Title: Never Too Late
Series: Home in the Heartland #1
Author: Sloan Johnson
Genre: Adult, M/M Romance
Published: March 7, 2016
| Dax: My life ended six years ago. No, really. I was dead on the side of the road following a gruesome motorcycle accident. From what I've been told, it's only because of one stubborn man that I have another chance to make something of my life. I no longer hate him for screwing up what I thought I wanted. I want to thank him. NEED to tell him what his actions mean to me. Now, I’m headed back to the town I’ve never set foot in even though it’s a huge part of my life. I’m not thrilled about that, but the job offers haven’t exactly been flowing in. They’ll probably think I’m crazy, because there’s no way I won’t be able to look at every guy I walk past, wondering if he’s the one who saved me. Michael: My entire life, I wanted to save lives. I’d earned a full-ride scholarship and had been accepted to med schools across the country. I was so close to making those dreams a reality until the night held a dying man in my arms. I’ve never been able to get the images of his lifeless body caked in mud out of my head. Even when the paramedics tried to take over trying to save him, I couldn’t let go. I never let go. Eventually, my guilt over not doing more cost me everything but my son. And now, I worry I’ll lose him if I don’t get it together. I’ve often thought that if I could find him, maybe I could get some closure and finally get my life back on track. Now he’s here and I’m more of a mess than ever. Once the truth comes out, will he keep trying to save me or will he realize that it’s too late? |
Within the M/M romance genre, the gay-for-you trope is a favorite of mine since it really expresses how you love a PERSON, not a gender. I thought that this was done extremely well here in Never Too Late. The story is very well paced, never making the evolution of Michael and Dax's relationship seem rushed or forced, and it is also quite believable.
Both Dax and Michael have their own difficult, tragic pasts though they don't realize just exactly how much they truly have in common. Both have overcome and thrived, and as the story progresses it is almost as if they are drawn to each other...even though Michael is straight. The pairing of these two characters is spot-on and feels very comfortable and just...well, just plain RIGHT.
I found both Dax and Michael to be excellent lead characters, they are both written so you feel like you have an emotional attachment to them not only as individuals, but also to the two of them as a couple...and by extension, them and Michael's son Jagger (who is a wonderful, precocious and intuitive little boy) as a family--even when they really aren't one yet.
There are a couple of places where the story slowed a little bit for me, but those points were relatively easy to push through and did not affect my enjoyment of the story at all. This wound up being one of those books where I just settled in and truly enjoyed the read, becoming attached to the characters quite easily...enough to really grab my heart and make me panic at one point toward the end of the story.
Never Too Late was a 4.5-star read for me, and I'd highly recommend it to M/M romance fans 18+ (due to adult language and M/M sexual content). While I have purchased several of this author's books, this is the first chance I've had to read one of her stories, and now I can't wait to dive in to the rest of my stash...and I'm eager for more in this series!
| Sloan Johnson is a big city girl trapped in a country girl’s life. While she longs for the hustle and bustle of New York City or Las Vegas, she hasn’t yet figured out how to sit on the deck with her morning coffee, watching the deer and wild turkeys in the fields while surrounded by concrete and glass. When she was three, her parents received their first call from the principal asking them to pick her up from school. Apparently, if you aren’t enrolled, you can’t attend classes, even in Kindergarten. The next week, she was in preschool and started plotting her first story soon after. Later in life, her parents needed to do something to help their socially awkward, uncoordinated child come out of her shell and figured there was no better place than a bar on Wednesday nights. It’s a good thing they did because this is where she found her love of reading and writing. Who needs socialization when you can sit alone in your bedroom with a good book? Now, Sloan is a tattooed mom with a mohawk and two kids. She’s been kicked out of the PTA in two school districts and is no longer asked to help with fundraisers because she’s been known to lose herself with a good book and forget she has somewhere to be. |
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