Twenty-Two Years

by Charlie Novak

This is a love story twenty-two years in the making.

Tomas and Raphael have been joined at the hip since they first met working in a tiny restaurant in London. They’ve survived dingy flat shares, bad breakups, even worse divorces and everything in between. And they’ve never been anything more than friends.

When one night and a bottle of vodka leads to a shift in their relationship, Tomas and Raphael are forced to reexamine everything—from feelings they thought they’d shut away, to their own sexuality.

Can their friendship survive the fallout? Or have they simply been in denial for the last twenty-two years?

Twenty-Two Years is a standalone 11,000 word contemporary MM romance short story. It’s full of food, vodka and a fortieth birthday bixsexual awakening.

Genres: Friends To Lovers, Contemporary, M M Romance, Romance, Short Stories, Novella, Gay

40 pages, ebook

First published September 1, 2020

About the author

Charlie lives in England with her husband and a dachshund named Biscuit. She spends most of her days wrangling other people’s words in her day job and then trying to force her own onto the page in the evening.

She loves cute stories with a healthy dollop of fluff, plenty of delicious sex, and happily ever afters – because the world needs more of them. Charlie also believes that love comes in all shapes and sizes.

Charlie has very little spare time, but what she does have she fills with cooking, pole-dancing, reading and ice-hockey. She also thinks that everyone should have at least one favourite dinosaur…

Reviews

[Rin (indefinite hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Operation Clean Out My Kindle- Fall ‘22

2.5 stars. These two need to take out a life insurance policy for their livers for how much they drank in the 22 years they’d been friends. Alcohol/drinking was done/mentioned upwards of 50 times in a 40 page novella. Not a fan of revealing feelings because of being drunk either.

But it was cute I guess.

[Leslie]

Cute little friends to lovers freebies from Prolific Works.

[Sharing The Book Love (Kelli Maree PA) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute quick read novella BFF to lovers!

[SJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet friends to lovers story. This get together took over twenty years for the long time friends. It had the familiar ‘What took you so long?’ from coworkers and an ex-wife, who could see that Tomas and Rafael had always been into each other.
The writing was clear, the story moved along, the sex was hot. I enjoyed it all.
Read at Prolific Works via author newsletter.

[Ky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good one. Short and sweet.

[Rachel Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet and sexy friends-to-lovers short story. I really loved it, I felt like we learned a lot about the characters for it being a short story, and I enjoyed the writing.

[Shawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars - Two long-time friends and business partners realize they feel more than just friendship and business, I guess? MCs over 40, a cute little story.

[Alex (HEABookNerd) · Rating 4 out of 5]

TWENTY-TWO YEARS was a sexy and sweet bisexual awakening novella between two friends. Tomas and Raphael have been friends since their 20's -- they've supported each other through various careers, relationships, marriage and divorce, and now they own a restaurant and bar together. When Tomas turns 40 years old, the two celebrate with a little too much vodka and tequila and a surprise kiss turns to more.

One of the things I'm realizing about Charlie Novak is how much story she can pack into a short number of pages. I really liked Tomas and Raphael and the depth of their friendship is really obvious. This is a low angst read and Tomas doesn't really struggle with his newfound feelings for a guy but that didn't bother me because it was exactly what I was looking for.

[Golden Child · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas & Raphael: Excellent short story about best friends who have always, probably, most definitely have been in a relationship but they didn’t know it. After a bottle of vodka and some mole fries they find themselves kissing and more. Once their coworkers have had enough of their strangeness, they must figure out where to go from there. Pretty easy to see these two belong together. Sweet story.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely novella proving that it's never too late. Tomas and Raphael have been close friends for 22 years when a drunken evening brings things to a head (hee hee) and they both fear their friendship is in peril. The tale of their trepidations is adorable, they panic and avoid each other, although it's sad I couldn't help but chuckle, a nice read.

[Reading to Stay Awake · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this accidental friends to lovers story; it felt so real and believable. I wanted to eat in the restaurant and drink in the bar, be their friend, know the ex-wife, babysit the daughters. It was just a great book.

I have nothing negative to say; you should definitely add it to your kindle today xx

[Christine Woinich · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a friends-to-lovers story. Tomas and Raphael knew each other since childhood, but suddenly, a chance to have a closer look at their relationship arose. I loved the hesitancy between them as they tested the waters as well as the steamy connection. Both Tomas and Raphael made my heart sigh. I really enjoyed this quick story.

This is my unsolicited review.

[Nanna Mørk-Sander · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my favorite story-wise as I didn't really get a feeling for the characters or their relationship with each other beyond the superficial stuff, but the writing is good, so nothing against that aspect of the novella.

[Smut Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written and believable story about best friends who discover they are in love – despite one of them never having been with a man before. Loved the setting and the development of the attraction – very sweet with very little angst.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick best friends to lover’s story about two men who have been friends for twenty two years- hence the name of the book.

It was a good book that I got free when I signed up for Charlie Novak’s mailing list.

[S.S. Genesee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was super cute! I love a good best-friends-to-lovers story. The panic that settled between the two MCs about finally realizing(and acting on) feelings was very well done, excellent in a short story! 💕

[Yvette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tomas and Raphael will forever have my heart. What a beautifully woven short story. This is my first Charlie Novak read and I am hooked. The steamy scenes, the cozy moments, the found family, the food! - Loved it all.

[Jacquie Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short set adjacent to the Off the Pitch world (there's a brief mention of Felix and Jordan and it's where they had their date)

[Florence . · Rating 3 out of 5]

~ 3.5 stars

Very cute story

[Simone · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Dawn Nicole Costiera · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. Very cute short story!! Tomas and Raphael deserve a full length book. I love their 22 year history and friendship.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable short read. Friends to lovers.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, straightforward friends to lovers romance. Low angst. Nice.

Freebie from author.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little sexy read!

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read, friends to lovers, bi awakening, GFY

[Victoria Poulter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute short story (only 2 chapters and an epilogue) but surprisingly manages to get the story across without the reader feeling like they are missing something. Freebie through prolific works.

[abookwithacupoftea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute short friend to lovers story.

[Panzarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet

[Marina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awww!