Life on Pause by Erin McLellan

Life on Pause by Erin McLellan

Review by Lauren

source: copy from Netgalley; all opinions are my own

Official Summary (add on Goodreads): Niles Longfellow is a nerd, and not the trendy type of nerd, either. He wears a historically accurate homesteader costume to work every day, has a total of one friend, and doesn’t know how to talk to guys. So when he gets a flat tire and the hottest hipster ever stops to help him, all Niles can think is that he’s wearing his stupid cowboy getup. Normally, Niles feels invisible to other men, but he’d take that invisibility any day over Rusty Adams seeing him in suede and fringe.

Rusty moved to Bison Hills to help his sister raise her daughter, and nothing is more important to him than that. He’s also fresh off a breakup, and isn’t prepared for anything complicated. But then he meets Niles. Rusty sees Niles as more than a clumsy, insecure guy in a costume. He sees a man who is funny, quirky, and unexpected.

Nothing about their connection is simple, though, especially the lies and insecurities between them. Niles doesn’t know if he can trust Rusty with his heart, and when Rusty’s sister decides to move away, Rusty doesn’t know if he can stay behind.

Review: I really loved both Niles and Rusty, together and as individual people. Life on Pause did have a lot of drama, but I felt that it was realistic and handled well. Niles has very low self-esteem so it's difficult for him to think that Rusty might actually want to be him, as opposed to someone else.

As for Rusty, he's very much a part of his sister and her daughter's lives. He helped raise his niece and with the idea of them moving, Rusty isn't entirely sure if getting into a relationship with Niles is a good idea. Neither of the guys wanted to hurt each other, and they were often trying to keep themselves from being hurt, but it's almost inevitable in a relationship. There were moments where I wished the two would talk more to each other and just be honest. It might have helped alleviate some of the drama, but at the same time, a lot of what occurs does help the two of them grow. When Rusty and Niles work, they work well together. I liked how the two of them did open up about certain aspects of their lives as they grew their relationship.

Another aspect I really liked about Life on Pause are the secondary characters, from Rusty's family to his co-worker/ex-boyfriend, to Niles' best friend. It added a lot of layers to the story so that while the relationship aspect was fraught with difficulties, the book wasn't entirely about Rusty and Niles' love life. This is the only book I've read from McLellan so far, but she's someone I'll keep an eye out for in the future!