Goodbye Paradise (Hello Goodbye, #1)
Nealy Wagner
Most people called it a cult. But for twenty years, Josh and Caleb called it home. In Paradise, there is no television. No fast food. Just long hours of farm work and prayer on a dusty Wyoming ranch, and nights in a crowded bunkhouse. The boys of the Compound are kept far from the sinners’ world. But Joshua doesn’t need temptation to sin. His whole life, he’s wanted his best friend, Caleb. By day they work side by side. Only when Josh closes his eyes at night can they be together the way he craves. It can never be. And his survival depends on keeping his terrible desires secret. Caleb has always protected Josh against the worst of the bullying at the Compound. But he has secrets of his own, and a plan to get away — until it all backfires. Josh finds himself homeless in a world that doesn’t want him. Can Caleb find him in time? And will they find a place of safety, where he can admit to Josh how he really feels? Warning: Contains a hot male/male romance, copious instances of taking the Lord's name in vain, and love against the kitchen counter. This book was previously released under the title: In Front of God & Everyone.
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This was a fast read, I thought both narrators did a nice job. I was somewhat surprised when Caleb early on reveals to Josh that of course he has been pining after Josh their whole lives too. This was somewhat of a disappointment for me, because there was no need for any emotional development here: both characters have been in love before the start of the story. So once they're together by chapter 5, there's no need to show why they are in love throughout.
Structurally this is less of a romance and more of a journey of growth and coming of age, as these two young men are trying to find jobs and earn money to essentially start their lives. This is somewhat of a survival story too, as they've escaped their upbringings-- it scratched an adjacent itch for me there.
There were some steamy scenes, it was nice to be taken along with both of our characters as they learn and explore physical intimacy together along the way. However the scenes started to feel somewhat perfunctory/dropped in, this could have been opportunities to connect emotionally as well as physically. Overall it was not the absolute best writing for me
The overall pacing and tone is slow and becomes a steady plod once they get to Massachusetts. This is also where there are time jumps, which were needed to allow for big changes to happen (get the GED, get the job and save money, update the barn apartment, have baby Etc.) But by not seeing any of this time, it felt like I was missing out on the romance story between these two, again it felt like there was a lack of development here.
Miriam arriving and Caleb wanting to help her by marrying her was somewhat of a realistic viewpoint for Caleb, but felt like a really dumb source of conflict. Josh's reaction of basically throwing a fit felt a little bit out of character, but yet the whole situation felt very in character for both of them?
Overall I was engaged and relatively entertained throughout, it's just that friends to lovers with very low tension was never going to get a very high rating from me.
Words used by other reviewers include: kind, sweet, heartwarming, tender, protective, emotional-- and I generally agree with most of these, but I felt like the low stakes and no angst leaned a bit towards boring over cozy.
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