#Review: The Retreat by Andi Jaxon and JR Gray #PrideInOurBooks #GayRomance #MMRomance

The Retreat by Andi Jaxon and JR Gray

I'll do anything not to marry the girl my parents want me to.

Including marrying her brother in a drunken panic.

I'm not gay, but I can fake it long enough to get our parents off my back, right?

Cue hiding out for the next two years, but nothing is that simple, because I'm offered a spot on the US National team.

Now we have to fake it for the entire world as the poster boys of gay fencers while Colin makes me doubt everything I think I am.

I'm not prepared for all the ways I depend on Colin. Or the place he's filling in my life.

But I can't keep this up.

I'm slipping on a national stage.

And he's going to press every button until I snap, ruining this for us both.

Review: The Retreat by Andi Jaxon and JR Gray

To start, it almost didn't matter what this book was about, because I fell in love with the character on the cover. The look on the character's gorgeous face—vulnerable and unsure—grabbed my attention. I write romance as well, and also have a blond character who wears multiple rings, bracelets, and necklaces. He's my personal weakness, so this cover made me snatch up the book immediately.

The Retreat features the classic trope of fake relationships, and it's classic for a reason. I loved this story on so many levels. Right from chapter one, you know these characters. Here are the lines that give them away, on maybe page 3.

Colin: "If you marry my sister, I will kill you. She's not ready."

Owen: "If I don't marry your sister, my parents will disinherit me. Can you imagine me paying for my own therapy and medication? So do your worst, not like I wanted to live to thirty, anyway."

The humor grabbed my attention right from the start, blended with moments of genuine character engagement throughout. The characters' pressure to conform to their parents' expectations while also blowing them off endeared them to me.

Colin adds depth to the story, pushing Owen to reconsider his identity in a way that's both funny and eye-opening. The dynamic between the two has plenty of tension, but their chemistry makes their moments together authentic. It hits solid emotional beats. You can't help but feel for them as they retreat to muddle their way through their new relationship.

Both these guys had serious issues with their parents, and I rooted for these guys as they figured out how to deal with the issue.

The Retreat is an entertaining exploration of love, identity, and the absurdity of trying to fit into boxes created by someone else. Definitely worth checking out.

Available from Amazon and Kindle Unlimited