OMG, what an absolutely lovely story - beautiful, touching, & heartbreaking all the same. 

The story revolves around an age-gap relationship (Clay, 44 & Ethan, 27) - Ethan is late-deafened and Clay is discovering his new sexual identity after decades of internalized homophobia. I appreciated how each of those topics were handled with such sensitivity and care. The way Ethan's hearing loss was portrayed while interacting with others was written really well through the use of "<i>mumble mumble</i>" in the dialogue. I found it gave a weight to how it impacted Ethan's daily life.

Both leads were easy to connect to and fall in love with, and their respective journeys (both individually and as a couple) flowed and developed in such a natural way. I loved that any of the conflict was external and that there was no 3rd-act breakup. This allowed them to cement their bond together into a really solid unit (yes, I know they only spent 1 week together, but it was done so well I fully believe their commitment to one another!) that played to the strengths of the age-gap trope.

<b><i>He stared at Ethan--at this brave, beautiful man who had burst into Clay's life and changed it forever. Clay hadn't even known how lost he was, but being found was more profound than he ever could have imagined.</i></b>

The epilogue was icing on the cake too. Absolutely loved and highly recommend!