All those five big stars This...this is the writing I love
The intensity was overwhelming....beautiful written .... All those colors
A bubbling Vulcan. The tension...all those feeling... amazingly written

Marco and Oskar....a friendship that goes beyond a friendship....until it's over....done...
The reason is heartbreaking, devastating...

When Oskar returns after years, Marco can't handle it. He is torn between love and anger, between his scars and his longing.
Deep down he loves Oskar but above that he has so many other devastating feelings....

Viewed from Marco's point we get to know what ruined their deep friendship years ago.
Oskar sweet strong Oskar receives all Marco's blows as if he earns them...

Their friendship is slowly getting stronger but Marco has trust issues against Oskar. They just can't live without each other. All those feelings deep inside Marco bubbling up and up. When he finds out what really happened years ago and the heartbreaking reason why Oskar left, he only can see sunglow yellow again.

It's a deep languorous and sultry read. It's harsh and so sad beautiful I had to stop now and then because my heart hurt.

The sentences are one by one beautiful written just as I hoped it would.
The colors....my god....all those colors I saw and felt them.
Outstanding developed story and layered personalities.
This author has a gift to write in a very emotional, deep moving way, with longing and yearning and thank god with a HEA else I couldn't handle it.

Highly recommend for the ones who can handle burned orange, salmon, turquoise, purple and sunglow yellow (forever :)

Copy received from Netgalley given by Publisher

A slow-build friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story told in the present tense from a single POV. It took until about 45% before I really started to enjoy this story. Marco and Oskar’s past falling out is gradually explained and Marco takes his time before he lets Oskar back into his life and finally comes out to his family. The scenes when they finally kiss and then later get together are hot. The various colours connecting the chapters and Marco's feelings for different people reminded me a little of the various stones in Rock. Overall, a recommended second chance new adult romance.

This was amazingly hot and interesting.. it had a slow burn to it and was an amazing read. The writing was wonderful and im glad i got to review it

Very good story. Fell in love with the main characters a few pages in. Would read more from this author.

I was provided an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

This was a cute (shortish) story about two friends who became enemies and then friends again (plus boyfriends). Oskar and Marco are the best of friends, as close as two can be at that age (13/14 I think). But when tragedy strikes and Marco is injured, he suffers burns on his chest and parts of his body. He's afraid to show anybody his scars and when he gets the courage to show Oskar, Marco reads his reaction as disgust. A future event [Oskar is being bullied and he says Marco looks like a Dalmatian, so of course he doesn't like him like that, and Marco overhears this. Marco of course is devastated. (hide spoiler)] has Marco running from Oskar and since that moment, Marco sees Oskar as his enemy.

Now adults, Oskar has come back home and we find out later that he came back to make up with Marco once and for all. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I felt so bad for both of these boys. I know what it's like to be bullied as a kid and Oskar hated himself for what he did. He just wanted to be left alone (and those boys wouldn't). I also felt bad for Marco. He carries so much guilt [because he prayed for ice so he and Oskar could go skating on the lake, the ice came - he and his parents were in a car accident and his mom dies. He's reminded of that every time he sees his scars. And then to lose his best friend, he was really alone for a long time. (hide spoiler)]

Anyta did a great job of giving these characters life. They felt real, and everything progressed naturally I thought. There was no rush to forgive, that took time and there was no instant reconnection. It happens at a slow, but manageable, pace, and I never had to put on my WTF face. :) Marco and Oskar are good together and were able to put the past behind them, forgive what happened and move on. Understanding and acceptance were key themes in this book.

I do recommend it, especially since you can get a copy at NetGalley. I hope you check it out.
4 stars

I really liked this one. I love how Marco uses colours throughout this story: he associates different ones with his feelings and assigns them to people in his life as well. We learn that Marco and his once best friend had a falling out. As the story progresses, bit by bit, we get the reveal of what really went down. This was done really well I think and through Marco's flashbacks of what led up to him and Oskar not being friends for all those years.

