I absolutely loved this MM romance.

Such a great book with a solid storyline and great characters.

I eagerly look forward to reading more from this author.

A definite recommend

Not entirely sure how to review this, to be honest. It was interesting and constantly kept me guessing as to what was happening, so I guess at least three stars for that!

The blurb for "The Midnight Man" grabbed my interest. Stanley, on the cusp of his 50th birthday, has been in a relationship for seven years with his partner Francesco, and it is in its death throes.

Stanley has dreams - very vivid dreams about a young man - Asher - and each time they meet in dreams, Stanley is five years younger. He has the chance to disappear into a dream world with his perfect dream lover ... yet as he becomes younger and younger, he relives his happy memories with Francesco, looks objectively at times in his life that changed its course, and ponders why he is terrified of police officers and why he never continued a potentially successful career as a flautist.

I like many things the author has to say about age and second chances ...

"[...] if you don't play it right, age can be your nemesis. That thinking all your major achievements are a thing of the past can be your undoing. That what you know and what you've done have value, especially to those who haven't experienced what you have to share. [...] There's power in age, my son. It's not a death sentence. It's a blessing."

,,, but what didn't work for me is the rather deplorable actions both Francesco and Stanley take - with each other and with their friends and acquaintances. Simply put, Francesco is a philandering jerk and Stanley is thoughtless and cruel more than once or twice.

Also, I found the author's writing style somewhat convoluted and the whole Midnight Man dream world too lightly fleshed out, and the resolution to why Stanley is afraid of cops was sort of shoe-horned into the story after teasing it for the entire book.

Personally, I liked the premise of this story but found the main characters very unlikeable and it was hard to root for a HEA for them. But again, this is my own personal opinion and your take on this story may be entirely different! 3 stars.

I was so intrigued by the description of this book and the jumping off point for the main character. A fifty year old gay man reckoning with an uneasy feeling about his life escapes into a dreamworld where a young man offers him youth and love.
The book never really delivered on the intrigue of the description. It took quite some time to get into it, and even then didn’t develop enough on character and world building. My favourite part of this book was its depiction of many different gay lifestyles that rang very true.

DNF at 30%. I couldn’t get into the story, and the writing was giving me a headache. The premise was promising, but It just couldn’t grab my attention, and I’m working on not forcing myself to read books I’m not enjoying.

REVIEW ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Midnight Man by Kevin Klehr is the story of Stanley, a man on the verge of turning fifty who is coming to terms with the reality that his life is less than he had hoped. His seven year relationship with his partner, Francesco, is crumbling when Asher appears and becomes the literal man of Stanley‘a dreams. Through Asher, he learns how to love again and to conquer the demons that snuffed his spirit many years earlier. When faced with losing Stanley, Francesco suddenly begins to reevaluate and appreciate what he has and has been neglecting. Can Francesco win back Stanley’s heart, or will Asher’s love be enough to lure Stanley into “eternal sleep”?⠀
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The first half of this book was a bit slow going, and on a few occasions I was even tempted to DNF it. But since this was an ARC I was determined to push through. I was just not seeing a clear picture of where the story was going and I was not finding the characters to be all that likable. But at about the half way point the fog began to lift and the characters began to take on more depth and relatability and the story had a direction. The dreamworld was interesting but would have been more powerful with additional world building. All in all, it was an intriguing story of love and second chances. ⠀

Stanley is a bit lost. He's nearing 50 and in an unhappy relationship with no energy or desire to do anything about it. He also doesn't really know what he wants in life. He's just drifting along unhappily.

He begins to have vivid dreams where he means a young man named Asher. Dream after dream Stanley and Asher talk, have adventures and fall in love and in each dream Stanley is younger and younger.

Asher is his Midnight Man. A dream guide sent to help their "project" find their way. He's no supposed to fall in love with his project, Stanley. That doesn't keep him from inviting Stanley to sleep eternally with him.

Stanley will have to choose if he can find something worth fighting for in his real life or if slipping into eternal sleep with Asher is what he most wants.

Stanley is about to turn fifty when he gets a second chance to relearn the lessons that he missed in his life. Every night, when sleep takes over, he wakes up in his dream to join Asher, a young man with a mysterious mission, on a journey that takes them both back to the years that have passed and together they observe the Stanleys who have lived through them.
Stan, who thinks he’s too old for the passion and intensity of young love, suddenly believes in all the possibilities. The kind of life he always dreamed of is now in his reach and the hunger for that life, something he seems to have lost somewhere in his twenties, returns and brings him new realizations and awareness.
The changes that follow the visits from Asher, the Midnightman, are so potent that even Francesco, Stanley’s cheating partner, starts to rethink the path their relationship has taken and while Franky realizes he might still love Stan the same way he had years ago, Stan falls deeper in love with the idea of living a different life where he can experience all the things that he’s still passionate about.

The story was intriguing with beautiful messages of hope, love and second chances, but it wasn't an easy book to read. It starts a bit vague, maybe too slow to grab the full attention of the readers. I had too many questions and not enough answers that I could find in the dream world of Stan and Asher where half of the plot happens.
The fantasy aspect of the book, which once is described as “surreal absurdism” later on in the book, doesn’t have enough world building around it. I wished to know more about all the elements of it. The whys and hows of the midnight men are mostly ignored for the sake of exploring the deeper relationship between Asher and Stanley and I think the book has suffered from this lack of attention to the realm of Midnight men.
The first half of the book takes a bit of effort to go through. There’s a lot to grasp and not enough focus on what is the main message of the story. (but don't give up reading! soldier on!) Once you get used to the flexible POV and hit the halfway mark, suddenly the story picks up and it’s like reading a different book. it becomes less complicated and finally, characters find their footings and their fate becomes important to the readers.

This is a story that stayed in my mind for a while and made me want to sift through its messages. Maybe this one quote from book could summarize my conclusions at the end.

“Make every experience count because each will in the end. Make sure they guide you and land you safely to the other end of your life.”

Thank you NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.