The Hideaway Inn by Philip William Stover is a classic small town romance which is endearing, hilarious, romantic and diverse. Really loved and enjoyed the story and gonna start the next book.

A Must read for all readers.

DNF

This was cute overall set up and execution. It just did not work for me when I picked it up.

I definitely can recommend it to people.

This one wasn't for me, couldn't connect with the characters at all. I'm sure it's a case of "it's me not them".

I ended up DNF'ing this one around 30% and skipped to the end to see how it finished. It had a great premise but ultimately the story didn't end up pulling me in and I found myself not invested in the characters at all.

Not for me, I found the characters unlikable and I wasn't at all concerned about their fate. I did not review the book on Goodreads or on Amazon as I didn't believe it was fair to the author simply because the book was not for me.

When Vince comes back to his hometown a completely made over, hyper-masculine version of his former self, the last person he expects to recognize him and be happy to see him is his childhood crush, tormentor, Tack.

Tack cannot believe he has a chance at redemption, at being with the boy he let be bullied, but definitely had feelings for, still has feelings for. But Vince may have an agenda Tack is unaware of, and that agenda may be the biggest obstacle standing in their way.

I wanted to love this, I really did. The blurb really got me, and the cover conveys a sweet sensibility that admittedly, Tack has. Unfortunately, there's a big, big reason why I couldn't love this, and that's Vince. He's completely unlikable. Yes, he was the one bullied when he was younger, and Tack certainly should have, and did, make amends for that. But...in the present, Vince had transformed himself into an ass who treated Tack horribly, even when it became obvious Tack had changed. Sorry, but Vince was so unlikable that I couldn't bring myself to rate this one higher, no matter how much I like Tack and his child, Jules.

2.5 Stars for Tack

This is a second chance/ enemies to lovers romance between Tack and Vince. Vince is the primary protagonist of the story. He used to be bullied in high school, and our other MC used to be his friend who didn't stand up for him when people bullied him for being gay.

Now, in the present, because of how Vince was bullied, he has turned himself into a very hyper-masculine guy who is built and full of muscles, doesn't show emotions, is an asshole to people, and dresses only in suits. And Tack on the other hand has learned from his wrongdoings in his childhood, and has turned around his life.

I absolutely loved Tack. He was such a good guy. He apologized for being an asshole, and it was truly heartfelt. Today, he was a wife who he co-parents his child with. They're divorced, but Tack is an absolutely wonderful father.
On the other hand, Vince was an awful character. He was an asshole for 85% of the book. Every time he felt something, he just shut down. He hurt multiple people throughtout the book with his constant refusal to be nice just because he wasn't treated well. I understood his feelings, but he just took it too far. I constantly had to roll my eyes at his behavior.

I wish we'd seen more character growth of Vince throughout the book, and not just at the end. I wish he had apologized for being awful to Tack. Even though the conflict happened because of Vince's mistakes, Tack was the one who had to apologize. That just didn't sit well with me. Vince had run away from the small town in the childhood, and he ran away at the conflict. It was only because of Tack that these two got together. So, yeah. I don't like it when only one person is majorly accountable.
Yes, the ending is cute and they have an important conversation, but that could have happened early on too.

The writing though is good.

This is the first book I've read by this author. It's a small town second chance romance.
Vince was a totally unlikeable character. It took far too long for me to even warm to him and I don't think I ever really *liked* him. Tuck was lovely. Warm and caring and someone who had worked at his previous behaviour and learnt from it. I never felt that Vince really did this. And this impacted on my desire to see the MCs together as a couple. I wanted it because Tuck wanted it, not because I *had* to have the guys together.
There is a diverse group of secondary characters. Although sometimes I felt like these were more of a tick box exercise than characters that added to the story. I assume some of these will appear in future stories. As secondary characters I did like Kevin and Evan and their goats.
The story was written first person present. It's a writing style that I don't enjoy and takes a skilled hand. The author sometimes struggled with this.
Overall a positive, mostly sweet second chance story. Your enjoyment of the story will mostly hinge on how much you like Vince.
3.5 stars.

Thank you, Harlequin for the opportunity to be an early reader. This is a small town romance & I love a good small-town romance. This is a quick read focusing on M/M relationship & I enjoyed it. I didn't love Vince, but the backdrop of the town & a second chance type romance made this a great read!

I really enjoyed reading The Hideaway Inn!! I just finished it this weekend and loved this second chance romance. I liked the shared history between Tack and Vince plus all of the characters in New Hope. I also liked the normalization of pronouns for children and all the varieties of LGBTQ+ featured in this book!

