Sarina Bowen - It's Never Over

Six years have passed since the awful day when Axel and Caxton were caught making out in the woods at church camp. They were only teenagers then, but Axel had been devastated when Cax had cut off all contact with him. After that, his best friend seemed to vanish.
So Axel is astonished to find his first love’s face in the crowd of a college basketball game he’s watching on TV—at a college which has just offered him a job. It’s a thousand miles away, in a tiny rural town. But suddenly, he can’t wait to get there.
Cax can’t believe his eyes when Axel appears in the same Massachusetts town where he now lives. And he’s still just as drawn to Axel as ever. But he can’t let himself go there again. Because loving Axel will mean losing everything else he holds dear.
Both men have so much to lose. But as far as their love is concerned, It’s Never Over.

Comment: This is the sequel to another book written by author Sarina Bowen, who here uses a pseudonym. I've read and liked the other book back in June but it clearly shows it was something she had written before other m/m stories I've come enjoy more by her, but despite assuming I'd feel the same about this one as I did in regards to the first, I still wanted to get it out of the pile.

Axel is about to start his first job when he realizes he will meet again his teenager crush Cax, whom he hasn't seen in years, not since Cax told him they couldn't be friends anymore and then he left. Now, by some miracle, here they are in the same college in Massachusetts and reconnecting is not something they can avoid. All comes back to them, the discovery of having stronger feelings than just friendship, but the same apprehension because while Axel is out and has people who support him, Cax has a father who cannot imagine Cax is still in love with Axel.... is there any hope for them this time?

Knowing who the author is made for a much more captivating story than if it had been a different one, I bet. I say this because, truthfully, the author has written better things, but I still appreciated the rhythm and little things, even though more should have been done with this story.

Cax and Axel met at church camp while teenagers and were best friends, and then kissed, which made everything stop, for they were found. I think this element was an easy way to link with the other story, in which the protagonists had been in a cult. It's also a nice touch that they are now in the same city as the main characters of the first book, and Axel even starts renting at their garage apartment. Still, all things considered, this narrative wasn't as difficult nor did the guys go through the same traumatic experiences.

Cax and Axel had a mild interest in religion, as many kids/teenagers I know, they were in the club mostly for the activities and the field trips, or the camp as it happens in this novel. I don't think their leaving church and religion was as mind breaking as the experiences Josh and Caleb (from book #1) faced, but I will have to say that, despite the separation and the certain teenager emotions and hormones in the mix, it is very difficult to imagine they could coincidentally meet later on (only six years, making them 22 and 23 if I remember correctly) in the same spot and things would happen so easily between them again.

In fact, their age kept being something I forgot... on one hand, they were both acting like it, but on the other - Axel starting a job at a college, Cax part time teaching there and taking care of his younger brothers - they were both dealing with situations that seemed more fit to people with more maturity or that somehow made me think more time should have passed. It's not that they are juvenile, or not as juvenile as other characters in other books, but sometimes I had that impression.

As they get closer and start falling in love again, the outside issues remain, namely Cax's father and the general homophobic environment Cax is afraid of revisiting. I could understand his doubts and hesitance, but despite this they still didn't stay away, which is fine, but this is where the emotional traumas of his past should have been dealt with better. I can only assume the point was to add drama, to add a believable conflict to reinforce why their relationship couldn't be obvious from the start, but even allowing for inexperience writing and limited page count, this should have been approached better, as should have the (more, in my opinion) serious issues of the other book.

However, Axel and Cax found a way to be a couple and after some complicated events, they finally got their HEA. I found it funny that this HEA isn't immediately perfect, for Cax's brothers also had to adjust to Cax in a way he had never shared with them, which means I think there were good enough elements to make this a challenging plot, but the goal was definitely one for simplicity and sweetness.

Grade: 7/10