Book Talk Review; Faultless

Eddie Alexander never meant to go to Cherry Creek.

Faster than he could unmake a bed, Eddie’s life is turned upside down and he’s out of school with nowhere to go but a home that’s never been his. When he gets to Cherry Creek, the first face he sees is Charlie Motel, his best friend’s brother and also his lifelong crush.

Charlie has always been the caretaker of his family, filling the roles of absentee father, loving mother, shoulder to cry on, tolerant husband, and whatever anyone else asked of him. He’s tired, he’s alone, and then Eddie shows up in need of help with an offer Charlie never saw coming.

Charlie's answer is yes.

Eddie takes control and, for the first time in years, Charlie feels like he can breathe. He’s free of other people’s problems, he’s living his own life, and under Eddie’s thoughtful guidance, he can truly be faultless. 

*

I love Eddie. I wasn't sure how soon that would happen considering how he acted in Reckless, but there are of course multiple sides to every story and Eddie's is surprisingly emotional. Which wasn't that shocking as Reckless made me tear up, so seeing Eddie's side of things was bound to make me want to cry as well. I didn't, but it was a near thing. 

Charlie is the oldest Motel brother, he's more like a father than a brother to the others. He's spent his life caring for his younger brothers and putting them first that he never figured out that his needs are equally as important. My heart went out to him. I knew that I was going to love his story because you could feel from the previous two books ow good of a person he is by the way he loves his brothers. Even before you get to his book you want him to have a happily ever after because that's what the person who does everything for everyone deserves. 

What I love about this book the most is they don't spend a lot of time questioning the how or the why. Yes, there's worry about the age difference, worry about what the other Motel boys will say, but Charlie and Eddie come together because it feels right to them. They make mistakes along the way, but it's all part of their learning process. They learn what the other needs and they try to be that, for each other, for themselves. 

Charlie learns that it's okay to be selfish. He's spent so long being and doing everything his brothers needed that he forgot what it felt like to have something for himself. If he ever learned. When Eddie offers him the chance to escape from that he jumps on it. It takes time, a lifetime of caring for his brothers can't be switched off just like that. If it could be he wouldn't have been where he was when Eddie blew into town. 

Eddie, sweet, lonely Eddie, learns what it means to be a person's everything. He's spent all this time wanting to be someone who was worth keeping and my heart broke that he never felt like he was. From his fractured friendship with Cameron, to his strained relationship with Luke, and his new friendship with his ex, he's never felt like he was enough. It was so sad and made for an emotional read. I might not have teared up like I did with Reckless, but it was damned close. Faultless is definitely the most emotional book in the series thus far. 

Together, Charlie and Eddie learn what they need to be and they work on it. They make mistakes, the flail and get close to losing what they were building because of insecurities, but what makes this book amazing is that they don't let themselves, or each other fall back into bad habits for long. Charlie's brothers are there to catch him and tell him that it's okay for him to let go. James is especially vocal in telling Charlie to not let himself let what makes him happy go. Eddie's presence helps the brothers see the damage they've been causing and it warmed my heart to watch them all adapt and change. 

Eddie gets what he needs from Charlie and becomes what Charlie needs and vice versa. They grow and adapt to their new normal. Hard truths are faced, especially when Cameron is called out on his behavior. As the baby, he was allowed to get away with too much, but he's an adult. A young one sure, but he has Luke and Eddie is finally ready to tell both his father and his best friend how he feels. It's not easy for him, nor is it easy to read, because I just wanted to scoop them all up and make everything okay. But they get through it in the end. It's tense and is going to take a lot of work on everybody's part to be a hundred percent okay again, but they know where they all stand now and that is the most important thing. 

Charlie and Eddie's relationship develops fast. Once they figure out what the other needs and wants, they try to become that. It's a bubble they live in at first before reality comes calling and they have to learn how to adapt and be together in the real world. Feelings are caught and realized and I don't hate it. Their relationship might take on a life of its own and happen too fast, but it's what they need. Because of those feelings, the two are determined to make it work. They don't just rely on their budding love to see them through everything. That would have made it too unrealistic and it would have been a whole different book for me. It's the feelings they catch early that makes them work hard at building something that would last. Charlie and Eddie both find that they're worthy of keeping and it is a beautiful thing. 

The ending of this book is my favorite of the series. Because the Motel brothers and the ones they love come together to create a family. It's not complete, there are two more brothers that need to find love, but at this point in time, you are able to see what a whole and happy family will look like by the time the series is done. I am excited because it's what I've wanted since the beginning. 

*Quote-

"He wanted to kiss Charlie. God, he wanted to kiss Charlie. He has feelings he couldn't make sense of, that he didn't understand, because he'd always been casual with his hookups and that has worked. He never felt any sort of underlying attachment to anyone he slept with. He had loved Avery, he thought, but it was different with Charlie. With Charlie, he wanted." 

"He kissed Charlie differently. He kissed like he understood now, like he'd wanted to be sure he kissed Charlie differently than he ever kissed anybody else before, and once he was confident in it, he cut loose." 

"Charlie worked to put himself before other people, especially before his brothers, Eddie understood in this moment, that there was always going to be a sense of Charlie needing to be needed, and Eddie knew he couldn't fill that hole. Charlie would have to find a balance, and the only thing Eddie could do was try and help where he could. And that was okay. As long as Charlie wanted him, it was okay." 

"That he was the one taking on the risk--and the reward--for whatever this thing between them was. That Charlie had been the one to jump while Eddie only stumbled forward, but he didn't believe that. Eddie had bared as much of himself in this stolen moment as Charlie had."