Hello Forever by Sarina Bowen

A basketball game changed both their lives.

When they were only teenagers, Axel and Caxton were caught making out in the woods at church camp. And afterward, Cax had disappeared from all the youth group activities.

Six years later, Axel is astonished to spot his first love’s face in the crowd of a college basketball game he’s watching on TV—at a school which has just offered him a job. It’s a thousand miles away, in a tiny rural town. But suddenly, he can’t wait to get there.

Cax can’t believe his eyes when Axel appears in the same Massachusetts town where he now lives. And he’s still just as drawn to Axel as ever. But he can’t let himself go there again, because loving Axel will mean giving up everything else he holds dear.

Both men have so much to lose. But as far as their love is concerned, it's Hello Forever.

Author’s Note: Hello Forever was previously published as It's Never Over. This is a stand-alone novel with no cliffhangers. Readers of Goodbye Paradise will get to check in on Caleb and Josh and their clan.

Book 2
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Angela – ☆☆☆☆☆
Having read and loved Goodbye Paradise, I was excited when Hello Forever hit my Kindle. First off, if you read book one, you’ll be pleased to know that Josh and Caleb have significant roles in this installment, albeit with limited page time. If you haven’t read Goodbye Paradise, don’t fret because their backstory has no impact on this storyline, so you won’t be lost. It just made for a nice opportunity for me to catch up with a couple of guys whose story I loved immensely.

Axel is a recent college grad who is hoping to find a job that will enable him to use his degree in a way that wants. While the job offer he received from Barmuth University is what he wants, the Ohio boy is not sure if moving to Massachusetts is worth it. The small rural town of Henning doesn’t have much to offer. At least that’s what Axel thinks until he catches a glimpse of someone from his past, someone he cared about deeply, and someone he hasn’t been able to track down online since that fateful day six years ago, when they were caught kissing. Suddenly, Henning looks like it’s exactly where Axel is supposed to be and he cannot wait to get there. Unfortunately, when Axel finally gets to reconnect with Caxton, he learns that Cax’s father is still unapologetically homophobic and still controls Cax’s life. So Axel decides to take what he can get and tries to forge a friendship with Cax, but Cax’s fear of his father makes this easier said than done. When Cax’s worst fear is realized and his father learns that Axel is in Henning and they’ve resumed their friendship, the fallout is worse than either man could have imagined – and I have to say, I was surprised with how far Cax’s father was willing to go to keep Axel out of his son’s life.

While there is a bit of religion included in Hello Forever, it does not play nearly as significant of a role as it did in Goodbye Paradise, so those readers who skipped book one because of the religious aspects can wade in safely here as the religious-based scene will likely leave you chuckling at the complete lack of timing Axel and Caxton had – especially once Axel gets on the phone with his mother. Theoretically speaking, the storyline really shouldn’t work. I mean really, you have a guy who spots his best friend and first crush who, in essence, disappeared from his life six years earlier; the guy then uproots his life on the hope that he can reconnect with his long-lost friend and maybe pursue a relationship with him; but upon learning that his long-lost friend has no intention of coming out of the closet because he fears what his father will do, he agrees to be just friends, but not even friends who can be seen together in public. And yet, Bowen pens the tale in such a way that I had no problem believing that Axel could accept Cax’s conditions, at least in the beginning, and when they were forced to take an even farther step back from what friendship they did have, it was still believable. Why? Because some people really are capable of doing what’s best for the person they love, even if that means giving them up and Bowen crafted Axel perfectly to be such a person. For me, Axel’s character is what made Hello Forever believable and had me rooting for him and Cax to get their happy ending. While I hate what they had to endure on their journey, I’m glad that Axel and Cax were able to find their road to happiness. I’m also giddy that the Epilogue suggests that another book in the series might be coming and I for one, cannot wait.

Also Available in the Hello Goodbye Series

Book 1
Buy Links

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B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our Goodbye Paradise post.

Sarina Bowen is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance, including the Brooklyn Bruisers series, the Ivy Years series, and the Gravity series. She lives in Vermont’s Green Mountains with her family, six chickens and too much ski gear and hockey equipment.

Connect with Sarina

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Hello Forever (Hello Goodbye #2) by Sarina Bowen to read and review.

