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A review by jacqueleenthereadingqueen
Ticking the Boxes by L.J. Hayward
5.0
This is book 2 in the Gold Coast College series, a contemporary series by L.J. Hayward. We met Sean in book 1 as the fabulous lab tech who gave Brian gay sex advice. Though that is where we first meet him, I think this book stands alone so it is not necessary to read the first before this one. I adored him as a side character in book 1 and liked him even more now that I've read his own book. The book starts out with Sean living his dream life. He's made a list of what the perfect life should look like and all his boxes have been checked off...that is until they aren't.
Down on his luck after being dumped by his cheating bastard of a fiancé, Sean is left without a partner, an apartment, or his beloved dog Reginald. You could say he's having a bad day, which unfortunately turns into a bad week when in the middle of apartment hunting he loses his job. Thankfully this is where Lucas comes in. He's the manager of an apartment complex that Sean is hoping to score a lease in. Lucas is a bleeding heart and has a thing for helping people who are down on their luck. He comes by it honestly from having his own experience in their shoes. From this alone I knew I was going to love him.
Lucas isn't exactly all heart. He also has his own selfish reasons for wanting Sean to stay. Sean doesn't seem to have any idea that the manager who has taken pity on him at his lowest point has met him before. In fact, you could say Lucas may have been harboring an unrequited crush for quite some time, he just never thought he'd see Sean again to act on it. It was actually quite adorable. Lucas has grown up quite a bit since his college days, having taken on the job of raising his niece for the last 8 years. Amy is a super smart and super cute kid who adds a great deal of smiles to the story. She was present, but not overly so like in some books where it can hinder the romance. Now that she's older, Lucas finally decides to do something for himself. He's going to act on his crush.
Unfortunately there is a boatload of misunderstandings and miscommunication when it comes to these two. Mistakes are made on both sides and it killed me because they are both just such sweet men. I wanted them together now!! I wanted Sean to be over his ex! I wanted Sean to talk to Lucas instead of avoiding him and I desperately wanted him to understand where Lucas was coming from when the big secret was revealed. I also wanted Lucas to be honest because you just knew that it was going to lead to a major blow out. Sean has trust issues as it is from being recently cheated on, so as you can expect the news of Lucas having known him before did not go over well. And that isn't even the half of it.
The good news is Sean isn't a total idiot. Once he hears Lucas out and takes some time to reflect on his own issues, he finds himself ready to finally move forward and enjoy the life he has now instead of mourning the life he lost. Lucas was right when he told Sean that sometimes life takes you down a road you didn't expect, but that doesn't mean you weren't meant to end up there. In fact, I think that's some pretty good advice for us all.
4.5 stars
** An ARC was gifted to me by the author. This is my honest and unbiased review **
Down on his luck after being dumped by his cheating bastard of a fiancé, Sean is left without a partner, an apartment, or his beloved dog Reginald. You could say he's having a bad day, which unfortunately turns into a bad week when in the middle of apartment hunting he loses his job. Thankfully this is where Lucas comes in. He's the manager of an apartment complex that Sean is hoping to score a lease in. Lucas is a bleeding heart and has a thing for helping people who are down on their luck. He comes by it honestly from having his own experience in their shoes. From this alone I knew I was going to love him.
Lucas isn't exactly all heart. He also has his own selfish reasons for wanting Sean to stay. Sean doesn't seem to have any idea that the manager who has taken pity on him at his lowest point has met him before. In fact, you could say Lucas may have been harboring an unrequited crush for quite some time, he just never thought he'd see Sean again to act on it. It was actually quite adorable. Lucas has grown up quite a bit since his college days, having taken on the job of raising his niece for the last 8 years. Amy is a super smart and super cute kid who adds a great deal of smiles to the story. She was present, but not overly so like in some books where it can hinder the romance. Now that she's older, Lucas finally decides to do something for himself. He's going to act on his crush.
Unfortunately there is a boatload of misunderstandings and miscommunication when it comes to these two. Mistakes are made on both sides and it killed me because they are both just such sweet men. I wanted them together now!! I wanted Sean to be over his ex! I wanted Sean to talk to Lucas instead of avoiding him and I desperately wanted him to understand where Lucas was coming from when the big secret was revealed. I also wanted Lucas to be honest because you just knew that it was going to lead to a major blow out. Sean has trust issues as it is from being recently cheated on, so as you can expect the news of Lucas having known him before did not go over well. And that isn't even the half of it.
The good news is Sean isn't a total idiot. Once he hears Lucas out and takes some time to reflect on his own issues, he finds himself ready to finally move forward and enjoy the life he has now instead of mourning the life he lost. Lucas was right when he told Sean that sometimes life takes you down a road you didn't expect, but that doesn't mean you weren't meant to end up there. In fact, I think that's some pretty good advice for us all.
4.5 stars
** An ARC was gifted to me by the author. This is my honest and unbiased review **