This was a great read about a second chance romance for a pair of headstrong men; featuring a hotel in crisis, California wildfires and a whole lot of making out *and more* by the ocean!

Connor Harcourt is the heir to the Harcourt legacy - the Sapphire Cove Hotel. He thinks his life is looking up when he meets sexy ex-marine and new hotel security guard Logan Murdoch, with whom he shares an unforgettable kiss… but a terrible misunderstanding rips the pair of them apart and any future Connor had been dreaming of is destroyed.

Five years later, the pair reunite when the hotel is in terrible jeopardy… but can they get past the fight and bad feelings on which they parted? And will the scandal force them even further apart?

I loved the dynamics of the pair in this - there’s a lot of discourse around the how people perceive the ‘right/wrong kind of gay’ which I think was really fascinating, especially coming from an own voices author. Connor is constantly being belittled and bullied from family and strangers because he’s a twink and very ‘obviously gay’ whereas Logan can pass for straight and therefore has had a very different experience in life. Seeing the pair discuss this and how it’s affected their lives and relationships, both in and out of the bedroom, was something I don’t often see and I really appreciated that. They also come from wildly different financial backgrounds which causes a strain on their relationship at times, but also leads to some deep and well-thought-out conversations.

The reason this loses a star from me is simply because I felt it dragged in places - I found myself skipping over parts about life in the hotel just to get to more of the action and more of the relationship building. This book was almost 400 pages and I feel like we could have had a snappier, more impactful read with only 300, however that’s just my personal opinion!

Read Sapphire sunset for:
✨ Second chance MM romance
✨ Own voices author with keen discourse about the perceiving of ‘right/wrong type of gay’
✨ Family drama and corruption
✨ Class difference
✨ Ex-marine security guard x party planner & hotel GM
✨ Hotel in jeopardy
✨ Found family

Thanks to NetGalley and Blue Box Press for a copy of this book. It’s available now!