Henry has just been dumped by his long-term boyfriend for being overweight. Instead of setting his ex’s clothes on fireA book to fall in love with
Henry has just been dumped by his long-term boyfriend for being overweight. Instead of setting his ex’s clothes on fire, he decides to join the gym. He wasn’t expecting his very hot and out of his league personal trainer to become such an important person for him. Step by step, they’ve come to cook for each other and discover new recipes together. But it’s only friendship what Reed is offering, right?
The Weight of It All was such a beautiful portrayal of love. I could see how the characters slowly fell for each other, the chemistry they had when they talked, the compatibility of their hobbies, humor and lifestyle. But not only the romance was perfectly executed, the themes were powerful and refreshing.
It’s so hard to come across fat main characters. Sometimes in heterosexual romances the heroine is allowed to be ‘curvy’, but such representation is almost non-existent in male characters. The only popular exception that comes to mind is Jessa Kane’s More to Love series. But this book is not only about giving representation, it’s about how people judge you based on your appearance. Henry and Reed had to suffer prejudices, both from other people and from themselves, because of the way they looked.
It was a difficult theme to handle and I loved how N.R.Walker dealt with it. While, at the beginning, Henry was only thinking about getting his ex boyfriend back, quickly the exercise was a form of self-love. He didn’t want to look fit like Reed. He wanted to be healthy and enjoyed challenging himself.
I started this a few years ago but didn’t get past the first chapter because they were in the gym talking about gym stuff and I didn’t care about that. If that’s your case, don’t worry, they quickly change scenery and start meeting outside the gym. Even when they are exercising, they are talking about other hobbies. I adored reading how they bonded over food, sharing recipes, cooking for each other and finding new products in the farm market. I loved seeing them together, they made the cutest couple!...more
Declan was only looking for some free marketing when he signed up for a reality dating show. He was going to be going with his best friend because peoDeclan was only looking for some free marketing when he signed up for a reality dating show. He was going to be going with his best friend because people thought they were dating and they thought it could be fun. They are wrong though, because Declan is gay.
But, since only his best friend knows, Declan is going to spend the summer dating women and trying not to think about how much he wants to kiss his cute bro instead.
I have to start saying that I don’t like reality shows, so I wasn’t the audience for this. I requested the ARC because I had enjoyed another book with a similar premise and this was marketed for fans of Red, White and Royal Blue (still trying to figure out WHY, they didn’t have anything in common other than being a new adult and the lack of spice).
Summer of Love was different from what I was expecting. First, the reality show stole the focus from the romance during the majority of the book. I thought the reality dating show was only going to be a plot device to make it fun and set the meet cute, and that it would fade to the background as we progressed.
It wasn’t like that.
We had more conversations with other people than between the main couple, which it’s not necessarily bad, but you need to enjoy reality shows to appreciate the story. We even had a few POVs of a woman who worked on the reality show, which shifted the focus from the romance even more. The secondary characters were easy to like though, even if a few of them felt a bit flat, but I think in some cases (Niall and Stella, for example) it was done on purpose to add a bit of humor.
The second thing I was dreading after seeing the ratings was the writing style. This was a debut, so I went with the bar set very low and was surprised about how easy it was to read. However, even though the writing wasn’t bad, I had problems with the execution of some secondary plotlines, sometimes it felt the pacing wasn’t completely right and, specially, we needed to see more of what the characters were thinking. For example, at some point they kiss and they don’t really think about it. It was so weird I actually went to check if I had imagined the entire scene. Was a kiss really that insignificant to the main characters that they didn’t think about?
I wanted to see the characters’ fears, their dreams and goals. I feel the majority of their thoughts were about the reality show and not their feelings towards the person they were supposedly falling in love with. Still, it was a book that was easy to read and the characters were easy to care about. Though it was frustrating at first, I ended up appreciating the dialogues with the secondary characters.
Overall, I wasn’t the audience for this but I read it fast and it was pretty entertaining. I’d recommend it if you love reality shows and, at some point, you shipped two men who were dating women and wanted them to be together instead.
