Throwback Thursday Reviews ~ True Colors by Anyta Sunday

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Blurb:

Oskar used to be Marco’s best friend. His everything. His sunshine yellow.

But that was before. Before Marco stopped being a hot jock. Before he learned to live with scars and pain. And before Oskar tore their friendship apart.

Now the boy next door has returned home, determined to rekindle his friendship with Marco, and Marco’s more afraid than ever. Afraid of getting hurt. Afraid of being humiliated.

Afraid of falling in love.

Can Oskar find a way through Marco’s fear, back into his heart?

True Colors is an enemies to lovers, boy next door, first time, slow burn M/M romance with a generous helping of UST. This no-cliffhanger, HEA book can be read as a standalone. 

4 Stars

Marco and Oskar were best-friends growing up, but a falling out tears apart the friendship that once seemed strong and unbreakable, and sends Oskar running away. Now Oskar is back and the young men are forced to interact, Marco has to decide if he can forgive Oskar for the hurt he caused in the past.

Anyone who reads my reviews knows my very favorite trope is second chances, and I absolutely loved this one. This was a sweet, yet heartbreaking story. My heart absolutely broke for Marco. He is so insecure about the scarring on his body and he is so desperate to have someone love him romantically, yet he's never tried for fear of being rejected.

Marco is such a lovable character, but I wasn't sure about Oskar. It took time for me to warm up to him, but once the issues were resolved, the way he treated Marco made me absolutely swoon. While I loved the secondary characters of their respective families, I wish more of the story had been devoted to Marco and Oskar as a couple.

This was a well-written story. It's filled with family, community, acceptance and love. Oskar and Marco had amazing chemistry, and the sex was hot, passionate and filled with love. This is my first book by this author, but I'll definitely be checking out some other, especially book one in this series. Absolutely recommendable!!

*copy provided to me via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

4 Stars!

I loved Marco and Oskar's story, although perhaps not as much as the other Anyta Sunday books I've read before. It was a slow-burn and I have to admit I had to stop at one point and ask my co-blogger, Tracy, who'd read this book before I did, if they were ever going to get together, because I was sort of losing hope. And then I had a bit of a problem because having taken so long for them to get together, I felt kind of cheated because I would have liked to see them being a couple for longer. 

This is not the first book by this author that I've read and the others have been similar in that sense, slow-burn that gradually morphs into more. I guess I was just wanted more of Marco and Oskar together. *shrugs*

I loved Marco from the start, but I wasn't sure what to think of Oskar. I started to suspect there was more to him than met the eye when we met his boyfriend Jesse and realized he looked a lot like Marco was supposed to look. I am not a fan of the MCs being in relationships with others but it served its purpose here and I think it made the story even more realistic. Oskar and Marco had great chemistry and it was lovely seeing them get past their misunderstandings and move forward into rebuilding their friendship and then take their attraction to the next level.

The book was enjoyable and well-written, I felt it took too long until Oskar and Marco finally got together, but that's mostly my personal preference. Still, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book, it was really good!

***Copy provided to the reviewer via NetGalley for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***