Strays (Urban Soul #2)

by Garrett Leigh (Goodreads Author)

Work, sleep, work, repeat. Nero’s lonely life suits him just fine until his best friend, Cass, asks him to take on a new apprentice—a beautiful young man who’s never set foot in a professional kitchen. Despite his irritation and his lifelong ability to shut the world out, Nero is mesmerised by the vibrant stray, especially when he learns what drove him to seek sanctuary on Nero’s battered old couch.

Lenny Mitchell is living under a cloud of fear. Pursued by a stalker, he has nowhere left to run until Nero offers him a port in a storm—a job at the hottest restaurant in Shepherd's Bush. Kitchen life proves heady and addictive, and it’s not long before he finds himself falling hard and fast for the man who has taken him in.

Fast-forward a month and a neither man can imagine life without the other, but one thing stands in their way: a lifetime of horrors Nero can’t bring himself to share with Lenny. Or can he? For the first time ever, happiness is there for the taking, and Nero must learn to embrace it before fate steps in and rips it away.

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Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Riptide Publishing via NetGalley

Genre: MM Contemporary Romance

Part 2 of a series

My Strays Review . . .

Reading Misfits was my first foray into Garrett Leigh and I loved it. After that I try to gobble up anything by Garrett Leigh. So, when I found out Strays (Urban Soul #2) was coming out I squealed out loud.

In Misfits we meet the grumpy Nero. And in Strays we get to see behind his gruff exterior when he falls for the very beautiful Lenny Mitchell.

For Nero he lives and breathes the restaurants and he thinks he's content but when Cass convinces him to help out one of their employees his whole world changes. Instantly Nero is drawn to Lenny but he doesn't act on it because his mm side of him has been unexplored.

"Fussy, are ya?" Lenny snorted. "Nah, mate. Just misunderstood."

Lenny's hiding out and finds safety in the realm of Nero's world. Lenny is fascinated with Nero and slowly gets to know more of him the longer he stays.

It takes awhile for Nero to finally give in, but once he does, the fall was beautiful.

"I love this, though. You're beautiful without it, but I couldn't stop staring at you tonight. You ain't no wallflower, mate. You're like . . . a pink dandelion."

However, its not always easy loving the very gruff Nero.

"That's because he's Cass's long-lost twin. It's these East End boys. They think no one will ever love them like their nanas did, so they throw everything back in your face like you don't love them to the moon and back. You just gotta keep on keeping on, mate. He'll fall when he's ready."

Nero, once he falls, he falls. And it's so worth the wait.

"I didn't know I needed you until you found me, but I do need you, so much, Lenny. . . ."

I absolutely LOVE this series and this author. Strays was beautiful and heartfelt. I loved it from beginning to end. The evolution of Nero was a pleasure to watch and how could we not love this story when we get more Cass, Tom & Jake.

4 . 5 Strays are always welcome thumbs up!