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Pain Management
Tag and Reese have been friends forever, seeing each other through the good times and the bad, including the untimely death of Reese's lover. Until one drunken indiscretion threatens to change everything. But there is more than friendship on the line. Can Reese put the pain of his loss behind him and take a chance on a future with Tag, or will one hot night together be all Tag ever has of the man he's loved for as long as he can remember?
80 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 28, 2010
2 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
About the author
Cassidy Ryan
50 books35 followersCassidy Ryan lives and works in the West of Scotland, with Angel, the not-very-angelic kitty.
When she isn't writing, Cassidy enjoys football, shopping for the perfect handbag, main-lining coffee and watching TV.
When she isn't writing, Cassidy enjoys football, shopping for the perfect handbag, main-lining coffee and watching TV.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 14, 2010
4.5 stars
Almost all the way through it, I have my chest constricted with emotion. I love the classic theme of carrying a torch for the best friend, where one will stand through thick and thin, and then get the happy ending in the end. The emotion that Tag and Reese have is just so strong and makes me all emotional.
I love the fact that the story is taken from both Tag and Reese point of view -- so we know how one is actually thinking about the other. The story is just so good, when Reese visited the grave to say goodbye to his dead lover, I just lost it and cried. Of course, the ending make me all happy again and smiling like an idiot (with tears still hanging there)
Almost all the way through it, I have my chest constricted with emotion. I love the classic theme of carrying a torch for the best friend, where one will stand through thick and thin, and then get the happy ending in the end. The emotion that Tag and Reese have is just so strong and makes me all emotional.
I love the fact that the story is taken from both Tag and Reese point of view -- so we know how one is actually thinking about the other. The story is just so good, when Reese visited the grave to say goodbye to his dead lover, I just lost it and cried. Of course, the ending make me all happy again and smiling like an idiot (with tears still hanging there)
October 23, 2012
I have mixed feelings on this one.
I like the friends to lovers theme, and Reese overcoming his grief at the loss of his lover Kal to move on with his life.
The chapters switch between Tag and Reese's POV, which allows us to see both sides at times felt a bit jarring for me.
I missed the friendship between these two, we hear about what great friends they are and have been since grade school, but I didn't really see it.
And was Reese surprised that Tag has loved him for years? did he really not know? That is sort of an open question for me, since he met and loved Kal and now it's ok to love Tag?
It was a touching story, but I just didn't see the love between these two.
A major pet-peeve for me was in this story, it might not bother anyone else, but it took at least .5* off for me!
I like the friends to lovers theme, and Reese overcoming his grief at the loss of his lover Kal to move on with his life.
The chapters switch between Tag and Reese's POV, which allows us to see both sides at times felt a bit jarring for me.
I missed the friendship between these two, we hear about what great friends they are and have been since grade school, but I didn't really see it.
And was Reese surprised that Tag has loved him for years? did he really not know? That is sort of an open question for me, since he met and loved Kal and now it's ok to love Tag?
It was a touching story, but I just didn't see the love between these two.
A major pet-peeve for me was in this story, it might not bother anyone else, but it took at least .5* off for me!
November 19, 2013
This is the angst-fest to end all angst-fests. 3 stars if that isn't really your thing, 3.5 if it is.
Tag has been in love with his best friend, Reese, since they were children, but he always knew that they would never be more than friends. He knew this through school; he knew this through the painful process of watching Reese fall in love with his partner, Kal; he knew this as he watched Reese grieve after Kal's death (which happens before the book starts). And he had reconciled himself to it. What he did not know was this: he and Reese would one day hook up, and it would lead them to question whether or not even the friendship could survive. This isn't easy for either of them. Reese feels incredibly guilty because he doesn't want to betray Kal, but beyond that, he doesn't want to hurt his best friend. And Tag is devastated, too -- he has been in love with Reese for so long, this is like a miracle, but he is reeling from the belief that his relationship with Reese will be a casualty of a drunken mistake.
The authors put us inside each character's head in alternating chapters, and that allows us to see how both of them are dealing with the fallout. (Luckily, they don't recap the same events from the POV of each character; rather, the story continues in linear fashion. We simply hear each new set of events from a different perspective.) Since this is a romance, you know how it's going to end, but I've rarely seen the best friend-to-lovers plot marked with so much agony!
This is one of those books that you should read if you have a kink for overly-dramatic relationships characterized by intense amounts of pain. Whatever. We all have our secret (or not-so-secret anymore!), embarrassing little joys, and these authors delivered for me in buckets. So, yeah. This book is for emo people (like me) who want to read their books and cry. And then laugh at themselves for getting into the sturm und drang of it all. I loved it.