This book seemed like a slam dunk for me. MM, past loves, reinvention, a chef?! This story follows Vince, who has moved to the town where he grew up to basically “flip” a local inn and get it ready to sell to a big buyer, and Tack, Vince’s high school fling that broke his heart. I really struggled with the main character Vince. He seemed very stubborn and just tough to feel bad for, once the book got going. He did change a bit towards the end of the book, but it was a little too late for me. I did love Tack, everything about him!

I did like the author's writing style, so I would be interested in reading more titles by him! I also really liked some of the side characters, and I love reading stories set in small towns. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a cute MM story.

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

The Hideaway Inn is one of the first titles published in the new Carina Adores imprint from Carina Press, which they’ve introduced as a trope-driven LGBTQ+ contemporary romance line. They’re publishing one title per month and each will be available in audio as well as in print, and I’m definitely planning on picking up more of them over time. The Hideaway Inn is a small-town, enemies-to-lovers/second chance love story, and while both author and narrator are new-to-me, I liked the sound of the story and the Audible samples I listened to of Mr. Cavanaugh’s work on other titles sounded more than decent, so I decided to give it a go.

When Vince Amato loses his job in spectacular fashion (he’s caught fucking one of his firm’s biggest investors), he returns to the hometown to which he never planned to return in order to pursue a business opportunity. He sells practically everything of value he owns and purchases the dilapidated Hideaway Inn in the small Pennsylvania town of New Hope with the intention of fixing it up and then selling it to hospitality chain Fun Tyme Inc. at a massive profit. Besides making him a lot of money, he’s fairly sure that once Fun Tyme sees what he can do, he’ll land a job there, too.

Things go wrong immediately when his planned journey doesn’t… well, go to plan. The bus he boarded terminates several miles outside New Hope, leaving him stuck in the middle of nowhere with no idea of how to continue further. He’s started walking when, lucky for him, a pickup truck stops on the side of the road. Unlucky for him, the driver happens to be Tack O’ Leary, the high-school crush who broke his heart.

The journey to New Hope is awkward and uncomfortable, for Vince anyway, who can’t ignore the fact that Tack looks as good now as he did back then but is determined to show him that while Tack might not have changed much, he most definitely has. No longer the puny, bookish kid that everyone made fun of, Vince has bulked up and turned himself into a controlled study in hyper-masculinity, from my voice to how I hold my body to my lack of overly expressive emotion. In other words, he’s become a total dick who treats people like crap as a kind of defence mechanism; hurt them before they can hurt you.

Arrived at the Inn, Vince finds the kitchen in chaos. The restaurant is due to host a big Memorial Day luncheon that afternoon, and the chef has just quit. It’s a disaster – until Anita, the restaurant manager, asks Tack if he can help out, prompting Vince to demand: “What makes you think some redneck farm boy knows anything about cooking?” Quite a lot, as it turns out. Tack is at Culinary School training to be a chef.

Lucky for Vince – again – Tack doesn’t turn around and tell his condescending, judgmental arse to fuck right off, and instead gets to work and saves the day. As the restaurant is the only part of the hotel currently open for business, Vince decides to concentrate on it first of all – and for that he needs a permanent chef. No prizes for guessing who takes the job. Or for guessing who end up as roommates, sharing the owner’s apartment.

The story proceeds as you’d expect. Vince tries hard to remain a cold and distant arsehole, but eventually starts to unbend, growing attached to the hotel, the town and, most importantly – to Tack.

The tropes are handled well, if not especially originally, but my main problems with the story are to do with the character of Vince and the lack of any real spark between him and Tack. From the moment they meet again, it’s clear that Vince is holding one helluva grudge over something Tack did some fifteen years earlier, and I was waiting eagerly for the reveal; given the intense bitterness Vince displays, and the strength of his determination to freeze Tack out and not be at all friendly or even behave in a vaguely decent manner, I thought it must have been something truly horrible. But… it really wasn’t. Vince obviously had a crush on Tack when they were younger, and when Tack let him down – not standing up for Vince when he was bullied – Vince was desperately hurt, but that didn’t warrant almost two decades of resentment – during which he appears not to have once considered that Tack might have had problems of his own – and his current dickish behaviour. Vince comes across like a petulant man-child, while Tack – a far more engaging character – has matured and learned to own his mistakes and to want to put them right.

The conflict in the story is, of course, centred around Vince’s intention to flip the hotel, so it’s easy to see the Black Moment coming a mile off. But it’s Tack who initiates the reconciliation, while Vince is all set to bugger off and sell the hotel – and he never apologises. He never apologises for being a dickhead either, but Tack forgives all without the slightest grovel.

