ARC REVIEW : Galaxies and Oceans by N.R. Walker

 


Seizing his one chance to escape, Ethan Hosking leaves his violent ex-boyfriend, leaves his entire life, and walks into the path of a raging bushfire. Desperate to start over, a new man named Aubrey Hobbs walks out of the fire-ravaged forest, alive and alone. With no ID and no money, nothing but his grandfather’s telescope, he goes where the Southern Cross leads him.

Patrick Carney is the resident lighthouse keeper in Hadley Cove, a small town on the remote Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia. After the tragic death of his lover four years ago, he lives a solitary life; just him, a tabby cat, the Indian and Southern Oceans, and a whole lot of loneliness. He’s content with his life until a stranger shows up in town and turns Patrick’s head.

Patrick never expected to be interested in anyone else.

Aubrey never expected to be happy.

Between Aubrey’s love of the stars and Patrick’s love of the ocean, these two fragile hearts must navigate new waters. If they can weather the storm of their pasts, they could very well have a love that eclipses everything.


Galaxies and Oceans by N.R. Walker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I read enough NR Walker's book that I'll never know what's on her mind for the next book. I read almost all of her books, and still amazed for how her brain works. After surprised me with a surprise Evolved, this is actually the theme I didn't think she'll come up with.
Galaxies and Oceans is poetic and beautiful, kinda reminds me of Nash Summers's book. Slow and content, let us experienced with Patrick and Aubrey, and how slowly they became depending to each other, and learning to trust each other with their heart.

Aubrey came from an abusive relationship, and Patrick who's still losing his partner even after four years (it's not too long though, I do understand how much losing someone you love will take forever to heal). Aubrey need to trust Patrick that he won't hurt him, and Patrick have to learn that he can trust Aubrey with his heart without feeling guilty.
Definitely not easy, and need patience, also our patience to follow them, to wait for them, until at one point, we're like a happy mother seeing that finally our boys found happiness they deserved.

This book is amazing, beautiful, romantic without being too sweet or too angsty. Another winner from my favorite author. And I can't wait for her next 'surprises' in the near future.
I can't recommend this book enough for everyone to read this, and experience the beauty of galaxies and the oceans.

* I read the advance reader copy for this book.*



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OUT NOW! RELEASE BLITZ : Daniel by R.J. Scott

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK - Now available in Kindle Unlimited

Length: 51,000 words approx

Cover Design: Meredith Russell

Legacy Series

Kyle - The First Legacy - Amazon US | Amazon UK

Gabriel - The Second Legacy - Amazon US | Amazon UK

Blurb

Daniel worked hard at college, using coping strategies to shut himself off from any situation that might hurt. But, persistent nightmares and fears for his future drive him to revisit the past. Now Legacy might be the only place to give him a chance at peace.

After the tragic loss of his parents, Corey is head of the family now, and the welfare of his three younger sisters are what matters the most. Corey is desperate to find Daniel, tell him the truth and somehow convince him to keep secrets. Even if this leads to heartbreak.

When the world crumbles around Corey, and Daniel is running scared, Legacy ranch is their only hope.

A new story set in the world of Jack and Riley Campbell-Hayes and the Double D Ranch, Texas.

Excerpt

Chapter 1

Eight years ago

I want to go home.
Daniel Chandler trudged miserably down the long black ribbon of road, tears burning his eyes, and hopelessness tightening his chest. The heat of an August Texas day had subsided to a slightly cooler evening, and the sky was a brilliant mass of stars, but he couldn’t bring himself to look up at them anymore.

How had everything gone this badly wrong? Brett had promised that he would take Daniel somewhere far away from his foster family, but one weird question from an inquisitive cashier at a gas station and Brett had panicked. He’d refused to go any further, and said he was going home.

Daniel didn’t want to go back to San Antonio. He wanted freedom, and the ability to decide for himself where his life was going. He’d overheard his foster parents talking about how he was a liability; that he costed them more than they made, and he knew it was only a matter of time before they got rid of him anyway.

So he refused to leave with Brett and got out of the car.

Brett didn’t care, and he drove away, leaving Daniel stranded.

