The Return

Wow just wow…

The first book of the series wasn’t really for me, so I was skeptical of this sequel, but damn I was wrong.
Oh man, I cried like a baby! This hits directly into the feelings. I loved it. I was a mess when I finished, but it was worth it.
This was Topher’s story, true, but for me, it was all Stanton.

First, you must now that there’s more than a twenty-year age gap between Topher and Stanton. That’s not an issue for Topher, but it is for Stanton, but that’s really not the point!!!

OMG! This series is escalating from contemporary to paranormal fast! But I will not give you details! Trust me, if you decide to read it, you won’t regret it! Emotional angst doesn’t even cover it when it comes to this story.

It’s constantly back and forth in time from Stanton’s point of view, building up to a finale that will blow your mind. You will get the hunch to where the story might lead, but you’re not quite sure. Because stuff like this is just out of the norm!
While in general, I’m not fond of when the MC’s past love lives are mentioned in books, but this book makes a difference. I enjoyed every word of it, be it from the past or the present.

Stanton is a famous music critic, and Topher is the lead singer and songwriter of his indie band of four. The band are very close friends, coming from a small town from the middle of the nowhere. They’re like brothers, living together dreaming the big dream, but at the same time, they’re very down to earth type of guys.

When fate brings Stanton into the auto shop where Topher works as a mechanic, his life takes a one-eighty. And from there, with mysterious phone calls, Topher starts to discover himself, and his feelings toward Stanton.

Dude, just read it already!

Reviewed by Meredith for Diverse Reader

There are so very few moments in our lives where we finish a book and say, “I will remember this forever.” The Return is a book that I read a couple years ago and can remember it like it was yesterday. It has stayed with me all these years. So, when my week of doing the Flashback Friday came I knew exactly what book I was choosing.



This book is life-changing. It was recommended to me by a friend and I remember reading the blurb and thinking how average it looked. The cover was almost bland. It seemed so simple. Little did I know how wrong I was. As it’s said in this story quite a few times, “The Devil is in the details.”



What made this book so utterly unforgettable? That is hard to explain. This is a book about time. About moments that last forever and break the laws of logic. It’s about love and how when it’s cut short when it wasn’t supposed to be, well, you get a second chance. This is a book about forgiving yourself and understanding that keeping your heart closed off at the risk of getting hurt will in fact slowly kill you.



This book jumps time. And though you may say you hate that you will see how outstanding and vital it is.



Brad Boney broke barriers with this book. He addresses issues that are so very real in a book that you may question possibility. He pulls the rawness from the pure beauty and wipes the slate clean for these tainted characters. He twists you up and you welcome the tears. It’s cathartic. When I closed this book the first time I wept for a long time. I cried for its beauty, its message, and the emotions it pried from my soul. I don’t know a whole lot of books that have affected me the way The Return has and it’s easily one of the best books I’ve ever read. Ever.



I didn’t come out of this the same and I’m glad. I never realized how little I understood and how blind I was to fate, power, and human nature.



When someone asks me what book I recommend that will make them feel every emotion this book is always a top three and in the many years that have passed since I read this that has not changed.

Do yourself a favor and treat your heart to this story.

Loved this! A wonderful story with engaging characters. You will not regret buying this book!

With this book Brad Boney has become one of my fav authors.

A wonderfully imaginative book. Some of the best music ever written and recorded forms the backdrop of this story of love, loss and finding love again. As a music lover, I really felt a connection with this book… you might say it “sang” to me. And yes, in the “Blood Brothers” chapter, when the guys paused the Greatest Game to sing Yesterday, I had to set my Kindle aside for a moment to sing along with them. The whole story is just infused with this wonderful music and it really sets the mood for the story.
The focus of the book is on the evolving relationship between Topher and Stanton, as well as Stanton’s difficulties in loving and trusting again because of the way his previous relationship with Hutch played out. And then there is, of course, the age difference between Topher and Stanton. But the story was really much more than that as you can’t look at these two characters in isolation because their friends play such an integral part of their lives. Stanton is caught between two parallel universes as the similarities between Topher and Hutch begin to emerge and then the growing realization that the connections don’t stop there. I loved the little tidbits and details scattered throughout the story like breadcrumbs that lead us to the connection between Topher and Hutch.
There are tragically sad moments with the deaths of Stanton and Marvin’s friends (Robert, Michael, and Paul), and then Stanton’s partner, Hutch, but if let this put you off story you are missing the whole point of this incredible journey, which I believe is about love, hope, forgiveness and transcendence. After all, as Hutch kept telling Stanton, life is about “playing the long game.” Or to use Topher’s words, “It seems to me that it doesn’t much matter where you start out in life. The only thing that really matters is where you end up.” And I think we can all agree that by the end of the book these men ended up living the life they were meant to live.
Just an amazing reading experience… Brad Boney, welcome to my OMG! Shelf.