Book 109, 2023

[chez_jae]

On the Run by May Archer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I finished reading On the Run by May Archer last night. It's the second book in her "Whispering Key" series of male/male romance. Main characters are Toby Elford and Beale Goodman.

Toby was planning to vacation in the Maldives, but when a photo that appears to place him in a compromising position with a supposedly straight male celeb hits the tabloids, Toby flees to Whispering Key, where his friend Mason now lives. Toby hadn't reckoned that Mason would be gone, nor that he would end up sharing the guest house with Beale Goodman--the cousin of Mason's husband, Fenn. Having lost his phone and credit card, Toby waves goodbye to his dignity and makes the best of his situation. Beale is unlike anyone he's ever known, and Toby soon finds himself fitting in amongst the eccentric locals. As his feelings for Beale grow, Toby wants to come clean about That Photo, but explaining his side of the story would mean outing the other party.

Beale has always believed in the power of positive thinking, and he's convinced he has a soul mate out there, just waiting for him. Toby Elford is the exact opposite of the man Beale envisioned. He's surly, snarky, and melodramatic. However, Toby has the ability to really see Beale and understand him. Beale has never felt more alive than when he's with Toby. It soon has him wishing that what they have going on between them would be more than temporary, even though he knows Toby is keeping secrets. Unfortunately, Beale never anticipated just how large of a secret Toby was harboring.

Even knowing that Toby's secret was going to blow up in his face, this was pure, delightful fun. He's just so extra, and it was amusing to see how Beale learned to understand and appreciate him. I loved how all the other characters peopling the island were so accepting of Toby, especially when they believed he was the soul mate that Beale had been holding out for. Toby was utterly perplexed that total strangers would so readily embrace him. The inevitable fall-out from Toby's secret was heartbreaking, especially when both he and Beale were hurting so much.

Favorite lines:
♦ The fates wouldn't be cruel enough to heap yet more tragedies upon me.
♦ It was impossible to slay someone with my rapier wit when they didn't realize we were dueling.
♦ "You have the things for the girls, right?" // "Packed in the suitcase. It's like a unicorn threw up in there. Competition for best bonus uncle will be fierce, but Constantine's no match for my shock-and-awe campaign. He's going down."
♦ "I'm not gonna kill you," he said, which is exactly what he would say if he were going to kill me.
♦ "Do you always bring your cat when you break in to murder people? Is she trained for this? Have you trained a murder cat? Oh my God, Florida, why?"
♦ "Why are you looking at me like I just boiled your bunny?"
♦ "I was talking about audiobooks!" // "Sex is better than audiobooks." // "Maybe you need better audiobooks." // "Beale, honey, maybe you need better sex."
♦ Toby Elford was a snarky little rain cloud of a human, and it shouldn't have been possible for him to light up my days, but he did.
♦ "Who decides when you're happy enough? You do. You decide when you're as happy as you want to be."

Fun, fabulous story! I enjoyed the author's nods to her other series (Beale's brother, Gage, ends up in "Sunday Brothers" and Mason's brother, Micah, is in "Love in O'Leary"). Loved it! Five stars!