This was an intriguing story about the secrets people keep. Rafe appears to be a successful salesman and a complete ladies man. The reality is completely different. He is scared and lonely and his only friend is his dog. After someone sets fire to his garage he meets Ben, a policeman who investigates the crime. Ben totally changes Rafe's life and he struggles to adjust and to overcome his fear. There is a lot of pain in this book but also a great deal of hope and love. I think if I could give half stars I'd probably give this one 3 1/2 but I liked it well enough to go with 4. It's a sweet story and an unusual one. I think it had an added appeal for me because the main character was not only gay but a Jew who had escaped the Nazis (this should be quite clear from the cover alone) and being Jewish, I found I connected to some aspects of the story in that way.I think it could have been longer. The build up of the relationship between the two main characters really could have stood for some further development but they were sweet and the story was sad and sweet.There is some violence in the story but it's not between the two main characters. There's a fair bit of antisemitism and homophobia as well as some racism/xenophobia that is true to the time in which the story takes place.It's a very quick read though not really a "light" one as the subject matter is heavy and I found myself shedding a few tears. You might not want to read this one on the beach but it's definitely worth reading if you enjoy the MM genre. It's not really erotica, the sex scenes are very brief and very few. It's simply a story in the gay and lesbian genre and there's nothing wrong with that!
Set in the mid 50's. A time of turmoil and hostility. A dark read, but very satisfying.
—Sam
Bay Area M/M Romance October BOM
—Beenie
Beautiful.
—genocyber
3.5 stars
—Smoken_64
