Lane Hayes - Better Than Friends

When Curt Townsend, a successful young DC lawyer, attends his first gay wedding, he doesn’t expect anything more than a great evening out spent celebrating two lucky guys willing to commit to one another. He certainly doesn’t anticipate meeting someone like Jack Farinelli. Fourteen years Curt’s senior, Jack owns two businesses: a gay bar and a motorcycle shop. He’s gorgeous and self-assured, but Curt is positive they have nothing in common.
Jack is comfortable in his own skin. He’s attracted to Curt’s quick wit and easy manner but most of all, to their unexpected mutual love of baseball. As they forge a friendship based on their shared enthusiasm for the sport, they begin a journey which reveals how their differences might be the catalyst behind a growing attraction. Both men have experienced their share of pain, but they realize they need to set aside the past and learn to trust in a future if they are to have one together.

Comment: Last April I had read the first book in the Better Than series by Lane Hayes. It was only an OK read for me, but I felt enough curiosity about a secondary character, who is the protagonist of this book now, to want to try this one as well.

In this story we follow Curt Townsend, a 28 year old lawyer who is friends with Matt (from book #1) and how his life seems to have reached a very comfortable stage. He is doing something he likes, even though it's not an exciting part of advocacy, he has his friends and his hobbies and not even the estrangement from his father brings him down. However, as soon as he is arriving at a wedding, he receives the news from his brother that their father is dying. Still, Curt tries to ignore what this makes him feel to focus on the wedding and suddenly, he meets Jack. 

Jack seems larger than life, is incredible good looking and Curt is fascinated, even though Jack is older than him and has tattoos and has a bar where gay men who like leather attend. Although they think the only thing in common between them is their interest in baseball, could it be their unlikely friendship might lead to something else?

I was looking for to read this story because Curt had been an intriguing character in the first book, even though he had been on the page for a short amount of time. This is book #3, and I've skipped the second since it would feature a couple that was already together in the first book and, it seemed, the dynamics would be very similar to the couple of the first book. Now, this third one would feature a couple with apparently not much in common and with an age gap. I was curious to see how the author would do things.

Curt was a cute character to know although I must say his background story didn't impress me as much as I hoped for. He doesn't talk to his father and when we learn why the estrangement, the explanation colored Curt in a not so great light, even though what he went trough was awful, if we consider his father's actions. The thing is, mrs Hayes isn't too keen on big development in this series, it seems, and a lot of the emotional state of the characters is more inferred rather than shown. I can accept this but it does make the empathy towards certain things harder to grasp.

As someone who is embarking on a possible relationship, Curt is cute and a little dorky and I had a great time seeing through his funny moments. He is also a total opposite of Jack, and not only due to the age gap. Curt and Jack should not really work, especially if we consider where they are in life - thus why usually age gaps should not lead to a common daily life that would not have divergences - but the fact they like baseball and have friends in common helps to bring them closer.

I thought the romance to be fun and with a good amount of sexual tension before they become intimate, which is how I prefer romances to develop. It's always a treat to see the characters think about one another and desire one another without immediately jumping into bed. The story is told from Curt's POV and I think the author did a good job conveying his feelings, but also what Jack might be feeling in certain moments. 

Despite this, the base of their relationship is friendship. Although we could think Curt would not have much to "teach" Jack in terms of life lessons, they kind of complement each other because they offer the other a different look on some things. I was rooting for them and I liked the fact Jack kept showing Curt how important he is to him; it's true that one of the elements I liked the most was how Curt felt insecure, had a vision of himself which I understand well, and Jack was there to reinforce Curt, like everyone else, can be special for someone and that people have different ways of presenting themselves.

While debating on how to classify his relationship with Jack, Curt is convinced by his friends to go on a date with Paul, who would be a good fit for him. Of course, we know Curt was already falling for Jack, but this situation felt like an avoidable issue - even if the goal was to make Paul a reference, since he is the protagonist of the next book in the series. Still, despite some minor issues, I liked reading about Jack and Curt and will read the next one too, to see where Paul's story leads him.

Grade: 8/10