Daniel kicked a stone, stumbling a little when he misjudged the curve of the road. He’d eaten the cereal bars that Brett had tossed him and used up all the water. Which left him in the heat, without food or drink, and carrying a backpack with limited clothes. He also had books—his favorites, and a wallet which contained nothing more than a couple of hundred dollars he’d saved from his gardening job. The only official thing he had in the bag was his ID.

He’d left his most recent home at six-thirty a.m., with no real idea of where he was going or what he was doing, only knowing he wasn’t going to spend another minute in a house where he wasn’t wanted.

Hunching his shoulders against the weight of his backpack, he carried on. Sometimes he hummed to a song in his head. Other times he counted the steps he took, but most of the time he stared ahead, not counting or humming at all.

A car pulled up alongside him. No, a truck, and at first his heart leaped. Brett was back. He’d changed his mind and returned to help Daniel.

A female voice called out. “Can we give you a lift somewhere?” she asked through the open window.

Daniel saw she wasn’t much older than he was, long blonde hair swept up into a ponytail, her smile wide, her expression kind. A man sat in the driver’s seat, but he was in the shadows, and at first, Daniel couldn’t make out his face until he leaned forward. The first thing Daniel noticed was the dog collar, then the same kindly smile as the girl. They were clearly related, both fair, with light eyes and an angular balance to their features.

“Hello, young man. My daughter and I are heading to Laredo. Would you like us to take you?”

He smiled at Daniel, this man in black with the white collar. This was an average family. They probably thought he was a hitchhiker and were offering genuine help. If Daniel couldn’t trust a man of the cloth traveling with his daughter, then who could he trust? He scanned the road behind him, waiting for Brett to suddenly appear and pick him up, but he was tired, hungry, and verging on desperate.

“Thank you.” Daniel opened the back door. He’d never hitchhiked before, didn’t know what the etiquette was, but he felt like he should offer to pay. “I can cover gas,” he said.

“No need for that,” the dad said and extended a hand awkwardly over the seat, which Daniel shook. “Father Frank Martins and this is my daughter Andrea.”

Andrea glanced back at him and grinned again. “Hey.”

“Daniel,” Daniel replied, as mute as usual around a girl as he was with boys. She turned back to the front, and Frank put the truck in drive.

“Buckle up,” he said.

Daniel did as he was told. Then settled back for the ride.

“Where are you from?” Frank asked after a few moments of silence, filled only with the soft sound of tires on blacktop.

“San Antonio,” Daniel answered.

“Really? What brings you this far south?”

Andrea shushed her dad, “Stop asking him questions, Daddy.”

Her dad huffed a gentle laugh. “Sorry.” He used the mirror to see Daniel. “You like music?”

Daniel nodded, thankful to Andrea for running interference.

Frank fiddled with the stereo. Country music filled the cab, and Frank hummed along. Andrea was on her phone, as evidenced by the glow of light as screens changed, and Daniel regretted leaving his phone at home. In his mad, stupid, anger, he’d wanted no way for his foster parents to keep tabs on him, but right now, he kind of wished he could phone them. He should pluck up the courage and ask Andrea to borrow hers. Maybe give his foster-parents a quick call, apologize, get them to pick him up, or at least arrange a bus.

They would help him. He didn’t doubt that. Even if he’d been an idiot and they wanted to hand him off to the next family, they would never leave a fourteen year old kid stranded miles from home.

“You thirsty?” Frank asked, and before Daniel could answer, Frank had unlocked the glove box and pulled out a bottle of water, passing it back to Daniel.

He took it with grateful thanks and downed a third of it in thirsty gulps. They reached the outskirts of a small town, and the car slowed to a stop outside a cookie-cutter house, a pretty place with manicured lawns.

Andrea turned around to look at Daniel.

“This is where I get out,” she announced. “Nice to meet you, Daniel.”

I thought they were both going on to Laredo?

Frank turned around as well. “I can take you all the way into the city. It’s only another ten minutes or so to the bus station or somewhere like that? A hostel?”

“I’m not sure—”

Frank interrupted, “Or you could stay the night here or a motel. We have one a few blocks down from here.”

