I absolutely loved this one! It was a fantastic read. I loved getting to know both Tom and Mike throughout this story. We get to really know and see the characters and feel connected to them with the way that the story develops. This story is long but it really allows the story to develop with all of its twists and turns and I loved getting to see Tom and Mike getting to know each other and building their relationship before the terrorist attack and then the trial and all the issues with Russia. Tom has things he has to work through as he finally opens up to a part of himself that he has shut down for 25 years. He is gay and while he was never in denial about being gay, it was never anything that he thought was possible for him because of something that happened in college. When he learns Mike is gay, he gives him a new insight and forces him to look at the world a little differently. He starts getting to know Mike more and he is drawn to him more and more and it leads to him taking a bit of a chance and pushing his boundaries in order to see. I loved Tom and Mike and were rooting for them to figure things out and try with each other as both thought the other was so far out of their league they never stood a chance but they each embodied what the other was looking for in a forever partner. I loved watching them figure things out and once things went with giving it a shot, they were both very open about where they were out and it created a very strong foundation for them to be able to deal with everything that got thrown at them with the terrorist attack and the trial that Tom is assigned as Judge for. There is a lot of pressure from everywhere for things to go a certain way but Tom stays true to his core values the entire time and refuses to cave one way or the other. This story has plenty of twists and turns as Tom and Mike know there is more going on from multiple directions but trying to get the information and unravel the tangle everything has become is not easy. This story was gripping and entertaining and had me fully engaged from beginning to end and I absolutely adored it. I love Tom and Mike. This story definitely throws in a few surprises. The story is on the longer side, but it definitely needed it in order to do justice for the story and all the conspiracies and tangled webs that were woven and had to be undone. This story didn’t rush the ending and it all made sense and felt justified and not just thrown out there in a rush. The story flowed smoothly and never felt overly drawn out or too long.
The narrator did a good job with the story and the characters.