A review by adhdandread
False Start by Nicole Dykes

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

False Start by Nicole Dykes 
Big Bend Bears #3 
Length:  207 pages 
Source: Gay Romance Reviews eARC 
Publication date: April 14, 2025 
 
4 ⭐️ 
4 🌶️ 
 
What to expect: 
🏈 Childhood best friends 
⛺ Bi awakening 
🏈 Jock x nerd 
⛺ First times 
🏈 Small town 
⛺ Cuddling and codependency 
 
Austin Pierce has been in love with Vaughn Montgomery for most of their lives. He’s spent their high-school years watching his best friend date the same girl, suffering silently for the sake of their friendship. With graduation just behind them, Austin is ready to start college on the other side of the state, far away from his cuddle-obsessed bestie, so that he can meet new people and try to move on. Now he just has to tell Vaughn and try to keep his secret at the same time. 
 
Vaughn, on the other hand, can’t wait to go to college with his best friend by his side, just as it’s always been. He’s surprised and hurt when Austin reveals his plan, shocked when he also finally confesses how he feels, but ultimately lets it go. After all, what claim does he have to the other man? Once school starts in the fall, they both make the best of it (and they’re both miserable). Soon the time apart and a handful of events lead Vaughn to realize that the lifelong protectiveness he’s always felt toward Austin isn’t a need to take care of him but an intense, unrealized attraction. 
 
Ahhh, these two sweet, summer children … you sometimes want to hug them, sometimes want to smack them upside the head! Luckily, it’s much more of the former and just a little bit of the latter for being bad at communicating, but they’re young, so they get a pass. The lack of communication is much more to do with not knowing what the other person is thinking than from them being overly impulsive or indecisive. Obviously Austin has had feelings for Vaughn a long time, thinking they’d only ever be one-sided. Once Vaughn figures out his own feelings, he’s all in, but it takes a while for Austin to believe it. 
 
As codependent as they are, Austin’s and Vaughn’s desire to be together all the time comes off as cute, not creepy. It has a very “first love, know everything about each other” vibe about it rather than a “can’t function without this person” vibe. It’s fun getting to see their relationship develop without drama. 
 
Similar “I’m in love with my best friend” vibes: 
📕Let’s Do This by Loren Leigh 
📗 Just Bromantically Invested by Saxon James (Accidental Love series) 
📘 The Mayor and the Mystery Man by A.J. Truman (Single Dads Club series) 
 
Bottom line: Should you read this one? Oh, yeah. Nicole writes small-town SO well, and I’m always going to recommend her books. False Start is a short, sweet read, and even though there’s a lot of codependency and pining, the romance is low angst. The Big Bend series is a great place to start if you’re new to the author as well. 
 
— A 
 
Thanks to Gay Romance Reviews and Nicole Dykes for an eARC of this book. All opinions are mine. Full review up now on BlueSky, StoryGraph, Fable, Tome, and BookBub.