Concourse

In which [a:Santino Hassell 4942228 Santino Hassell https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1445991731p2/4942228.jpg] basically spins gold out of straw. When we met Ashton in [b:First and First 28427134 First and First (Five Boroughs, #3) Santino Hassell https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1457064366s/28427134.jpg 48535333] I for one didn't foresee him becoming one of the leads in the next book much less coming to understand and care about him and his life story. Let's face it, generating empathy for what is basically a poor little rich boy story is hard, but SH does it. The Ashton the world knows, the one that lives on social media is a gay version of Kim Kardashian. Famous for being famous because of a sex tape. Like any survivor Ashton, or A-Town as he is known, has learned to live and even thrive in the fishbowl. In fact there's a not small part of him who enjoys that life and being a sexual being and I think that's one of the things I really liked about the story. I liked that Ashton is up front and honest about his enjoyment of sometimes rough sex with no strings attached and he's not slut shammed by SH. Of course this is still a romance and love will change all of that. And who would be be the Prince Charming for our boy? Valdrin Leka. Our very own Albanian Bronx hero. Half my neighbors are Albanian, in fact there's an Albanian Boys Forever mural down the block from me. Sweet.Val. Poor confused, guilt ridden, stubborn Val. It turns out that our MC have been in each other's lives forever. Val's mother was Ashton's housekeeper/surrogate mother and ever since he has been infatuated with Ashton. Loving and taking care of him when Ashton's own family treated him like a leper. Of course as a teenager he's not quite sure what those feelings mean and later as life throws him some curve balls he just wonders about himself. It seems Val is demisexualWhenever Ashton is spiraling or in distress he calls on Val and Val never fails him, how can they not be perfect for each other? Well they both have issues born from the circumstances of their lives and I think that SH does a really good job of showing that many times love is not enough or the cure all for every situation. Kudos to him!Val is struggling with guilt, overwhelming responsibilities and confusion over his desire for Ash, wether he's good enough or is he just one more person using Ash? All valid and worthwhile questions. I liked Val for having them.Ashton is drowning in his desire for Val but has feelings of worthlessness and doubt. After much back and forth Val and Ash finally have the hard conversations about their relationship and any possible future as a couple but also each has to find his own path to a personally satisfying life ... and this is where I kind of got stuck a bit. I understand that these were hard issues and that these guys are young and basically going through life without a guiding force but roughly the first 65% was truncated conversations, misunderstandings and running away. That drives me bananas. Also I pretty much knew how things were going to resolve themselves early on but I very much enjoyed spending time with the Squad in particular my favorite:“The deep voice came from the side of the room. I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sight of Nunzio Rodriguez looking like Jordan Catalano from My So-Called with his sexy full-body door lean. He was gorgeous and casual with his rumpled curly hair, plaid shirt, dark jeans, and a pair of running shoes.” le sighA good portion of the story takes place in The Boogie Down a.k.a. Da Bronx. So that was good. The descriptions of the Grand Concourse and the rest of the Yankee Stadium and Court House area is spot on. Overall I would've preferred more substantial communication between the MC earlier and the final resolution was a bit wish fulfillment but I'm not mad. Val and Ashton may not be my favorite couple but they're perfect for each other. A case of opposites attract done right. p.s. there was much about Dylan, Ashton's brother, in this book. might he be in the next book? just wondering.