It's all wrapped up in Marco's insecurities about his burns. Burns he sustained in an accident that took his mothers life. Now Oskar's back and all these old insecurities are rearing their head again. And now that Marco's dad is including Oskar in his (Marco's) late mother's play, he can't even escape of of the hurt, anger and sadness that's bombarding him.

I adored the way their relationship grew, from them finally talking it out, to coming back to being friends, all the while it's so obvious that something more is simmering beneath the surface to finally lovers!

The supporting characters were great as well. Well fleshed out, and so Marco's friends were so supportive of him when he does come out. that scene near the end with Marco's Opa, where he just accepts him (i knew Opa was already clued in on what was going on with Marco and Oska, you always gotta look out for those old ones lol) made me want to cry.

Oskar's parents on the other hand, whoooo boy they pissed me off so much, so I guess the author did a good job of creating parents who made Oskar's whole coming out about them. Damn they got me heated. I really felt for Oskar there, that his parents made it seem like their support was basically a chore. At the very end they seemed like they were trying to be better though.

Oskar and Marco finally getting together, finally being intimate with each other was so well crafted and felt so real. *cue the tears* Marco was so vulnerable there and Oskar didn't rush him, made Marco feel safe and cared for and loved. As he should in that situation.

So i really liked this one a lot :D

True Colors by Anyta Sunday

Poetic

Heartwarming

Emotional

Healing

Forgiving

and

Lovely

I can't recommend this beautiful enemies to lovers, best friends to lovers story. 4.5 Stars.

3.5 Mildly spoilery

This was a very sweet second chances romance. I liked that it was a slow burn and both characters were just lovely and sweet. I could relate to Marco's self-consciousness and Oskar's guilt. The sex is hot, without being porny and I liked the family involvement.

But I had a few problems too. The biggest one being that, though I totally get that what Oskar said was traumatizing to Marco, as well as the self-sabotaging aspect of the event, but they had been best friends for nine years. I don't think it would have been enough to suddenly (and I mean cold turkey) throw the friendship out the window.

Additionally, I couldn't fathom the logistics of it. The book reads like the event happened and they never saw each-other again. For example, Oskar's nose was broken the next day and years later, when they meet again, Oskar wondered how it happened. But they lived next door to one another. Their bedroom windows faced one another. Their families hung out. Marco was a second brother to Oskar's sister and basically mentored her. So, how exactly did they simply never speak again? How did they manage to never find themselves alone together with Oskar apologizing, Marco accepting and both moving on in one way or another? It stretched my suspension of belief too far.

Similarly, there's a bully from the past that shows up. Turns out he's matured out of being a dick and sought out one of the characters to apologize. The one that moved away, I might add. So, why only the one and not the other, the one that stayed in town and was both more easily accessed and more grievously harmed?

I had a little trouble following Marco's sudden turn around too. I mean, he had to stop hating Oskar at some point in order for the book to progress, but it felt very sudden. And this after I'd spent most of the book wondering how both families seemed to not know what happened between the boys. Or, if they did, how they could be so heartless and cruel as to so blithely force Marco together with someone who hurt him so badly. So, either they were all blind or hard-hearted or the author just hoped the reader wouldn't look too closely at this point.

Lastly, while it's interesting that the book was set in Berlin, Germany, honestly, it could have been New Brunswick or Nashville for all the difference the setting made to the story. While I'd have hated for the author to throw in a whole lot of German stereotypes, the book and its characters felt very American. If not for the city names I would have NEVER known it wasn't set in some nameless American city.

I mostly loved this. I thought the writing was lovely and the pairing sweet. I also had no problem following it, despite it being a sequel. (In fact, I didn't know it was a sequel until I finished it and looked on GR to review it.) I'll definitely be reading more of Sunday's writing, but I thought this one had some holes in it, leaving me with a few too many questions.

