Liam Byrne is a married Chicago airport server whose life changes after Colombian florist Camilo responds to a photograph of his dying plant. Their online friendship develops across thousands of miles until Camilo enters the United States and settles in Sacramento without legal status. Liam begins flying west to see him, keeping the relationship separate from the marriage he has never ended. When Camilo receives an offer that could secure his future in America, Liam is forced to confront what he has withheld from the man he loves. Years later, their connection remains unfinished as both men build lives shaped by decisions neither can leave behind. Abraham Randall's Take Me With You follows the distance between two men whose lives cross even when circumstances keep them apart.

In Take Me With You, Abraham Randall delivers literary fiction rooted in habits people use to protect what they cannot say aloud. Liam Byrne repeatedly counts what surrounds him, and turns that habit into his interior voice whenever speech fails. Camilo is written with close observation, with his knowledge of flowers appearing naturally through what he does. His instinctive rearrangement of a hotel display proves that point in seconds. Owen is drawn through work habits that expose the rules he lives by. Keeping one pen for himself while carrying another for lending shows a man who has long decided exactly what still belongs to him. The lyrical first-person prose returns to objects across nine long years, altering what they signify as Liam himself ages. Readers drawn to the elegance of Vuong’s intimate handling of memory in On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous will appreciate this approach. This is perfect for those who are looking for queer literary romance about love quietly left unsaid. Very highly recommended.

In Take Me With You, Abraham Randall writes about nine years of a love that struggled to become a plan. Liam is a Chicago airport server who forms an intense long-distance bond with Camilo, a florist. They first meet when Liam posts on social media about a dying plant he takes in. Camilo sees the post and comments that Liam has misidentified it, offering that the plant is a Monstera. Their initial interactions focus on gardening tips for nourishing the plant. After a time, as they get to know each other better, Liam decides to fly to Sacramento to meet Camilo. There is an immediate connection, and their long-distance relationship becomes filled with passion. Liam has a secret; Camilo has precarious immigration status, and each has another person in their lives whom they depend on. These barriers make a shared future seem impossible. Is this the end of something special just as it is starting, or will destiny intervene to bring the future each man wants?

Take Me With You is so well done. Its first-person voice turns ordinary details such as plants, airport work, meals, texts, and silence into vivid portraits of longing and attraction. I especially liked the recurring Monstera imagery. The plant was the perfect symbol of Liam and Camilo’s care for each other and of the right conditions for growth. As well, Abraham Randall did a wonderful job of presenting cross-cultural misunderstandings and unequal freedom with empathy. Perhaps its strongest content was the growth that Liam experienced. He recognized that love required action, not rescue. One of the best plot devices the author used was introspection, which allowed me to feel like I knew Liam and Camilo. The use of repeated emotional beats perfectly reflected Liam’s inner feelings as he revisited what he feared to face. Readers who like romance, LGBTQ fiction, and stories of ordinary circumstances that shape lives will adore Take Me With You.