This was the first book I read after finishing the the available Heated Rivalry books, and I have re-read it several times. It follows Riley who has recently lost his sight, and Harper who is a live in caregiver who needs a break. Roman knows how to blend humor into their story with a fun dialogue and good use of internal monologues. Riley is hilarious and has golden lab energy for days. His journey is well developed as it weaves together his loss of sight and his surprisingly optimistic and forward thinking nature. Harper has cinnamon bun written all over him and is ironically in desperate need of care even though he's the licensed live-in caregiver. The book has queer awakenings, delightful banter, a dog with more names than you can count, and some cute tongue and cheek stabs at the M/M genre itself. It's also surprisingly sexy at times. It does have some domestic abuse themes, but all of it is off page. I feel like this book is really just a meet cute on steroids. There is a third act breakup, and it's the weakest part of the book sadly. But everything else is so fun and up beat that it floats the overly angsty reasons for the breakup. If you're looking for a mostly breezy title I gave this 8/10.
🖤 Traumatized, skittish man × confident, exuberant man
👨⚕️ Caregiver/specialist × blind client
🏠 Forced proximity / live-in caregiving
🌈 Queer awakening
🫂 Hurt/comfort and healing
☀️ Sunshine × reserved
💕 Slow development from professional relationship → friendship → romance
🔥 Explicit/open-door romance
❤️ Standalone with a HAE