Erryn reviews ‘Love Always’ by Riley Hart. The ebook was published September 5, 2019 and is 218 pages. The audiobook version of this story was narrated by Michael Pauley, released on September 28, 2019 and is 6 hrs and 58 mins long. A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Why I read this book: Endless Stretch of Blue gutted me and I couldn’t wait to grab another Riley Hart/Michael Pauley duo.
Nathaniel Montgomery can’t escape the pressure to be perfect, to be smart, to be successful. To live the life chosen for him – one that doesn’t include being gay.
Wren Cunningham lives on the streets and does what it takes to survive. No one has ever given a damn about him, so he works with the cards he’s been dealt and pushes his dreams aside.
Fate steps in when Nate and Wren meet when they are 18. They have one week to live how they want and to pretend everything they hope for is within reach. What they don’t expect is to find exactly what they need in each other…or to fall in love.
But sometimes, love isn’t enough, and goodbyes are inevitable.
No matter how much time passes, Nate and Wren never forget. They always find their way back to each other, and that helps them make it through. It’s never been a question of if they want each other. Their love is constant and never fades. Love Always.
They’ve spent their whole lives dreaming about their future together. To have a fighting chance, they’ll need to find a different kind of strength – learning to love themselves first.
If not, their next goodbye will be their last.
My Review:
This isn’t a classic love story in the traditional sense and I love that. The standard boy meets boy, boy falls in love with boy, something drives them apart, and then they get their happily ever after. Wait, this book follows that structure but it takes a much longer time. As the synopsis says, “sometimes love isn’t enough, and goodbyes are inevitable.”
Nathaniel Montgomery is an unhappy young man heading off to Harvard. He’s had everything he’s ever wanted because his parents are rich. Or at least materially he’s had everything. The acceptance of his love of music? Nope. The love of a parent or acceptance that he’s gay? Yeah, not so much. Wren Cunningham has had a rough go of it. He’s living on the streets of L.A. and doing what it takes to get by. Encountering Nathaniel, he sees another entitled kid, but there’s more. He sees the loneliness and naiveté. He sees the young man who longs for acceptance but who is resigned to a life without love – from anyone.
They have one week together. One week to enjoy themselves – both, in a real way, for the first time in their lives. They do all the touristy things and also just hang together, talking and laughing. Finding what they have in common and where their lives are so desperately disparate. In essence, they fall in love. But love at eighteen can be a tricky thing. You want to believe it will last. You want to believe it will enable you to conquer the world. But it can’t, in this case, and the two young men head off into the world in very different directions and off to very different lives. The whole time they were together, I kept thinking, this is leading somewhere, right? They’re going to find a way to make it work, even though the realist in me knew it wasn’t going to happen.
And it didn’t. They parted ways and I knew it would be a long hard road for each to travel but I knew they would come back together. Did I properly anticipate how long? Or how the years would have affected each man so profoundly? Or how it might not be the right time? That you can love someone with every fiber of your being and it’s still not enough?
Man, the heartbreak.
But this is a Riley Hart romance so I knew I’d get my happy ending. And maybe a little angst in the middle.
I loved this story. I loved that it was realistic – the boys could have tried to make a go of it at eighteen but there was no way for them to succeed together, and isn’t that a tough realization. I loved that the realism continued into adulthood and that things weren’t wrapped up with a pretty bow. Life’s like that sometimes. Sometimes what we want isn’t what we need. Or what would be good for us. And I loved that, in the end, the men were meant to be together. I loved that they were eventually able to blend their lives, bringing their friends together and making a tight circle. The family we choose and all that.
As Wren says to Nathaniel:
“My love is like a wildfire…Fierce and all-consuming. Wild. Unpredictable. Beautiful. And nothing can stand in our way.”
“You know it gets me hard when you talk like that,” Nate teased and I laughed.
“You started it.”
“You’re better at it.”
Both men are good with words but in different ways. The love shines through so clearly and they always end with Love Always. So this may not be the standard love story and there may be many obstacles, but I loved it nonetheless. I’ve said that, right? That I loved it.?
Michael Pauley narrated this book and did his standard amazing job. He differentiates the voices well and adds layers to the men when they’re older. Again, another stellar performance.
My Rating:
10/10 pots of Gold (100% Recommended) – Compares to 5/5 Stars
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Riley Hart is the girl who wears her heart on her sleeve. She’s a hopeless romantic. A lover of sexy stories, passionate men, and writing about all the trouble they can get into together. If she’s not writing, you’ll probably find her reading.Riley lives in North Carolina with her awesome family, who she is thankful for everyday.
Rainbow Gold Reviews 
Thanks for the review. I’m not sure this is quite my kind of book, but my curiosity is piqued by the east coast/west coast element.
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