Amazing!!

This book is full of emotions! You'll laugh and cry, and it is so 🔥🔥. I devoured this book. Riley hart and Devon McCormack are two of my favorite authors, and Michael Pauley is an amazing narrator.

6 people found this helpful

Fabulous Writing Duo and great narration

This is the first collaboration between Riley Hart & Devon McCormack and it has led to a wonderfully productive relationship. But this, their first foray into partnership, speaks to their strengths as writers because even through the heavy emotional subjects of depression and suicide, there were moments where I was laughing out loud, moments where I was gripped with tears, and times where the sex was, well, hot. The fact it was often a coping mechanism for the psychological pain made it all the more poignant.

There are three characters in this book. Zack who has hit rock bottom – no job, no money, and living out of his car, Tommy – mired in grief, and soldiering on, but hurting, and Rob – Tommy’s younger brother who has committed suicide. For their entire lives, Tommy was responsible for Rob (in fact and in his heart). Now Tommy is searching for answers to the most painful question – why did Rob jump off a building?

Zack was on that roof with Rob and is also mired in grief and guilt because he would never have left Rob alone had he known the young man was going to jump. Zack shows up at Tommy’s door, hoping Rob’s older brother has answers and when Tommy discovers Zack saw Rob that horrible night, he thinks Zack might be able to explain what happened and why. That’s the question – why did Rob jump?

But short of being inside Rob’s head, is it really possible to know why?

For those of us who have lost someone to suicide, even a note doesn’t really tell the whole story. Guilt is common because you always ask if there was something you could have done to change the outcome. And if you’ve ever suffered with profound clinical depression, you know how much you just want the pain to end. Suicide looks like a way to end the suffering and in that altered mental state, you convince yourself that the people around you will be better off without you.

These are heavy topics, but they are offset by moments of levity and of affection.

Zack knows that if Tommy discovers he was on the roof with Rob that night, everything in their relationship will change. All the good things that are happening between them will come to an abrupt end.

Tommy, for his part, can see Zack has fallen on hard times. In the end, he couldn’t help Rob, but maybe redemption is possible and the self-recriminations will come to an end if he helps Zack.

Watching two sensitive men suffer is heart-wrenching, but I promise you the pain is worth it because of the reward at the end. Because sometimes love can come out of the darkness. Because sometimes having someone believe in your is enough to make you want to seek out a better life. And sometimes you find love in the least expected places.

My heart ached but was made whole again as I listened to the book. Narrator Michael Pauley was fabulous. Michael is a favourite of Riley and Devon, and now he’s one of my favs as well. He told the story with the right emotions, unobtrusive yet perfectly relaying the angst, and in the end, the love.

There are no simple answers in this book – as there are so rarely in life – but sometimes the journey is enough.

2 people found this helpful

tear jerker

loved this book erotic emotional storytelling I did not know whether to cry or blush.

1 person found this helpful

Love and Loss

Has been a while since I read this book but I knew it was going be a hard listen. It is full of loss, hope, love and forgiveness. Zach and Tommy find each other when they need all of these things the most. But secrets have a way of coming to the surface- can their love survive it? Michael Pauley nails the narration like he always does by wringing out every ounce emotion from the written word. Highly recommend!

1 person found this helpful

Michael Pauley, oh boy.

the story was pretty good. I enjoyed all the different point of views. it really makes you think about how messed up our Mental Health Care system is. the narration was a bit different. I always enjoy Michael Pauly and i think he does a fantastic job but there are times where I feel like he's a bit too much. There was some times where the scene just did not require as much emotion as he gave it. All in all I'm not a hundred percent sure if I would recommend this book to someone nor do I think I will reread it. I still enjoy Raleigh Hart and Devon McCormick as authors.

2 people found this helpful

Heartbreaking as uplifting

Such a beautiful story about two men, Zach and Tommy, drawn together by a tragic suicide. Both have their own issues. Tommy has to be strong and sacrifice for others, denying his own needs and Zach has to do it all on his own and not ask for help, even when he needs it. How each figures things out is painful, but beautiful in the end. A fantastic story by Riley Hart and Devon McCormack and Michael Pauley does a wonderful in narrating.

Touching heartwarming ... takes your breath away

An amazing story written by Hart and McCormack! They did such a wonderful job grasping the listener at all times and topped it with Pauley as the narrator. Pauley is simply perfect! This story is so well put together and touches the heart so many times in different ways. You won't be able to put this book down until completed.

Highly recommended. This is definitely a keeper in my library.

Great Story

I'm a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and this story was very enlightening! if you know anyone with mental illness or anyone who has tried or succeeded at suicide, you will enjoy this book. The sex is just a bonus!

awesome!<br />

I would give this story a 6 if I could! This story made me cry during while I listened to the whole audio version. They did an excellent job in showing how each character felt. Zack the one who was with Rob, Tom who is Rob's brother, and even Rob. Rob broke my heart! This is so we'll written, it seamed real.

I just knew this one would hurt

Do you ever just look at a title and know that the story will hurt, in a good way, but hurt all the same?Yeah, so I hesitated for a while to listen to this for just that reason. I know that Riley and Devon have the innate talent to draw in the reader/listener and I also know that Michael Pauley has a way about him that just makes the characters come alive. I cried today, right along with Zach and Tommy. I cried today for their loss, their pain and their love but not because i pitied them but because I felt it right along with them. It was like I was there with them. Every scene in this book is mapped out for you, the reader, to feel, to live and breathe, right along with the characters. I will listen to this again but not now. Right now, my nerve endings are raw and my heart is full. Thank you...you will never know how much you truly touch people's lives.