The Long Way Back by Zoey Blue

Title: The Long Way Back
Author: Zoey Blue
Publisher: Torquere Books
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Length: Novella (55 pages)
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

A guest review by Lily

Review Summary

The story of two men who exemplify the old saying “Can’t live with them, can’t live without them!”

BLURB

Nevin and Peter are in love, but when their relationship falls apart almost as easily as it began, Nevin does his best to convince himself that he’s better off without Peter. Too bad it seems no matter how hard they try, the two can’t seem to stay away from each other. Sex aside, the rift between them continues to grow. Can they find their way back together or will they let life pull them apart?

REVIEW

From the first night they meet, and end up in bed, Nevin and Peter’s relationship is full of ups and downs. They soon establish a pattern of Peter coming and going and Nevin not questioning where or why. They are mostly happy the times that they are together and the sex is hot but Nevin can’t quite seem to accept happiness and soon they are fighting over who gets what during their breakup.

As the weeks go by they come together and separate again several times. Whether it’s late night calls, meeting at parties or sharing the grief of losing a parent, they can’t seem to end things completely. When Nevin finally realizes that Peter’s love is exactly what he needs to be happy he’ll have to convince him that they can make things work.

What I liked…

I enjoyed the smooth easy flow of this story. There is not a lot of dialogue instead the book features running commentary from Nevin’s first person POV. Although it felt strange at first it worked well overall.

What I didn’t like…

Since the story is told exclusively in Nevin’s POV we only see Peter through his eyes. I would have liked to have gotten his viewpoint as well. There is a bit of insight into his character partway through the book which did help out a bit with that however I was left wondering what was going on with him when he wasn’t with Nevin.

Overall…

Despite the first person POV the story was interesting, the writing solid and the sex scenes quite hot. There is no real character growth however, instead it’s more of a slow realization of what they really need and want. The characters spend quite some time apart and we only see what’s going on with Nevin so it was hard to become invested in their relationship. Despite that when they reached their HFN ending, or HEA depending how you take it, I was satisfied with their story.

The Long Way Back is an enjoyable story from this new author. It may not be for everyone but then no book ever is. It is a quick easy read and I look forward to reading more from the author in the future.