Dare also gets to reacquaint himself with Finn Fowler, whose childhood hero worship ended in uncomfortable silence when Dare moved away. But Finn isn’t the same little kid Dare once protected. He’s grown into an attractive, enigmatic stranger who neither wants nor needs what Dare has to offer.
In fact, Dare soon realizes that Finn’s keeping secrets—his own and the town’s. And he doesn’t seem to care that Dare needs answers. The atmosphere in Palladian, like its namesake river, appears placid, but dark currents churn underneath. When danger closes in, Dare must pit his ingenuity against his heart, and find his way home the hard way."
Home the Hard Way by Z.A. Maxfield was a wonderfully fast paced, addictive and sexy read with a very intriguing and gripping mystery at its core!
The novel kept me reading well into the dark morning hours, flicking my tablet to the next page almost compulsively. The story focuses on Finn, who is gay and out in his very, very small town of Palladian, Oregon, who has many secrets that he would never want anyone finding out about.
Enter Dare: Finn's once sorta best friend though Dare was five or so years older than Finn and they never really "hung out", but Finn was somewhat enamored with Dare and Dare was always oddly compelled by Finn, despite one being 5 and the other 10 at the beginning of their union. For some reason, they were always connected.
Then after a series of tragedies, Dare leaves and doesn't return for 15 years.
What I liked about Finn's & Dare's relationship is that while they were companions at a young age despite the age gap, their relationship was never sexual and the issue of potential molestation was talked about, not just swept under the rug - a couple of characters talked about how they always kept an eye on them to make sure nothing bad was happening between them. They had a strange connection, but it wasn't something that ever became dirty. Dare even talks about being confused about feeling connected to someone so young & how it freaked him out & I liked that. Dare was never sexually attracted to Finn when they were young, but he felt protective of him and he also liked that the fact that Finn idolized him.
When Dare returns to Palladian, a crime happens and as he tries to figure out what really happens, he Finn do grow closer and their relationship does become sexual, in a very, VERY, interesting way.
Finn, out the outside is man taking care of dying aunt and he seems very composed and vanilla, but he really isn't and Dare is a man who has lost his job is on the outside is very straight and stern, but he too, really isn't.
They both want each other and push each other away, making for a very interesting read with very interesting and complex characters who are both messed up and don't know how not to be.
Trust me: this book you want to read!
It was so, so good!
-A
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