There are a handful of secondary characters in the story, but none go beyond the two-dimensional, and Tack’s ex-wife and child (six-year-old Jules) felt like little more than plot devices, especially Jules who feels as though they’re in the story simply to show that Vince and Tack are meant to be. Plus, the author made the odd decision to write the epilogue from Jules’ PoV; they’re supposed to be six and they sound like a teen.

James Cavenaugh is an experienced narrator and he delivers a strong performance here. His pacing is good, if a little slow in places (not horribly so), and he portrays the two leads distinctly and in ways that accurately reflect their personalities. He adds a cold, harsh edge to his voice to portray Vince, gradually losing the edge and adding warmth as the story progresses and he starts to fall for Tack and for his new life. Tack’s voice has a softer timbre and is pitched slightly higher than Vince’s, and the audible smile in his voice serves well to show him as a kind, good-hearted man who is confident in his own skin. Mr. Cavenaugh injects an appropriate amount of expression and emotion into his performance and differentiates effectively throughout; his female voices are more than decent and while he can’t quite sound like a six-year-old, his portrayal of Jules is nicely-judged and doesn’t resort to falsetto.

Despite my criticisms, The Hideaway Inn wasn’t all bad. I liked Tack a lot, the story is well-narrated, and the representation is good (there are a variety of queer characters and Anita is a wheelchair user). I can’t give it an unqualified recommendation, but I may give the next in the series a try.

Grade: C for the story, B for the narration - 3.5 stars.

Vince Amato is headed to New Hope, Pennsylvania with the express purpose of flipping The Hideaway Inn, which he bought sight unseen at auction, into a profitable business so that he can sell it to a management company and head back to the life he’s built in New York City. He only intends to stay the summer, and he wants nothing more than to turn a profit and go home. The last thing Vince expects when he steps off the bus and into a mud puddle is to come face to face with Tack O’Leary.

Tack has grown up, but Vince can’t forget the way Tack treated him in high school. After one summer of friendship, Tack stood idly by while Vince was tormented in school. Vince has a huge chip on his shoulder, and he’s done everything possible to change himself from the loner geek into a man of power. When they meet again, Vince and Tack get off on the wrong foot, but when the chef at the Hideaway Inn quits, Vince needs Tack’s help.

Tack is no longer the person he was in high school and, in the intervening fifteen years, he’s accepted himself and his bisexuality, and is doing everything he can to raise his child right. He wanted Vince back in high school, but he had a part to play and played it well. Now, Tack has a chance to reconnect with Vince, if Vince will just let down his walls and let Tack in. But communication isn’t their strong suit, especially when Vince’s original intention for the inn comes out. They’re going to have to be open and honest with each other if they ever expect to get their happily ever after.

This book is part of the new Carina Adores line, and it certainly lives up to the tropey romance the line promises. I had some definite issues with the story as a whole, but going in I expected some of the formulaic plot progression and there’s a definite comfort in that.

While the story is told largely through Vince’s first person POV, there are some chapters in Tack’s POV as well. I would have liked to see a better balance between the two, as it was mostly Vince, and I felt like Tack got lost a little throughout the story. Which is a shame, especially because Tack was the far more likeable character. Vince is, unfortunately, rather unlikeable through most of this book. I wanted to be sympathetic toward him, as his life was not easy growing up due to bullying and homophobia. He perceives his self-worth as now being a “manly man,” but Vince takes it to an extreme. I mentioned he had a chip on his shoulder, and it was rather large. He’s hostile a lot of the time, he doesn’t communicate well, and he doesn’t see people’s actions for what they are. Over time, he softens a little, but I still spent most of the book thinking he was basically a jerk and wished he’d use that big brain of his to actually think.

Tack is a much more endearing and sympathetic character. Yes, he was in the wrong in high school by not stepping in and stopping the bullying Vince was subject too. But it was easy to understand why, and that he had an image he thought he had to uphold. He’s experienced far more growth of character in the fifteen years since high school, and he’s doing everything he can to make the most of his life, as well as raising his child with his ex-wife. I really loved his big heart and his understanding nature. To be quite honest, I would have liked this book more had it been told from Tack’s POV instead.

But these guys do have chemistry and the sexual tension is strong. Eventually, they do start communicating when they get together and Vince is able to let go some of his anger. Vince softens some, changes his mind about what he wants to do with the inn, and together they start moving toward a real relationship. I would have liked for this to happen a little earlier in the story, so we could have really settled into their burgeoning love before the Big Misunderstanding happens. It’s clear to the reader that it’s coming, and exactly what it will be, but I wasn’t mad about that, considering that’s exactly what this book is supposed to do. I would have liked for them to talk rather than for Vince to run, but Tack’s gesture is super sweet and really lovely and meaningful, so I could understand why it happened.