Tag has been in love with his best friend, Reese, since they were children, but he always knew that they would never be more than friends. He knew this through school; he knew this through the painful process of watching Reese fall in love with his partner, Kal; he knew this as he watched Reese grieve after Kal's death (which happens before the book starts). And he had reconciled himself to it. What he did not know was this: he and Reese would one day hook up, and it would lead them to question whether or not even the friendship could survive. This isn't easy for either of them. Reese feels incredibly guilty because he doesn't want to betray Kal, but beyond that, he doesn't want to hurt his best friend. And Tag is devastated, too -- he has been in love with Reese for so long, this is like a miracle, but he is reeling from the belief that his relationship with Reese will be a casualty of a drunken mistake.
The authors put us inside each character's head in alternating chapters, and that allows us to see how both of them are dealing with the fallout. (Luckily, they don't recap the same events from the POV of each character; rather, the story continues in linear fashion. We simply hear each new set of events from a different perspective.) Since this is a romance, you know how it's going to end, but I've rarely seen the best friend-to-lovers plot marked with so much agony!
This is one of those books that you should read if you have a kink for overly-dramatic relationships characterized by intense amounts of pain. Whatever. We all have our secret (or not-so-secret anymore!), embarrassing little joys, and these authors delivered for me in buckets. So, yeah. This book is for emo people (like me) who want to read their books and cry. And then laugh at themselves for getting into the sturm und drang of it all. I loved it.
July 7, 2012
5 stars
I usually avoid angst-ridden book, but this book somehow pulled me in. From the title, we know that this book is quite emotional one. Fortunately, it is not some make-believe angst found in some m/m romance books where every bad things that exist in the world happens to one person (or a couple) at the same time, or those prolonged conflicts stem from misunderstanding and lack of communication. No. Here, the angst comes from mourning a dead lover, and from an unrequited love.
Tag and Reese have been best friends since they were young. They're also business partners now, together with some college friends. They were both gays. Tag had loved Reese forever, but Reese didn't know it and fell in love with another person, Kal. When Kal died, Tag helped Reese to get back to his life. It's been two years, and on the eve of the 2nd anniversary of Kal's death, the two best friends were drunk and slept with each other. The rest of the book is on how they deal with the new dimension of their relationship. Tag was afraid that he'd always be a second person to Reese. Reese felt that he's cheating on Kal. They were both in pain. Yet, they needed to manage the pains. Reese had to decide fast, since Tag had decided to move to a different city to be away from Reese.
This is a sad and sweet book. The supporting characters are good. Especially interesting is Tag's mother who also was facing similar dilemma with her much younger boyfriend.
I like that none of the angst came from miscommunication, a very common trope in m/m romance. Here, they all communicated, but they just had to deal with difficult choice. I shed some tears there.
I usually avoid angst-ridden book, but this book somehow pulled me in. From the title, we know that this book is quite emotional one. Fortunately, it is not some make-believe angst found in some m/m romance books where every bad things that exist in the world happens to one person (or a couple) at the same time, or those prolonged conflicts stem from misunderstanding and lack of communication. No. Here, the angst comes from mourning a dead lover, and from an unrequited love.
Tag and Reese have been best friends since they were young. They're also business partners now, together with some college friends. They were both gays. Tag had loved Reese forever, but Reese didn't know it and fell in love with another person, Kal. When Kal died, Tag helped Reese to get back to his life. It's been two years, and on the eve of the 2nd anniversary of Kal's death, the two best friends were drunk and slept with each other. The rest of the book is on how they deal with the new dimension of their relationship. Tag was afraid that he'd always be a second person to Reese. Reese felt that he's cheating on Kal. They were both in pain. Yet, they needed to manage the pains. Reese had to decide fast, since Tag had decided to move to a different city to be away from Reese.
This is a sad and sweet book. The supporting characters are good. Especially interesting is Tag's mother who also was facing similar dilemma with her much younger boyfriend.
I like that none of the angst came from miscommunication, a very common trope in m/m romance. Here, they all communicated, but they just had to deal with difficult choice. I shed some tears there.
May 21, 2011
4.5 stars. Very good m/m romance about two guys who are business partners and best friends, until a drunken night together threatens all of it. Um, I might've cried a bit - this one really got to me! (5/2011: I got sniffly on the reread, too.)
July 22, 2012
It's really hard to read when you can't see thru your tears, and your heart is lodged in your throat blocking off the air, your nose is stuffed up making it impossible to breath, and your chest feels like it's caving in and all that will be left is a black hole. This is exactly how I felt reading this amazing story of love, loss, unrequited love, running away, letting go, and eventually the birth of new love. I cannot express enough how awesome this story is.
