The Water Will Catch You

Title: The water will catch you
Author: Chase Potter
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: November 3, 2015
Genre(s): Contemporary
Page Count: 233
Reviewed by: Vallie
Heat Level: 4 flames out of 5
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Blurb:

Best friends since childhood, Danny Somers and Curtis Wyatt were inseparable until Danny broke their promise to attend college together, creating a rift between the two that time refused to mend.

Ten years later, their adult lives have veered apart, putting thousands of miles between them. Curtis has forged ahead with a life in their hometown, but when he loses his job and breaks up with his girlfriend, he’s left with nowhere else to turn.

Exhausted and travel weary, Curtis arrives at Danny’s secluded Vancouver Island home to find that his former friend is now… gay. And gorgeous.

When a short visit turns into weeks, the two men begin to find common ground once more. But even as Curtis is forced to revisit the decisions in their shared past that drove them apart years earlier, he’s confronted by a powerful attraction he can neither understand nor resist.

I struggled with this book. There were times that I had to stop reading because I was super annoyed and bored and other times when the writing was so beautiful that I couldn’t put my I-pad down. The story is about two childhood friends reuniting in adulthood after many years apart. Childhood friends turned lovers is one of my absolute favourite themes and on that front the book did not disappoint. We get several flashbacks throughout and we get to see the boys grow up together and experience some truly gorgeous moments. It was always platonic for Curtis but for Danny it became increasingly difficult to hide his feelings from his friend, hence the 10 year separation after high school was over.

The story is told in present tense, which admittedly is not my preference, and in alternating POV. Curtis has found himself homeless and jobless and decides to contact Danny after a decade of no communication. Danny is willing to put Curtis up and help him get back on his feet. During this part, I think the author did an amazing job. Danny and Curtis were awkward with each other. It was very realistic and the author showcased that beautifully. They were both treading carefully around each other, with Danny being hit with all those emotions for Curtis and Curtis being hit with a case of gay-for-you out of left field. When Curtis finally let go and allowed himself to act on his attraction toward his friend, things got weird. Curtis was the biggest jerk ever, honestly giving me whiplash with his mood swings. It was a classic case of blaming the other person due to his own insecurities and regrets. He actually lashed out at Danny several times and hurt him deeply. And Danny, who wasn’t a saint himself, one the one hand acted like he understood the score and that Curtis didn’t know what he was doing, but then demanded explanations and had a ton of expectations from Curtis. The miscommunication and the constant withdrawing after the several fights they had kept pulling me from the story and I found myself wondering why the hell they were even trying to be together. The chemistry just felt off.

The feeling of isolation didn’t help matters. The descriptions were good but felt a bit over the top at times. Danny works with wood and there were pages’ worth of descriptions about certain types of wood and how to work with it to make furniture etc. I was interested in the beginning but eventually got bored with that. There were no side characters throughout, except for Lauren who was a straight up bitch. She knew that Danny had feelings for Curtis and she still hit on him and tried to hook up. What the hell? And of course, Danny’s parents were the stereotypical non-accepting, in denial, let me pay you off to go away type. What’s more, that plot line did not get resolved. They just sort of… went away. Huh?

The steam wasn’t a particularly big hit with me either, unfortunately. I like it when there is plenty of dialogue in sex scenes –it doesn’t have to be dirty talk, it just makes it more real to me. The smex here was too descriptive, which again, pulled me from the story and created the impression of a narrator telling me what happened. No likey.

In the midst of all my complaints, though, there was some evocative writing that hit me right in the chest. The author clearly has a way with words because damn, I almost got teary eyed, and I never cry with books. That gorgeous cover got its chance to shine in the book with some beautiful, symbolic moments in the water. By the end of the book, I did believe in Curtis’ and Danny’s love for one another. I just wish the plot hadn’t made me doubt so much with all the back and forth.

Also, no more hiking!!! Please! Those nature scenes were pretty but I seriously started putting the book down whenever a hiking scene came up, and trust me, they were plenty!

Aside from the things that annoyed me personally, the book was well written and I think fans of friends-to-lovers should definitely give it a shot.

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