Review ♥ Finley by Ella Frank

Finley (Sunset Cove, #1) by Ella Frank
Series: Sunset Cove #1
Published by Self-Published on March 20th 2016
Pages: 360


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It's time to come home, Finn.

It’s been seven years since Daniel Finley left his hometown in Florida for the hustle and bustle of Chicago’s city life. Since then, he’s worked hard for his position at the prestigious law firm Leighton & Associates, even when it’s caused distance and isolation from his family and friends. But that’s all about to change.

On his thirtieth birthday, he receives the one thing he never dared hope for. Something that was promised to him years earlier—a note. One simple sentence from the man he’s never been able to forget.

Six words will forever change the course of their lives.

Brantley Hayes has it all. Or so he thinks. When he first made the decision to take a job down in Florida, his family thought he was crazy. But, after years of living in the quiet beach town, he finally feels a sense of community. He’s surrounded himself with friends who are like family, has a job he loves, and owns a spectacular beachfront property that is his sanctuary.

Yet he still feels unfulfilled, as if a piece of the puzzle is missing, and he knows exactly which piece it is. On an impulse, he follows through with a promise he made years earlier. A promise to call home the one he sent away.

Nothing is as simple as it seems.

After years of separation, the former lovers are reunited, but Brantley wasn’t expecting to encounter the high walls now guarding Daniel’s heart. Daniel may not be the same person he was when he left, but he knows that the first step to healing is the note in his hand.

I devoured Ella Frank’s Temptation series, so when I heard she was coming out with a new M/M series I was excited to jump on the Sunset Cove series train. Finley is the first book and it revolves around Daniel Finley, a lawyer who briefly appeared in the Temptation series. It’s not necessary to read the other series to enjoy this book though.

Daniel—or Finn as he likes to be called by friends—receives a note from his ex-boyfriend/love of his life, Brantley Hayes. It’s been radio silence between the two of them since Finn left his Florida beachfront hometown and moved to Chicago seven years ago. The note asks Finn to return to home, so he decides to take a vacation and confront the man who broke his heart.

It’s immediately apparent to Brantley how much Finn has changed from the laid back surfer he once knew. Ella Frank does an excellent job illustrating the differences between the old Finn and the confident, aggressive big city attorney he has become. Finn’s anger is palpable, and I loved the tension and chemistry between him and Brantley.

While I enjoyed the story, the plot is fairly thin and when we finally discover the reason for the breakup, it’s rather anticlimactic. Finn’s reaction seems extreme. View Spoiler » Brantley “forced” Finn to go to Chicago for law school. I didn’t feel the breakup warranted Finn not visiting family and friends for seven years. « Hide Spoiler In addition, the pacing is a bit slow and the frequent mid-chapter flashbacks interrupt the story in a distracting way. I may fault the execution, but the author’s quality of writing is superb. I’m not a beach gal, yet she convincingly conveys the joys of life in a beach town and now I want to move to Sunset Cove.

Finn and Brantley couldn’t be more appealing. Ella Frank expertly delves into the hearts of these complex characters. Their friends are wonderfully entertaining as well. I’m really looking forward to reading Derek and Jordan’s story.

Finley is a satisfying book on the whole. It’s very sensual but less erotic than the Temptation series, so if you’re looking for a way to ease into the m/m genre I absolutely recommend this.

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