Home the Hard Way by Z.A. Maxfield

 Dare Buckley has come home—or at least, he’s come back to Palladian, the small town he left as a teenager. After a major lapse in judgment forced him to resign from the Seattle PD, Palladian is the only place that’ll hire him. There’s one benefit to hitting rock bottom, though: the chance to investigate the mystery of his father’s suicide.

Dare also gets to reacquaint himself with Finn Fowler, whose childhood hero worship ended in uncomfortable silence when Dare moved away. But Finn isn’t the same little kid Dare once protected. He’s grown into an attractive, enigmatic stranger who neither wants nor needs what Dare has to offer.

In fact, Dare soon realizes that Finn’s keeping secrets—his own and the town’s. And he doesn’t seem to care that Dare needs answers. The atmosphere in Palladian, like its namesake river, appears placid, but dark currents churn underneath. When danger closes in, Dare must pit his ingenuity against his heart, and find his way home the hard way.

At the beginning of this book I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it because one of the main characters, Dare, just came off as a self-centered show-off.  But I loved the other main character, Finn, from the beginning. He just evoked such sympathy and compassion in me that I immediately felt for his situation and wanted him to find love.

This is a small-town secrets plot line with gay main characters. There is also a bit of BDSM play in this book so be aware, but I thought it fit in this storyline. I really fell in love with this town and some of the supporting characters and would love to learn more of Bill’s story.  Overall this was a great story of love, loyalty and forgiveness.

Amazon US || Barnes & Noble || ARe || Riptide