Michael is head over heels in love with Alex, the guy he’s been dating for six months. Michael thinks that Alex is perfection and still can’t believe that Alex is his seeing as Michael’s an average guy on a good day and less than that the rest of the time. Michael’s planning a rooftop romantic dinner to tell Alex how he feels and that he’s ready to take their relationship to the next level – to move in together. But when Alex doesn’t show up for dinner and then unceremoniously dumps him by telephone and via voice mail it sends Michael into a tailspin.

Jim is Michael’s best friend and roommate. He wants to hunt down Alex like the dog that he is and break every bone in his body for hurting his Michael. Jim tries his best to cheer up his devastated friend but with no luck until one fateful night while he’s comforting Michael they become more than friends. The last thing Jim expected was to fall in love with Michael, after all they’re just very good friends with benefits right? Why did Michael take-off without as much as a goodbye? And why is Jim so damn hurt by it? Could Michael be the one that got away?

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The One That Got Away is the first book in TC Blue’s One and One series. In it she delivers a great story of angst, love, and happily-ever-after along with two very believable characters that you cannot help but fall in love with.

In Michael we get a character that lacks self-confidence and doesn’t believe he’s good enough to be loved. He’s not good looking enough, or smart enough, or interesting enough. Feelings of insecurity that are altogether familiar to many of us mere mortals. In Jim’s character we get a sports-watching, beer-drinking, truck driver-swearing, no nonsense alpha male who’s all heart. A true and loyal friend to Michael, who loves him unconditionally, is protective of him and sees his beauty both inside and out.

What I found most enjoyable about this story was the interaction between these two very well developed characters, with points of view that are written with emotional depth and convincing dialogue that makes their respective reactions to their situation quite believable. This combination made Michael and Jim very accessible to me as a reader and I found myself easily relating to, and identifying with, both of them.

We also get some very well developed secondary characters in the form of Elliot, Jim’s childhood friend, who is so incorrigible you can’t help but want to smack him on the one hand and kiss him hard on the other, and Jamie who is Michael’s new friend and his sound voice of reason. Add to this a great plot and some exceptionally written sex scenes that burn-up the sheets, the shower stall and the couch and you’ve got all the ingredients for a thoroughly pleasurable erotic romance. So much so that I read this story twice back-to-back and then immediately followed up with the second book in the One and One series, Elliot’s and Jamie’s story in The One That Was Lost, which incidentally equally won’t disappoint. I am now waiting for instalments of books three and four in the series.

Whether you’ve shed one too many tears over someone who was all wrong for you, or found yourself in love with your best friend but were too afraid to admit it, or have ever looked so hard for love that you didn’t realise that it was right in front of you all along The One That Got Away is a great story that will resonate.

The One That Got Away by TC Blue is available at Torquere Press.

Music: Bring It On Home – Little Big Town (The Road To Here, 2008)