Sometimes Love Lasts

Title: Sometimes Love Lasts
Author: Jake Wells
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: May 13th 2016
Genre(s): M/M Contemporary
Page Count: 246 Pages
Reviewed by: Belen
Heat Level: 2 flames out of 5
Rating: 3.3 stars out of 5
Blurb:

For Rone Forrester, life as a high school student is a roller coaster ride. Though he’s intelligent, good-looking, and athletic, true happiness eludes him. He’s lost his mother to cancer, his hypercritical father is a tyrant, and he spends most of his free time taking care of his little brother, Eli. And to make matters worse, Rone begins to have romantic feelings for his best friend, Carson Harrington.

When Rone is inadvertently outed, his life swirls into turmoil. His father’s homophobia and Rone’s embarrassment at the thought of facing Carson force him to flee to Los Angeles, where he hopes to find a safe haven. Instead, he quickly learns that every moment is dangerous for a homeless teenager. As time passes, Rone navigates through multiple challenges, makes friends who love him for who he is, works hard to achieve his goal of becoming a pediatric surgeon—with all its inherent triumphs and tragedies—and overcomes a failed relationship. Ultimately, his journey teaches him that in order to fulfill his dreams, he has to come to terms with his past.

All the royalties from this book’s sales will be donated to the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s services for homeless youth.

Rone Forrester is only seventeen when his world shatters and he feels he’s got no other choice but to leave home and the little brother he’s looked after and adored since his mother’s death three years before.

He finds his way to Los Angeles and with the help of friends and an enormous amount of serendipity and luck, Rone is able to pick up the pieces of his life and achieve his biggest dream of becoming a pediatric surgeon. Still, he’s never forgotten his brother or his best friend (and secret love of his life) from his past.

This story reads almost like a fairy tale. Rone’s father is the bigoted hateful parent who forces him to flee, and he’s taken in by helpful people along his way because of his wonderful personality and beautiful manners, then he accomplishes everything he ever dreams of and finds love and happiness in the end.

I liked Rone, and was happy for him throughout his journey. Told entirely from Rone’s first person POV, it took me a little bit to get into the author’s style of writing, which seemed a little…clunky…at first. It didn’t help that the story is almost all “tell”, which sometimes didn’t make me feel immersed in the details. There’s a lot that happens off page, and I don’t just mean the sex. It left me feeling a little like I was just being told a story, rather than feeling a part of it.

Spoiler

Personally, I was a little ticked off with how Rone never sacked up and called his brother. I realize he was afraid his father would find him in the beginning, but after he turned eighteen there was absolutely NO reason other than his own cowardice to not at least talk to Eli. That part just made me unaccountably mad throughout the story.

That aside, I rooted for Rone to find happiness through the challenges he faces during the seventeen years the story covers and I was happy with his happy ending.

Bottom line: the story is very pleasant, Rone is sweet and kind and deserving (if a little misguided at times), and the HEA is lovely.

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