Book Talk Review; Friends

 

I love this series so much

Seth is so confused. If Coulson is straight, why is he checking Seth out?

Seth is an out and proud Secret Service agent. When he’s asked to assist the FBI on an investigation, he meets FBI agent Coulson.

Coulson is straight. Or so he says. Seth has no reason to doubt that, not even when they become close friends. Really close friends. But that’s all they are: friends.

Until Seth finds himself checking Coulson out a little too closely—especially certain over-sized body parts—and notices Coulson doing the same to him. For someone who’s straight, Coulson shows a lot of interest in Seth’s dating life, his preferences, and his hook ups. Could it be that he’s not so straight after all?

Meanwhile, every discovery they make in their investigation leads to even more questions. Who’s really behind the assassination? How did they pull it off? And most importantly: what are they planning next?

Friends is a friends-to-lovers romance that begins with a slow burn friendship but ends in high steam. The White House Men series is a romantic suspense set in the White House. Like what would happen if The West Wing and The American President had a gay lovechild. Each book has a new love story with a happily ever after, but the suspense plot ends on a cliffhanger and will be continued in the rest of the series, so the series needs to be read in order. Strong TW for detailed description of terrorist attack.

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I am absolutely loving this series. Nora Phoenix is a brilliant author and the way she's bringing all the pieces together is so well done. I'm having a lot of fun reading not only about the relationships between the characters, but seeing multiple sides of the same case. 

Seth and Coulson met briefly once at the original Pride attack five years prior. Coulson worked the bombing and Seth was unfortunately there when the bombs started going off. Five years later they meet again after the events that occurred in the first book. This book is not a standalone. You have to read this series in order as they follow a continuous timeline and overreaching arc. Even though the love stories have HFNs. 

Seth and Coulson are the definition of friends to lovers, they don't even know that they're basically in a relationship until they both come to terms of their own feelings for one another. It's adorable really. I love how slow-burn their relationship is. Coulson has never been with a man before but because he and Seth become as close as you can be to another person by the time they get together there's no hesitation, which I love. I have a hard time with bi-awakening books because of the resistance on the "straight" character's part. I don't ask that they figure it all out, but I don't like back and forth. The fact that Coulson was so sure of Seth and his feelings for Seth made me so happy. They're so cute together and work so well that even though they're working a case together, it doesn't hamper their work. 

I cannot wait for the next book in this series. It's so good and intricate. There's a ton of plot and so many characters that I was so sad when it ended because I need to know what happens next. I have my suspicions about who's going to fall in love with who and I can't wait to see if I'm right or not.