Two guys falling for each other over the span of a couple of days, deciding they're going to spend their lives together after no more than a week...and one of them initially deeply in denial...you'd think Insta!love to the max? You'd say, thanks but no thanks, not my kind of thing? Don't. This is one of the rare events where "falling in love at first sight" doesn't even remotely amount to Insta!love. The characters, particularly Todd, have so much to work through, so much to realize about themselves, each other and their perception of the world, that those few days feel like a much longer time. I found it acually easy to relate to how the falling in love could happen so fast. Despite all the inner goings-on, musings and figuring things out, this wasn't actually overly angsty. Mostly thanks to Gabe, a man who has both feet firmly planted on the ground. Oh, he's no perfect uber-human, he has his hangups and doubts too, but at the core, he's centered and mature. Quite Zen, I'd say. He makes the best kind of solid anchor for Todd, even more so since Gabe has realized his past mistakes and learned something from them. The subject matter of finding yourself, coming to terms with yourself and standing by who you are is something I've always found fascinating. In this book, I found this topic explored in a fascinating way in the character of Todd, who has such a hard time to accept his own identity as a gay man. But once he does, oh, he blooms so beautifully...talk about a man coming into his own. I could see him as Gabe's equal despite their very un-balanced beginnings. Not to mention the fact that they are *wow* hot in the sack together!There are some very colorful figures among the secondary cast, particularly Peter, wise-cracking, poets-quoting, swashbuckling fairy godmother. When Peter appeared on the scene, he stole the show away from everyone; I just LOVED him. Izar Goya and Tracy were great female characters without being overwhelming, and I also liked the way many characters from BG Thomas's earlier books made camo appearances (*wave* hi Bianca!)From the blurb and general plot, this story may seem like just more of the same old, same old, but it's really not. Aside from the smooth, compelling writing in and of itself, there's an overall gentleness and a respect to the narrative and dialogue as well that I found very appealing. This is a soft-spoken book, so to say, yet all the more intense for it. Highly recommended.
