Holden Justice teaches at the local college, and also has a podcast that is very successful. His social life is active in spite of his needing the aid of a wheelchair. His friends that he has weekly "trivia night" with, think that he needs a roommate after Monroe and Knox’s "roommate situation" ended with them becoming a couple, in book #1....but Holden thinks they're crazy. He thinks of himself as an extrovert, and he likes being able to leave his piles of homework to grade on his dining room table. Cooking for more than one is always much more pleasurable...but he'll get by okay. When Cal a rescue diver gets hurt on a dive and his old RV breaks down, permanently... Holden decides maybe he does need a roommate after all... and the sexy diver is the one he wants. When Holden comes home unexpectedly and discovers Cal’s favorite distraction technique to help him relax and rest when his PTSD is overwhelming, he is surprised but also intrigued. Cal has an obsession with doing all things solo...and it's very questionable. Holden doesn't bat and eye when he discovers Cal's kink. It convinces Cal to let him join in since he's determined to break Cal's hard shell and show him that he can be trusted. Both Holden and Cal have had a lot of traumas in their lives...both physical and mental. Holden dealt with his through humor as an avoidance, while Cal developed thorns to keep people at a distance. Cal saw through Holden’s comic side and Holden broke through Cal’s armor. Both showed that trust could develop and that they could try. Annabeth Albert was one of the first M/M romance authors that I ever read, and when I counted how many of her series and standalones that I had read, I found that with this series...I have read everything that she has written, and I didn't see a single one that I didn't absolutely love. This series looks like it is only going to have three books...but there will still be the things that make these books special...such as this group of lifelong friends that deeply care for one another and want everything for the others that they want and deserve. Most of these men are in their early forties and need love and trust in their lives. I really like when characters are "recycled" through a series, so it was great to see all the men from the first book back to encourage Cal and Holden. I am equal parts eager and leery of the next book. Eager because we finally get Sam’s story and Worth is finally coming home...yet leery because it will be the last book in this wonderful series. ( )

I adored this book! So many emotions mixed in with an interestijg and intriguing storyline!

I mean solving cold cases and finding heart warming love unexpectedly isnt what youd expect to work together but Annabeth has nailed it!

I love grumpy/sunshine and this is defintely that with Cal and Holden, well on the surface. Being together makes both MC's stronger. ( )

I’m not sure if I was distracted by awesome fanfic or this read just wasn’t great, but I had a hard time with this as it took me forever to get through. I guess I just wasn’t as interested as I’d hoped I’d be about these guys; their pasts weren’t quite explored enough for me to get a good read on either of them, even though Cal’s affected his life so much. It was great to see the disability rep with Holden, but I would have liked more there too. Same with the possible ace rep in Cal that also didn’t get explored as much. I guess I was disappointed considering how much I enjoyed the first book, but I do still like the overarching story. ( )