This is a book about home, priorities, and taking charge of your own future. These two are set on an unexpected course that has the potential to change their lives...but it is hard to tell if it would be in good or bad ways. 

Monroe is back in Safe Harbor temporarily to get his Aunt's old house ready to sell and move on to settle in San Francisco. He is ex-Navy NCIS and still enjoys investigating and helping to solve cold cases. He is known as a dependable, good friend, but has not had luck in relationships. And he is not skilled in home improvement or design so may be in over his head.  

His old friend has a great idea. He wants Monroe to let his twenty-three old son stay in his house for the summer in exchange for helping with the renovations before heading off to grad school. Knox is smart, handy, strong, hardworking, kind, and energetic. But he can also be opinionated, demanding, and determined. And he is determined to flirt his way into Monroe's bed. 

They already know they have chemistry. But they also have a whole bunch of complications. But eventually, they only have so much willpower and ultimately so much time.  Summer fling always seems like a good idea but have the potential to be so messy. 

This is a sweet, sexy, emotional, age-gap, forced-proximity, friend's son, small-town romance with an underlying thread of a town mystery. It is about home, community, trust, and acceptance. I just adored these two together. This shakes up the expected dynamics between an older and younger man in different ways. Their personalities seem one way but they also have these other sides to them that the other brings out. I also loved that some of their experiences had been similar and not always positive but they could trust each other enough to feel safe and cared for in order to try things together. 

There are plenty of obstacles in their way both in their own heads, their future plans, outward perceptions, and important relationships. But I loved that for the most part they could communicate and even when they were scared or wary about things it was mostly because they just wanted what was truly best for the other. They reciprocated care so well and their connection was obvious. I never felt like Knox was too young or immature, even though he was in the midst of making some serious life choices. Monroe was in the middle of change as well. And they both just seemed so starved for true love and a connection that it felt like they just fit together like puzzle pieces. But it is one thing to live it in private and another thing to deal with family, friends, and small-town opinions.

It also sets up the town of Safe Harbor which has a strong community but some deep secrets. And there are good friends, that I assume we will see find some love in the future like Holden, Sam, and Worth. And of course, Monroe's friend, Rob, is Knox's dad so that is a whole other big thing. But I was also pulled in by the history of the town and some of the stories of the older characters.