Like the other KA book I read over the weekend, I'm giving it three stars because there are 4 and 5 star books I love more, but I still really enjoyedLike the other KA book I read over the weekend, I'm giving it three stars because there are 4 and 5 star books I love more, but I still really enjoyed this one. Keira Andrews is my absolute favorite, I can always count on her, and her backlist is so big, I'm still finding ones I haven't read before which seems crazy.
I didn't always totally feel the connection between Misha and Dev - they definitely had scorching chemistry but beyond that I thought the relationship development was a little weak. I think The Next Competitor was better. But this did spur my interest in watching the Olympics, so good timing. I don't have regular TV (just hulu/netflix) so I just texted my sister to let her know I'll be coming over for the next couple weeks to watch figure skating....more
So... I did like this book. I enjoyed it, and I got through it pretty quickly. But it was lacking some zing, I gotta be honest. I just didn't feel theSo... I did like this book. I enjoyed it, and I got through it pretty quickly. But it was lacking some zing, I gotta be honest. I just didn't feel the electricity between these characters. I'm still a sucker for this author's formula, and I'll keep reading what she writes, but I didn't like this one as much as I've liked other books of hers....more
Alison Hendricks has a formula that works for me, period. Two college football players, one who knows he's gay, one who's just discovering that aspectAlison Hendricks has a formula that works for me, period. Two college football players, one who knows he's gay, one who's just discovering that aspect of his sexuality. Hot sex, some conflict, and bob's your uncle. It's simple but it pushes all my buttons.
I saw a few reviews that complained of a lot of telling not showing in this book, and that's true. When the relationship goes from just sex to something more - most of that is off-page and I'll agree that's annoying. But I guess the stuff that we did see was enough to offset what we were only told, if that makes sense. I really enjoyed what was on the page, so I didn't really miss what wasn't.
I also really identified with Diego. His life is nothing like mine, but I so understand how he felt. I feel that way a lot - like life just continues to beat me down, and no matter how hard I try I never get anywhere so why bother? I really understood him.
I'm not even sure this counts as BDSM lite - it's just a little spanking and a smidgeon of bondage. But I'll tag it anyway.
I love Kiera Andrews. I lovI'm not even sure this counts as BDSM lite - it's just a little spanking and a smidgeon of bondage. But I'll tag it anyway.
I love Kiera Andrews. I love baseball. This book was both, end of story. I loved it, obviously. And what I was not expecting - tears! Maybe it was just allergies or I was tired and yawning or something, but I actually think my stone cold heart teared up over this book a couple of times. There were a couple of scenes between Nico and various family members that got me right in the feelz.
Now of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't get nitpicky about the baseball details. She had the visiting team winning on a walk-off homerun--that is impossible. And she cut the All-Star break down to three days instead of four for no apparent reason. I think she had a force-out at third that really would have been a tag-out situation. (I'll admit I'm not 100% sure on that one, though.) I have yet to read a baseball themed m/m story that didn't have any mistakes like that. I was really hoping this would be the one. Oh well.
Thanks for the surprise book, Keira! Unfortunately this die-hard Mariners fan is wishing terrible things on your Blue Jays right now, but it's not personal....more
I liked the first book of this series. I really liked the second book of this series. I freaking loved the third book of this series.
These books just keI liked the first book of this series. I really liked the second book of this series. I freaking loved the third book of this series.
These books just keep getting better! This book hit every right note for me. It's a delicious friends-to-lovers, discovering sexuality book with tons of yum. Tons of Yum.
This book was so cute! It's not perfect -- although I find that I'm super picky these days, so others may disagree with me. But despite imperfections,This book was so cute! It's not perfect -- although I find that I'm super picky these days, so others may disagree with me. But despite imperfections, I enjoyed it because the characters were super adorable.
Relatively low angst. This is a good comfort read if you're looking for something sweet. ...more
This was a great follow up to Him. If you liked that book, you'll enjoy this. It makes use of a couple of the most cliche tropes in the genre - the MedThis was a great follow up to Him. If you liked that book, you'll enjoy this. It makes use of a couple of the most cliche tropes in the genre - the Medical Emergency and the Accidental Outing - but considering how over-used those are I still fall for them every time. Didn't bother me. I did not enjoy the character of Blake, though I was obviously supposed to. But he got better toward the end.
Overall this book is hot and romantic. I feel like the resolution could have been better. There were genuine issues that these two needed to work out, and I don't feel like they did. At all. So I was a bit disappointed by that, but at the same time I was so ready for the tension to be over that I didn't necessarily mind that it was all too easy. If you don't take it too seriously, this is a satisfying and enjoyable story,...more
I'm glad I gave this a second shot, I ended up enjoying it a lot. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it has all the stuff I like. Sports, college boys, I'm glad I gave this a second shot, I ended up enjoying it a lot. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it has all the stuff I like. Sports, college boys, out for you...
