I've read several E.M. Lindsey novels now and her work is characterised but such an emotional depth I become deeply invested! I loved this one, and I haven't yet read the comments that have resulted in a mere 3 star rating.

I don't say there is much realism - the characters are black or white/goodies or baddies. Lindsey focuses on the MCs struggle to be good, and do good. That part felt stilted.

Nevertheless I found the story un-put-downable. Supposedly cold-as-ice businessman, Rhys, and his newly appointed assistant, Carter, who is deaf, completely held my attention. Living with deafness is a moving and sensitising part of the story.

Much of the plot tension revolves around Carter's misidentifying Rhys as his identical twin Reed, with whom he had a disastrous meeting through a dating app. As an identical twin myself I found this infuriating ... but plausible as the novel explains it - Carter never saw Reed properly - low lightlng, the brevity of the date, etc While they look very similar, the twins characters have nothing in common except to have been scarred by their unloving, ruthless father. Despite being smart and more perceptive than most, Carter never entertains the possibility of a misidentification. I felt like shouting it!

I'd watched the beautiful Australian movie, Of An Age (2022), and I was in the mood for a serious, earnest MM novel - this filled the need perfectly - plenty of angst and pain and almost as much poetry, thanks to Lindsey's writing. ( )

Gabriel & Carter are best friends. Carter was being pushed by Gaberial to try a dating app. Does this sound innocent enough? What possibly could go wrong? It's only a date, not a marriage. You might already know if you were ever unfortunate enough to have had the experience of a perfect picture that turns out to be the "date from Hell" that seems is going to go on for the rest of your life. His best friend says this date is going to be perfect and will get some humor, organization, and sparks into Carter's life. It isn't long into the date that Carter is now thinking of diffidently getting a new best friend. Now we come forward in time a few months after the date and Carter is just about to start a new job as a PA when...guess what? He arrives at work and is shocked to see that the person he had "the date from Hell" with 6 months ago is his new boss, Rhys. Rhys has lived for a long time wondering if he will find love again after having lost his husband some years ago. Even though he has been married, the love he had with his husband is closer to that of a best friend. It was never the great love that is the stuff of songs, and movies. When he met Carter and started to form a bond with him, slowly falling in love, he realized that what he had with Carter is something he is willing to fight for no matter. I won't go into a lot of detail now, but I will tell you that Rhys has a twin brother. The only thing they share in common is looks. In Carters new job he finds that his job involves fighting off evil corporations that are trying to evict people out of their homes and the boss/employee relationship often involves into miscommunication. These were just some of things that Carter and Rhys had to overcome along with several personal issues. The conflict could've been avoided, and feelings wouldn't have been hurt if Carter and Rhys had communicated properly early on, and if Rhy's had monitored his brother's activities more. The characters were well done and interesting, and I just had to see how these two worked it out what had been set in motion. ( )