Book Review: When Robbo Met Daniel by Liam Livings


When Robbo Met Daniel 
by Liam Livings is a contemporary romance. Robbo is broken. He’s split up with his girlfriend. Given up on love. Forever. And now he must pretend to be happy for a friend’s week-long birthday celebration. Daniel’s boyfriend refuses to go to the celebration with him. Another nail in the coffin for their relationship. So he brings his best friend, Sam. They notice the heart-broken straight guy has attractively filled swimming shorts and a body to draw their sunglasses-obscured gazes. If Robbo can put aside how he thinks others will see him if he comes out and if Daniel can escape the history of his dead relationship, maybe they have chance. 

When Robbo Met Daniel is a romance that works on every level. I will admit that some of the phrases and reactions were unusual to me, but they were accurate and completely in character and now I know more which always makes me happy.  I like that everything was not simple, nor was everything more complicated or more drawn out than it needed to be. I liked the natural development of friendship and attraction- and how everyone needed to deal with their own issues in their own time rather than the 'love fixes everything' which is sometimes used to ignore problems for a quick happy ending. Robbo and Daniel each had things to work out for themselves and I really enjoyed that while Robbo figuring things out is part of the story, the details of the process are not all agonized over.   Coming out and figuring things out is huge, but it is also very different for different people and I loved the way it was laid out but not the focus of the entire romance.  I also loved the level of communication and honesty between Robbo and Daniel, I think this is what really sold the story for me and made me root for the couple even more. Being open about the stumbling blocks they might face and leaning on the support system they had made me so happy for them. 

When Robbo Met Daniel is  an honest and heart warming romance that leave readers confident in a happy ever after for the characters. 

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