Blog Tour Review: Back to You by Chris Scully

Posted June 16, 2017 by shooting in Book Review / 22 Comments

Back to You by Chris Scully 

Review by Lauren

source: copy from Netgalley; all opinions are my own

Official SummaryJournalist Alex Buchanan has come home to the remote British Columbia town he grew up in, but only because his estranged father is dying. For Alex, the homecoming holds a mix of memories, mostly bad. The only bright spot is reconnecting with Benji Morning, the childhood friend he never truly forgot. As boys, the strength of their bond had frightened Alex. But now that he’s confident in his bisexuality, he’s drawn back to quiet, soft-spoken Ben.

Ben isn’t the same boy Alex left behind, though. His life has been overshadowed by the disappearance of his sister two decades earlier, and now a new break in the case threatens to undo the peace he’s worked so hard to attain.

As Alex struggles to repair the relationship with his father before it’s too late, he finds himself caught up in a twenty-year-old mystery, a story he never expected, and a shocking truth that could affect his and Ben’s future together.

ReviewWelcome to my stop in the Back to You blog tour. I really love m/m romance, but I also like when there is an added genre on top of it because then you not only get the romance, you get a fully fledged story apart from the two main characters. In Back to You, Alex comes home after receiving a phone call from his sister telling him their father is dying. Alex isn’t on good terms with his dad, but he goes thinking he could write an article about it. Of course, once he’s home again, he has to reach out to his childhood friend, Ben, who kissed him right before Alex’ family moved at the age of 13. He hasn’t seen or spoken to Ben since, but he’s always held a flame for him.

Two childhood friends reconnect after 20 years...and investigate a murder! #mmromance #bookreview Click To Tweet

I love friends to lover romances, and it was really nice to see Ben and Alex getting to know each other again after all the years in between. I also appreciated that while Ben is gay, Alex is actually bisexual, and nobody shames him for that and says he can’t be. Bisexuality is valid too and I love when authors have characters that are bi.

As for the other aspect of this book, there is a 20-year mystery of what happened to Ben’s older sister, who disappeared one day. Alex decides to help investigate, unsure if he really wants to know the answers. It was a really good mystery -I was fairly surprised by the outcome, but it’s a good one! It definitely ends on a hopeful note for most people involved. All in all, this was a good one!

22 responses to “Blog Tour Review: Back to You by Chris Scully

  1. I love a good friends-to-lovers, too. It’s great because they already have a history together and it doesn’t feel like the romance comes out of left field. I like the twist of the mystery thrown in there. This sounds like a great read.

  2. Purple Reader

    Congrats and thanks for the post, and good review. I like how you said you like an added genre on top of the m/m to give a fully fleged story. I prefer that too, and this sounds like it’s just that. I’d like to see what’s done with the bisexuality; I can identify with going back to an estranged parent; and I’m a fan of mystery. – Purple Reader,
    TheWrote [at] aol [dot] com

  3. James Escol

    HFN is really more realistic than HEA. I’d read a story with HFN than a story with HEA any day. ^_^

  4. Thank you Lauren for your review and hosting me on my virtual tour. I’m always happy to reach people who aren’t typically romance readers. I wouldn’t call myself a typical romance reader either. Sometimes I like to make romance the sole focus, but other times I like branching out the story and letting the romance take a back seat. I’m lucky that I get to write both.

  5. H.B.

    Looking forward to getting to know the characters, their reunion and the mystery aspect.
    humhumbum AT yahoo DOT com

  6. Mia

    I love that this story features a gay and bisexual friendship/couple. There aren’t enough stories like this in the world. I am definitely adding this to my (ever-growing) to-read list. 🙂

  7. Kim

    I love when a book can surprise me. A lot of the books I have read lately I have been able to figure out in the first few chapters.

  8. Serena S.

    I’m always in with a mystery book and this definitely sounds like something I would enjoy.
    serena91291@gmail(dot)com

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