Book Review: Love in the Clouds by Sarah Hadley Brook

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Love in the Clouds
Author: Sarah Hadley Brook
Heroes: Rafael & Dustin
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 178 pages
Publisher: JMS Books
Release Date: September 1, 2018
Available at: JMS Books & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Rafael Patino has a great life in Rain Valley. He’s a teacher at the high school, has a great group of friends, and enjoys the occasional baseball game. Other than the sporadic call from his drunken mother, he’s pretty content.

He’s also been in love with his best friend Dustin for nearly a decade. Years of keeping those feelings under control are put to the test when they begin a summer project together.

Dustin Vance builds furniture for a living, has just earned his pilot’s license, and has an amazing best friend. When he buys a 1976 Cessna Skyhawk, he asks Rafael to help restore it, then travel with him to Wisconsin for the largest aviation convention in the world.

As they spend their days working on the plane, they begin to spend their nights together. Will they find love in the clouds, or will they stall out before they even take off?

Review:

The was such a cute story. I really loved that Raf and Dustin were such close friends. It was interesting to see how they already acted like a couple and everyone thought they were one but they were just best friends. Seeing Raf and Dustin realize that their feelings for one another were starting to consume them, it was just so freaking adorable because they constantly tried to talk themselves out of lusting after the other. I also love how they bonded over the plane and fixing it up. I loved that Raf really supported Dustin in obtaining his dream. I enjoyed seeing them go from friends to sleeping platonically in a bed (so funny but so cute how oblivious they both were) to doing something about the heat between them. It was just too cute!

I really enjoyed this one but I had a few issues with it. For one, once Dustin and Raf had sex, I felt like that was all they did, with a few breaks thrown in to work on the plane. Aside from that, I found the fact that Raf didn’t know certain things about Dustin kind of odd considering how long they’ve been best friends. I mean, it’s mentioned how they spend more time together than apart but yet he doesn’t know that Dustin was a nerd in high school and he doesn’t know about Dustin’s ex or have met him? Also, I found the whole ex thing completely out of place in the book and didn’t really understand Dustin when he talked about why he didn’t have relationships. And… this sorta felt like it was part of a series. There were a lot of characters mentioned that were already couples that felt like we should know about.

All in all, though, I really enjoyed this one. I loved that Dustin and Raf were so close that everyone thought they were already a couple and finally realized that they both have feelings about one another. They’re relationship was so sweet and I loved that Raf was so encouraging of Dustin’s dreams. I had a few issues with it but I still enjoyed seeing them dance around their feelings. I hope there’s more to come of these two because I’d love to see more of them.

Overall Impression: I liked it

*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review.*