I struggled with this

I will admit, there is something that draws you through the story. I was glad I finished it. But it wasn't easy for me. The over abundance of internal dialogue felt too heavy for me. Especially because the internal didn't match the external. Characters that are proclaimed as overwhelmingly practical were drowned by heavily poetic and philosophically romantic thoughts. I had to skip over the sex scenes because the dramatic prose took away from any realistic passion. Add in the copious crossover of genres, and I nearly gave up. Is it a mystery? A drama? Romance? Comedy? Are there actual skeletons in closets? Or just secrets? So many secrets that it's hard to remember why they even matter?

Don't get me wrong, there are times I crave that style of writing, that amount of detail. Unfortunately, I believe the weight of words hampered what could have been a 5 star story for me.

Mason and Liam

These two men carry a world of secrets from their past that they have to work through to be able to find their happily ever after. Their journey to finding ever lasting love while short seemed longer in the book because the author drew out all the thoughts and feelings both separately and together. I'm really excited to see if more comes out of this small southern town with its cast of characters and steamy springs.

Loved this tale of secrets and lies and history repeating itself.
Chunky, sweet, closeted guys are like catnip to me.
Can't wait for the next book in the series.

This book is full of drama & intrigue, with a little mystery thrown in. It's not the typical book I choose to read, but I really enjoyed it. It's my first book by Rachel Kane, and she does an amazing job of putting the reader into the story & letting us know how the MCs feel. I'm looking forward to book 2.

I recieved an advanced copy and voluntarily gave my honest review.

Spring Forward was a sweet book and honestly a pretty good start off to this new series. We meet Liam and Mason -- a single dad and a handyman stuck in the closet. Two men who couldn’t be more right for one another but who have to really fight for their HEA due to secrets and heartbreak.

I was pretty invested in this book. I couldn’t help but adore Liam and Mason...the two were so perfect for one another. But, I did get pretty frustrated reading this at times. That’s kind of a given though for me when single dads and someone stuck in the closet are mixed into one book -- and then you add in family drama and secrets. Yeah, a mess.

Overall though, I liked this story and I think the author built up some pretty interesting characters that have me wanting to return to this series.

3.5 stars

♡ arc given in exchange for an honest review ♡

A great beginning to what is gearing to be a great new series: a small town, the people who live in it, and the secrets they keep. Intriguing, isn't it:?

The characters in this first book are attractive and well-constructed, the conflict realistic and well resolved, and the writing, excellent. Although this last one is a given when Rachel Kane is the author :P

I'm looking forward to seeing what will come next :)

Loved this tale of secrets and lies and history repeating itself.
Chunky, sweet, closeted guys are like catnip to me.
Can't wait for the next book in the series.

This is the first book in a new series with no mention of the plans for the second book. There are several secondary characters introduced that could be the subjects of that future book though. In this book, MCs Liam and Mason need to overcome fears, secrets and an outside powerful force in order to find love and happiness.

The book starts out slowly and I almost threw in the towel. There are continual references to the past and secrets and threats that are meant to provide mystery and suspense but instead become irritating. It gets to a point where I just thought “who cares? I’m done.” But I stuck with it and there was a decent payoff further into the book.

The story arc moves much too slowly as does the character development thanks to what I mentioned above. When the crisis moment comes it is so hard to feel sympathy for Mason because you just want to yell at him and scream for him to fight back. The villain is suitably awful and urges you towards craving violence. I was totally invested at that point, really wanting to see them get their comeuppance. The vehicle for the crisis resolution is interesting and could have been so much more. The ultimate ending is disappointingly anti-climactic, and the final chapter is written in a totally different voice and tense which is jarring.

I found several of the secondary characters interesting and am hoping any future books will avoid the things that disappointed me in this one as we will have moved past the barriers that slowed the story arc here.

As a result of the items mentioned above I gave the book three stars (in my rating system that means OK but with serious flaws but parts are very enjoyable.) The book also has quite a few typos and some editing issues.

*I voluntarily read an ARC and this is my objective review *