This month’s TBR Challenge prompt – “Do the Hustle” – had me a bit stumped because I didn’t think I had a book on my TBR that would fit. Then I started reading Felice Stevens’ Broken Silence and realised I did have one, because one of the leads is working several jobs in order to make ends meet. (Which I’m interpreting as ‘hustling’.) It’s an emotional, slow-burn, age-gap romance featuring two men from very different backgrounds who are both struggling to find their way after events that turned their lives upside down.

Justin Molina is focused on graduating from college while also working two or three jobs so he can keep his head above water and pay for the care his disabled mother needs. Recently released from prison for theft (he was stealing in order to fund the purchase of marijuana to ease his terminally ill father’s pain) Justin is trying hard to get his life back on track, but still feels massively guilty that he missed his father’s funeral while he was inside and for not being there for his mother, who was injured in an accident which has left her unable to walk. Justin is a good person who did a dumb thing for the best of reasons, but he’s paid his debt to society and wants to move on – although having a record means that’s not easy.

Signing up for his college classes late means he’s stuck with taking subjects he’s not interested in, like the Introduction to Poetry class he’s attending when the book opens. Justin has no time or need for (or interest in) poetry – although he figures it might be worth sticking around for the eye candy – the unexpectedly hot professor – delivering the lectures. He needs to pass the class, so he’ll do the stupid poetry-writing homework – even if it’s writing a poem about how stupid it is to write poetry.

Foster Harding is in his early forties and is struggling to come to terms with his divorce from the younger woman he’d been married to for three years. He’s never been a social animal and has struggled to build friendships, so when he met a vivacious young actress who seemed to be as interested in him as he was in her, he fell head-over-heels and, in that heady first taste of passion and euphoria that such a gorgeous woman could possibly want him, ignored the advice of his closest friends and married her. Looking back, he can see that the rot set in early when she wanted to change him, and then to ‘spice up’ their sex life by inviting another man into their bed. In the end, that night didn’t change anything about their doomed marriage, but it did have unexpected consequences for Foster, who, despite always having thought of himself as straight, admits that he had the hottest sexual experiences of his life that night – with the other guy. It’s not something he allows himself to think about very often – if at all – but when, on a rare (slightly drunken) night out with his best friend, Ross, Foster recognises the good-looking, older student from his poetry class kissing a guy on the dance floor, he can’t stop the memories of the intense desire he’d experienced that night from flooding back.

As the weeks pass, Foster finds himself becoming increasingly intrigued by Justin and captivated by by the raw emotional power of the poetry he’s submitting in class. For Justin, writing has become an outlet for his frustrations and the emotions he’s bottled up for so long; he doesn’t believe Foster when he says he’s a poet, but he can’t deny that putting his feelings into words and onto paper is cathartic.

They also find themselves often bumping into each other, both on and off-campus, mainly because Justin’s many part-time jobs happen to be at places Foster frequents – the library, a favourite restaurant. When Justin is fired from his job waiting tables because he spent a few short minutes chatting with Foster and Ross one evening, Foster offers him a job as editorial assistant/proofreader/bibliographer for a number of the projects he’s working on outside his teaching job. They both know that working together in close proximity – at Foster’s home – might not be the best idea given how strongly attracted they are to one another, but Justin needs the money and and wants to do the work.

The slow-burn romance between Foster and Justin is superbly done; they have strong chemistry but are wary of taking that next step for various very understandable reasons. Almost all Justin’s time is taken up by college and homework, his jobs, and spending time with his mother, plus he thinks a guy as handsome, intelligent and well-off as Foster can do so much better than an ex-con with money worries and more emotional baggage than he knows what to do with. But Foster struggles with self-esteem issues, too; his self-confidence, never strong, was shattered by the divorce and he worries that he won’t be enough for someone as vibrant and full of life as Justin. And then, of course, there’s the whole teacher/student issue, wherein entering into a relationship could cost Justin his scholarship and Foster his job and reputation. (I was pleased that this isn’t just handwaved away and that both men are aware of the fine line they’re treading; the solution the author comes up with isn’t ideal, but then I suppose there is no ideal solution to this kind of situation.) But the heart wants what the heart wants, and after months of longing and denial it becomes impossible to ignore the powerful attraction that’s grown between them.

I liked the characters – prickly Justin who is carrying so much guilt and who just doesn’t seem able to catch a break; and lonely Foster, who is struggling to pick up the pieces after his divorce – and enjoyed watching them both learning and growing, as Justin slowly blossoms under Foster’s encouragement and comes to accept that he can come back from his mistakes and make something of his life, and Foster, inspired and rejuvinated by Julian’s passion and poetry, embraces his newly discovered sexuality and learns to let someone in. The small secondary cast is well-drawn; Ross is dealing with tragic loss but makes sure to be there for his friend, and I loved that Justin’s family immediately treat Foster as one of their own.

I enjoyed the book, although I found the first part to be more engaging than the second, mostly because the slow-burn is so well done, and the pacing becomes a bit uneven later on once Julian and Foster start having sex. Still, Broken Silence is a heartwarming story of self-discovery, forgiveness and acceptance and a tender, sensual romance between two damaged people who find each other against the odds and learn how to live, love and be loved in return.