Somehow I loved this book even more than the first book in this series. The two leads were so good together. Please read this book if you loved the first one like me.

I enjoyed this story. The characters were great. Von and Alec fight hard for their happily ever after, but it’s well deserved

please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: yes
POV: dual 1st person POV
spice: several open-door spicy scenes
TWs: anxiety, cheating, death of a child (recounted), depression, drug addiction, grief, mentions of homeless youth, homophobia, mentions of overdose and rehab, parental abandonment, religious trauma, mentions of suicide, toxic masculinity, troubled pasts, vomit
Kink CWs: 69, breeding kink, dirty talk, docking, Dom/sub dynamics, oral, lingerie, mirror sex, praise, rimming, snowballing, spanking, switching
standalone: book 2 of Unframed Arts series (can be read as interconnected standalone)
final thoughts: What. A. Ride. After running from their past and present, they give into their mutual attraction Von and Alec fight hard for their HEA, but it’s well deserved. I never knew where the story was going to go- were they going to heal separately, together, or not at all? - and was left feeling every emotion as I was reading.
This book was such a rollercoaster and hot everything I love in a hurt/comfort contemporary novel. There is a 3rd act breakup which had a grand gesture and groveling- YAY! I feel like there is never enough groveling in novels, but this book did the characters and the situation justice

read this book if you love

😬 angst
🧑‍🎨 blue collar MMC (artist)
🍿 celebrity
🥵 dirty talk
💏 fake dating
🏝️ forced proximity (same living arrangements)
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 found family
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 great side characters
😡 grumpy/sunshine
🤫 hidden secrets
🩹 hurt/comfort
😏 kinky
🌈 LGBT+ representation
💞 mutual pining
🥰 nicknames
💤 nightmare comfort
🔀 opposites attract
😜 jealous, possessive MMC
🙏 praise
🤜 rivals-to-lovers
💓 slowburn
⚽ sports romance (soccer)
💔 third act breakup
🌍 world building

I was looking forward to Alec's story after reading The truth of Loving You. The cheery tattooist who had a heart of gold and who was willing to help anyone. "Happy" with hookups until he met Von. The brooding Swede who had a secret and had come to New York to hide and pursue his art. Von sounded amazing.
Slowly we learn what had happened to both and I thought I had gone through the ringer after reading book 1 but Alec and Von's emotional journey was just as intense.
I loved seeing Alec chip away at the wall Von had put up and seeing the person that Von had been before and I started to really like the pair. But there is one scene that although Alec had his reason, I did not like what he did and whilst at the end I was team Von and Alec it took me slightly longer to get past it.
Tattoos played an important part and one of my favourite things is to know why folk got a certain tattoo, so I really enjoyed those scenes.
Expect to cry, cheer and be in for another rollercoaster of a story.
I am curious to find out what has happened with his best friend as that did take up a fair bit of this book.

I had a difficult time getting into this story. The beginning seemed to jump around a lot and I would have loved more development.

Yay for Alec's story! He's charming and funny and a great friend to Cole in the first book, so I was dying to see him find his person. Von is pretty much Alec's opposite, but they work well together and give a good balance.

This has some wild ups and downs and both men really had to work at their relationship. I liked that things weren't always easy and we saw the characters work through their past grief and forge ahead. Plus, there's now an interesting dynamic with a potential throuple that I'm looking forward to!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to HL Books and NetGalley for the copy.

If you enjoy MM romance, good banter, found family, and more than a grand speech gravel, this book is for you. Alec and Von have such a great connection. Their banter will keep you laughing and full of angst. The plot on its own is also good. It’s not just continuous spice, but the spice is so good. The supporting characters are also done really well and the set up for the next book leaves you wanting. Can’t wait for Jayce, Madyson, and Em’s story.

The an issue I had with this book is that every single character had some kind of death trauma they are working through. I personally feel that it’s unrealistic for THAT many people in a friend group to have that trauma at the same time, especially when they aren’t grieving over the same person. It made it a little depressing and repetitive. However, the main issue I had was the MISCOMMUNICATION TROPE. Omg. Every problem could have been solved by talking. That’s it. Sometimes the miscommunication trope can be done well, but it fell flat for me this time. I will say the groveling was great though. It actually took work. I can’t stand a single grand gesture and they take the person back. No, you gotta work for it.

