False Idols: A 1970s MM Romance

​What makes this a five-star read isn't just the "enemies-to-lovers" trope (though the fist-fighting history adds a delicious layer of genuine animosity); it’s the brutal honesty regarding addiction and the loss of identity. The "project" they’re forced to work on serves as a brilliant pressure cooker, stripping away the tabloid personas of The Boy Next Door and The Rock Heir until there’s nothing left but two broken men who might be the only people on earth who truly understand one another

False Idols by Lillian Empire perfectly captures the grit and glamour of late 1970s Hollywood. While the story centers on two former child stars who initially dislike each other, it poignantly reveals the underlying sadness they both share and how they come together to try and fix what makes them feel the way they do. I have been reading Lillian Empire’s work since she began, and she consistently excels at character development. Both Harvey and Austin are in dire straits when they arrive at rehab, but their growth and developing care for one another by the time they leave is remarkable. Additionally, Lillian’s thorough research truly makes the time period feel authentic. Harvey and Austin are two very different types of people, but at the end of it all, they are so much more similar than they both realize, and seeing how they began to really start to care for each other and eventually love each other in a time in their lives where everything really feels uncertain it truly so beautiful. Overall, I will continuously pick up Lillian's books as they just give something that so many other books don't. She is really doing something that so few others are, and I loved this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5 Not at all what I was expecting! Lillian wrote some AMAZING palpable tension between Harvey and Austin. Classic case of The Boy Next Door falls for The Bad Boy. In this case, the good angel and the bad angel. I loved the dual timeline in the beginning of the story because it truly explained why these two felt the way they did and their inner thoughts towards the other. This being my very first 1970’s male romance I completely understood why Austin kept his true feelings a secret. These once childhood stars have to find their way out of their downward spirals as they reach early adulthood and not everything is as it seems. Harvey, oooooh how I love him! There’s a reason as to why he is the way he is and his character growth, oh how it made my heart so happy. Austin, nothing sexier than a man finally standing up for him and the one he loves, consequences be damned. And the spice, ooooh the spice I ate it up, especially once feelings we’re FINALLY acknowledged 🥵🤤