Thank you, NetGalley and David S Pederson for the ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars!

TW: Biphobia.

Let it be said that I love a mystery as much as the next person, and I thought the mystery in this was interesting. After all, I pushed through because I wanted to know what happened in the end. I was incredibly intrigued by the concept of the book, and I loved that it would feature an all LGBTQ+ cast and would have something of a love triangle to contend with between the main character, his best friend, and his ex. I was pleasantly surprised to find this to have an older cast as well. Considering most novels these days tend to focus on 20-30-year-olds, it’s always nice to see older folks get the limelight.

I will say this novel successfully led me astray with red herrings, in the sense that I couldn’t guess how anything would connect in the end despite all the clues that Pederson laid for us. I did enjoy the drama within the story, the relationships between our cast are interesting to the point that you wonder why any of these people are friends. I think this relationship dynamic would bother some people, but I found almost all of them quite interesting. One of the highlights of this book is that each of the characters feels like a real person. Some of them were so familiar with the way they acted that I was sure I’d met someone just like them in real life.

However, despite these upsides, there is everything else in this book that kind of ruins the experience. My main gripe is the writing itself. This is the most straightforward writing I’ve ever read in my life. You could almost count this as a screenplay because it is mostly comprised of dialogue and nothing else. No expressions. No feelings. Barely any settings. No atmosphere. Everything is told to you. It literally goes like this:

“A”
“B”
“A”
“B,” he said.
“A,” he said.
“scene change, setting, what the characters are wearing.”
“A,” he said.
“B,” he said.
“C,” he said.
“D,” he said.

It’s like this throughout the whole book, and while it did make reading it fast-paced, it didn’t feel like I was reading a book. I understand that this author has multiple novels out and I can’t imagine that all of them are written like this.

Another issue that bothered me was the murder aspect. Murder doesn’t happen until we’re 80% into the book. I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and was constantly disappointed. Then it became incredibly obvious who would be killed and the only saving grace here is that I had absolutely no idea why this person was killed, pushing me to finish the book. I may be no expert, but I’m pretty sure a murder mystery novel is supposed to have a murder happen a little earlier on so readers can feel a part of the investigation. This murder was resolved too quickly, and you really have to suspend disbelief for how it’s solved.

This leads me to yet another aspect that bothered me. Mark and Milo are side characters and they’re supposed to be the protagonists. The synopsis puts a great deal of emphasis on their relationship development and the drama that comes from Mark’s ex-boyfriend wanting to get involved. Some scenes between Mark and his ex (Brick) are so painfully awkward and stilted, I skimmed over them. And then there is no indication throughout the book that Milo is in love with Mark, minus one simple line thrown in the middle. If I didn’t know there was supposed to be a budding romance between them, I would have thought they only ever saw each other as friends. There’s no reason to root for them to be together. At least Mark’s relationship with Brick was interesting, even though it was clear that Brick was not good for Mark.

There is kind of a subtle hint of biphobia thrown at Brick’s character quite often and I can’t tell if it was just to make him look like a bad person or something else. There is this impression that his relationship with Mark didn’t work BECAUSE he was bisexual. *SPOILER* I didn’t care for the stereotypical cheating angle thrown in or that Brick didn’t think it was cheating because he slept with a “woman”. *SPOILER END* Bisexuals already deal with this stereotype that they are promiscuous and not looking for serious relationships. Brick had enough bad aspects to his personality that this didn’t have to be included to make him even more of a bad guy for Mark. This just felt unneeded and rubbed me the wrong way.

The only characters and relationships that I liked were Vaughn and Tim. They seemed like the most unlikely couple, and at first, I thought their relationship would go awry, but they grew on me. I was happy to discover that they really seemed to love each other. They of course have their issues; Vaughn can be an asshole. (Although I felt that he was undiagnosed autistic or neurodivergent and given his age and how autism would have been seen when he was growing it, it would make sense that he doesn’t know or see it in himself.) However, despite this, it’s clear that even with their age gap, there is genuine care between them. I’m glad this wasn’t the cliché case of a younger person marrying an older person for their money.

