I love the whole True North world. I’m really happy we’re going to get more books in this world in 2021. They are minor, but can we talk about Ruth Shipley and Grandma Shipley? They continue to be amazing people and I love how they love their families.
Now, let’s talk about the actual book. I didn’t remember a lot about Kieran, so I had no idea what to expect from him. Kieran is very quiet and not a big people-person. He also keeps a lot of things bottled-up. Roderick recently got out of a complicated and emotionally abusive relationship. They end up as roommates and start a romantic relationship which pushes them both.
The romance was cute and not too steamy. Don’t get me wrong, there are graphic sex scenes, but that isn’t the main focus of the story. Roddy and Kieran have a very physical relationship, but it includes things like cuddling and casual touching. I really like how these subtle things build chemistry and my buy-in to the relationship. Plus, a relationship isn’t just about orgasms.
A huge part of their story is Kieran figuring out his sexuality. It isn’t so much that he is hiding himself, but that he hasn’t really thought about it. It’s part of his bottle-up everything personality. I liked this look at exploring sexuality-everyone’s experience is different.
Let’s talk about some small issues. I did occasionally have trouble distinguishing between Roddy and Kieran’s POV chapters. When this happened it was particularly noticeable, because they have very different personalities. It should’ve been hard for them to sound similar. There was also a little bit of a secret in Kieran’s past. I didn’t have a problem with the actual secret, but it felt very sudden and random. I’m not sure how much it added to the story overall.
This also set up some of the new books that will be coming out in The World of True North books.
Thanks for reading!
Holly