The real world skins you alive. It's a hazard of growing up in rural Suffolk... or possibly, it's a hazard of growing up. Either way, the Dorian Andrade and Isaiah Matalon who reunite at a party in Oxford have become equally disenchanted imitations of the boys who used to spend summers eating apples on the riverbank. A lot has changed in the six years since they saw each other. One thing is still the same: the longing for each other's company. But aren't the objects of our yearning so much easier to encounter in the imagination than when they're standing in front of us? GENRE: literary fiction, queer romance TROPES: second chance romance, friends to lovers, mutual pining COMP TITLES: A Little Life, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, Call Me By Your Name, basically Wolfstar Muggle AU featured in Ambassador Reads featured in Ambassador Recommendations: Living Beyond Labels Dec 24 featured in Ambassadors: Slice of life featured in ContemporaryLit: Ambassadors' Picks featured in ContemporaryLit: LGBTQ+ Contemporary featured in ContemporaryLit: Literary Fiction featured in Chicklit: Ambassadors' Picks featured in lgbtq: ManxMan (NA/Adult Fiction) featured in FreeTheLGBT: Diverse Literature featured in WattpadLitFic: Novels featured in WattpadMulticultural: September 2023 Reads of the Month

a story about a felon who decided to do adult films

Dontavius has been in love with Diamond since they were kids. When they were 23 and 22 respectively and finally began exploring a relationship together, Dontavius thought he finally had everything he'd ever wanted. But when Diamond ended up cheating and coming out of it with a baby, Dontavius realized that the love of his life didn't love him as much as he does. Diamond claims to love Dontavius, but even three years after making his son, he still can't bring himself to stay faithful to his boyfriend, even when the looming threat of Dontavius leaving him becomes apparent. Neither of them expects a bright eyed, Spanish speaking young man named Raymonte to approach Dontavius and suddenly start fighting for his heart and showing him the love he should've been getting the whole time while Dontavius continues to fight for his shattered relationship. Dontavius has the choice of staying with Diamond and letting him continue to hurt him, or giving Raymonte a chance to show him a better life.