I kindly received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ...more
A contemporary romance that will become a classic in the history of queer literature
Cowritten by a Ukrainian–Russian duo and originallyENGLISH/ESPAÑOL
A contemporary romance that will become a classic in the history of queer literature
Cowritten by a Ukrainian–Russian duo and originally published by an independent publisher, Popcorn Books, Pioneer Summer became a TikTok sensation and runaway #1 bestseller in Russia. Catalyzed by this success, Russian Parliament officials and anti-LGBT activists began a campaign to ban the novel and others like it, an effort which became law just two months after the second book in the series was published. The authors were forced to flee the country, and Popcorn Books ceased publication.
I’d never heard of this book until I randomly picked it up from my local library. I read the paragraph above and couldn’t believe my eyes. Why weren’t more people talking about this book? (Turns out the English translation wasn’t released until June 3rd). I wanted to support a narrative that tried to make a change in a place where writing queer books was dangerous. So I read the book. And it was the sweetest romance, but also had plenty of criticism about the Soviet Union propaganda in the 80’s.
Twenty years ago, at Yuri’s last summer going to the Pioneer Summer, a patriotic camp in the Soviet Union, he experienced love for the first time. A love that shattered everything he knew about himself: he fell in love with one of the male counselors, Volodya, three years older than him.
Now, as an adult, Yuri has finally come back to the place, remembering that last Pioneer Summer where everything changed.
Pioneer Summer is a sweet book, with slow pacing and full of secondary characters and funny scenes that balance out heavy themes like anti-queer propaganda and the anxiety of falling in love with someone from your same genre in a place where it’s considered a sickness. It’s warm like a first love, but also heartbreaking at times, because you’re witnessing a historical reality that still persists in the present day. Popular LGBTQ+ books are being banned in Russia; I can’t imagine how the reality must be for queer people living in the country.
The romance is set in dual POV, and I really appreciated how different the perspectives of the two men were. I enjoyed the back and forth between present and past, Yuri going back and remembering everything that happened as he wanders the place where the Pioneer camp used to take place in. The suspense was great, and the story was lovely.
My main critique is that the beginning was quite slow, and the book could have been shorter. If I understood correctly, this was originally self-published online, and then published traditionally thanks to its popularity. I think it would have been better with an editor that cut certain parts, especially at the beginning, to improve the pacing. Other than that, it was a very engaging book that will make you fall in love with its characters.
Overall, I’m interested to see what the authors will do in book two, since this reads like a new adult romance and, in book two, Yuri should already be an adult. I enjoyed my time with it, and I’d highly recommend it if you enjoy character-driven slow burn romances and are interested in witnessing what was like being a queer teen in the Soviet Union in the 80’s. I really liked the balance between the reality check, the propaganda, and how beautiful their friendship was.
• • • • • • Un verano en el campamento • • • • • •
Un romance LGBTQ+ que pasará a la historia
Nunca había escuchado hablar de Un verano en el campamento hasta que me lo encontré por casualidad en mi biblioteca municipal. Cuando me enteré que este libro había causado tanto furor en BookTok en Rusia, donde se publicó, que los grupos homófobos habían conseguido que se prohibiera en Rusia, junto a otros libros queer, y que la editorial que lo había publicado cerrara y que las autoras tuvieran que escapar del país, supe que lo tenía que leer.
He de decir que no me ha defraudado.
Tras pasarse veinte años en el extranjero, Yuri vuelve al campamento donde se enamoró por primera vez. Mientras camina por el lugar, va recordando todo lo que sucedió aquel último verano, cuando tenía dieciséis años y se hizo amigo de uno de los monitores, Volodya, tres años mayor que él. Cuando se dio cuenta de que le gustaban los hombres y de todos los problemas que podía ocasionar en un lugar donde ser gay se consideraba una enfermedad.
