Title: Better Together
Author: BL Maxwell
Genre: M/M Romance
Release Date: May 15, 2018
Summary:Since being thrown out of his home by his parents, Caden has been struggling to survive on the streets.
He lives in constant fear, stresses over his next meal, and dreads trying to find a safe place to sleep at night. He eventually finds an unlocked car and settles in to sleep, but is soon interrupted when someone steals the car. With little choice but to ride along, Caden soon learns that first impressions aren’t always correct.
Seventeen-year-old Damario has been raising his little brother and sister by himself since his parents were deported. He never knew how hard it was going to be paying the bills and making sure there was always food on the table. Or how hard it would be to hold his family together when they all depended on him to do it. He finds himself stealing cars to make ends meet, but he never expected to find someone sleeping in the back of one of them. And he really didn’t expect this stowaway to change his life.
When Damario brings Caden home, it was supposed to be just for a shower and a hot meal, but he can hardly kick him out onto the streets again. There is no way he could have seen that by saving Caden that night, he was also saving himself. When Damario’s world starts to fall apart, they both realize that the answer to all of their problems is helping each other, and although the world tries to drive them apart, they really are better together.
Abandoned by the people who are suppose to love and protect him the most, Caden is suddenly homeless with no clue what or where he is going to do next. When Damario's parents are deported he's left to care for his little sister and brother and has to turn to stealing cars to keep them together. When the latest car Damario takes has a passenger sleeping in the backseat, neither boy had any idea how their lives would never be the same. Can two 17 year old boys survive and thrive when they help each other?
Better Together is not great but it is wonderful. Now I know that some of you are thinking "huh? not great but wonderful is a little contradicting." I don't see it that way. A story doesn't have to be great to put a smile on your face, to have characters that worm their way into your heart, to form an emotional attachment for the reader. So I say again, Better Together may not be great but it is definitely wonderful.
Caden and Rio are absolutely adorable and I love their immediate connection. What I loved most was through that connection they both were able to find not only each other but also a place in the world. Better Together may be a sweet, lovely story of survival that warms your heart but its also a tale of heartache, loss, and betrayal. How any parent can "throw away" their child because of their sexuality is completely incomprehensible to me but it happens and that is what makes this story even more real. A definite winner. I loved how the author, whether intentional or not, shows their youth and innocence through their sweet vulnerability.
BL Maxwell is a new author which can always leave a reader unsure. Is there room for improvement? Of course, a writer who feels they have nothing new to learn is an author I don't want to read. I look forward to reading Miss Maxwell's work for years to come and highly recommend giving Better Together a read.
RATING:
BL Maxwell grew up in a small town listening to her grandfather spin tales about his childhood. Later she became an avid reader and after a certain vampire series she became obsessed with fanfiction. She soon discovered Slash fanfiction and later discovered the MM genre and was hooked.
Many years later, she decided to take the plunge and write down some of the stories that seem to run through her head late at night when she’s trying to sleep.
