by Chip Pons
G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2025. 384 pages. Romance.
Asher Bennet thought his relationship was just fine. Until he’s unceremoniously dumped at the Boston airport ahead of the world-wide travel competition reality show, The Epic Trek. Asher is determined to find a new partner and luckily, right in front of him is a smooth-talking airline pilot ready for takeoff. Theo Fernandez has been grounded. As he struggles to bask in his new downtime, without reconnecting with his family, he stumbles upon the perfect opportunity. Theo and Asher buckle up to fake date for the cameras, but as they do the undercurrents of attraction make them wonder if their on-screen chemistry hints at something bigger.
Every so often, I need what I call "cotton candy" reads: something light and fluffy, perhaps without a lot of substance, but sweet and palatable. That's exactly what I found in this work. The main characters are both extremely lovable, and it really just hit the spot.
Too often, MM romances are written for the female gaze, with heteronormative standards (i.e., one masc partner with one femme), or unrealistic sex mechanics, or blatant fetishization. Pons does a good job of writing a realistic, refreshing story with surprising emotional depth for the genre.
I also appreciated how he chose to focus on the joy the characters are pursuing rather than the pain they go through: we still feel pain in both sides of the story, but it's not the central focus as happens all too often in gay literature.
A delightful, modern rom-com with impressive character development despite an ending that might have dragged the tiniest bit.