Unwanted

3.5 It was fineI've read and liked this author before but I can't lie, a big incentive for getting this book was the cover. Look at it. It's gorgeous ❤️❤️❤️Likely I'm not the target audience for this type of story by which I mean that the MC and their coterie are people in their late twenties (the current late teens) feeling intense emotions but somehow managing to not talk to each other about them for Y E A R S. Arlo & Frankie came up together in foster care and along with others formed a family. Arlo & Frankie became a couple, living through all the teenage/young adult ups & downs including drug use. Casual/social on Frankie's part but Arlo goes off the deep end becoming an addict (not a spoiler). Frankie can't cope with watching him self destruct, flees and doesn't return until four years later when circumstances compel him. Cantankerous gripes The story is all about how & when Frankie and Arlo will come together after Frankie's return, overcoming their perceived slights and grievances. The thing is that there is no doubt that this will happen, no ifs and or buts about it that they still love each other. Never stopped. So the reader (myself) just wades through a narrative well versed in speak of ‘vulnerability', ‘personal space', ‘recovery' etc. I have nothing against these laudable tenets but ... I dunno. I had the feeling that these were characters created to speak correctly albeit superficially about these subjects. I don't think I'll remember any of them by next week. Additionally I'm pretty done with the token single female best friend of gay men (who don't always read like actual gay men) whose only function is to act as the pushy & nosy mother hen.End of cantankerous gripe For the bigger hearted, less fussy, in the mood for (on the surface) intense love story this could work perfectly well. Everyone says and does the right thing which is sweet and heartwarming and the guys do have chemistry. I did the audio by [a:Jacob Morgan 3145556 Jacob Morgan https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1581822052p2/3145556.jpg] and [a:Zachary Johnson 2055967 Zachary Johnson https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1442493484p2/2055967.jpg]. The were good and conveyed the high emotionality of the story and the characters. As always YMMV