I usually steer away from angsty reads mainly because I find the reasons behind the angst are usually unbelievable and unrealistic. Some authors think they need to throw everything including the kitchen sink at the characters in order to keep them apart. However, these authors tackled one simple thing. The one thing we all fear: death of someone we love AND how it can cripple us emotionally and physically from opening our hearts again. They did an excellent job of portraying why it's hard to let go and why we should, as stated so fucking brilliantly below:
"Her words triggered something in me. Was I afraid to let go of Kal because I loved him, or because I was afraid of forgetting what could happen if I let myself love another and he died too? What would I do if I let myself love Tag? What would I do if he died? A little voice welled up, crawling through my doubts to whisper something hopeful.What if he lived?"
I usually steer away from angsty reads mainly because I find the reasons behind the angst are usually unbelievable and unrealistic. Some authors think they need to throw everything including the kitchen sink at the characters in order to keep them apart. However, these authors tackled one simple thing. The one thing we all fear: death of someone we love AND how it can cripple us emotionally and physically from opening our hearts again. They did an excellent job of portraying why it's hard to let go and why we should, as stated so fucking brilliantly below:
"Her words triggered something in me. Was I afraid to let go of Kal because I loved him, or because I was afraid of forgetting what could happen if I let myself love another and he died too? What would I do if I let myself love Tag? What would I do if he died? A little voice welled up, crawling through my doubts to whisper something hopeful.What if he lived?"
July 18, 2010
Wow this book was so good. It was a 5 hanky for me. Great great book. I didn't want it to end.
July 21, 2012
Jeeeesus!! Usually such short books don't do much for me, but this was a ass-kicker. Such strong emotions in such a crammed space. Really great writing and totally lovable mcs.
January 1, 2012
the alternating point of view by chapter was very distracting.
February 27, 2013
For so long Tag loves Reese, who only sees him as friend, meets and falls in loves someone else, and then after that lover dies Reese suddenly loves Tag? They've known each other for so long, if Reese would have fallen in love with Tag, he had plenty of chance to do so long before this, so unless something huge happened for Reese to start seeing Tag differently or to admit to himself that he doesn't see him only as friend Reese's love is more than a little unbelievable. The realization of how he came to love Tag was not shown enough for his feelings to be believable or real, which made the whole book a disappointment for me. Well, that is my opinion, anyway.
January 10, 2012
3.5
I'm a pure sucker for friends to lovers books. This story surprised me in the sense that I wasn't sure what to expect and liked it so much more than I thought I would going into the story. It suffers from short storyitis, too much in a short amount of time...but it left me wishing it had been a novel size, which is a good thing. I enjoyed learing about Tag and Reese and the supporting characters were great. I finished feeling good about the story :)
I'm a pure sucker for friends to lovers books. This story surprised me in the sense that I wasn't sure what to expect and liked it so much more than I thought I would going into the story. It suffers from short storyitis, too much in a short amount of time...but it left me wishing it had been a novel size, which is a good thing. I enjoyed learing about Tag and Reese and the supporting characters were great. I finished feeling good about the story :)
July 27, 2012
This was a nice story, but it really didn't grab me near as much as I had hoped. The POV constantly changes, and while it was nice to see both sides of the story, I thought it happened a bit too frequently for my taste. Certain things along the way in this story just didn't jive for me, but the characters are all cute, and I thought both the mc's and the surrounding characters were interesting but just wasn't able to make the connections.
October 28, 2012
A short story about two best friends who have a one night fling and deal with the consequences of it. Tag has been best friends with Reese forever, and has been in love with him just as long. Reese's former lover died and he is still dealing with the after effects. Sad and sweet story, unfortunately the last few paragraphs ruined it a little for me. Still a nice short to gobble up in one sitting.
June 15, 2011
The romance isn't so satisfying when you know that had Kal been alive, Reese would never have fallen for best friend or seen him in that light even though Tag's always been there, was there long before Kal ever entered the picture, and has been in love with him all along. Feels too much like settling for second best. I wasn't convinced that Reese was truly in love with Tag.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2011
I don't like to read novellas becuae I never feel like I get my $$ worth. Ends too soon, ending is usually abrupt, loose ends, etc. Sort of the case here in one way or another.
Seemed like the MC mourning his partner's death is all "woe is me" and then next thing you know he is not...so this was okay, the bones of a good plot were there but too short. IMHO 2.5 stars.
Seemed like the MC mourning his partner's death is all "woe is me" and then next thing you know he is not...so this was okay, the bones of a good plot were there but too short. IMHO 2.5 stars.
May 21, 2011
Now this is really deeply emotionally story full of grief, love and friendship. The story would be better if all the characters would be more developed and story better plotted, but in general enjoyable story.
August 3, 2012
3.5 stars
August 3, 2012
Cute read...very short. I liked the MCs- could have taken it to a longer story, but it was a good read.
August 29, 2012
Really good story,liked it a lot. Even though I didn't quite have the emotional connection to it as I thought I would have...
November 13, 2012
This was a decent light read.
July 18, 2014
*** 3.5 Stars ***
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews