Releasing 6 June 2023
Buy: Amazon
Blurb
Perfect for fans of Alice Oseman and Red, White, & Royal Blue, Darkhearts is a hilarious, heartfelt, enemies-to-lovers romance about love, celebrity, and what happens when the two collide.
When David quit his band, he missed his shot at fame, trapped in an ordinary high school life while his ex–best friend, Chance, became the hottest teen pop star in America.
Then tragedy throws David and Chance back into contact. As old wounds break open, the boys find themselves trading frenemy status for a confusing, secret romance—one that could be David’s ticket back into the band and the spotlight.
As the mixture of business and pleasure becomes a powder keg, David will have to choose: Is this his second chance at glory? Or his second chance at Chance?
Review
4 stars
This is a great read! Fun, witty and heartfelt, it’s a mature YA read about friendship, love and second chances, with a friends-to-lovers, m/m, rockstar romance. I was hooked from start to finish, and I loved this one!
David’s life hasn’t been the same since he quit Darkhearts, the band he started with his two best friends. Right after he walked away, Darkhearts got signed to a label, and his best friends Chance and Eli found fame and fortune as the faces of teen pop/goth/rock. Meanwhile, he’s spending his summer working for his Dad’s construction business and has spent the last two years being angry and bitter that his best friends left him behind.
When Eli’s sudden death brings Chance back to town, he and David come face to face for the first time in two years It’s awkward, But as they grieve together and finally talk about the past and all that happened, they find their way back to their easy, banter-filled friendship, full of jokes and shared memories. But suddenly, David is feeling more. It’s confusing and kind of overwhelming, but he is resigned to just ignore it, until an unexpected kiss with his former best friend rocks his world.
I loved these two together. There’s a well-established closeness between them, but despite the years they’ve been apart, and the vast differences in their current lives, most of the time they are just two guys joking around and having fun together. And that’s the cornerstone of their relationship, even when things change between them.
“When did you start liking me?”
“Um.” It was a reasonable question. “I’m not sure.”
“Whew.” Chance mimed fanning himself. “The romance, it’s burning me up.” He shook his head. “You’re killing my ego here, Holcomb.”
“And I’m sure we’ll all miss it every much,” I shot back.
They’re both very new at the relationship thing, and I loved how they both handle it.. They just throw themselves into it without questioning it too much, just following their hearts and exploring it all together, and it’s fun, exciting, and so sweet.
“What do you want to do?”
Even in the dark, Chance looked a little wild-eyed, panting. “What do you want to do?”
“I don’t – I’ve never done this before. With a guy.” In point of fact, we were rapidly passing beyond the edge of what I’d done with anybody.
“What, um … What sounds good?”
Laughter erupted out of me. “You sound like a waiter.”
They have some complications – Chance’s fame for one, and the fact that he’s wanting to keep what’s happening between them a secret, both from their families, and from his fans. And then there’s the fact that he’s due to hit the road again soon to go back on tour. But without Eli in the band, is this David’s second chance at the fame he walked away from?
The drama is well written, and brings the heartache, but it’s minimal and handled well. There’s a bit of a coming-of-age feel to the story as David has to figure out what’s important to him, where he wants to be, and how to get there, and Chance has to learn how to balance his career and his relationship, while staying true to himself. At different points of the story, my heart ached for both of these boys and what they had to work through, but it’s really well done, in a way that is real and relatable (even with the extreme of celebrity factored in).
She was no different from the photographers, or Chance’s parents, or the random fans passing in the street. Just another person publicly laying claim to Chance, in ways I wasn’t allowed to.
He belonged to the whole world more than he belonged to me.
There’s a fabulous cast of side characters – David’s other best friend, Ridley, is freaking hilarious, and his Dad and the boys he works with also add a lot to the story. But the highlight of this book is the relationship between David and Chance – their love story is so sweet, but it’s their friendship which is the centre of it all, and their dialogue, text messages and sweet moments together made me laugh and smile, and stole my heart.
Such a fun and sweet read. 4 stars.
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