4.5 Stars

Well…I just found a new auto-buy author, and I’m pretty giddy about it. In fact, I read two of her books this weekend, and have already started a third. So, that should give some indication of how much her writing clicked with me. I’m talking about Anyta Sunday, and I know I’m tardy to the party, but I was in book bliss on Saturday after discovering how much I enjoyed her style. Such a happy reading girl was I. 🙂

True Colors was so, so lovely, you guys. I truly adored both Marco and Oskar, and honestly, everything about this story. Though tagged as enemies-to-lovers, it’s actually friends-to-enemies-to-lovers, as Marco and Oskar were the best of friends for most of their lives—until one horrible mistake in judgement and moment of cowardice ripped them apart. It has been years since Marco and Oskar were friends, and fifteen months since Oskar moved away, but now he has come back home to Berlin, and Marco must find a way to face the past. And, Oskar must fix his life’s biggest regret. I loved the emotion in this line, describing what it was like for Marco to see Oskar again:

“I gaze at his slightly upturned lips that hold the memories of a hundred songs we sang between us, tens of plays, a handful of secrets, and six soul-destroying words.”
Growing up, Marco and Oskar were next-door neighbors, and their families were extremely close. In Oskar’s absence, Marco has remained as an amazing older brother figure to Oskar’s sixteen-year-old sister, Zoe. The relationship between Marco and Zoe is fantastic. I loved how Marco made seeing her basketball games a priority, and that they had traditions of their own. Zoe was also clearly a fixture in the Brandt household, evidenced by the easy nature of her interactions with Marco’s father and grandfather. And, when Oskar comes home, we also see how much he cares for Marco’s family, particularly the love he shows Opa. Sunday did a beautiful job of building these connections and making the reader care about all the characters.

I also really enjoyed the flow of the book. The author uses some flashbacks to flesh out the story, beginning with the first two wonderfully written chapters, Black and Sunglow Yellow. The brief glimpses of the past are instrumental to building the history, of course, and tie in perfectly to the rest of the story. Sunday also uses one of my favorite devices, that of text message exchanges between the characters, to rebuild the relationship between Oskar and Marco. We are seeing this tool used more and more in contemporary romances, and it’s such a great way to see inside both characters and move the story along.

This is definitely a very slow burn, but it’s done so well. The love between Marco and Oskar is never truly in question—at least it wasn’t to me—but there is a lot of rebuilding that needs to be done. The hurt that Oskar inflicted on Marco was immense and long-lasting. Marco has been unable to have any type of romantic relationship because of the insecurity and fear of rejection that are so deeply ingrained in him from the past. I hated how that hurt clung so hard to Marco. He so deserves to be happy. They both do. Seeing them get their chance was worth every bit of time waiting for the payoff. And, this line…guhhhh…

“My skin is stained with past pain. The boy who made me feel every inch of its ugliness is the man who’s kissing me like I might still be beautiful.”
Gorgeous stuff, right?? But, I need to stop rambling on…So, quickly, a couple of other things I loved…I loved the play that is an ongoing part of the plotline. This is the traditional Christmas play that Marco’s mama always wrote, which his papa has been carrying on in her absence. This year’s play is special because it’s meant to try to bring Oskar and Marco back together. It was an integral part of the story, and I loved how it was woven in. And, of course, I have to mention the colors. Marco assigns colors to people in the same way that his mama used to use them to describe what kind of day it was. Blue for sadness, yellow for happiness, magenta for love, etc. The colors were a beautiful part of the book and were brilliantly used as the chapter titles.

True Colors is the second book in Sunday’s True Love series but works one hundred percent as a standalone. I’m going to go back and read Ben and Sebastian’s story at some point, for sure, but it is absolutely not necessary to read it first. I couldn’t be happier that I decided to jump on this one! You guys should, without question, give it a go.

*4.5 stars*

Anyta Sunday is my go-to author for contemporary romance. She just writes the slow-burn romances that I like to read! She rarely lets me down, and she won me over again with True Colors.

True Colors is a second-chance romance between two friends whose friendship crumbled from a series of events that happened years ago. I love when there is a hurtful situation in the past and the two MCs have to get past it. I'm a sucker for bullies-to-lovers stories, and while this one isn't quite like that, there are major obstacles that these two MCs have to overcome.