Andrea shut the door and jogged up to the house, vanishing inside.

“Could I just borrow your phone?” Daniel asked.

Frank smiled, nodded, and pulled out his phone, tutting as he did so. “Oh my, the phone’s dead. You want to use my house phone? Or shall I just get you to the city? The bus station, right? They have public phones there.”

So many decisions. So many difficult choices, he thought and yawned.

“Yeah.” Daniel just wanted to get home.

“Yeah, what?” Frank prompted.

Daniel blinked at him. He was tired, and everything felt kind of hazy. “Yeah, home.” Back to his pretend parents and his pretend family, but back to a warm bed.

“Come on. Get in the front here.”

Daniel did as he was told, his limbs feeling heavy, and his coordination shit. Finally, he was belted in the front, and he closed his eyes briefly, exhaustion washing over him.

“That’s a good boy,” Frank murmured. “You sleep now.”

The country music got quieter, Frank’s humming was louder, and the journey to the city took a long time, the car swaying, and Daniel’s head thicker, full of softness and a weird kind of peace. He saw fields and signs, but none of them made any sense. Finally, he couldn’t fight the overwhelming lethargy, so he slept.

And woke up in hell.

About The Author

RJ’s goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, that hint of a happily ever after.

RJ is the author of the over one hundred novels and discovered romance in books at a very young age. She realized that if there wasn’t romance on the page, she could create it in her head, and is a lifelong writer.

She lives and works out of her home in the beautiful English countryside, spends her spare time reading, watching films, and enjoying time with her family.

The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit and has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.

Email RJ (rj@rjscott.co.uk)
Goodreads Page
RJ’s Blog
RJ on Twitter
Facebook
Library Thing Page
Tumblr (some NSFW (not safe for work) photos)
Pinterest

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Daniel by R.J. Scott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I went blind when I read Daniel, because I haven't read the earlier books before (blame me),. This is actually the continuation of the previous events about what happened in the past. I was glad that I have read the spoilers in this book before I dive to another two. To know that Daniel and the other guys are now okay and happy is the most important.

Daniel had a very dark past when he's only fourteen, it's good that the author was kind enough not to give the detail on page. That's important. I just can't stand child abuse, child trafficking, and child rape.

Corey met Daniel in a not very good situation, and they had to hold their attraction to each other before they solved what happened in the past. Both need a closure.
I liked how RJ didn't rush their relationship, it was a slow burn, the romance and sexy time was on the right time. I loved the chemistry between Corey and Daniel, they're bond by the past, cope with it, and worked hard to find their happy ending. Both did the adjustment in mature way, I might say.
Now I need to dive to the previous books, I hope nothing's too hard for my weak heart.

Recommended!

* ARC is provided by Signal Boost for Lelyana's Reviews.

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ARC REVIEW : Rainbow Place (Rainbow Place #1) by Jay Northcote

Title: Rainbow Place (Rainbow Place #1)

Author: Jay Northcote

Publisher: Jaybird Press (self published)

Length: 54,000 words approx

Genre: contemporary m/m romance, transgender

Cover Artist: Garrett Leigh

Release Date: Friday 20th April 2018

Series information: Series title: Rainbow Place. Book two will be out later this year. All stories will be standalones with new main characters in each book and satisfying happy endings.

Blurb

Can Jason find the courage he needs to be the man Seb deserves?

When Seb Radcliffe relocates to a seaside town in Cornwall, he feels like a fish out of water. He misses queer spaces and the sense of community he enjoyed when he was living in the city, and decides to open an LGBT-friendly cafe–bar.

Jason Dunn is the builder Seb hires to help renovate the rundown space where the cafe will be housed. Jason is also gay, but unlike Seb, he’s deep in the closet. He’s never had a relationship with another man—only allowing himself the occasional hook up with guys who are prepared to be discreet.

The attraction between the two men is instant and impossible to ignore. But while Seb is out and proud, Jason is terrified of being exposed. With the grand opening of Rainbow Place approaching, tension is growing among some locals who object to Seb’s plans. When things escalate, Jason is forced to choose whether to hide in the shadows and let Seb down, or to openly support the man he’s fallen so hard for.

