Strawberries for Dessert
by Marie Sexton
(Coda Books # 4)
It’s official. Marie Sexton writes some of the best m/m romances out there. She evokes emotion in every word, making me yearn right alongside her characters as they wish for the impossible.
Jonathan Ketcher is a man who takes his business seriously. He travels often and doesn’t have much time for anything else. However, when he agrees to a blind date with Cole Fenton he soon realizes that there is much more to life than just climbing the company ladder.
At first, their date veers completely off the road. Jon’s phone can’t stop ringing throughout dinner and when he keeps attending to his business matters instead of the man sitting across from him, Cole gets fed up and leaves. Later, Jon apologizes and using his charm that gets him exactly what he wants. He gets Cole to see him again.
Jon and Cole’s relationship is a slow-building one. There are times when their relationship backtracks because of choices one of them makes or they shut one another out, but that is part of their complex relationship. I know some may get frustrated by this because they seem to go back and forth quite a bit, but what I loved about this story is that Jon and Cole work for their relationship. It isn’t simple for them to just give up their previous habits for another person. Jon isn’t just going to drop his work to stay with Cole after all he has worked for and Cole isn’t going to give up his wandering lifestyle because Jon wants him to. Both have to work with who they are as a person and see if the other is worth making adjustments for.
I was really impressed by Sexton’s ability to involve the previous characters into the storyline. All my favorite boys are mention sporadically throughout this book and I think the emails between Cole and Jared. It gave readers a glimpse into Cole’s mind, which made me love him even more.
For readers who enjoy an emotional, well-written story of m/m romance, I urge you to check out the Coda series by Sexton. In my opinion, no one does it better.
