Blurb:

The diagnosis of a chronic stomach condition leaves thirty-two-year-old Sergeant Jed Cooper with little choice but to call time on his Army career. Then on the dusty streets of Kirkuk, an ambush gone tragically wrong decimates his team, and he returns to the US with a shattered leg and the memory of his best friend dying in his arms.
Life in his sleepy hometown proves intolerable until he finds solace in a lakeside cabin with vivacious young carpenter, Max O’Dair. In the shadow of the epilepsy that periodically plagues Max, he and Jed form an unspoken bond. After a late night episode, Jed realizes how much Max means to him, and life has taught him not to waste time.

But the lines between contentment and complacency are blurred. Things left hidden resurface to tear through their world, and before they can repair the damage, death comes to call again. Faces, past and present, rally around them to weather the storm, but before long, they are left with only love.

My Review: 

The best books are those which make you feel. And boy did that book make me feel. Just wow!
Garrett Leigh has the extraordinary talent to write books with so much angst and yet they somehow leave you feeling good after you’ve finished them. Don’t get me wrong, when I read Only Love Garrett Leigh just about killed me with her words and I’m not exagerating when I tell you I needed A LOT of tissues. But I loved the book so much because it’s real. And it’s gritty. And so so good.
All the heartache you experience when you read this book is definitely worth going through when you read the last page of the book.

The title “Only Love” fits the book perfectly! I never doubted the depth of the feelings between Jed and Max. Even though they don’t say those three magical words often, the reader just knows they love each other. So you don’t need them to constantly say “I love you” to feel their love for each other. And that’s something I’ve realised is hard to find.
I’ve read books were it felt like the author needed to put as many “I love yous” in the story as possible, so the reader would know the main characters were in love. But I don’t want to be told that they’re in love, I want to feel it! I want to be able to actually experience it. The good and the bad. The heartbreak and the hope and everything inbetween. And that’s something Garrett Leigh knows how to do in general but I feel like this is especially true for Only Love.
I probably looked like a mess after I finished this book, with swollen eyes and a tear-stained face. I actually had to take breaks because I wasn’t able to read what was written on the page!
Everything felt so real. From the first page to the last, and I had to actually remind myself that Jed and Max are not real. They’re just characters in a book.

Only Love is an amazing story. A beautifully written, heartbreaking and sweet story with amazing characters, which will stay with you long after you’ve read the last page. I can’t recommend Only Love or Garrett Leigh enough. I just want everyone to read this book and all the other stories she’s written because her writing is amazing. And this book is truly special! One of my all time favourites!

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Review Garrett Leigh gay romance Only Love Publisher: Dreamspinner Press