Although this book is part of a series, it has a satisfying happy ending and can be read as a standalone.

Buy Links

To follow

Goodreads link:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40214260-rainbow-place

Author Bio

Jay lives just outside Bristol in the West of England. He comes from a family of writers, but always used to believe that the gene for fiction writing had passed him by. He spent years only ever writing emails, articles, or website content.

One day, Jay decided to try and write a short story—just to see if he could—and found it rather addictive. He hasn’t stopped writing since.

Jay writes contemporary romance about men who fall in love with other men. He has five books published by Dreamspinner Press, and also self-publishes under the imprint Jaybird Press. Many of his books are now available as audiobooks.

Links

Website: https://jaynorthcote.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jay_Northcote

Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/jaynorthcotewriter

Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/jaynorthcotefiction

Facebook author group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/jaysplayground

Newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/JN-readers

Jay’s books: http://author.to/JayNorthcote

Rainbow Place by Jay Northcote
My rating: 4 of 5 stars









RAINBOW PLACE (REVIEW)



I know, a while ago, I told a friend of mine that I'm done with closeted case story. But apparently, Jay knew a way to my heart that not everyone's does.
Know how to write this kind of story that not everyone does.
This is a sweet, adorable story about coming out and struggling with your sexuality for Jason, adjusting with the new place for Seb. Not overly sweet, but with the right portion with some internal problem and their living place.

I know how Seb's feeling about having relationship with Jason, and how Jason tried hard to be himself, and kinda failed in a first attempt.
I felt a tuck in my stomach every time Jason struggled with his sexuality and how he didn't want to lose Seb for his cowardice to coming out.
Until one day Raibow Place had some serious issue and Seb said something that made him thinking and decided to make a move about it.

I really liked the struggling feeling in Jason's head, and how Seb being 'normal', and sweet without being too sweet and nauseated.
There's some secondary characters, that in the future, I think Jay gave us a hint about who's going to be in the next book. Cannot wait!



Rainbow Place is a nice, sweet, enjoyable romance, with some likable characters and real problem.
Jay did it very well on this one.

Recommended!

* I read the advance review copy of this book.*

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ARC REVIEW : Julien (Confessions #2) by Ella Frank

 

Confessions: Julien, book two in the steamy contemporary MMM Confessions Series from Ella Frank, is LIVE!

People are complex.

Love a double-edged sword.

And when it comes to a broken heart, there are no rules, only time…

For the past eight years, Julien Thornton has been living with a secret. One that only a handful of people know about.

To the outside world, he has it all.

A thriving career. A loving husband. And a face that the American public fell for by the millions, on a reality show that inadvertently saved his life.

But behind the shine of celebrity, behind the easygoing nature, a crippling truth fills Julien with pain and self-loathing. It’s a truth that he fights to overcome daily with the help of his husband, Joel Priestley, and now their boyfriend, Robbie Bianchi.

But unlike Priest, Robbie doesn’t know what he’s helping Julien to fight. He doesn’t know what Julien did all those years ago. And with the anniversary of his sister’s death fast approaching, the time for explanations is running out.

And thus the question: will the princess be able to forgive the prick as the priest once did?

Only time will tell.

Download today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon US I Amazon Universal

Add to GoodReads

Start the series with Confessions: Robbie today!

Amazon US I Amazon Universal

Add To Goodreads

 

About Ella

Ella Frank is the USA Today Bestselling author of the Temptation series, including Try, Take, and Trust and is the co-author of the fan-favorite contemporary romance, Sex Addict. Her Exquisite series has been praised as “scorching hot!” and “enticingly sexy!”

Some of her favorite authors include Tiffany Reisz, Kresley Cole, Riley Hart, J.R. Ward, Erika Wilde, Gena Showalter, and Carly Phillips.

 

Connect with Ella

Facebook I Twitter I Instagram Iwww.bit.ly/1hEYtgn I Website

  Julien by Ella Frank
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


We were introduced to a three-way relationship Robbie, Julien, Priest involved earlier in Robbie. Robbie entered the relationship with the two married men with a hope that he could finally found what he's looking for, men who can fulfilled what he craved of being 'needed'.