Goodbye Paradise by Sarina Bowen

Most people called it a cult. But for twenty years, Josh and Caleb called it home.

In Paradise, there is no television. No fast food. Just long hours of farm work and prayer on a dusty Wyoming ranch, and nights in a crowded bunkhouse. The boys of the Compound are kept far from the sinners’ world.

But Joshua doesn’t need temptation to sin. His whole life, he’s wanted his best friend, Caleb. By day they work side by side. Only when Josh closes his eyes at night can they be together the way he craves.

It can never be. And his survival depends on keeping his terrible desires secret.

Caleb has always protected Josh against the worst of the bullying at the Compound. But he has secrets of his own, and a plan to get away — until it all backfires.

Josh finds himself homeless in a world that doesn’t want him. Can Caleb find him in time? And will they find a place of safety, where he can admit to Josh how he really feels?

Warning: Contains a hot male/male romance, copious instances of taking the Lord's name in vain, and love against the kitchen counter.

Author’s Note: This book was previously released under the title In Front of God & Everyone.

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Angela – ☆☆☆☆☆
It took me a week to read Goodbye Paradise. Now anyone who knows how I read will think it’s because I couldn’t get into the book because I usually read a book a day, sometimes more. However, I chose to savor Josh and Caleb’s story, reading several chapters a day instead of devouring it in one sitting as I easily could have done. I wanted to spend time with them on their journey – experience their sudden departure from Paradise, watch them avoid danger and find the goodness in humanity as they made their way across the country to Massachusetts, see them make friends and family as they found out who they were and who they wanted to be, and fall in love as they discovered that two men could share their lives and love with one another. I absolutely loved Goodbye Paradise and am glad that I was able to force myself to read it over several days because it meant that I got to spend even more time with Josh and Caleb.

For some reason, I enjoy m/m romances that contain a religious theme, whether it be the characters overcoming religious zealotry to find happiness or showing how they balance their religious beliefs and homosexuality despite the prejudices of homophobic Christians who use the Bible to condemn them. As such, Goodbye Paradise is the kind of m/m romance I would have snagged on its own merits. But as a fan of Bowen’s True North series, I was familiar with Paradise because of Zachariah’s story and wanted to know more about the world he had escaped. Although Josh and Caleb exit Paradise by the end of the second chapter, it was more than enough time to get a pretty good picture of just how dark their lives were there, especially Josh’s as he struggled both internally with his “impure thoughts” and externally as the target of bullying by the older bachelors. Paradise is one of the worst kinds of perversion of religion you can imagine and don’t want to believe exists, but they do. So as difficult as it was to see Josh thrown out like trash, I couldn’t help but be relieved for him; of course, knowing that Caleb planned to join him so they could “escape” together made it easier for me to have hope for them.

Goodbye Paradise is an interesting mix of coming of age and new adult genres. Because Josh and Caleb were given responsibilities and put to work as teens, they are more mature than the characters we often see in these genres. Due to his job, Caleb has more knowledge of the world outside of Paradise and is able to help guide Josh somewhat. It is Caleb’s limited experience that helps them find a safe ride to Maggie’s farm in Massachusetts. Once there, we get to watch both young men come into their own as they discover that life is not at all the hellfire and damnation they’ve been raised to fear. I especially loved watching Josh flourish as his innate caretaker was able to show his love and provide for those around him in ways that would never have been allowed in Paradise. But never fear, Bowen does provide a perfectly angsty plot twist that tips its hat at the new adult genre perfectly, at the same time it will likely make you want to shake Caleb… vigorously. Despite his more “worldly” experience, Caleb never dreamed that their departure from Paradise would enable him to live with Josh as anything more than roommates, so to see that unexpressed wish come to fruition was beautiful, just as beautiful as the final chapter in the book. I cannot adequately express how happy I am that the author chose to rerelease this book under her Bowen pen name, making it easy for fans like myself to discover Goodbye Paradise because I loved it. I cannot wait for the release of its sequel, Hello Forever.

Sarina Bowen is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance, including the Brooklyn Bruisers series, the Ivy Years series, and the Gravity series. She lives in Vermont’s Green Mountains with her family, six chickens and too much ski gear and hockey equipment.

Connect with Sarina

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Goodbye Paradise (Hello Goodbye #1) by Sarina Bowen to read and review.