Overall, it was a cute book. I give it a 3.5

At first I thought it wasn't going to be as good as "The truth of loving you." Shane and Cole have my heart forever. But then it was four in the morning and I was still glued to this pages
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Von Blixt arrived in the United States heartbroken by the loss and grief of someone very important to him, and decided to focus on his art, if only he could focus enough to work on it.
But the first obstacle he must cross is to get the sexy friend of the gallery owner with whom he has just signed a contract to work for, Alec Ivy out of his mind.
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Alec is totally his opposite, the talented tattoo artist of unframed art who also works part time in the gallery is always hitting on any man who passes close to him, with his impossible charm, his bright eyes and two more stunning dimples flashing and making everyone fall for him.
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Unfortunately Alec doesn't do relationships and Von isn't ready to put his heart on the line, especially when he struggles to regain his inspiration. But after putting prejudices aside, both find that their instant attraction is not the only thing they have to fight to keep them centered, when some truths reveals about the past that are difficult to go through on their own
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Ahh this book !!…left me with tears in my eyes, my heart ached for Von so much, and then Alec made me sigh with his impossible way of be there for everyone and show how he can loves fiercely that I completely forgot what time it was, it was mesmerizing
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This series is a love letter to New York, to its queer community, to art in any medium but it leaves you with a lot of inspiration to fill your skin with ink.
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Deeply broken hearts with great pain finds its way into the most heart aching dialogues that will leave you sighing, and don’t get me started in the steamy scenes where you can feel the characters soul blending together.
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There’s a little fake date, the beautiful energy between a grump-sunshine and so much chemistry. Also we get to see Cole and Shane and read how they complete each other so well. You can read this book like a stand alone but believe me when I tell you you're going to want to read the entire series
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My only intrigue is Madyson, Jayce and Emmett...I need to know what's going on there, my head was filled with different plots and it was a pain relief when I got to the little expert knowing that Heather Leighson is going to fill in the blanks, I can't wait to read it!
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Thanks to Heather Leighson for give me a copy of this beautiful book in exchange for my honest and voluntary opinion

The Truth of Our Past: Unframed Art MM Romance
By: Heather Leighson

📚💕⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💕📚
This book is intense!!

This book is intense in the best possible way. After reading book 1 in the series I knew I’d be into book 2 as well. There is so much depth to these characters that you get am all around complex and complete story. The authors writing is flawless and the words are so captivating, the plot had so many twists and turns and none that I was expecting, and many shockingly intimate I have become a huge fan of this author. The author writes with so much intensity and emotion pulled from each book it’s felt page after page. Some are quick witted story lines are so perfect and lets you believe you have a front row seat. So being able to read this love story didn’t disappoint. The authors ability to have two separate individuals struggling in their everyday life and try to navigate someone else’s thoughts, needs and desires was intense and gives all the fills.

Authors Blurb: He’s a contradiction I can’t walk away from.

Alec:
Von the uptight, gorgeous, Swede wants nothing to do with me, and I’m obsessed.

The sullen man isn’t interested, and I don’t chase.

When I’m confronted with heart-crushing truths from my past, he’s a steady rock caring for me. But I refuse to reveal what no one else knows. In my experience, relationships end in shattered trust. So I avoid them.

With Von, all my defenses crumble. I burn for his fierce protectiveness. For the first time in my life, my heart wants more. More than a quickie I break all my rules.

But love is out of the question. Love leads to certain heartbreak.

Von:
Dimples attached to an obnoxious man threaten to derail everything.

I’m desperate to escape my grief and suffocating media scrutiny.

I long for anonymity and solitude, but ache for Alec’s kindness and effortless joy. The man who embodies sunshine reminds me of my loss. So I keep my distance, afraid my emptiness will contaminate his sunshine. Until I realize his charm hides a darkness lurking underneath.

The unwaveringly loyal man proposes a pretend relationship with spicy, passionate bedroom activities. And it’s hard to remember this will only ever be temporary. I’m leaving.

My damaged heart won’t survive losing him.

The Truth of Our Past is the second book in the Unframed Art MM Romance series, including spicy angst with a bit of kink. Tropes: off-limits, hurt/comfort, and first love. See my website or inside the sample for trigger warnings.

This book has everything I love in a book. Then you add that it's beautifully written and believable. It is easily a five star read. Written in single POV this story flows so incredibly well that the next thing you know your 80% into the book and loving every second of it. The believable way the characters interact is perfect. Run, Hop, Jump or use your (1 click) finger to do whatever you have to do and get this amazing book. It'll break your heart, you'll want to scream with frustration and it'll let you discover that love just might conquer all. The chemistry is steamy and sweet and oh so romantic.

