susanscribs 's review for:

Interborough by Santino Hassell

3.0

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Raymond and David were the least favorite of the three couples that Santino Hassell has created for his Five Boroughs series, so I was wary of this book going in. I'm not a big fan of angst-filled "can this relationship be saved?" stories, and Interborough was about 95% angst (plus sex). David whines a lot that Raymond doesn't have enough time for him and constantly worries that they are about to break up. Ray is trying to work two jobs and get through community college, and he is so insistent on overcoming his prior image as a lazy pothead that he completely exhausts himself and then loses his temper with David and everyone else around him. They fight, have sex, fight some more, go on a disastrous cruise, have a really big fight, and then somehow there is a momentous shift in both MCs and that leads to a less than convincing (to me anyway) HEA. A joyous wedding in the book's epilogue cheered me up, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Raymond and David highlighted in another book in this series, still caught up in the angst cycle.

I know this review is fairly negative, but I really do enjoy Santino Hassell's work (and his Cyberlove series with Megan Erickson). I think this was a case of the author being much more interested in revisiting his characters than I was.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.