4.5 stars
This was a great end of series, a very well done second chance romance.
Like everyone else who has read thses books, I was waiting for Whit and Conrad's reunion too: it has been a painful and higlhy emotional journey, but it was definitely worth it.
There's a lot of sadness in this book and, not going to lie, I cried several times. Whit's personal story it's not nice: he came out at 16 as gay and his father, the town vet, kicked him out, while his mother was drowning herself into alcohol. Luckily With was welcomed by Conrad's father who not only offered him a job and a roof over his head, but also a caring and welcoming family. Over the years, Whit made peace with his father but they never were really close. His mom also died.
S,o when his parents in law died and his marriage with Conrad imploded, Whit not only lost his husband, but also a loving home and the only family he has left. For the first time in his life he was completely alone and had to rebuild his own life all by himself.

Conrad was completely devastated by his own grief about the unexpected loss of his parents and as a result he pushed Whit away, he couldn't lean on him, he couldn't let himself find comfort in his own husband's arm and that's very very sad. Moreover, it must have been very hard for Whit to see Conrad always drinking, since alcohol was the cause of his mom's death.
In the years they've been apart, Whit tried to find happiness with another man, Reggie, while Conrad remained celibate.
A forced proximity/only one bed situation is the chance for them to try to make things work again.

What prevented me from giving a higher rate:
I didn't like that Conrad never made actual plans to win Whit back, but he sort of got lucky when his Nana came back and took advantage of the situation. I would have loved for him to be more determined and to make his move years before.
I din't appreaciate that Conrad didn't use a condom during penetrative sex without checking with Whit if it was okay, acting like he owned him.
Lastly, the confusing timeline annoyed me a bit, because the events of the past are not always set straight: for example, sometimes the author says With left Conrad five years before, other times it was four; one time their marriage was twelve years before, another time it was ten.

The third act break up was actually great: I'm not a fan of that but Whit and Conrad's confrontation was very much needed and it was good for Whit to let go of all his frustration because finally for the first time Conrad realised how much he hurt his husband both in the past and in the present days. It was the reality check that Conrad needed to understand how he needed to change his behaviour to have a sane relationship with Whit.
Their reconnection is also very good and I was glad that they finally could start again by being honest with each other.
The two epilogues are beautiful I loved to see all the MCs again.

A little sad that this series has ended, I look forward to see what this author has in store for the future.

I received an ARC of this book from The Author Agency and this is my honest review.