Jamus Cork's life has not gone in the direction he'd planned. When his parents died while he was in his early twenties, he became the guardian for his younger brother. Though he's experienced some success as a writer, everything he's done since then has been for Nick. Friendships, relationships, love: those are all things he's denied himself out of obligation and an intense guilt he's carried for years. Sean Malloy is the youngest in a traditional, South Boston Irish family. He's stood out as different from the rest of his family all his life, through his academic pursuits, his love of books, and his resistance to pressures to date and marry. He's just moved back home after taking a teaching job at a prep school. His focus on school has allowed him to ignore some of the things about himself that he's not just ready to face. But when Sean and Jamus meet in church, there's an instant connection and all of their secrets threaten to spill out at once.

In the realm of understated family drama, this book rushes to the front of the pack. There's the dynamic between Jamus and Nick, which has all kinds of complications, and then there's the Malloys, who all take things a little bit differently as they come. There are also some glimpses of a completely different family dynamic through Nick's friend, Matt. The things we do for family, those ties that bind us together--those are the things that really matter, even if they might mean something different to each person or manifest in different ways. But it's important that we notice and recognize the ways people show they care, even if it might not always be the way we would show it or the way we would prefer.

[Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.] ( )

Overall I liked this book and the story line. I feel like it was well written and treated with the respect it deserves. I connected with the characters from the beginning and I was invested in what happened to them. I would read this book again and I would recommend to those that wouldn't be offended by the content. Great book, 4 out of 5 stars. ( )