What he didn't know and anticipated was, he also entered to a relationship with two men that keeping secrets from him even after they're involved intimately and after Robbie moved in with them.
The impulsive decision to moved in, from Robbie's side, granted him a more complicated relationship with two complicated men.

Sure the sex was guaranteed hot and what he's dreaming of. But finding out that Julien and Priest keeping secrets, is not what he's looking for. It's like, they didn't really 'serious' with him, and Robbie keep waiting on the edge, that someday, he wouldn't be needed anymore.
Was it? Or both Julien and Priest were so afraid of losing Robbie, that make them keeping it from him?
What's Robbie found out with Julien and later with Priest were sad on Julien's side, and scary on Priest side.
Could he take it and strong for the two men he started to love? Or, was it too heavy for him to take?

I had 'the slow' vibes from Julien, and how the story a little dragging from the start until 70 percent mark. Julien kept what he's afraid for for himself for too long without telling Robbie. And Priest didn't really helped here. Most part of the book still talking about their sex life and how Robbie adjusted his life with Julien and Priest and Julien's memories of his past.
The interesting part started when right around after 75 percent mark. It was the most sad and the most best part of Robbie's showed.
I liked the first book better than this one, this book of Julien felt a little slow in pace, better near the ending, and the abruptly ended with cliffhanger.
Hoping Priest's book would be more interesting, since it's going to be the ending (?) of the series, and everything reveal for Robbie to see the men he's with.

What will happen next is not a secret anymore, the mystery is, how Robbie and the two men handling what will obviously coming to them.
A little scary, but hopefully more interesting to see how Priest deal with his past and his future with Julien and Robbie.

* 4 stars *

* I read the advance reader copy of this book*

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ARC REVIEW : Frankie—Unforgettable (Man Up #3) by Felice Stevens

 

Frankie

No one understands why I love him.
Why I need him.
Why I took him back.
But they don’t have to.
I know.
Despite the hurt and the heartache, I see beneath his skin.
And I’m different now.
No more Flirty Frankie.
My dreams have changed, and so have I.
I’m stronger.
I believe in myself.
And I’m a hell of a lot smarter than a year ago.
Now it's his turn to show me the man he really is.
To prove it.
I've always loved him.
But that's not enough.
I need to learn to trust him.

Aaron

No more excuses.
No more chances.
I make this right or lose him for good.
I have to do this.
No one has ever believed in me but him.
No one has ever wanted me but him.
I can’t let him down.
I won’t.
I can’t let myself down.
I’m trying, but it's so damn hard.
No matter what they throw at me, I’m stronger.
And I’m going to make it.
I’m on my way.
With Frankie by my side.
I can see the future.
I have a future.
Us. Together.
Forever.



  Frankie—Unforgettable by Felice Stevens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


We're introduced to Aaron and Frankie in Austin and Rhoades—Undeniable. I believe we all love Frankie fiercely, but not Aaron. With a background of their flawed relationship, the traumatized past, it's hard to believe that Felice dare to give Aaron a second chance, it's like testing the water, not only with the story, but also in Frankie and Aaron's relationship.
There was always a question, when I knew that the next book of the series is Aaron and Frankie, a definite second chance. Will they make it?
It's not only a second chance, this is a story of redemption, true love, forgiveness and finally, acceptance.

Frankie and Aaron faced so many obstacles in their renewed relationship. Not just from Frankie's friends, family and people at work. But also from themselves.
This is slightly different from Felice previous books, she dared to dig deeper to more angst, a very painful angst, I might say. But I never doubted that Felice can make a great story even with the broken souls. I was right.

Aaron, especially, slowly stole my heart and from doubting him, I become loving him.
Aaron made me cry so many times, with his stories and what he had experienced before, and during his renewed relationship with Frankie.
There are so many things happened in this story. So many feeling involved.
And so many hints of the next books of the series. I wont give you any spoiler, because, hell, I didn't see it happened myself!

