DARE TO HOPE has a very intriguing constellation of characters. There is Gabriel and Micah, who we have known as boys part of the team of All Cocks, who have bonded over their grief of each losing something important – Gabe his boyfriend Gio and Micah his leg and his team in the military – and formed a solid friendship. Only their feelings toward one another are not purely friendly – there’s also this constantly growing attraction between them, but somehow, acting on it just does not feel right, it seems like something is missing … And it becomes more and more obvious that their counsellor, Tristan, just might be the one thing they need to feel complete…
These three men have so many issues, so many problems to solve before a HEA even remotely feels like a possibility. One is suffering from PTSD, feeling incomplete due to being handicapped and unworthy of being loved; another one battles guilt toward his deceased boyfriend and the fact that he feels drawn to not one but two men; and the last one, while surely being the most balanced of the three, is not in an easy position: For one, he does not want to interfere in the already existing relationship between the other two, and then there is the fact that his ethics as their counselor technically forbids him to get involved with either of them…
Their story is heartbreaking and kept my attention the whole time, and while I get that they all had their own demons to battle first, I really wished we would have seen more of them as a threesome together, rather than only the last couple of chapters.
I did absolutely love that epilogue; it is done in an incredible clever way: While the stories can be read as standalones, these last few pages will have the reader craving more and be intrigued by / introduced to the next set of characters getting their story.
The audio version is narrated by Joel Leslie. Most of the characters do really have distinctive voices, but for some reason I found myself getting confused between Micah’s and Tristan’s quite a few times. Other than that, I loved his performance – every emotion the character feels, no matter how deep, how uncomfortable, how haunting, is conveyed in his voice.