In the end, they get their happily ever after and start building a life. But I will say that I had mixed feelings about this book. As much as the story itself appealed, Vince made it hard for me to really get into the book and find it completely enjoyable.

From start to finish this was the kind of book that my cheesy heart needed. As queer people we deserve to have our voices heard, our stories told, And this book did just that while giving us a fun romance that build up slowly but surely. Also, it wasn't just about the romance. They had obstacles that they had to overcome, trust that needed to be built, and bonds that grew over time. Will be checking out more of this authors work and hope to see more queer greatness in the future from them.

DNF at 16%. There are some books where I can get behind unlikable characters but it just doesn’t work for me in romance. While I understand Vince has complicated feelings about coming back to where he grew up - it doesn’t make it okay for him to act how he does. I don’t want to continue reading about him and I’m not wishing for anyone to be in a relationship with him right now. Thank you to Harlequin Carina and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

Thank you to Carina Adores for access to this book. One of my favourite tropes is a second chance romance and this one didn’t disappoint. Vince returns to his hometown to flip an Inn in need of repair so he can make money and head back to his life in NYC. Enter Tack, the boy Vince had a crush on for years. Tack has remained in their hometown and is a beloved member of the community. Sparks fly and a great romance begins. I flew threw this book! Looking forward to more great books from this imprint.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley. I am voluntarily reviewing this book.

The Hideaway Inn caught my attention when I stumbled upon it and I decided to give it a try. I really like a well written second chance romance, add in the whole renovating the inn plot line and this sounded like a great read.

Hideaway Inn is set in the small town New Hope. Vince returns to the town he grew up to to turn a quick profit, his goal is to renovate The Hideaway Inn and then sell it to FunTime, a big company who likes to buy properties like those. Falling back in love with Tack who broke is heart was not on the planning, but that's exactly what happens.

There was a lot I enjoyed about the book, but also plenty of things I didn't enjoy .It's this strange mix where I can't figure out quite what to think, but mostly I still had fun reading this one, so I went with a 4 star rating in the end. Overall I definitely enjoyed it, the writing style is pleasant, the story interesting, plenty of sweet moments, Tack was a great character, there were some fun side characters as well and I liked the renovating plot line and even more so the foodie aspect that I hadn't expected to find in this book. Then on the other hand I felt some parts lacked the emotional depth or I wanted to see them explored more, Vince wasn't likable for most of the book, but I mostly felt sorry for him and on top of that I didn't fully feel the romance. So yeah plenty of great parts and plenty of not so good parts.

While the renovating the inn plot line is the set-up for the couple meeting again, I was surprised that there wasn't more about it. I wanted to read more about the decisions Vince was making, how he fell in love with the place and how they were renovating the inn. On the good side there was quite the focus on food and the recipes Tack was trying out, which I hadn't expected, but I really liked reading those scenes. Tack's passion for cooking really shines through.

On the topic of Tack, I really liked him. Tack is the love interest and we get a few chapters form his point of view as well. He was sweet and determined. He had a kid and he worked so hard to give them a good live and the freedom to choose who they wanted to be. I liked his passion for cooking and how he was going to culinary school as he wanted to learn more. He had made mistakes in his past, but he became a better human being, came out to everyone as bi and now seemed comfortable with who he was. He know what he wanted and wasn't afraid to go after it. I liked how chapters the most as I enjoyed reading about him and his point of view.

Vince on the other hand was much less likable. I mostly just felt sad when reading about him. He was this skinny skid who loved to read and got bullied badly. Then the boy he fell for didn't stand up for him and broke his heart. He got hurt so badly that even now about 15 years later if I am correct he's still dealing with all the emotional baggage. He did feel younger to he at times than the 35 he was supposed to be, but on the other hand I do think it makes sense for some things to stick with you this long. He just didn't seem happy at all or have things he cared about and I wasn't sure how he managed to go through life like that for so long. I felt so sorry for him it was just so sad to see how he still struggled with how he was bullied and now he is this uber masculine version of himself who hides behind a mask so no one can ever hurt him again. On top of that he also was quite rude at first, he acted like this rich entitled person. It just felt like presenting this put together masculine image was all that mattered to him. And it was just sad that he didn't feel like he could be himself.

