Ache is the first book I’ve read by Marley Valentine and I loved it. The title is very appropriate as it made my heart ache so many times while reading this story. A word of warning – if you can’t abide cheating (not married but they’re fiancés) this might not be the book for you. IRL cheating is a hard limit for me but I don’t seem to mind it in fiction most of the time.

Gael and Jordan have been best friends forever. Gael’s family took Jordan in when his family threw him out after he came out as gay. Jordan has been in love with Gael for a long time but he knows it can’t go anywhere because Gael is straight and now he’s also engaged.

Wow, this story really packed a punch. I really don’t want to say too much about the actual story because I feel like it might give too much away. The blurb lets you know that things change after a weekend in Las Vegas but there is so much more that happens than what the blurb indicates.

I really just want to say if you like a good angsty MM story, that will probably mean you need tissues on hand, this just might be the book for you. I could tell from the story that this book is loosely connected to Without You, which I haven’t read but now I really want to. Don’t worry if you haven’t read it either, Ache works just fine as a standalone story.

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“Gael,” I breathe out. “Please.”

He shakes his head, and even though every fiber of my being knows how dangerous this is, being like this, I stay still. I stand there and let him hold me, intimately, as he tells me he loves somebody else.
Slowly, his hands rise, ghosting the length of me and settling on either side of my neck. “Ask me why I’m not with you. Why I’m not marrying you.”

Unable to look at him, I turn my head, and he persists with the questioning. “Ask me why, Jordan.”

“Stop,” I plead. Forcefully, I step out of his hold and let my eyes land on his. “What is the point, Gael?” I ask, exasperated. “What is the fucking point of rehashing all the things we want and can’t have?”

“Why can’t we have them?” he says.