Ally Blue - Willow Bend

Can two men from different worlds cut the ties binding them to heartaches past and present, and make a life together? For Paul Gordon, the little town of Willow Bend, South Carolina is the perfect place to start over. A place where he can move on after his lover's death, alone and anonymous. Cory Saunders is just trying to survive. Between working two jobs and caring for his ailing mother, it's all he can do to keep his head above water. When Paul and Cory meet, their mutual attraction is undeniable. When the intense physical attraction starts to blossom into something deeper, neither wants to admit to what's happening. Cory doesn't have time for a relationship, and Paul isn't sure he's ready for one. But sometimes, what you thought you couldn't have turns out to be exactly what you need.

Comment: This is another of the books by the author I've had left to read. I remember seeing once that it would be sad and I guess I've been delaying reading it mostly because of that.

This is the story of Paul and Cory. Paul is just recovering from a big loss in his life and after a year he moves to a house in a smaller place where he can rest and where the memories are far away. He meets Cory at the town's restaurant and he feels very attracted to him. The attraction is mutual and Cory thinks he might have found someone special, But he has a lot to do and most important is his ill mother and Cory wants to do his best for her. Can these two go by their issues to reach happiness?

I liked this book a lot more than what I imagined. I specially liked Cory. He was young and he had a lot on his hands but his character, his attitude were things I appreciated seeing. I liked how, despite being poor and not having money or time to frivolous things, he still kept a smile on his face, he was joyful to those around him and he even had the courage to try a relationship when so many things around him weren't that sunny. I liked how he seemed to go through so many challenges but he didn0t take things for grated and he didn't want others to have pity on him. He worked and he hoped and I liked him for it. I felt really bad, cried a lot actually, when some bad things happened but the tone of this novel wasn't as overpowering as that, it has sad things but it was a good thing to read.
Paul had his own problems, he lost the love of his life and still feels it like it happened yesterday, but of course I still liked Cory best. It doesn't mean Paul's issues weren't serious or something to feel compassion for, but between the two, Cory was more to my liking in terms of personality.

The two guys found each other and their relationship was relatively easy to develop. The author didn't add up prejudice to this already emotional story, but I think despite everything, it's still something really sad to read, even though, like I mentioned before, one can read it well.

The focus is on the couple and their struggles with sadness and loss, but there's still plenty of air time for their feelings and I didn't find those parts badly done, it seems sometimes the best remedy to sadness is someone supporting you and being around.

In the end, it was a good story, very emotional, but following the style the author had us used to, so nothing new there. It's not my favorite by her, but it's definitely one of the best, for me.