Reveal: Men of Hidden Creek Season 4 Book 4, HJ Welch

Whenever a geek scores a jock, or in this case a fireman, I just about melt.  There's a lot to unpack in Jason Miller's view of self-worth, but because Channing is patient, sweet, and kinda oblivious, they create a lot of magic together.  Reveal gives us a ton of my favorite tropes (ugly duckling, opposites attract, fake relationships...), an antagonist that actually sees his karmic return gift, a bit of danger, and a whole lot of tenderness and first time steam.

What I really appreciated about this story was the "love yourself first" concept.  Jason has spent his entire life trying to fit in with his peers or to just blend into the background.  His one bit of self-acceptance was when he got to live out his geeky imagination back in the day with a couple childhood friends.  There's a whole lot of "real man" talk that's pretty deplorable as well as over-the-top and because Jason is incredibly vulnerable he gets sucked into those ridiculous ideas of societal norms.  He has a big "A-ha!" moment in the salon where he gets completely schooled by his friends.  It brought to the forefront that his ideas about the LGBTQ+ community around him are just as hurtful as his ideas about himself.  It was a toxic mix of projecting his insecurities on the community at large as well as internalizing all the hate that can come from the ignorant masses.

I won't say that a few outfits, a haircut, some makeup, and a killer pair of boots will fix all the years of internalizing all the damaging rhetoric, but it can definitely give you the boost to see yourself beyond the box you've shoved yourself into.  For Jason, it gives him a glimpse through other people's eyes that they're suddenly seeing a glimmer of confidence and personal expression that was completely missing before.  It's a stepping stone to seeing himself as more.  When he was in charge of his own look, he was still too deep into the workplace abuse he'd endured to embrace any real change.  He needed the help of friends who saw the real him.

As for the relationship, it was mainly sweetness, exploration, and subtle revelations with a small period of them figuring their individual stuff out enough to realize they wanted to be together.  There was no real conflict there and certainly no real angst regarding sexual inclinations on Channing's part.  I'm not a fan of one character making decisions for the other, especially in regards to their own wants, needs, and desires, and Jason really fell prey to that.  And with the karmic justice, it was well-earned by the slightly cliched bully and I especially loved the reckoning coming from the spouse.  She, along with quite a few other side characters, gave a good base for Jason and Channing to find their way both alone and together.  I kept thinking about how I want friends like these ones...Hidden Creek gets all the good ones.

*$3.99 on Amazon

“I wish this were real with you.”

Geeky Jason Miller has never really been with a man, and his bullying colleagues at NASA know it. But when an innocent white lie gets out of hand, Jason never would have guessed his gorgeous-but-straight childhood friend would leap to his rescue.

Firefighter Channing Forster saves people every day, so when protecting his former next-door neighbor turns into faking a relationship for a work getaway, he doesn’t hesitate. As the weekend goes on, though, Channing starts to think that he doesn’t just see cute Jason Miller as a buddy anymore.

Are Channing’s feelings for Jason real enough that he could be his first? Jason needs to accept his true self before he can love another. But when his colleagues and boss discover his many secrets, will he lose everything forever, including Channing?