Release is the first book in a new series, Rent Boys, by A E Ryecart. It is a deliciously angsty, slow-burn story that had me bawling my eyes out more than once. This story seriously broke my heart and put it back together again.

The blurb is great so I won’t try to restate it. Release made me feel so much that sometimes it hurt – but in a good way, if that makes sense. Sean and Laurie come from two different worlds but fate brings them together, more than one time. Sean is prickly, and ashamed of what he does. Laurie doesn’t know Sean’s secret and he’s attracted to him in spite of their obvious class differences.

I just know I’m not going to do justice to this story. A E Ryecart drew me in from the very beginning and held me captive right from the start. When one of my favorite characters from another series showed up, I couldn’t stop the tears. I was a little overwhelmed and had to stop for a bit; again, this was a good thing, not a bad one.

You don’t need to have read any of the Barista Boys books to enjoy Release but I can almost guarantee if you’re a fan you will love visiting that café in this story. If you haven’t read that series, I think Release might just make you want to. ? You will also find the MCs from Company for Christmas that came out in November 2018. I’d kind of call it a prequel to this series but again, you don’t have to have read it to enjoy Release.

There is so much I’d like to say about this story but I’m afraid it would give too much away. After a couple of things try to derail Sean and Laurie’s relationship, the author throws another zinger at us. She’s a devious woman, yes, she is, but it makes her stories all that much better! ?

I really can’t guess who the next story will be about but there are a few secondary characters I hope will get books. There’s even a thoroughly evil, nasty character that I wonder if she will try to redeem. ??

Reviews for A E Ryecart

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“Didn’t you hear what he said? He doesn’t want a drink. Are you fucking deaf as well as stupid?”

The words were out of Sean’s mouth before he could think. This wasn’t his fight, this wasn’t his problem. What am I getting myself into? But Sean knew why he hadn’t walked away. The drunk was a bully, and his hectoring voice had scratched down Sean’s spine like nails over a chalkboard. Sean moved in closer, narrowing the space between him and the drunk to no more than a hand’s width.

“Piss off. This hasn’t got anything to do with you.” The drunk made a good effort at standing his ground, but his voice had lost its edge. He was no longer so sure of himself, the ground beneath his feet no longer so stable.

Sean said nothing, offering only a grim smile. He knew what the drunk was seeing.

Tall and well built, and with his hair cut short and severe, Sean looked like a squaddie, a soldier off-duty for the night. Have you got the uniform? Have you got the fatigues? Words, and others like them, he’d had panted into his ear more than once. Sean watched as the drunk hesitated. Unexpectedly challenged, he deflated like a balloon stabbed with a pin.

The guy shrugged and walked off, banging his shoulder into Sean in a final show of defiance. Sean let him have his second or two of triumph; he was gone, and that was all that mattered.

A soft and cultured voice drifted out of the shadow.

“Thank you. You didn’t have to, but, thanks. I appreciate it. He didn’t seem to want to listen to me.” The added words were accompanied by a nervous, hesitant laugh.

Now that the drunk had gone, Sean focused his full attention on the guy.

Dark, heavy hair fell in a floppy fringe across his brow. Pushing it aside, the guy looked up.

Under the bar’s muted lights, Sean couldn’t determine the colour of his eyes, other than they were large, dark, and full of gratitude. There was a fine-boned delicacy about his clean-shaven face — no hint of designer stubble — and he was well, if conservatively, dressed. Late twenties, thirty at a push, Sean guessed, just a few years more than his own twenty-four.

“Are you waiting for friends or was that just a way of telling him,” Sean said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder, “to take a hike?” He stared down at the guy, who looked as awkward and out of place in the overpriced, pretentious bar as he did.

The guy nodded, fiddling with the mixer stick in his glass, stirring the ice, and pushing down on what looked like a whole load of salad leaves.

“I am. This wasn’t my choice, but, well…” He screwed up his nose as he looked beyond Sean and into the bar.

Sean glanced behind him, surprised to see how in just a few minutes the crowd had swollen. He turned back to the guy and met his wry smile with one of his own.

“Yeah, well, this place was my choice, but I’ve gotta ask myself why.”

The guy laughed. “Everybody’s allowed one erroneous choice. It’s a friend’s birthday, and he wanted to come here, so I didn’t get a lot of say.”

“So where is he, then?”

“Late, as always, but I’m early. As always.”