Of course, Frankie and Aaron finally got what they deserves, a happy ending they craved for so long. But not without tears and struggled.
I loved this story so much. I'm still sad thinking about what happened to Aaron, but I'm happy now to know he has Frankie by his side.
I grew to love Aaron more and more. Frankie got my pat on the back, because he's strong, and stubborn to give Aaron a second chance, when everyone didn't, not even Austin, his best friend.

Give Aaron a chance, read this book, I promise you, you'll love Frankie and Aaron.
Now I can't wait for the next!

Note : even though you can read this book as a standalone, reading this series in order is so much better to get to know Aaron and Frankie's background story.

*I read the advance reading copy of this book.*

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Lelyana's Reviews: BOOK REVIEW : Call Me by Your Name by André Acima...

Lelyana's Reviews: BOOK REVIEW : Call Me by Your Name by André Acima...:   Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his p...

BOOK REVIEW : Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman

 

Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliff-side mansion on the Italian Riviera. Unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, at first each feigns indifference. But during the restless summer weeks that follow, unrelenting buried currents of obsession and fear, fascination and desire, intensify their passion as they test the charged ground between them. What grows from the depths of their spirits is a romance of scarcely six weeks' duration and an experience that marks them for a lifetime. For what the two discover on the Riviera and during a sultry evening in Rome is the one thing both already fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy.

The psychological maneuvers that accompany attraction have seldom been more shrewdly captured than in André Aciman's frank, unsentimental, heartrending elegy to human passion. Call Me by Your Name is clear-eyed, bare-knuckled, and ultimately unforgettable.



  Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Breathtaking

Captivating, breathtaking, heartbreaking.
I invented my heart for Elio and Oliver. I'm such a mess right now.
One of the best book I have ever read.
Highly recommended.

Perhaps we were friends first and lovers second. But then perhaps this is what lovers are.

Boy oh boy, when I told you I was such a mess and cannot think of other books for more than a week (and this going to stay a lot longer that I expected), I said the truth. These two, Elio and Oliver captured my heart, broke it, and never had intention to put it back together.
This book (at least for me), is more like Elio's memoir of his first crush, his first lush, and his first love. Oliver.



I read the book, listened to the audiobook, watched the movies (over and over and over again).
No books has ever made me this way. I was sad, angry, in love, frustrated and of course brokenhearted.
I don't think I'll give you spoiler, because everyone who read this book, watched the movie, the story made clear that even Elio and Oliver loved each other, the love they'd shared, not quite strong enough to admitted to the whole world, that they didn't give a fuck about "what they are", and go on with their love.



I hated Oliver for leaving Elio hanging, and hated Elio for let his feeling grew too strong for Oliver. I hated them. I loved them. I don't know. Maybe, maybe ut was right when Elio said

We had found the stars, you and I. And this is given once only.

God! How I wish they reached the stars and keep it with them and didn't let anybody ripped it away from them, you know. And be happy. Until twenty years later, or more twenty or more.

This book reminds me or many of us for that matter, about our first love, one that never really forgotten. Reminds me, that one moment in our life, we had a beautiful life, beautiful hopes and dreams, that life would never go wrong, that life would be just like what us wanted to be.
But oh how wrong can it be?

I suddenly realized that we were on borrowed time, that time is always borrowed, and that the lending agency exacts its premium precisely when we are least prepared to pay and need to borrow more.

I can, from the distance of years now, still think I’m hearing the voices of two young men singing these words in Neapolitan toward daybreak, neither realizing, as they held each other and kissed again and again on the dark lanes of old Rome, that this was the last night they would ever make love again.

Twenty years was yesterday, and yesterday was just earlier this morning, and morning seemed light-years away. “I’m like you,” he said. “I remember everything.” I stopped for a second. If you remember everything, I wanted to say, and if you are really like me, then before you leave tomorrow, or when you’re just ready to shut the door of the taxi and have already said goodbye to everyone else and there’s not a thing left to say in this life, then, just this once, turn to me, even in jest, or as an afterthought, which would have meant everything to me when we were together, and, as you did back then, look me in the face, hold my gaze, and call me by your name.

This book, me think, will stay forever with me.



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