Overall, I can’t say that I disliked this book because I didn’t, but I can’t say that I loved it completely either. It kept me occupied for an evening if nothing else!

I would say give it a go if you want a rather quick read!

Again, NetGalley and David S Pederson for the ARC of this novel!

There was quite a lot of casual biphobia towards one of the characters. It was used very casually and it did not sit well with me. There were other problems with the writing and characters as well, but honestly as a bisexual, I was not pleased with how casually biphobic this book was at times.

Thank you very much to Netgalley & Bold Strokes Books for giving me an E-Arc in exchange for an honest review!


CW: Biohobia, Murder/Death


3.5 / 5 Stars

I struggled with the first 20% of this book, mainly because the writing felt a bit rough around the edges. The opening chapters feature two characters in a bar, just talking. There's no description of their expressions, gestures, or even thoughts—just pure dialogue like this:

"A"
"B"
"A"
"B"
"A"
"B"

It wasn't just the bare-bones writing style that threw me off, but the dialogue itself. It was clear that the characters were speaking more for the reader’s benefit than for each other, creating a disconnect that took me out of the story. The worst offender? Chapter one, with Mark and Milo. These are the two we’re supposed to root for, but honestly? I didn’t feel any spark between them. Given the story's direction, I knew they’d end up together, but they had so little chemistry that I found myself almost wishing we'd give Brick a second chance, even though he was kind of a jerk.

Actually, they were all kind of jerks at times. I couldn’t figure out how these people even became friends, given how intense their interactions were. It felt like a friend group that came together in school or college and stayed together out of habit rather than genuine connection. The kind of friendship that’s more about shared history than present feelings. It would’ve been interesting to explore this dynamic, but there wasn’t really time between all the childish pettiness and playground-level behavior.

That said, I did grow to like Vaughn and Tim a lot. I was relieved that we didn’t fall into the cliché "I just want your money" plotline. Honestly, by the end, I was wishing Vaughn could’ve called Tim "Timothy" one more time—ready to apologize—only for Tim to say, “No, I ... I actually like it when you say it.” Would have been the cherry on top of an already great established couple. Because, out of the three and a half couples we got—sorry, Brick—Vaughn and Tim were by far the best. I can't tell you how relieved I was when Vaughn survived the death flags.

Speaking of death, the book promises a murder mystery, but no one actually dies until we’re almost 80% in. And then the "mystery" is wrapped up in just two chapters. The senator’s murder felt completely unnecessary and only loosely connected to the actual cabin murder, which made it even less impactful.

On a slightly different note, I have to mention something that bothered me: there was quite a bit of casual biphobia throughout the story, particularly aimed at Brick. It was tossed around like it was just another Tuesday, and honestly, it didn’t sit well with me.

Final Thoughts:
I didn’t hate the story, but it’s not one that will stick with me for long. Vaughn and Tim definitely made it worth reading, but I doubt everyone will love them the way I did—or the way they loved each other—so keep that in mind.

I've read a lot of David Pederson's historicals and remember liking them. So I was surprised that this contemporary was so hard to get through. The first 30 percent or so—maybe more—was tell, tell, tell (with a healthy serving of "As you know, Bob" dialogue). I couldn't figure out why any decent person would want to hang out with any of the characters apart from Milo. And then, once the murder took place, the unraveling of the mystery had at least one major plot hole. (Spoilers: No one with an upscale lodge and a fancy kitchen would try to slice bread with a carving knife rather than a bread knife. Oh, and a presidential candidate doesn't pick their running mate until they've sewn up the nomination.)

I can, and will, forgive a lot in a book if I care about the characters and am caught up in the plot, but this book achieved neither of those things. All in all, it was a surprising disappointment.

My thanks to the publisher/NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.