I don't think it's a big spoiler to say that one of the MCs has some scarring that he is very self-conscious about. It's more or less in the blurb. Scarring is a topic near and dear to me, and while my facial scars from an accident have faded, I still have a soft spot for a scarred MC. There is something very vulnerable about having a scar; you feel exposed, flayed open, and ready for criticism. I related big time to Marco, the MC with the scars, and I REALLY wanted Oskar to grovel for forgiveness, perhaps even more than Marco did.

The story is a lovely slow burn. It takes its time and allows for the hurt to resolve naturally. I felt the attraction and chemistry, and I loved how it all unfolded. Oh, and we get a *virgin* MC... guys, you know how I go gaga for a virgin!

There is also a lot of family involvement in this story, just so readers know. I didn't mind, but some people might not like the amount of pagetime spent on issues with secondary characters.

The only thing I would change is the "color" aspect of the story. I found that to be a little gimmicky and unnecessary. In fact, it reminded me a little of rock, which is the only Anyta Sunday book that I haven't liked.

Overall, this book was nearly perfect. A little angsty, a little second chance romance, a little family-oriented, and they all came together to make for a wholly satisfying read.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

Quite a treat for a gloomy evening. Nice happy ending and steamy sex was everything I've expected. Good job.

This was another hit out of the ballpark for me. I love everything I've read by this author. This is a enemies to lovers story done a bit differently. Marco and Oskar had been best friends until *something* happens but you don't know what until a ways into the book. I couldn't put the book down during this part and was I read as fast as I could trying to find out what had happened. This author has such a great ability to keep you on the edge of your seat waiting to find out things.

If you read this author's book Rock you know she started each chapter with a type of rock and they were important to the MC. In this the same is done with Marco and colors. Honestly I wasn't sure about this when I started the book. I wondered if it would work since she'd already done it with Rock. It did though. Although it was similar is was also really different and it worked so well. I loved how the colors were weaved through the plot.

This was a bit angsty but since that's my favorite thing ever in books I loved that about it. I enjoyed both of the MC's, I loved Marco as the story teller and I enjoyed the side characters and their roles in this. (There's some over lap in events as from the first book in this series Bottle Boys. You don't have to have read that first though. This works as a standalone.)

This was full of colors, some angst, some romance and lot's of feelz. I just adored it and I totally recommend it.

**ARC received from the author through Negalley**

I really really really liked this story. It was book 2 in a series but can absolutely be read as a standalone without losing the plot.

I liked the outlook Marco had on life with his colour-coding of emotions , events and people. I found it fascinating. However, he had a lot of self love and self esteem issues which dictated most of his actions throughout the story. Oskar, his estranged bestfriend and unwitting cause of most of these issues ,spent most of the story trying to get back into his good books.

Sometimes with second chance books, you think the one who got hurt just needs to "let it go" but here, it was a tangible emotional scar that was inflicted so it wasn't going to be that easy. The way it was sorted out, the way they forged ahead with a new line of friendship and the way they reaffirmed the feelings they had for each other was done very very well. It made the story feel very real for me.

If they had just hopped into bed after the first kiss( with all the insecurities flying around ),the story would've lost me. The writing was very good, secondary characters were fleshed out, the dialogue was engaging and the steam was very adequate for this type of story.

If you are in the mood for a well written, realistic second chance book , try this one. I enjoyed it a lot.

Oh, I loved this book! Anyta Sunday is quickly becoming a "must read" author for me.

Marco and Oskar grew up next door to one another and were best friends until they were about 13. Remember those shameful moments when your younger self didn't do the right thing? Didn't stand up and speak truth? For Marco and Oskar, it tore their friendship apart and began years of anger (at least on Marco's part):

"I gaze at his slightly upturned lips that hold the memories of a hundred songs we sang between us, tens of plays, a handful of secrets, and six soul-destroying words."

