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A review by bookish_notes
Gone for You by Riley Hart
3.0
I usually love a good friends-to-loves trope, but somehow, Gone for Me was just an okay read for me.
Oliver and Matt have been friends for years. Oliver is the rich kid who always had everything he's every wanted, and Matt is the kid of a mother who cleans houses for people like Oliver's family. Or in this case, she really does work for Oliver's family. Oliver has his two best friends he's known every since they were kids, Chance and Miles. When Matt gets invited into their group, it's always been the four of them, regardless of their social standing. But, Chance and Miles don't want their group to fall apart when they notice how much Oliver seems to be head-over-heels infatuated with Matt. They tell Oliver that they don't like it, but what can they do? When the four of them graduate high school, they had plans. Oliver and Matt would be rooming together in their college years, but unexpectedly, Matt chooses to move away by himself to NYC.
Ten years have passed, the distance between them awkward now after so many years, but the love Oliver has always had for Matt has never changed. So, when Matt flies back to LA to get a break from his modeling career, he instantly rooms with Oliver again.
I enjoyed reading the characters and the secondary characters, and all their struggles. Matt is plagued with self-doubt and constantly overthinks his social standing even though with his modeling career, he has more than enough money to rival his friends. I think I connected more with Matt's relationship with his parents than even that of his and Oliver's. There's an emotional impact when I read about Matt's relationship with his parents and one scene in particular that left me a bit teary eyed.
Oliver works as a writer, and Matt undecided at this point in his life. Even though Matt would love nothing more than be able to write music all day instead of facing the cameras, he hasn't decided what he wants for himself. As much as I love characters who have some sort of musical talent that graces the story, I just had a difficult time with the connection between Oliver and Matt. I think the story is a good read, but nothing explosive or significant happens and the story feels repetitive.
I'll be sure to check out the prequel, about the two guys who own the bar Oliver and his friends hang out at, and the sequel with Miles as one of the love interests. But for this story, I think it's a good introduction to other characters in the rest of the series.
He had no doubt Matt did love him. Matt had always loved him, only not in the same way Oliver felt for him.
He closed his eyes, wishing like hell Matty didn't own such a big piece of landscape in his heart.
Oliver and Matt have been friends for years. Oliver is the rich kid who always had everything he's every wanted, and Matt is the kid of a mother who cleans houses for people like Oliver's family. Or in this case, she really does work for Oliver's family. Oliver has his two best friends he's known every since they were kids, Chance and Miles. When Matt gets invited into their group, it's always been the four of them, regardless of their social standing. But, Chance and Miles don't want their group to fall apart when they notice how much Oliver seems to be head-over-heels infatuated with Matt. They tell Oliver that they don't like it, but what can they do? When the four of them graduate high school, they had plans. Oliver and Matt would be rooming together in their college years, but unexpectedly, Matt chooses to move away by himself to NYC.
Ten years have passed, the distance between them awkward now after so many years, but the love Oliver has always had for Matt has never changed. So, when Matt flies back to LA to get a break from his modeling career, he instantly rooms with Oliver again.
I enjoyed reading the characters and the secondary characters, and all their struggles. Matt is plagued with self-doubt and constantly overthinks his social standing even though with his modeling career, he has more than enough money to rival his friends. I think I connected more with Matt's relationship with his parents than even that of his and Oliver's. There's an emotional impact when I read about Matt's relationship with his parents and one scene in particular that left me a bit teary eyed.
Pretty wasn't pretty forever. Shine faded, and beneath was a dullness that Matt didn't know how to see past. He didn't know what he had to offer someone like Oliver.
Oliver works as a writer, and Matt undecided at this point in his life. Even though Matt would love nothing more than be able to write music all day instead of facing the cameras, he hasn't decided what he wants for himself. As much as I love characters who have some sort of musical talent that graces the story, I just had a difficult time with the connection between Oliver and Matt. I think the story is a good read, but nothing explosive or significant happens and the story feels repetitive.
I'll be sure to check out the prequel, about the two guys who own the bar Oliver and his friends hang out at, and the sequel with Miles as one of the love interests. But for this story, I think it's a good introduction to other characters in the rest of the series.