While I liked "Bottle Boys" fine, this second story in the series felt much more fleshed out and the connection more real.

Marco had been deeply hurt by the person he trusted most, so he wasn't entirely thrilled when Oskar finally returned to Berlin.

As a teen, Oskar made the most horrible mistake, mostly out of fear. But that mistake gutted Marco to the very core of his being.

But it was time to move on from past wrongs and forgive themselves in order to move on with their lives, so there were a lot of awkward situations and difficult conversations in this story.

Oskar was persistent, though, always seeming to show up when Marco least expected, or wanted him there. Some wounds can never heal, as Marco understood better than most, but some can, given enough time and care.

This was the story of two best friends, then enemies, putting in the work to get back what they'd once taken for granted and lost. Then transforming that friendship into something much deeper, something permanent.

Marco was such a sad, broken character, so it was a complete joy to see him eventually come to accept his physical and emotional scars, no longer allowing them to rule every aspect of his life.

Then we had Oskar, riddled with guilt over his cowardly betrayal of the person he loved most, right from the start, but he finally decided that he had to try and make things right. He remembered how happy he and Marco had once been, so he refused to give up on that without a fight. And fight he did.

With a couple of especially steamy scenes, this was a sexier read than I'd come to expect from Anyta and, let me tell you, she did not disappoint when the clothes went flying off.

The story wasn't overly angsty, but two characters did tend to make my blood boil on sight. Oskar's boyfriend, Jessie. Ugh. And 'Olivia.' Double ugh. Maybe triple, even.

This book overlapped the same timeline as "Bottle Boys," but I suppose it could be read as a standalone; however, I personally would not recommend reading this story until you'd first read book 1.

I'd rate this one at a very solid 4.25 *draw-me* stars and highly recommend it.

Another great slow-burn romance by Anyta Sunday, this time with a bit of angst.

Strong plot, likeable main and supporting characters and good writing style. I recommend this book, especially if you like slow-burn romances.
Even though this is part of a series it can be read as a standalone with no problem.

I liked that Marco and Oskar took their time in getting to know each other again and didn't jump into anything in a rush. That wouldn't have felt right considering their past.
The ending was a bit sappy and there were a few too sweet moments but I could just look the other way and keep enjoying the book.
And I really did enjoy it! Everything in their past was explained, realistic and believable. It took time and effort for Marco and Oskar to be able to overcome the issues they had. There was no magic solution. They had to really work to get over their past and rebuild their connection and friendship.

Also, I loved the way each chapter was named after a color! The story is told in Marco's point of view and he has the habit of thinking about people, situations, emotions and behaviors in colors. He basically catalogues the world around him in colors. It was very interesting to see the world through his eyes.

So, four stars from me and a recommendation to read it!

*ARC of this book was kindly provided to me by the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I loved every second of this book. Literally. Every second.

Hmm, 3.5 stars would be more accurate. True Colors is interesting and well written, since Sunday is at her best when writing longer stories full of emotion and slow romance - just the way I like my books. The story takes place in Germany and in Berlin, if I'm correct. Marco and Oskar used to be best friends, but not so much anymore. Marco's mom died in a car crash and Marco has scars all over him being in the same car. This makes him insecure and unable to find love, since he thinks no one will accept him like this. Ugly. Oskar has his own problems and he comes back home and the guys end up getting closer because of circumstances such as the play in which they both act. The whole Berlin thing bothered me, since I've been there and it felt like a attribute without a meaning. Why Berlin? I wished for a reason. Also, you can walk to many places in Berlin and use the metro, so the need for a car felt weird. Most people in Berlin don't actually need one, since parking is made almost impossible. Nothing really made the city Berlin.

How old were Marco and Oskar? I liked them both, but they acted as if they were really young. It was kind of hard to keep track of time and there was a mentioning of iPad when Marco talked to his mom, but chronically it's not possible. The time and space kind of lacked, which made this hard to approach. The romance is quite cute, but the conflict felt slightly odd to make them not work. I kind of wished the "betrayal" had been deeper or at least bigger, since it felt kind of dumb in a sense. I didn't really get the play thing either, which was odd and what was the point of that either? It's role was left hanging in the air. I liked how our boys had to mend their friendship first to ever become lovers and how Marco needed to overcome his fears. I just love stories with HEA so much and the devotion and all, Sunday can surely deliver those. Trues Colors was good, but felt rushed which is a shame, since she can do better and perhaps more pages would've helped.