Then Oskar returns home to Berlin from attending school in Mannheim and despite trying to keep that hatred and anger around him like a protective cloak, Marco can only:

"Think back to when every touch made me giddy, when every laugh fizzed in my veins, when we had whole conversations quoting song lyrics and our favorite movies-when every smile felt like a secret."

Their story is well-told and their love is so beautifully resurrected. 5 stars!

True Colors is a friends to enemies back to friends and more story that is moving and sweet at times and hard to read at other times. This book is written in first person by Marco and it's really his story about how he learns to forgive and let go of past hurts. Marco and Oskar were the best of friends until Oskar betrayed him in a horribly awful way. We as the reader don't know exactly what it is Oskar did to Marco through a good portion of the book but we do know that Marco is horribly hurt and angry over it and has never gotten past it. Marco has burn scars and feels unattractive. He's hiding his sexuality and his pain. He is very good friends with Oskar's little sister and he's never told anyone what really happened between the two of them. When Oskar moves back to town he's forced to interact with him and face those feelings. It's obvious that Oskar feels guilt over his actions and wants Marco's friendship back. When Marco sees Oskar kissing another man he is hit with even more hurt. From Marco's perspective Oskar has been able to admit his sexuality and have and have a relationship when Marco hasn't been able to be physically intimate with anyone. Everyone wants Marco to forgive and renew his friendship with Oskar including Oskar but it isn't that easy for Marco. He sees people as colors (something he does to honor his mother who died) and Oskar was his first color. The secondary characters add depth to the story and I loved both Ben who is pinning away for Sebastian and Elana who wants to draw Marco. This is a sweet and poignant story of first love and how hate is really just the other side of love and all it takes is the ability to forgive to find your way back. It's about friendship and not just Marco and Oskars. It's moving, sweet, heartfelt and brought a tear to my eye a time or two. It shows us how in one frightened, careless moment everything can change but with effort, time and forgiveness all is not lost.

I liked the concept of this book, but the fact that the plot was centered about a big misunderstanding that could have been cleared up if the two protagonists had just talked to each other was a little frustrating. But overall, a beautifully designed book that was compelling and had me staying up late reading.

Such a wonderful, beautiful, slow burn romance between two friends / enemies that made my heart melt and put a smile on my face.

I don't have any negatives. The story of Marco and his journey to accept himself and the various issues he has (grief, physical anxieties, sexuality, trust) were handled with great care. Surrounded by a great cast of family and friends, showing what the love of family and friends can do. I loved it.

I’ve read Leo loves Aries by the author and was flashed and with True Colors it wasn’t different.

What’s different is the theme, the tempo as well as the topic. Where Leo loves Aries is sweet, slowburning this book is a story where former friends become “enemies” (it has a reason I write it in quotation marks).

I really was captured by the way how the story was displayed. We get right into the story, right from the start you understand that something terrible happened to Marco.

You understand for a short time not the grief of Marco, you have too many details left out but you are aware of other things and so – piece by piece – you get the whole picture.

It realy hit you hard, to be honest, because it is – at least for me – understandable why Marco is rejecting Oscar.

The tension is still there, Oscar is trying to connect with his old friend, but Marco has a lot – maybe too much – on his shoulders.

I really loved how we got the insight of Marco, we see as a reader how he suffers, how he is torn. And the ending is so sweet you are so happy.

It is hard to go the path with Marco but when other things are settled there is the other side displayed, too, the side by Oscar.

I can only give this book also 5 out of 5 stars for its slow burning, former friends turn to enemies and reunited later story.
*~~*ARC kindly provided to me for an honest review *~~*
Review originally posted on my blog with added content on Mikku-chan / A world full of words

True Colors is the second book I've read by Anyta Sunday and I loved it just as much as the first one (Leo Loves Aries). She describes the book as "an enemies/friends to lovers, boy next door, first time, slow burn M/M gay romance with a generous helping of UST. This no-cliffhanger, HEA book can be read as a standalone" and her description is spot on.

