Leta Blake's pen name. This is different from what I've read of hers but still the same solid quality and heart and writing with care for her characters. She has trigger warnings for the chapters 2 and 3 and they should be heeded! I powered through them, sometimes reading with my fingers covering my eyes, but surprisingly, I managed to read them without getting too triggered or upset. The way she wrote the torture/rape scenes helped a lot. It wasn't just some villain doing something bad to someone because he could.

Throughout reading this, all I could feel was compassion for Wade and what he'd gone through! I cried so many times but not in a "sobbing because I can't handle it", but more from compassion and empathy for both Wade and Russ and how they dealt with Wade's trauma and how they worked TOGETHER as a mature couple to find a new normal and to reintroduce sex to their relationship. Wade goes through some controversial therapy but hey, if it helps that's what matters, IMO. This is definitely NOT a case of magical penis helping, either. Wade and Russ work together to figure things out and Wade comes to terms on his own terms, with Russ ever-faithful and strong support at his side. Wade has a lot of fortitude and I admired how he persevered through everything.

Despite the bad things, I felt like this was a really romantic love story and I recommend it. Just take the trigger warnings (torture and rape) seriously. If you think you can handle them, I highly recommend powering through and reading them because to me, it helped round out the story and allowed us a to see what happened to Wade from his perspective and I feel like that helps us as we embark on his journey to recovery.