Blue Jay: An MM, Hurt/Comfort Stepbrother Romance

"Ro? He whispers in that soft, sweet voice that has always brought me to my knees, and it's gravity. It's gravity pulling me towards him, gravity I can no longer fight." "You shouldn't have flown back, little jay bird. You shouldn't have let me catch you. Because I don't think I can let you go again. Not even for your sake." "Something pulses in my chest, an ache that keeps growing with each passing day, that has no name and no limit. That feels bottomless and consuming. I wonder what it's like to be loved by him like this." "All I know is that at some point, I stopped thinking of him as my stepbrother or just my friend, and he simply became mine." Why? Why did you hate it, Blue? "Because you should only be looking at me." "I am." "What?" "I am only looking at you, Jesse." "How do you make a wish for something that's right there, in front of you?" "I wonder why I bother calling you angel when you're a damn demon in disguise." "Because it was you. Because it was us. Because nothing else can ever compare to that." "You're perfect, just the way you are, Roman, and you will never--ever--be a burden. Do you believe me?" "You're the only one who can make me believe it." "I'm here, Blue. I'm here now." "Promise me." "I promise." "My beautiful Roman...He believes he set me free but I've only been flying aimlessly without my anchor, without my home." "We have time now, right?" "We have all the time we want." "You and me, Ro? "You and me, Blue." "He slipped…

...and it showed when reading this because I absolutely ate this book up...in like a single sitting too. But I have to preface it's not perfect but it definitely gave everything I wanted it to give. Roman and Jesse are so easy to love and even easier to root for. From their very first interaction, I was just like - “yup these two are soulmates.” Although I was a little uneasy when we jumped back in time after the prologue because I am usually not of fan that sort of storytelling set up (just don't like the impending doom feeling), but I think Marina executed it well. The first half takes place when the boys first meet at 18, they're almost done with high school, and at sort of turning point in their lives. Once they latch on to each other you just get so envelop in their love story that you're forget that everything is actually gonna fall apart for them in a couple chapters. Then it happens, and the subsequent transition into the book's second half is so smooth. And I really appreciated how Marina didn't waste any time throwing us right back into Roman and Jesse's relationship. Slowly watching them fall back in sync with each other is a feeling I can only compare to a sense coming home, as cheesy as that sounds. Like they really never stood a chance. By the time you reach the end, it felt like the world had righted itself. That being said, I think there definitely could’ve been more to the story. The plot is very cut and dry, I wish we explored Roman’s family dynamic a…