I have to tell a funny on myself. I didn't know what UST was (I thought it was a typo with the L missing from lust) so I emailed Ms. Sunday and asked her. She very kindly explained that it means Unreleased Sexual Tension and boy is this book full of that. It's rare that I can give an MM book a "Spicy" rating instead of "Scorcher" but I truly appreciate reading a story with a little less explicit heat from time to time. Don't take that to mean that this book won't turn your crank – it will! – the UST is very nice and when things finally happen between Oskar and Marco – wow! Another thing I really liked about this story is that it's set in Berlin, Germany which was new for me.

Marco is so emotionally damaged by something that happened between him and Oskar that it not only affected their friendship it also has kept him from forming close relationships with other gay men. He is still in the closet and afraid of what will happen when his family finally finds out that he is gay.

Anyta Sunday's books are a bit different, and may not be for everyone, but I love them and I'm definitely adding her backlist to my TBR list.

True Colors is the second book in the True Love series but you don't need to have read the first one to enjoy it (I haven't read True Luck yet but will be correcting that soon).

A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.

The day that Marco’s mother died was a black day. His mother used to attach a color to every day and now that she is gone, Marco has taken it up in her place. Oskar was Marco’s happy place, the brightest yellow, but his color turned to rust after he betrayed Marco and their friendship has never recovered.

Marco lives with the pain over his lost friend and the guilt over his mother’s absence. His body also bears the scars of that fateful day and he can’t allow anyone to get close or to see him exposed. He covers up his body with clothes and he covers up his emotions so no one will see his weaknesses. He thinks that he is salmon, the color of a coward. When Oskar comes back to town, old feelings climb back up, but Marco can never forget how Oskar wasn’t there when he needed him most. Oskar has apologies to make and Marco is going to have to let down all of his defenses to live his life next to the only man he has ever truly wanted.

Anyta Sunday strikes a cord with a story about two friends who fell apart and then try and find their way back to each other. As the book opens, Marco is trying to figure out when his story with Oskar started. There are so many defining moments of their friendship and now all he can see is the hate he feels towards Oskar.

The book deals with heavier themes, but doesn’t come off as overly heavy as the writing has a lightness to it. The prose flows well and is filled with all of Marco’s colors, both the lighter ones and the darker ones as well. Marco’s feelings toward Oskar are justified, except only the two of them know what really happened, or maybe Marco thinks he does but he doesn’t know the whole story. It’s still of no consequence as Oskar’s words and actions left a scar on him as much as the accident itself.

Marco’s mother used to write plays and the tradition has been kept up to perform one of her plays each year. This is the last play she has written, only the ending wasn’t complete and the two that Marco’s father wrote mirror the struggles between Marco and Oskar. Marco has also remained close to Oskar’s younger sister and she expects Marco to put aside their differences and have everything be the way it used to be.

This is a slow burn story as Marco struggles with all of his feelings about his scarred body and about Oskar. Marco never knew that Oskar was gay and while Oskar has come out, Marco cannot find the courage. Marco is good at running. When he sees Oskar kissing another boy he runs and when Oskar wants to talk he runs and he even runs from his own voice and his own thoughts.

The book is also about family and is filled with secondary characters as well. Marco’s friend Ben was featured in Bottle Boys, a short story that was part of the Wish Come True anthology, and this story is set within the same time frame as that one. While Marco and Oskar’s story is a stand alone, there are details that could be missed from Ben’s story, but overall it would be easy to overcome.

I would have liked to have seen more details, even in the general sense, regarding Marco’s accident and then his recovery. He is dealing with so many things, but it didn’t seem like he ever had anybody to talk to regarding his mother or his scars or any of the thoughts in his head that were pulling him under and the story had jumps in time that weren’t filled in enough for me. The book is also set in Berlin, but it didn’t have a strong sense of place and I would have enjoyed more detail.

True Colors incorporates friendship, betrayal, loss, and ultimately forgiveness. The guys come full circle to get not only their friendship back, but to move forward to all of the brighter colors.

Sunglow yellow. The start of our story.