of hiding from the world, Josh wants to bring their relationship into the open. When Maccabe refuses, Josh is faced with a tough decision: stay with the man he loves or live the life he deserves. Somebody’s bound to get hurt, but in the season of miracles, there’s always hope for a happy ending.
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Review: Maccabe and Josh are two different boys, one enjoys sports while the other prefers band and school but they are best friends and their families are close. Maccabe and Josh embark on a passionate relationship, but life gets in the way and when Josh has had enough and wants to come out to his family Maccabe isn’t supportive and Josh has to make a choice… stay buried in the closet so Maccabe’s sporting chances aren’t affected or being true to himself and maybe lose the man he loves.
This is a very sweet story that covers several years and is from Maccabe’s POV. Maccabe and Josh are best friends even though they are very different. When Maccabe realizes that his feelings for Josh have changed he pulls away. The next time they celebrate a family gathering, Maccabe acts on his attraction and it is the beginning of a passionate affair, but when Josh makes it known that he wants more Maccabe makes a mistake. Josh makes his choice which affects both of them and several years later when Maccabe learns the truth he sets out to bring Josh home where he belongs.
I loved the way that this story was spread over several years as these two families, the Fried’s and the Segal’s, celebrate Hanukah together, seeing not just the main characters but how they are each year with their families and the interaction between them all. Maccabe has one dream, to make it into Major League baseball and even though he cares deeply for Josh nothing is going to risk his chance. Josh wants Maccabe more than anything, but hiding is making him unhappy. Josh wants more, but Maccabe’s reaction tells him everything he needs to know. Misunderstandings and over-reactions are abound which makes an interesting story, but don’t miss the sister’s interactions, they are brilliant.
This isn’t a story where there is a bad guy or anyone taking advantage. It’s a story of two young men discovering what they want and of one young man missing what he is being told and how he reacts. Maccabe finds himself missing the obvious, until it suddenly hits him and his reaction makes up for him being clueless for so many years. Josh never expected what happened and his reaction to everything was completely understandable. I mean, damn, after two years the words “I’m not gay” must have been a smack in the face. Seeing these two men together is really sweet and we see some foreplay which is hot, but this is more about getting together, losing each other and then finally finding each other again.
I will recommend this to those who love sweet love, hopeless men, hot loving, hunting down love, tight-knit families and a very happy ever after.