N.R. Walker might just be the queen of low-angst MM Romance. Every book I’ve read by her has had minimal angst—usually caused by lack of self confidence or the evergreen male trait of refusing to talk to each other—and every one has been absolutely lovely. And To the Moon and Back was no different.
I grabbed this one when I wanted a quick read and for some reason was like “I’d love to read a single dad romance.” It didn’t hurt it was a grumpy/sunshine that I also truly enjoyed. It features Gideon, an exhausted first time dad to his adopted nephew, Benson, whose partner abandoned him because of the adoption, and Toby, a nanny with a background in early childhood education, who moves in to help as Gideon returns to his full time work.
The book moves pretty fast, but the heat builds slowly. Thanks to the dual narrative we find that both protagonists fancy the other pretty early on, but they try really hard not to give in because of their boss/employee relationship.
Obviously, they ultimately do give in and let’s just say Walker knows how to write very very good sex scenes. She’s a big slow reveal author so the first one was a little rushed and sporadic, but the follow up conversation was comedy gold:
Toby smiled as he sipped his coffee and Gideon wasn’t sure what to say next. They probably still had things to discuss, but he needed to get his head around everything first.
‘Just so you know,’ Toby said, ‘I’m vers. Top or bottom, I’m bossy either way.’ Gideon’s coffee came out his nose. (132)
The whole passage was hilarious, but this one just made me actually laugh out loud. Add in that Walker walked the walk on verse characters (especially both being vers), and I was like an extra star for you.
I’ve never actually had any kind of ongoing sexual relationship with another vers guy. I’ve only ever been with guys who preferred one or the other, or no anal sex at all, or whatever. Everyone’s different, which I can appreciate. That’s totally fine. (144)
I think my favorite part of the novel was when Toby’s mom had to be brought in because Toby and Gideon both got food poisoning and it just was a turn in the novel of them eventually getting together and Toby’s big Italian family adopting Gideon and Benson as their own even before they had fully figured out their potential relationship.
A lot of reviewers had issues with the lack of resolution around Toby’s working for Gideon after they were dating, but I have to guess it was just off the page that as Toby established his nannying/pre-school business, Gideon and Toby shifted to more partners/investor in the business and Gideon wasn’t paying for Toby to nanny Benson, but was instead supporting the business so Toby could watch other kids too.
The end was absolutely perfect, to me at least. We got a guest cameo from Henry and Reid from Walker’s The Weight of It All, a book that I truly enjoyed because it had a big and tall protagonists AND we got a holy shit moment, that wasn’t the biggest surprise reveal, but created a beautiful conversation between Gideon and Toby and it just left me feeling so warm and fuzzy.
And last but not least, of course I’m going to love a book that has a character that takes a dig at coriander/cilantro:
I’m fine with differing opinions. I have no problem with that. But a difference of opinion is disagreeing on the horror that is coriander, not whether other people should be treated like human beings. That’s a deal breaker for me. (7)
This came back up later when Toby was offering to cook something for Gideon and said he would if he really wanted it to have cilantro, but he just preferred his food NOT to taste like soap and all I could say was “PREACH!” 😀
Recommendation: If you want a low-angst, single dad, grumpy/sunshine, hurt/comfort romance, then this is the perfect book for you. Walker writes great characters and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. There were a few references to things I had to look up (like a condom brand that also sounds like something else) in order to get the joke, but I always find that kind of neat. I’ve enjoyed all of Walker’s books and I’m sure I’ll read more in the future.
Opening Line: “You need some help.”
Closing Line: “Toby laughed, teary eyed at the bewildered look on Gideon’s face as reality began to sink in. ‘Twice.'” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)