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I can’t wait!

Yay!!! What a welcome surprise.

I read the original story and enjoyed it, but in this revision you have added much more emotional depth and more fully fleshed out the characters. While I do hope you get to the sex – especially between Greg and Scott – as I think it would be especially meaningful, I applaud you for focusing more on character and plot development. Too many authors almost cut and paste repetitive sex scenes into their stories that detract from their writing efforts. (No one who knows me would believe I’m saying this 😁.) This tragic, heartbreaking chapter was especially well crafted and captured Greg’s meltdown in a very convincing way. Having lost my own father not long ago, it was an especially tough read - in no small part because I never got to experience the kind of closeness and bond that existed between Charlie and Greg. I can’t wait for the next book!

Ah, now everything is making more sense. Awesome that Tom and Kit (and Mischa) were able to form a close, supportive friendship, which will prove essential if Mitchel and Tom become serious - and they’d better! 😏

I love that Tom is already taking care of Mitch before he really starts to “take care of Mitch“. 😉 As a foodie, oenophile, and amateur chef, I am with Tom’s nutritional intervention - if not his wine choices. 🥴

The witty, clever banter is a great mask for the simmering sexual tension between these two. I’m really enjoying this unexpected plot line.

Intriguing! I’m dying to know where it went wrong with Kit and Tom, but I’m sure you’ll get there. I wonder when Tom developed his preference for older men, and if that played a role in the end of his relationship with Kit. And Mischa? You’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do. Taylan’s passing is a tragic disappointment, but it does open the door for Mitchell…and Tom (?).

This is very exciting news. I remember these stories fondly, and was so disappointed when they abruptly halted. So glad to see you back and inspired once again.

Great chapter! I loved the court room scene discrediting the cop. The questioning and the trap Kyle laid which he later sprang were so well executed it made me pause and wonder whether you have a legal background, or if you’ve just done really careful research. Well played. Allowing a line of questioning, rather than objecting, to let the other side open a door that you can then walk through and slay the witness’ credibility is a well-known court room strategy, but I don’t think most lay folks would know about that. Poor Mr. Jensen didn’t exactly come across as a legal eagle in that scene. 😁 It’s disappointing that Kyle and Jacob aren’t further along in their reconciliation, but a quick resolution would be too neat and tidy after so much hurt and turmoil over an extended period of time. Thank god they have an acutely observant, clued-in champion in David. Now, the most pressing question of the night: what are Chase and Tanner up to? 😉 That chapter just flew by.

In spite of how it all began, Kyle has given Jacob the greatest gift he possibly could have given him…second only to marrying him and having a family. 💜 Brilliant, emotional chapter. Jacob’s reunion with his lost family made it hard to focus on the screen. I just hope David outlives the end of this book as they all need this strong, loving, benevolent giant in their lives.

Bravo, Colt! And bless David. Chase is a very lucky kid.

“With his mind full of all the implications of what might happen and how things are going to change for him, he found himself wishing Kyle would fail and that Josh would just end up in prison so Jacob wouldn’t have to think about him anymore.” Definitely a WTF moment! On the one hand, it points to the depth and severity of whatever Jacob is suppressing; on the other, however, it paints a coldly unflattering portrait of Jacob’s character. It must be a shocking, life-altering revelation for Jacob to go to such a dark, ungenerous place. On a happier point, I think Kevin may have stumbled onto an evidentiary gold mine. While Kyle’s grounded status may frustrate him as he is unwisely used to handling too much himself, it also forces him to more fully leverage the strengths of his staff and, in doing so, may just help save Josh. Still, the limitations placed on Kyle are only an undersized bandage with poor adhesive until Jacob’s secret can emerge and be appropriately managed. Intriguing chapter. To your credit as a storyteller, you always leave us wanting more.

Being married to an attorney is not easy, as my husband would attest. However, smart spouses understand that an attorney’s time and schedule are rarely his or her own to control. Taking on a case is a bit like having a tiger by the tail; if you let go, or hesitate, or try to step back or slow down, you can end up “devoured”. Aside from Kyle’s moral obligation to Josh, it’s also important to know that this close to trial there’s no way the court would allow Kyle to change his mind and suddenly refuse to represent Josh, absent some truly extraordinary legal circumstance. Spousal conflict is not such a circumstance. While Kyle and Jacob are both at fault (and there’s no minimizing Kyle’s mishandling of the situation), Jacob has seemingly taken a step off the deep end of irrationality and festering, corrosive resentment. He’s made up his mind and the chip on his shoulder is growing ever deeper. If Jacob can’t or won’t confront his demons and the real reasons behind his mindset, there is no hope for this couple.

It’s a given that Kyle should’ve disclosed and explained all of this to Jacob when he received Josh’s file, and it does amount to a betrayal of trust, but I strongly suspect his hesitancy was because he knew in his gut Jacob would have given him a morally unacceptable ultimatum to drop everything - and Jacob would still have been angry and felt betrayed, in no small part because of his own guilt over his final interaction with his father. No competent attorney with any moral compass could have turned their back on Josh after seeing what was and wasn’t in that file. Telling Jacob earlier would have deprived him of some of his objections – months of not discussing it, etc. - but he still would’ve accused Kyle of breaking his promise and lying, which I think would have been unfair and unjustified. I also suspect Jacob would still have insisted that Kyle turn his back on Josh and pretend none of it ever happened - all because Jacob refuses to face his own demons. Everything isn’t about Jacob or up to him when his own brother’s life hangs in the balance, and Kyle didn’t do this for kicks or because it was fun, or easy - or to betray Jacob. Kyle possesses a strong sense of justice, even though his own anxiety issues and Jacob’s stonewalling led to poor choices and a betrayal of trust. Still, Jacob’s reaction would have been more understandable if he had discovered that Kyle was having an affair, not trying to save Jacob’s brother from rotting in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. Jacob’s complete disregard for his own brother’s plight is only partially explainable by his own tortured state of mind over his father. The rest seems understandable only as profound selfishness and a complete absence of empathy. Both Kyle and Jakob are in the wrong for different reasons but, instead of hashing it out, I fear Jacob will become increasingly irrational and unapproachable. He needs to mentally separate the issues of Kyle’s failure to disclose from Josh’s fate and the need to defend him, but I get a sinking feeling about this. I just hope Jacob doesn’t start drinking again, or take Aaron and leave. It was hard not to notice Jacob’s disparate treatment of his two sons at bedtime - clearly turning to Aaron for comfort and barely smiling at Matt. That attitude doesn’t bode well for their family, or their marriage. Brilliant story, by the way. Amazing storytelling and attention to detail. It feels like receiving a gift when a new chapter drops each evening at about 10:30 PM Pacific.

Sweet, lovely story. You left your readers wanting more, which is a tribute to your storytelling skills.