Test Drive (Belen’s Review)

Title: Test Drive (Crossroads #3)
Author: Riley Hart
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: May 30th 2016
Genre(s): M/M Contemporary Romance
Page Count: 243 pages
Reviewed by: Belen
Heat Level: 4 flames out of 5
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Blurb:

A double shot of devastating news turns Justin Evanson’s life upside down. When he learns his father has cancer, and he has siblings he never knew existed, he leaves everything behind and moves to Virginia to support his dad as he tries to make amends with his family—a family Justin’s not sure he has a place in. Things go from bad to worse when he discovers his recent hookup is his newfound sister’s brother-in-law.

Drew Sinclair never expected to see Justin after their night at the club or to discover their family connection. If anyone found out, it would give Drew’s brother another reason to hate him. But there’s something about Justin that draws him in, and it’s not only because they burn up the sheets together.

One meeting leads to another, and before Justin realizes it, Drew has become the only thing in his world he feels is his. And for the first time in his life, Drew knows what it means to be needed. Being there for Justin and supporting him when things spiral out of control feels right. But with so much happening so quickly, it’s hard to trust their feelings. Is this thing between them real? Or just a test drive before life forces them down two separate roads?

This story hit home for me on one particular level. Seeing a parent fight cancer is just about the most helpless and out of control you can feel as a child. No matter how old you are, or how old your parent is, seeing the degradation of someone who was so full of life is beyond my ability to describe.

But not Riley Hart’s. She nails this so hard. Not only does she brilliantly show the reader of the tumultuous feelings that grip someone during that kind of difficult time, but she managed to not make it so front and center that it eclipsed the very sweet and very realistic love story.

“I came here because I somehow knew you’d get it. Nothing in Virginia feels like it’s mine— the house, the job, my family. My dad doesn’t even feel like he’s mine anymore. This friendship is the only thing that feels like it belongs to me.”

Justin is the fish out of water. He’s left North Carolina, his mother, his job, his school, in order to come and care for his father while his father reconnects with the siblings that Justin never even knew he’d had.

When he connects with Drew, they give each other the peace, comfort, and love each was definitely not looking for, but come to depend on so much.

Justin gave him a small, teasing smile. “You like me.”
“I do,” he answered truthfully. What was the point in being anything other than honest? He liked everything he knew about Justin so far.

They talked and laughed and held each other, and he thought maybe he would never get tired of talking to this man.

I absolutely loved the chemistry between Justin and Drew. Their whole relationship gave me sweet feels.

Life was messy. It was ugly and painful and hurtful, but sometimes beautiful things were born out of tragedy.

This has been a great series so far, and Test Drive continues by being hot, sexy, surprisingly emotional, and sweet on top of it all.

“We’re never quite sure how love happens. Love isn’t something you plan, love is something that happens slowly, in small doses— something someone says once, something they do, the way they treat you, the way they make you feel—all those little moments and then… boom, you’re just there. You’ve fallen.”
He liked that. Love was in the small things that sometimes went unnoticed.