I enjoyed this, I liked the MCs as friends first, with all the UST, and I really enjoyed their connection once they got together. And, of course, this is a great start to a series about a half-way house - knowing how it came to be and why, seeing it transformed from the unloved, decrepit building it was before. 
 The set-up worked well - J almost being evicted needing a job and Matt needing someone to help with his overwhelming project. I did wonder why someone with J's talent was jobless, but suspended my disbelief ;) 
 Throwing them together in such close quarters so that they had all the UST but felt compelled not to act on it in order to make sure the job got done. That seems sensible to me. Neither seemed like they wanted no-strings sex, especially once they became friends. And those strings do get so tangled - best not to do anything when there's such a major project being undertaken. Both of the men were so fully invested in the project for their own reasons that it rang perfectly true to me. Also, I like frustrated men :D 
 I was a bit meh about the fact that Matt hadn't commited the crime he had been imprisoned for. He was a little bit too good for my liking. And I'm afraid the resolution between him and his father left me cold. Actually I was a bit angry. So... okay, spoilers ahoy: 
 (view spoiler)[I can buy that Matt's mother is a money-grasping, cold fish of a woman who doesn't give a shit about her family other than as things to brag about with the other money-grasping cold fish. I had a job believing Matt's father was a shy, hen-pecked man with no spine and no idea how miserable his kids were. The second he stood up to the "plastic lady" it pissed me off. He gets off scott free does he? For, what, 30 odd years of being completely useless for anything other than money? And how the hell did he manage to be a successful businessman with no spine? How could he run a company? I could have bought him as a nice boss, but he would still have to be able to deal with people who weren't nice. And the plastic lady had absolutely nothing to commend her. Nothing. And then the minute Matt's father got tough (said "stop it" quite firmly), Matt's mother melted away like the wicked witch having a bucket of water thrown over her. 
 Sorry, to bang on about this. It seems like a tiny bit of the story, but it's so important to who Matt and Alex (Matt's brother) are and their decisions, etc. I could buy the guy being tough and/or distant and staying that way. My problem is the complete 180 that happens and completely changes who their father is and has always been imo. Also, do not get me started on the excuse for not visiting Matt in prison for years because the plastic lady said Matt didn't want his father to see him there. FFS. So. Weak. (hide spoiler)] 
 Other than that, the romance is sweet, drawn out over the course of the year as they struggle with whether or not to go for it. And I happen to like a little bit of jealousy, so I didn't mind when J misinterpreted how close Matt and Sam were. Incidentally, I liked Sam. I think he could have been more of a father figure, if he'd had more page time, tbh. That would have worked better for me than trying to salvage Matt's biological father. 
 I will be reading more in the series, despite the niggles I had it was a good read.