Surprisingly there is a very low level of angst and some realistic fighting. The action is mostly character driven with Gerry and Derek meeting, falling in love, and making their relationship work. The flow is pretty good with a solid, quick pace that makes the story go by pretty easily. Derek must balance work, school, and a new relationship. Gerry must deal with his beloved mother who is very religious and doesn’t understand or agree with homosexuality but loves her son very much. Soon the two are ready to move on and even fall in love, but not everything is easy. Gerry realizes Derek has some body issues and decides to take things slow between them to build a friendship foundation first.

They met on an internet dating site and both are looking for a relationship rather than a hookup. The story follows Derek as he meets and starts dating Gerry. In a sea of perfection, the honestly flawed but good men in Sweet Surrender may appeal to readers. This particular offering feels like reading about two real men that fall in love but have concerns about family, school, work, finances, and more emotional issues such as self esteem and body weight issues. There isn’t a lot of action and sometimes the internal musings and cautious behavior goes on for too long but this helps give a more authentic feeling to the relationship. The best way to describe this story is an easy, enjoyable fluff piece of romance with some realistic characters and issues. Sweet Surrender is a cute, engaging story that reads pretty quickly with a strong happy ending.

Sweet Surrender by Ashleigh Walton