3.5*

With the first spin-off from the Clean Slate series, A.M. gives us a slightly different perspective on the best friend's brother trope.

It's coupled with a bit of found family, some dealing with your past elements, and a not quite second chance romance.

There's a small (eight years) between Hugo and Brand and I have to say, at times I'm not sure they really read like 27 and a 35 year old men, more like young adult at times.

Some of that is down to the story choices of having Brand be struggling with his bisexuality and still living at home on his parent's ranch.

Hugo is a bit more world weary and they're both utterly rubbish at communicating, thankfully it doesn't become a major plot point.

They flit and flop through a "will they, won't they" and there's a fair amount of UST before the inevitable happens.

I liked that there were strong secondary characters and a good sense of the setting, as well as a plot arc which provided other external tensions outside of just the relationship.

Overall I think it's a solid opener which sets up a few other potential options for future books.

#ARC kindly received from the publishers Carina Press via NetGalley in return for an honest and unbiased review.