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A review by haletostilinski1
The Proposal by Piper Scott
4.0
This was good, I enjoyed it. I love Bo, Gage and Aaron's little boy, to bits. He was so cute and adorable and sweet. My heart broke every time he coughed or his chest rattled too :( But thankfully they are able to figure out what it is and get him help. So cute! (Also, in case you don't know yet, this has mpreg in it, so warning for that).
Right away the premise of this, though is...a little tough to get past. Gage kept his and Aaron's son a secret from everyone except for like two people and live in shitty conditions and had a hard life on his own with barely any help just so Aaron could go to school in another country and follow his dreams.
That's some unhealthy shit right there. It just is. BUT....but, the book acknowledges that. GAGE acknowledges that he screwed up because he put his love for Aaron above his son, which should have come first. And that is true.
But I like that the book acknowledged it, that the characters acknowledged it. That Aaron said almost right away that when he told Gage to be strong, hiding their son away for almost 4 years is not what he meant. That he understand what Gage did and why did it and appreciated it - because Gage literally put his life and their son's on hold for almost 4 years FOR Aaron.
I mean, he also was ultimately trying to do it for himself and Bo as well. So that when Aaron came back he could take care of them all and they could have a good life together. But that's still ultimately for Aaron, so he could get the best education and have the best job so he could provide for his family.
It's just messed up, plain and simple. But it is acknowledged, which I appreciated, and when their parents find out Gage realizes what he did wrong and how he could have had support and help along the way. He didn't have to do it alone.
But he was 18 years old when he got pregnant, he was hopelessly in love, and not mature enough to handle it. And I don't blame Aaron either because he didn't know at all, and he thought Gage was back in the state in college, living a relatively good life while they waited to be together. If anyone had known, Aaron included, he would have been there for Gage and their son.
But I loved something that Aaron said to Gage in this book - that he made a mistake (they both made mistakes) but he can learn from it. That's the thing about mistakes. Gage knows better now and he was able to acknowledge his mistakes and what he did wrong. He was starting to grow up.
Loving you child and being a good parent doesn't mean you won't screw up - as evidenced by Aaron's dad's, who I think screwed up with something too, although it wasn't horrible. Still a screw up - and that you won't make mistakes.
Ultimately I enjoyed this because of how the situation was handled and how Gage and Aaron reconnected, and how strong their love for each other was. They faltered and Aaron (stupidly) had doubts, but they worked through it and got to a good place.
I do wish we had gotten more bonding moments between Aaron and Bo. I thought they were pretty few and far between. First, because Bo was weary of Aaron - which is understandable, he was a stranger - but then it just got near the end and we didn't really get to see the transition from when Bo was weary of Aaron to being okay with him and seeing as his Daddy. There was a five day jump near the end that we didn't get to see, but if we had gotten to see some of the moments leading up to where Bo accepted Aaron, that would have been great. Because then it just kinda happened and I felt kind of bummed because we didn't get see a lot of their scenes together - and then one minutes Bo loves him after having turned away from him before, so *shrug*
Also, KnotMyProblem from the Single Dad Support Group, was a complete asshole in this. I don't know if he'll become a future character or not, but I hope he doesn't. Or if he does, the author will really have to redeem him. He's never met Gage in person and yet he acts like he knows him better than Aaron, that he knows how Gage feels and how Aaron really is (even though Gage never said Aaron was in any way) and like he has knowledge of the full situation. Know doesn't even apologize. Screw him, and if he gets a book, he better have a good redemption, is all I'm saying.
Alex wasn't in this much, which bummed me out. I loved him from the first book. Laurence wasn't in it at all, except for being mentioned in passing..
So overall this was a good story, although quite frustrating at times. And when Knot creates drama and (of course) Aaron and Gage both fall into the cliche'd trap of not TALKING to each other and instead fearing and believing the worst, even if it's just for 5 minutes, it felt a tad manufactured for drama's sake. But at least it was resolved fairly quickly.
Anyway, Gage and Aaron did have great chemistry and they were ultimately hot, sweet and awesome together. I enjoyed reading how they built their relationship again and how everything was resolved. A good story, just a lot of people making a lot of frustrating mistakes.