~4.5~

"Oskar sets his fingertips on the tablecloth, drawing my eye to the warm saffron-yellow checkers and reminding me for a breath-catching second that he used to be sunglow yellow. My happy, my everything. Now he's rust. Dark, burnt-orange rust. A color to throw away."


Marco associates people with colors. His friend Ben is turquoise, full of bright, vibrant energy. Oskar used to be sunglow yellow, but that was before. Marco is salmon, the color of cowardice.

The story begins with black. That was the color the day Marco's mama died. That day changed everything.

Marco carries scars on his body; he wears long-sleeved shirts even when it's scorching outside. He's never had a lover—he doesn't dare bare himself. There was only ever one boy for him. But that boy betrayed him, and their friendship turned to dust.

Marco is the first-person narrator of this story. This is more his story than Oskar's. It's Marco who needs to let go, who needs to forgive. His anger toward Oskar is all encompassing, and I understood it.

When Oskar moves back to Berlin, Marco's life turns inside out. He's good friends with Oskar's younger sister Zoe, who is thrilled at her brother's return and asks that Marco put aside his grievances for her sake.

Marco's dad expects Marco and Oskar to star in the play he's producing in tribute to his late wife. This is the final play she wrote before she died, and she envisioned Marco and Oskar as the leads—two pirates, once friends, now sworn enemies. Will one stab the other or forgive?

Marco isn't out, but Oskar is. Marco sees Oskar kissing a boy against a tree and runs.

Hate is just the flip side of love.

Anyta Sunday writes beautifully; her prose is simple but evocative. Every chapter is a color. And every color has a story.

The secondary characters—Zoe, Marco's patient papa and opa (a man of few words who's still as sharp as a tack), his friends Ben (who's pining after Sebastian; this book runs parallel to the first book in the series but CAN be read as a standalone) and Elena (who draws Marco like she sees him, scars and all)—are fully fleshed out.

True Colors is about fear and forgiveness and friendship. It's about first love, the one that sticks. This isn't a light story, but it ends with sunglow yellow. There is an epilogue and a frozen pond and messages in a bottle.

MB + OR

My happy, my everything.

Sunglow yellow. The start of our story



"There’s a lot of things I’m not sure about. Things I’m still trying to work through. Will work through.
But the thing I know with absolute certainty?
Oskar and me? Our story didn’t start at hate."



I have no words how to explain how much I adored the this story.
Anyta Sunday did it again, playing with my heart, playing with my head, and how I loved the beautiful poetic prose this story brings.
Fear of his s own scars, of how Oskar will see him, destroyed their happiness to be with his soulmates, Marco let his anger rotten. And the way Marco dealt with his own regrets, made them separate for years. But love...sigh.. true love is strong and they're trying so hard to fight their hate, their own demons to reach their pending happiness again, the way they were back then.

This is a beautiful story, just like the author mentioned before, a healthy portion of angst (not much, really), and lots of happiness.

This is the story of acceptance, forgiveness and finding your true colors...Just like Marco and his colors, their life is full of colors and it started with a sunglow yellow...the color of Marco's hair...



"You were my first color.
My Happy. My everything."




SIGH.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Anyta Sunday gives her readers a very lovely story that a lot of people are bound to love. There's plenty of tension for it to count as a slow-burn romance, although it's not quite the level Mariana Zapata aka queen of slow-burn fans would expect and I believe it has a lot to do with the length of the story. The current length is actually pretty good and if Sunday had written more, it may have dragged on a bit BUT the slow-burn fan in me would've liked even more tension for a while longer.

I am not usually one of those readers who adores second chance romance stories because most of the time I simply do not believe in them due to the misunderstandings and stuff the couple had to face the first time round. And I guess that's also one of the problems I had with this book despite the fact that it's more of a second chance friendship story and that I really enjoyed it. No, it wasn't a misunderstanding that caused them to fall out in the first place but it was the lack of wanting to talk things through with your best friend that kind of didn't work for me. Just a personal preference...

But what I did enjoy a great deal about this novel, was our hero Marco. His insecurities made a lot of sense to me and I liked him a great deal... I also quite liked Oskar and how he wanted to make things right with Marco after all these years. (I didn't appreciate his short relationship with Jessie, though, because love triangles are not my thing.) I really liked Marco's and Oskar's interactions after they made up, but I especially loved those text messages because those showed the friendship part the most (for me at least).

Also, Oskar's younger sister Zoe - I loved her! I would definitely like to find out more about her. Maybe even a book all about her...

PS! If the book's set in Germany (Berlin to be precise), shouldn't it make more sense to use EU shoe sizes and meters instead of feet as measurements?