His Last Resort

The hardest thing about pretending to fall in love…is realizing it was never pretend at all. Hugo is done believing in happy endings. Fresh from a painful divorce, the quiet Swedish immigrant is facing the terrifying reality of spending the rest of his life alone. When loneliness pushes him to book a luxury vacation through Sunsets With You, he tells himself it's a harmless indulgence: one week in paradise with a dazzling escort playing the role of his boyfriend. Starling's escort career is already on its last legs, and the resort contract is supposed to be an easy job. After years of playing the perfect fantasy boyfriend, he knows exactly how to charm his clients. Hugo, however, refuses to play along. Instead of falling for Starling's skilled act, the rugged, stoic Viking of a man sees through the escort persona—and demands something far more dangerous: honesty. As their unusual arrangement begins to blur the line between performance and reality, the tension between them becomes impossible to ignore. Then a sudden accident by the pool forces everything into the open, sending Starling rushing to Hugo's side. Under the relentless Mexican sun, the boundaries between client and escort begin to disappear. For the first time in years, Starling finds himself wanting something real. But letting Hugo see the truth behind his carefully constructed mask means risking everything—including the fragile hope that what started as a paid fantasy might convince him he's brave enough to believe in love again.