STRONG ENOUGH

by Melanie Harlow & David Romanov

I picked this up on the cover alone, I paid no heed to the blurb and while I don’t primarily read or review MM stories, I have been known to dip my toe into that particular genre when the author is one that I know will deliver a super story… this time not only did I have an author I trust but a newbie to the fold, and I think that in David Romanov we may just have an author to keep a very close eye on!

I thought that Derek and Maxim were great characters, early on it became crystal clear that these were guys that I wanted to get to know more about.

I felt aggrieved for Derek in as much as I didn’t like that for almost his whole life to date he had been living a lie, a life that seemed to be shaped by expectation and I was frustrated by the fact that he seemed to be perpetuating that expectation by being complicit in hiding who he really was but I should have known that time and tide waits for no man, that no matter the timescale, there would come a time when the key to his shackles would make themselves known and for Derek, that time was now and that person was Maxim.

Maxim was doing what he could to live life to the full, his journey from Russia to the USA giving him the opportunity to explore all he desired and when a chance meeting put in in the path of Derek, his desires multiplied…he may have never expected a man like Derek but once they were connected it would have taken the might of millions to pull them apart.

Together they brought out the absolute best in each other, maybe not immediately but over time they were captivating. Deliciously spicy, with a beautifully funny undertone, this was an evocative read that I thoroughly enjoyed.