Loved this book. Like so many of Amy Lane's books it is in my reread section. ( )

There aren't enough words to express how much I loved this book and the characters of Casey and Joe. It had to be one of the most heart wrenching, yet most beautiful stories I have ever read in some time. Thank you, Amy Lane, for this treasure. I would have expected nothing less from you. The story covered 25 years with these two wonderful men that loved one another and made a life together in a time when it wasn't generally accepted. They dared to build a future and even raised a child...a baby that was one of twins born to a 15-year-old crack mother who didn't want anything to do with her tiny boys...one of whom died a few days after birth. Casey had been one of Joe's boys he rescued when Casey was 16 years old and had been thrown out of his parents' house. Joe was a nurse that worked 14-hour days and spent his weekends and evenings searching the freeways for people that he found struggling from cold, or heat, and hunger...both boys and girls. Casey was the only one he kept, and that decision took a great deal of soul searching on is part, but Casey refused to leave. The story is extremely character driven. It's filled with emotions that you know are real. It's an m/m romance, and yes there is sex...but the story itself and especially the last few chapters will have you reaching for the box of tissues. ( )

Amazing! I absolutely resented having to put this book down for any reason, even for sleep at 3:00 am! ( )

4.5 Stars--Didn't you ever read about a couple in a novel, you read about their happy ending, you get an epilogue and you're satisfied but you want to know if they really make it in the long run?

How about reading a 25 year span of the simple yet epic love of Casey and Josiah Joe" Daniels?

We are introduced to their end and got to learn their tumultuous start between Casey, a 16 year old gay runaway and 28 year old Quaker RN and dogooder, Joe. Casey, a Virgo and ever the smart mouth (I'm team Casey all the way because us Virgos must stick together) was hands down my favorite of the two men. He's loved Joe from the beginning and no matter what came their way (and with such a large time span and the setting spanning the late 80's and 90's, it's quite a bit)

There's mention of VD, boyfriends cheating, a trip to Europe, helping runaways find a new life, death, 80's rock bands to name a few. Interested yet?

No?

Well believe me I never planned on reading this book because of the cover (Thank goodness to Kukko for selecting) I shall never doubt an Amy Lane novel again. Judging a book by its cover - that I still need to work on.

Drama? Yeah there's drama. Love? This book is saturated.

If you haven't read this yet, give it a chance. Joe and Casey's love story is pretty epic, plus it's like a fun way of reliving the 80's and 90's." ( )

*Re-read 8/10/14 for Re-romancing the Faves Challenge- *sigh* I miss the 80s. Even though I was a little kid in the 80s, I absolutely loved the music, and I'm still obsessed with 80s pop culture.

The AIDS scare... YIKES! I just recently saw The Normal Heart, and it was so heart-breaking. I'm glad Joe was smart enough to use condoms, and that he taught Casey to use them too.

This book had plenty of angst, which I love, but it also had a few funny moments, like Joe walking in on Casey and Dev, Casey's purple "I'm having sex with Joe" luggage, and Caleb wiping his booger on his mother's pants.

It was nice to see a religious family that was supporting their gay son instead of condemning him, with the exception of Cheryl (That was Joe's bitchy sister's name, right?!) of course. Cheryl was clearly miserable in her life and felt the need to bitch about everything and make everyone else miserable too. Was good to see Casey stand up to her. I hate weak MCs who never stand up for themselves. And we have Joe to thank for Casey having the self-confidence to do so. These two supported each other through everything, and they definitely deserved to be together and be happy.


*Originally read 8/16/12- I absolutely loved this book. I am a big 80s and 90s pop culture fan, so all the references to bands, songs, clothes and movies brought back some great and funny memories for me. And I remember the whole AIDS epidemic even though I was young then. I remember the first time I heard about the disease, and how it became this huge thing, and how scared I was that I could get it and die. I totally understand why Casey and Dev freaked out, and I never actually saw anyone dying from the disease like they did.

This book made me feel the same emotions as the characters as they were going through them. I was on the roller coaster with Casey every time he tried to push Joe, and Joe only turned him down. I get why Joe was saying no at first, but then, like Casey, I got annoyed because why was he using age as an excuse to Casey but then started dating a young woman only about a year older than Casey?! Thank god Joe came to his senses cuz I think I would have wrecked my kindle had Joe and Casey not gotten their HEA! And you have to absolutely LOVE them for taking in Levi especially considering the baby could have any number of issues growing up and how young Casey was at the time and not really knowing if he wanted kids himself, but wanting one bad enough for Joe that it didn't matter. These guys are one of my favorite couples of all time! ( )