Review – Boys of Summer (Boys of Summer #1) by Cooper Davis

Description:
I thought I knew what love was…

My name is Hunter Willis and I’ve found love. The problem? I’m not sure I’m ready for the rest of the world to know I’ve fallen for my best friend. Everyone knows Max is gay. Me? They think I’m straight as an arrow. So did I, until Max and I shared a kiss three months ago that blew that theory right out of the water.

Now, by the ocean in Florida, thousands of miles away from prying eyes, I’m finally ready to admit to myself that Max and I have something special. Max has been ready for a long time—and he’s been waiting for me. Really waiting. As in…he’s still a virgin.

There’s nothing I want more than to be Max’s first lover. But I know when Max gives away that part of himself, it won’t be just a summer fling. It’ll be for keeps. Max deserves the best. I’m just not sure, when it comes right down to it, that I won’t break his heart.

Did I mention I’m scared as hell?

Product Warnings: This title features summer lovin’ between two hot men, a secret romance between best friends—one of whom doesn’t think he’s actually gay, and enough heat to set any beach vacation on fire. Be sure to keep the extinguisher handy!

Every time I read this book I immediately start singing the Don Henley song, “But I can see you, your brown skin shining in the sun. You got your hair combed back and your sunglasses on baby. I can tell you my love for you will still be strong after the boys of summer, have gone.” Yes, Cooper Davis mentions the song in the book but even before I read it, the song came to mind. After reading it, the song has much more meaning. Boys of Summer and Taking You Home (book 2) still remain my favorite M/M books of all time. Maybe it’s because they were my first in the genre, but I think it has more to do with Hunter Willis who tells his story from discovering the attraction to another man to coming out and making a commitment.

Let me begin by saying this book is written in first person and I don’t know if it would have been as good if it wasn’t. The book starts out with Hunter and Maxwell on vacation together in Florida. They’ve been together for a few months but have known each other for four years. I really and truly connected with Hunter during his struggle to please Max and come out to their friends. The author does a great job of having Hunter tell us about the other people in this book. We know quite a bit about Maxwell, his best friend Louisa, Hunter’s ex-girlfriend and good friend Veronica, and their friend Ben all through Hunter’s eyes.

There are so many poignant moments in this book that it’s hard to even say which one is my favorite and as special as the moment is when Hunter and Max finally consummate their relationship, I think Hunter telling Max that he wants to be with him long term is one of the most beautiful scenes written. The love and caring that flow though the words still give me goose bumps after multiple reads. Then there is also the scene where Hunter realizes he wants to come out to their friends, “Nobody has ever kissed me the way that Max Daniels did that night, the end. Male or female, it’s an irrelevant argument, there’s something in the way of my heart opened that was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Maybe that’s what true love it. I have no idea. I only know that I’m never going back, now that he’s mine. I’m on this side of things, and I don’t think it has much to do with sexuality or orientation. I think it’s about what he did to me with that very first kiss, and what he’s been doing to me ever since.” Powerful stuff, right?

While the main focus in this book is on Hunter and Max, it’s evident that their friends are important and a support system for them both. Keep in mind that this book is really kind of a prequel to the second book Taking You Home. I’ll be honest, I read Taking You Home first not knowing about Boys of Summer. I “discovered” BOS a few months after I read TYO. Reading them out of order was kind of interesting because I already knew so much more about these characters before I read this book but, I was so glad to get to see them at the beginning of their relationship. We see a lot more of Louisa, Veronica, and Ben in the second book along with Max’s family.

Boys of Summer is a wonderful book about a man who for a good portion of his life believed he was heterosexual, then he meets the person of his dreams who happens to be a man. I love watching Hunter come to terms with his sexuality and all the fears that go along with it. I especially love when his friends tell him they suspected it for a long time. His thought, “I could have spent the past four years with Maxwell, not floundering on the last outpost of my heterosexuality.” I think we all know it doesn’t work that way and I understand his point, but he really had to figure it out for himself. I’m just glad he has Maxwell to help him along the way.