Vince did become more likeable during the story when he slowly let his mask fall away and opens up a bit to tack, but I just never felt like he let Tack in all the way. I wish he would've told Tack more about himself and who he was now. I also wanted the change to be a bit more subtle, start a bit earlier and see more of his changed self. It was great to see Vince realize this was no way to live and change, but by then it both felt like too little too late and too sudden. It was like this one realization let him to change his whole life. And I wanted to see more of the process and how he was to work to really shed that image and become who he wants to be.

So with how I felt about the two main characters, it was a bit hard to feel the romance. Frankly I wouldn't have blamed Tack if he would've ditched Vince after Vince is so rude to him, but Tack clearly is a good person and believes the Vinny he knew is still in there and sticks with him. Even though Vince can't even say a nice word about his cooking or him helping. And Tack helps him a lot and never asks for anything in return except for Vince to give him another chance. Tack was so sweet and Vince could be so harsh, but when that slowly begins to change there were some great scenes. I would've liked they opened up a bit more and talked a bit more about how they were feeling. The mutual attraction is clear from the start and there's a lot of talk about sex and lust, but there are only a few sex scenes written out and the rest is all fade to black. There are some sweet moments where they connect that I liked the most about their romance.

What I liked the least was the obligatory break-up scene. Everything I hate about obligatory break up scenes was fit in there. There was plenty of miscommunication, lack of communication, acting out of character and this big blow up after which ofcourse Tack had to bridge the gap again. The whole scene just felt off and forced and stilted. I did like that while Tack bridged the gap, Vince also has to show he was in this and I did like the scene at the end where they get together again.

The focus on this book mostly is on the two main characters, but there's a group of fun side characters surrounding them. Vince doesn't really have anyone in his life that's close to him, but he has some people in new Hope that he still knows and gets to know. There was the bookstore owner that Vince knew as a kid and I liked how she saw right through him and gave him some good advice too. And Anita who works at the Hideaway Inn and I liked how she handled both Vince and Tack and got them on track a few times. Then there was Jules who is Tack's kid, I really liked reading about them and how they grew to like Vince as well.

I liked reading about this small town and the characters in it. And I am excited to hear there will be more books in this series.

To summarize: This was a sweet and fun romance to read set in a small town. I enjoyed reading this book, the writing style was well done and I liked the story and the foodie type scenes that were in the book. I would've liked to see more about the renovation. I really liked Tack, the love interest and I am glad we got some scenes form his point of view. I liked who he was and how he made mistakes, but now was a better person and how hew really seemed to know what he wanted out of life. Vince was hard to like, I mostly just felt bad for him. He got bullied as a kid and now has this uber masculine persona and I felt bad he couldn't just be himself. He could be quite rude at first. It was great to see him slowly change, but it felt a bit too sudden and I would've liked to see a bit of the progress. I had trouble fully feeling the romance at times, but these tow were good together and I liked that they got their second chance. There are some sweet moments between these two. There are some fun side characters and I liked reading about this small town.

This is easily one of the most toxic books I've ever read. These characters were so not meant to be with each other, they had no chemistry, and the plot holes were everywhere.

The start was decent but it just slowly got worse and worse until I didn't want to read anymore.

I do not recommend this if you're looking for something steamy, romantic, or cute.

This is one of those stories that grew on me. It’s not fair, but I totally blame my reluctance to get totally sucked into The Hideaway Inn on my initial dislike of Vince. It took me a while, but the more I got of his back story, the more his attitude and standoffishness began to make sense. I’m thankful that Tack gave him more of a chance than I would have…

The funny thing is that it should have been Tack that had to work to win me over, but his personality was so open, it was hard to see him as the “stupid teenage boy” that crushed Vince all those years ago. (I tend to use “stupid teenage boy” a lot because it was a phrase that I used frequently when my 3 daughters were growing up – and also – it’s true… not that teenage girls aren’t stupid at times too – but I spent those years on the defensive end of things – with 6 grandsons, I’m sure that the tables will turn…) Anyway… it was kind of hard to be upset with Tack – especially when readers see how he interacts with the side characters in The Hideaway Inn, which, by the way were a wonderful addition to this story.

This is my first read by Philip William Stover and I’m pretty sure it won’t be my last. 😉

This has all the right beats for a Hallmark movie, now if only the cowards would make it. As such, there wasnt a whole lot to surprise me in this book, but it was still entertaining. I'm always happy to see a multitude of QUILTBAG characters with maybe a token straight in the background. I like how much Tack had grown since high school without the story completely absolving him of his behavior. And I like how fiercely and instantly Vince wants to protect Jules.

Really my only issues were that Evie never apologizes for her part in tormenting Vince and Tack pushing Vince to dress in drag for the charity. Dude, he is traumatized. If and when he is ready, he will wear the heels.