The other day, I was listening the one of my favorite podcasts, Heaving Bosoms, and they were talking about a book that I’ve seen so often on my KU recommendations, but for some reason hadn’t gotten around to reading. I knew from the moment they started the summary that I needed to turn off the podcast and immediately start reading this one.

In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish is an MM romance about Daniel Mulligan, who has traveled from Philly to Holiday, Michigan to interview for an English professor position at Sleeping Bear University. Holiday is a very small, rural, northern Michigan town that is the polar opposite from the busy city of Philly. Daniel feels like an outsider and worries that, if he did get the job, he wouldn’t like living here, but his job prospects are limited and he’s running out of money.

After the interview, Daniel is on his way to his Motel 6 when a dog runs out into the road, causing Daniel to overcorrect and crash onto the side of the road. He ends up hitting and injuring the dog. In a futile attempt to help, he scoops up the dog and starts walking to whatever civilization would hopefully be close by. While on his fruitless walk, a large man, carrying a gun comes stalking out of the woods. It’s, of course, at this point, when Daniel starts realizing how vulnerable he is alone in the woods while the sun is setting. Silly, silly, Daniel. Luckily for Daniel, Rex isn’t a serial killer, but a shy teddy bear, who was only out looking for an animal that had been lurking around his property lately.

Rex has a sordid past that we come to learn over time has led him to choosing to live a life of solitude in a cabin that he fixed up with his own two hands. Ever the problem solver, Rex immediately takes action. He scoops the dog out of Daniel’s arms and leads them to his house. He does what he can for the dog, promising to take her to the vet in the morning. Meanwhile, Daniel’s anxiety goes into hyperdrive, as he understands that he’s truly at the mercy of this quiet, burly man, who could, for all intents and purposes, do whatever he wanted with Daniel. Instead, he treats Daniel to a hot meal, shower, and clean clothes. As the night progresses, Daniel lets it slip that he’s gay, in a fit of nerves, to which Rex later responds with a kiss – really just to calm Daniel down…sure Rex. Nothing else happens from there. Rex leaves in the morning to take the dog to the vet and Daniel leaves.

We think that’s it until, wouldn’t you know, Daniel gets the job. By the end of the summer, he’s back in Holiday, preparing for the year ahead. He arranges for a shitty apartment in town, where he can be close to campus and the small amount of shops and restaurants. One restless night, he decides to head out for a walk when he gets knocked to the ground by something. Turns out it’s, wait for it, Marilyn, the dog that he hit with his car back in February. Rex chases after Marilyn and sees Daniel. You can imagine what happens next.

Let’s talk about why I gave this book five stars. This is my first Roan Parrish, but I can tell that she’s a seasoned writer. She choses her words carefully and brings details into the story without feeling compelled to explain everything to the reader. For instance, early on in the story, Daniel is on the phone with a person named Ginger. Without pausing the plot for a diatribe on who Ginger is and what she means to Daniel, Roan injects a lightness into their tone and inside jokes that give us the sense that she’s an important side character, who will develop as the book progresses. When authors trust their readers to stick with the story and all will be revealed makes me feel like they truly know what they are doing and I tend to rate these ones higher.

The trope “miscommunication” isn’t always my favorite. It can be tedious to walk a journey with characters, who refuse to sit down and just hash it out. However, Roan gives us two of the saddest broken boys dealing with their fragile baggage and through well-timed flashbacks we begin to understand the context as to why it takes them so long to figure out their shit. All Rex wants to do is take care of Daniel and hot mess Daniel is so self-loathing that he sees Rex’s offers as a reflection on his inability to care for himself. Ah, a classic. We get to see them improving themselves through their support of each other over time, which is so beautiful to watch.

This book is very dialogue heavy. Maybe it’s because I’ve lived in the fantasy section for a while, where you rely on lots of plot and descriptions to understand the world. However, Daniel has a LOT to say, which is a symptom of his anxiety, yes, but there’s a lot of talking. Even Rex. We learn that he’s normally, painfully shy, but around Daniel he’s a right chatty cathy. I wonder if Roan does this on purpose to help us understand the importance of their relationship and how deeply Rex feels about Daniel.

Some trigger warnings though: homophobia, violence, and self-harm are included in this story, so take care. If those things are going to make you uncomfy, then maybe this isn’t for you. I will assure you though, if you still want to give it a shot, the rest of the story will make it worth it. There are also heavy themes of classism, elitism, and disability discrimination. But Roan handles these themes sooooo well.

There are two other books in this series: Out of Nowhere and Where We Left Off, which are also MM romances between other characters. I sprinted through the second and am now enjoying the third. Highly recommend those too. I might even check out some other books that Roan has written, but after this third one I have to get back to the Hades and Persephone series – I took a quick break. If you’re interested in learning more about Roan Parrish, you can check out her website here. Feel free to leave a comment if you’ve read any of these!