Thanks Netgally for letting me read and review.📚💕

This book was very good too, don't know which one I liked better, this one or the first one. Who knew behind Alec's smile he was fighting some demons? Von was too, and they fought for each other to overcame what was necessary. They both were there for the other and tried to do their best in any way they could. Von was very reserved and Alec tore his walls done one by one. Alec was afraid too, so afraid that he almost lost Von because of it. I really liked it when he went after him and wouldn't give up until they were both happy. They belonged together and I loved seeing it. It was a very emotional book but so good

This, I really enjoyed. I was expecting a fairly standard MM romance, with a bit of pining, a 3rd act breakup and a bit of “New York is the best place in the world to live ever” propaganda.

However, what I GOT was two complicated and well-formed men who were doing their absolute best, but life isn’t easy. Von is in New York, obviously hiding from something and trying to make a new start, hesitant to do anything too permanent because he’s not sure what he wants to do with his life. Alec uses sunshine and casual hookups as a defence mechanism, but he is doing is best to heal from hurts in his past. I really enjoyed the relationship because it felt very real. None of the issues they were facing were a miscommunication that could be sorted out with one conversation. The issues include family expectations and judgements, public pressures, friends who hurt even when they are trying to help, and visa paperwork. And how they both try to navigate that while trying to both be open to each other and still protect their hearts was very well written.

There is also a fully formed supporting cast. I hate an “Interfering Best Friend” character as a plot device, but I really loved Mads, because she was so much more than a cardboard cutout trope. She loves her friends and really wants to help, but her insistence that she knows what’s best for everyone hurts the people around her. She hurts Alec, badly, but it’s not glossed over, they both spend a lot of time trying to bounce back from that. I really appreciated the realism of that, having friends that you love, but who hurt you and trying to recover from it. From the setup, I’m also expecting Mads to get her own book in the future.

Themes I loved: Found family, grand gesture apologies that don’t work out like a movie, trying to do something nice and having it hurt people, but mostly people finding their person and working hard to make it work!

All in all, this was a great book, and it will live rent free in my mind for a long time.

What happens when you fall for the man who doesn’t do relationships?

What happens when you don’t do relationships but fall for the handsome foreigner that you can’t get your mind off of?

Von and Alec were a fun pairing. They brought out the best in each other and helped each other through their rougher parts.

The book really pulled me in and got me interested in their story (and their escapades). There are so many emotions that the reader will experience with this one, and the rollercoaster was amazing.

I haven’t read the first book in the series, but I’m definitely going to have to look it up now (it has a different pairing in it, so you can safely read this book without reading the first one).

The premise of the story is interesting. Two artists, one who makes metal sculptures and one tattoo artist meet. They both are not looking for a relationship and are in a position where getting together would be ill advised.
After a while they get closer and cannot escape the other's pull any longer and they end up in bed but also as friends who are there for each other in difficult situations when past issues come up.
I did have a few issues with the characters, and the dialogues, though. I felt some of their characteristics felt more told than shown (esp the sunshine happy flirty person. The taciturn character was better written imo), the conflict overblown and the resolution slightly creepy stalkery and all over the place.
The book did have promise though.
3.5 Stars

Heather Leighson is a new to me author so I was not sure what to expect. This book was wonderfully steamy and the characters both had a lot of depth. I could tell a lot of thought went in to Von and his speech patters as a Swede. I'll have to keep an eye out for the third book in the series.

Alec and Von are a couple I’m officially in love with!

I loved the way that they cared for one another brought each other out of their comfort zones, their attraction was undeniable and you absolutely knew it was going to be an explosive kind of love!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this early, I really enjoyed this story and it was really heart warming, and definitely made me cry a little too!

This was a great book. I loved the characters and the story was told really well. I'm normally not a fan of MM books unless it is RH but this one was perfect.

This was a great MM read, filled with raw emotion and spice, both to the perfect degree. The deeper issues that are referenced (substance abuse, emotional abuse, trauma) are well written about and contribute to a great overall plot.
The only drawback I found is that at times, it's a bit confusing which protagonist is speaking. Some of the language is also a bit blunt and confusing at a few points. Those are just personal opinions and preferences, and do not detract from the fact that this is a solid read.

4.5 stars, we saw Alec in book one in the series and I was curious about him and wanted to read a story about him and he didn’t disappoint
The book drew me in from the start it’s emotionally charged and the MCs had some character developing to do and we get to see that through the book
I really enjoyed book one but this one just captured my heart from the start
Alec and Von definitely deserved their HEA.

Very sexy and still has a good story, I really liked that we got a lot of back ground in this and all the feels.