Un verano en el campamento empieza lento, buscando que te fundas en el ambiente del campamento, con todos los personajes secundarios, las bromas, las escenas divertidas pero, también, a convivir con la corrupción de la sociedad, la propaganda soviética de los ochenta y unos sentimientos que están prohibidos. Fue un libro que empecé con mucho cariño pero, conforme iba leyendo, más me importaban los personajes. Es lento, probablemente demasiado, sobre todo al principio, pero también es una historia preciosa que te deja con un sabor agridulce en la boca.
Me gustó el suspense que las autoras fueron capaces de mantener durante toda la novela, la necesidad de encontrar la respuesta a todas las incógnitas que me hacía seguir leyendo, aún cuando la historia se iba un poco por tramas secundarias. También la forma en la mezclaban pasado y futuro, y el hecho de que tuviéramos tanto el punto de vista de Yuri como el de Volodya. Me hubiera gustado que lo hubieran editado para recortar algunas partes que se hacen lentas, sobre todo al principio, pero es un libro que, originalmente, se publicó online y tuvo tanto éxito que fue publicado después por una editorial. Lo que quiero decir es que, probablemente, no hubo mucha edición desde el borrador original, y se nota. En parte para bien, porque hay muchas escenas que igual no son importantes que fueron entretenidas, pero también hace que la historia sea más larga de lo que es necesario.
En general, me gustó. Le cogí cariño a los personajes y lo recomiendo si te gustan los romances a fuego lento, llenos de incógnitas que te hagan sufrir y con muchos personajes para querer. Es un romance para adultos jóvenes (New Adult), tal vez un poco más explícito que un romance juvenil, pero no tanto como un adulto. También es interesante la ambientación, pues no hay muchos libros queer ambientados en los años ochenta en la Unión Soviética. Al estar escrito, además, por una autora rusa y una ucraniana, aunque demasiado jóvenes para recordar bien la época, estoy segura de que vivir en esa cultura o tener familia que la ha vivido les ha ayudado a recrearla....more
this series has become a comfort read for me and i love it for that
Ryan Wright wasn’t surprised when he was traded to the worst team of the NHL. When this series has become a comfort read for me and i love it for that
Ryan Wright wasn’t surprised when he was traded to the worst team of the NHL. When you are an average player, you spend the years going from one team to another. What shocked him was that they were trading him in exchange for one of the best players of the team.
When he arrives in his new team, his boss explains the case: he needs Ryan to befriend Nico, their star player, and make sure that he starts to show the talent everyone knows he has on the ring. The problem is that Nico is furious; not only did they trade his best (and only) friend in the team, they traded him for a bad player who’s only there to babysit him. If they think Nico is going to talk with the new guy, they are delusional.
This series, Hockey Ever After, has been an incredible finding. While they are still hockey romances with a similar structure to others I’ve read before, the great characterization makes them stand up and be a very pleasant reading experience. Every main character is different from the rest, but they are all easy to follow and care about. On top of that, the secondary characters are amazing and there are some scenes that made me laugh. I’ve read three so far (as always, I’m behind on my reviews), and Scoring Position is my favorite.
Books one and three lost me a bit at the end, when they focus on the hockey aspect, but this didn’t happen in this second book: I enjoyed the whole story. This takes place six years after Winging It (book 1), so now there are gay players out, Nico and Ryan among them. There are characters from book 1 that have retired, but you’ll also recognize some faces, which made this even more special (Kitty, I adore you!!...more
✨i love how J.J. Mulder is nailing every single book in this series✨
Henri is a people pleaser. He’s sweet, happy and an extrovert, so he has loads of ✨i love how J.J. Mulder is nailing every single book in this series✨
Henri is a people pleaser. He’s sweet, happy and an extrovert, so he has loads of friends. But there is always an exception to the rule, and that exception is Atlas, Henri’s partner for their communications class. Soon, Henri’s only goal is making sure that Atlas likes him. However, the more Henri gets to know him, the more he wants Atlas to be his friend. Or maybe more than friends because, for the first time in his life, