The Other Brother by Jax Calder

I absolutely LOVED this book! It was such an emotional, completely addictive and swooning rivals-to-friends-to-lovers story with amazing character growth! And some truly amazing chemistry between the main characters... I read this book in one sitting, completely hooked from the very first page!

The two main characters of this story are Ryan and Cody, two seventeen boys who are bound by some very dysfunctional and toxic family ties, but have never been close. On the contrary, as the family’s trouble kid, Ryan has always been compared to the perfect Cody and never met his standards… Ryan is something of a carefree happy-go-lucky surfer guy, who doesn’t worry about the future but more about the next party or about pulling pranks on his sisters. He’s also out and proud as bisexual. Cody on the other hand is the perfect on paper son, who is a high achieving musician, talented tennis player and extremely well behaved. But he also struggles with a lot of issues, such as anxiety and being secretly gay, as Ryan will get to find out after a summer when circumstances collide, and the two boys end up spending time together at Cody’s family’s beach house.

In case the family ties seem confusing, I want to make it really clear that there is nothing tabu about Ryan and Cody getting feelings for each other. They are not in any way related by blood and have not grown up together, even though they share the same half-sisters since Ryan’s Mom and Cody’s Dad were previously married and had two daughters together, before they spit up in a very nasty divorce. After that they both remarried and had a son each (Ryan and Cody) in their second marriages. So nothing inappropriate or tabu, but complicated to say the least… especially since Ryan’s Mom and Cody’s Dad absolutely hate each other and uses their daughters (Ryan’s and Cody’s sisters) as ammunition in their own private war.

I absolutely loved Jax Calder’s writing style and the amazing rivalry and love/hate-dynamic between Ryan and Cody. I loved their banter and the humor, and not to mention the burning chemistry… Both of the characters immediately stole my heart in their own separate ways. The toxic family drama, the slow-burn and their emotional rollercoaster when realizing their feelings for each other and the consequences all felt very real and realistic. My heart ached for the struggle Ryan and Cody had to go through. Jax Calder did an amazing job capturing the complicated family dynamics between the two families and how much damage a conflict between parents can cause their children. A detail that I truly could relate too which made Cody even more real and authentic was his disgust for raisins. I feel the same way too, and it made me root for him even more.

All in all, The Other Brother was an absolutely amazing book! It was a truly adorable and emotional slow-burn enemies-to-lovers Romeo and Juliet kind of romance with all the feels and character growth. I read it in one sitting, it was so addictive and I rooted so much for all characters that I just couldn’t bear to put it down until the very end! I can’t recommend it enough!
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Thank you to Xpresso Book Tours and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC for this wonderful book! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
5 stars

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Author info:
Jax Calder