It's like the $1 pint of rocky road ice cream I bought yesterday. It's nothing special, but I like rocky road so hell yeah I'm gonna eat it for a buck. ($1.99 in this case)...more
I went back and forth between one and two stars. I ultimately chose 2 because the beginning was good. The writing was solid. The chemistry between SimI went back and forth between one and two stars. I ultimately chose 2 because the beginning was good. The writing was solid. The chemistry between Simon and Alex came off the page and everything to do with the hockey stuff, which is one of my favorite themes, worked perfectly. I was very much enjoying the story, up until the point where Simon and Alex got outed and everyone knew about them.
It was at this point that everything went completely off the rails, like it had been written by an entirely different person. It went from hitting all the right notes, to completely and utterly ridiculous and only got worse as the book wore on. I skimmed the last 25% just to be able to say I read the whole thing but my lord, it was awful.
Just in case you still want to read this, which you should not, I will put the rest behind spoiler tags.
(view spoiler)[The first person to discover Simon and Alex is Simon's brother Zack, who gets mad and confronts Simon. Said confrontation ends with Simon literally blacked out on the floor. I wish that was where the melodrama ended; I could have accepted that. But it only got worse from there.
Simon's dad kicks him out of the house when he refuses to stop seeing Alex. Okay, fine. But then Zack, angry that his family has been separated, goes after Alex. He and a couple friends beat Alex up in a parking lot. Simon and his friend Jackson are there and go to help Alex. One of Zack's friends is up against Jackson and somehow shoves him or punches him or something, and Jackson hits his head on a car window and gets knocked out. He then DIES IN THE AMBULANCE ON THE WAY TO THE HOSPITAL.
That was just too much for me. That's when I started the eye rolling. Getting hurt in a fight is one thing, but he actually died? From a bump on the head?
Simon's mom finally grows a pair and leaves Simon's dad who is an epic douche. (He refused to let Simon go to a college for which he received a full ride scholarship, because it wasn't the college he had gone to.) So Zack is facing jail time for bashing Alex and Simon's mom took off, so now dad is super pissed. He kidnaps Simon after work, takes him to the basement of the house and ties him to a chair where he is going to torture the gay out of him, I guess. (Obviously he knocked Simon out before dragging him home. A lot of knock-outs in this book.)
Simon was ultimately rescued by Alex and another friend but by now my eyeballs were hurting from all the rolling. Just too much ridiculous melodrama for me.
Aside from the violence, I was also really irritated by their friend Leo. Leo was the captain of the team and was normal for the first half. But then in the second half, the group of them went and played a game with some gay hockey association in another city, and then went to a club afterward and oh, all of a sudden Leo has met a guy and now he's gay, too. I mean, I love gay boys as much as the next girl, but why???? And ew. It so did not work for me. (hide spoiler)]
It all went from good solid hockey book about high school boys, which is my kryptonite, to really really bad soap opera/lifetime movie and I just can't even....more
Hellz yeah. I love me some Ashlyn Kane and sports stories, especially hockey are second only to college boys as a trope weakness. Will read soon.
UpdatHellz yeah. I love me some Ashlyn Kane and sports stories, especially hockey are second only to college boys as a trope weakness. Will read soon.
Update 4/22: I loved this book!!! It had everything I love about m/m. Loved these characters. Loved the story, the secondary characters, the setting. The humor, the romance, the everything. LOVED IT. I've reached a point in m/m where I pretty much skip over the sex scenes because they interest me ZERO. But I read all the sessy times in this one. Yeppers.
Read it!!! Only two of my friends have this on their to-read shelf and none of them have read it. THIS IS NOT RIGHT!!!!
Oh my gosh, I loved that book. It was maybe even almost 5 stars. And it was even one of those angsty "I don't want to be gay!" books that I'm sick of,Oh my gosh, I loved that book. It was maybe even almost 5 stars. And it was even one of those angsty "I don't want to be gay!" books that I'm sick of, and yet it was still wonderful. Highly recommended. Read it in one sitting.
5/2017 re-read: I have nothing to add to my review. Still love this story....more
I read this book immediately after I read this piece of dookie, so the comparison may have given this book an unfair advantage. But I sighed with happiI read this book immediately after I read this piece of dookie, so the comparison may have given this book an unfair advantage. But I sighed with happiness after reading the kindle sample and immediately went to buy it. I proceeded to then read it almost in one sitting. (I kept getting sent on errands. Grr!)
I really enjoyed this. It's short and sweet. The premise of the story could have lent itself to an incredible amount of angst but I was glad she kept it on the sweet side. I really liked these characters, and the setting and the chemistry and the falling in love.
This was my first time with this author, so I'll definitely be seeking out her other work....more
Nichole (DirrtyH)
>
Books:
sports
(23)
