Hi there! Today I’m sharing a Throwback Thursday review for a contemporary M/M romance from Kate McMurray. SEE THE LIGHT features two lifelong friends finally connecting in the way one of them had always hoped.

About the book:
Up-and-coming Broadway actor Jeremy was given two days to get up and get out. Dumped by his long-term boyfriend and suddenly homeless, he needs a sofa and a sympathetic ear, stat.

Enter Max, aspiring makeup artist and Jeremy’s BFF and former roommate.

Max has been in love with his best friend forever. Now that Jeremy is back in his home, his old feelings are back, too. He’s happy to help his friend, but this time…it’s complicated.

When Jeremy gets his big break in a new show, the message of the play hits home. “Live life to the fullest” means recognizing how he really feels about Max, and that’s not complicated at all. Jeremy’s in love, and wants to move full steam ahead.

But Max has waited too long for Jeremy to look at him this way, and he doesn’t want to risk his heart. If this is just a rebound fling, or if Jeremy is only interested in Max because he’s convenient, it will not only shatter him—it will ruin the best friendship he’s ever known

My Review:
Jeremy has returned to New York from a stint acting up in Boston to find his boyfriend of the past few years has decided to shack up with someone else, and he has two days to remove his belongings from their shared apartment. He’s mad, really mad, with this whole situation. He puts most of his stuff into storage and calls up his oldest and dearest friend, Max, to see if he can spend the next few weeks on Max’s couch while he hunts for a new permanent residence and auditions for new roles.

Max, who has been in love with Jeremy since….ever agrees, knowing he’s risking falling hard and getting hurt. Max is a makeup artist and runs a modest studio for stage performers in the NYC theater scene. He also does drag makeup for his ex-boyfriend and other baby queens being shepharded by his ex. Right now, it’s not ideal for Jer to be staying with him, because he has a lot of design work in the pipeline, but he’d never refuse Jeremy’s needs–except when Jeremy begins making motions like he’s coming on to Max–because that is surely the road to heartbreak.

For Jeremy, being in Max’s apartment is like coming home. They’d been roommates for years until Jeremy was spending more nights with his now-ex and Max suggested he wanted a single place of his own. Truth was, Max was dying, seeing Jeremy fall for another man. With that distance, and his new role in a liberating LGBTQ-positive production, Jeremy is waking up to not only the deep feelings of love and attraction he has for Max, he’s also realizing that he inadvertently broke Max’s heart–and he’s ready to make amends.

This was a really engaging friends-to-lovers romance that imparted a lot of cool info about the Broadway scene, as well as how young struggling actors and artists go to battle each day to make their dreams reality. Max is a sweet soul, hiding in plain sight and offering the safe harbor fabulous Jeremy needs. When it comes to their dilemma of not being friends–because becoming lovers could mess this up–they have a break, by Max’s choice. He needs to trust the Jer will be by his side forever, and Jeremy definitely gives him the confidence to act on faith. The drag queen moments were fun, and I loved having both points of view giving me insight into this developing relationship. Sweet and uplifting, with a moderate amount of angst.

Interested? You can find SEE THE LIGHT on Goodreads, Carina Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. I read a review copy via NetGalley.

About the Author:
Kate McMurray writes smart romantic fiction. She likes creating stories that are brainy, funny, and of course sexy, with regular guy characters and urban sensibilities. She advocates for romance stories by and for everyone. When she’s not writing, she edits textbooks, watches baseball, plays violin, crafts things out of yarn, and wears a lot of cute dresses. She’s active in Romance Writers of America, serving for two years on the board of Rainbow Romance Writers, the LGBT romance chapter, and three—including two as president—on the board of the New York City chapter. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with two cats and too many books.

You can catch up with Kate on her website, Facebook, and twitter.

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!