Definitely worth a read though (if you enjoy Mpreg, although Gage isn't pregnant in this until the end.)
Right away the premise of this, though is...a little tough to get past. Gage kept his and Aaron's son a secret from everyone except for like two people and live in shitty conditions and had a hard life on his own with barely any help just so Aaron could go to school in another country and follow his dreams.
That's some unhealthy shit right there. It just is. BUT....but, the book acknowledges that. GAGE acknowledges that he screwed up because he put his love for Aaron above his son, which should have come first. And that is true.
But I like that the book acknowledged it, that the characters acknowledged it. That Aaron said almost right away that when he told Gage to be strong, hiding their son away for almost 4 years is not what he meant. That he understand what Gage did and why did it and appreciated it - because Gage literally put his life and their son's on hold for almost 4 years FOR Aaron.
I mean, he also was ultimately trying to do it for himself and Bo as well. So that when Aaron came back he could take care of them all and they could have a good life together. But that's still ultimately for Aaron, so he could get the best education and have the best job so he could provide for his family.
It's just messed up, plain and simple. But it is acknowledged, which I appreciated, and when their parents find out Gage realizes what he did wrong and how he could have had support and help along the way. He didn't have to do it alone.
But he was 18 years old when he got pregnant, he was hopelessly in love, and not mature enough to handle it. And I don't blame Aaron either because he didn't know at all, and he thought Gage was back in the state in college, living a relatively good life while they waited to be together. If anyone had known, Aaron included, he would have been there for Gage and their son.
But I loved something that Aaron said to Gage in this book - that he made a mistake (they both made mistakes) but he can learn from it. That's the thing about mistakes. Gage knows better now and he was able to acknowledge his mistakes and what he did wrong. He was starting to grow up.
Loving you child and being a good parent doesn't mean you won't screw up - as evidenced by Aaron's dad's, who I think screwed up with something too, although it wasn't horrible. Still a screw up - and that you won't make mistakes.
Ultimately I enjoyed this because of how the situation was handled and how Gage and Aaron reconnected, and how strong their love for each other was. They faltered and Aaron (stupidly) had doubts, but they worked through it and got to a good place.
I do wish we had gotten more bonding moments between Aaron and Bo. I thought they were pretty few and far between. First, because Bo was weary of Aaron - which is understandable, he was a stranger - but then it just got near the end and we didn't really get to see the transition from when Bo was weary of Aaron to being okay with him and seeing as his Daddy. There was a five day jump near the end that we didn't get to see, but if we had gotten to see some of the moments leading up to where Bo accepted Aaron, that would have been great. Because then it just kinda happened and I felt kind of bummed because we didn't get see a lot of their scenes together - and then one minutes Bo loves him after having turned away from him before, so *shrug*
Also, KnotMyProblem from the Single Dad Support Group, was a complete asshole in this. I don't know if he'll become a future character or not, but I hope he doesn't. Or if he does, the author will really have to redeem him. He's never met Gage in person and yet he acts like he knows him better than Aaron, that he knows how Gage feels and how Aaron really is (even though Gage never said Aaron was in any way
Spoiler
abusive. Yeah, Knot says he is even though Gage keeps telling him repeatedly that he isn't, that he loves Aaron AND tries to point out to Knot what he did wrong, but he won't listen, at allAlex wasn't in this much, which bummed me out. I loved him from the first book. Laurence wasn't in it at all, except for being mentioned in passing.
Spoiler
I'd love to see their wedding. It's mentioned that it's a month after the epilogue in this, so if it's just skipped over I'll be bummed. Oh well...So overall this was a good story, although quite frustrating at times. And when Knot creates drama and (of course) Aaron and Gage both fall into the cliche'd trap of not TALKING to each other and instead fearing and believing the worst, even if it's just for 5 minutes, it felt a tad manufactured for drama's sake. But at least it was resolved fairly quickly.
Anyway, Gage and Aaron did have great chemistry and they were ultimately hot, sweet and awesome together. I enjoyed reading how they built their relationship again and how everything was resolved. A good story, just a lot of people making a lot of frustrating mistakes.
Definitely worth a read though (if you enjoy Mpreg, although Gage isn't pregnant in this until the end.)