I liked that the book showed the emotion and the honest liking and friendship between the two men...not just the lust and physical desires. They were so much a part of each others lives I could understand how Mav could overlook his real feelings for Duke. I liked that though they each had confusion and conflict in the relationship there were no outside influence in the form of other potential lovers. They dealt with their problems one on one and Mav wasn't so stubborn that he refused to reconsider his position on the relationship to the point that the friendship was destroyed. The ending was very satisfying. They discovered that the unknown is often more frightening than the reality. A truly great read.