First Priority: Priorities Book 1, Este Holland

The beginning almost turned me off completely.  I get arrogant characters who need a good love to give them perspective, but certain things that happened almost pushed it too far for me.  Truman started off as more despicable than unlikable and I was really, really worried he wouldn't redeem himself.  Turned out I worried a little too hard.  He ended up as one of the best men and I'm so glad I stuck it out.

Adam had mental health issues and I loved that the way it was dealt with was real.  That there's no real cure and that he found his own coping methods.  While the actual follow-through with some of it was inconsistent, it was still a present thing in their lives that was handled realistically.  As an individual I thought he had backbone when it counted and learned to love himself and see himself through Truman's eyes.  He grew and deepened as a character and I liked that quite a lot.

There was a hint relatively early on about a possible conflict and it was never mentioned again until it surprised them all.  Completely unnecessary.  It really should have been nixed in favor of keeping the conflict between the person that sold them out and had been causing problems from the very beginning.  The confrontation with that person at the end was ... mature, I guess, but felt completely underwhelming.  Instead of thinking that a couple loose threads needed to be tied up, it would have been much more effecting to simplify and stick to only one.

The slower-to-act steamy aspect of their relationship was full of so much heart and understanding.  It showed exactly how far Truman came from his infamous beginning.  And seeing him in Ireland was fantastic.  I loved how they grew and the way they weren't chosen as the vehicle for tearing them apart before a reconciliation.  Instead, we get a more united front dealing with those things that sought to bring them down and pull them away from one another.  Their relationship and how it grew, deepened, that was what really sold me on the story.

I have such high hopes for the rest of the series.  The small asides to introduce the next two couples we'll see more of was slightly distracting and I mostly wish they'd been saved for their own books, no matter the overlapping timelines we'd get later, but they weren't huge or so overt that I disliked them.  The characters were present enough to draw my interest without really pulling the attention from First Priority's MC's.  I'm really hoping the rest of the series follows the same level of depth and commitment that Adam and Truman showed here.  With a start to the series that was utterly enjoyable, I've set the bar pretty high and can't wait to see how the rest plays out.

*$3.99 on Amazon!

Adam:
Meeting an A-list movie star like Truman James wasn’t part of my life plan, but neither was temporarily living with my bully of a stepbrother. Being hit on by said celebrity definitely hadn’t been planned. Beating my social anxiety wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, and avoiding the stubborn actor was even harder, so when I was thrust into the spotlight, there was only one thing I could do… Run.

Truman:
From the moment I set eyes on Adam Hendrix, I was enraptured. His sweet demeanor and pretty-boy looks captured my heart from the start, and I refused to let Adam get away. When the paparazzi began to swarm, I did the only thing I could to protect Adam… I whisked him away to a place no one could get to him. I let my guard down and showed Adam the real me. The one only a few people in the world know. But will it be enough to make him stay? Will I be enough to make him happy?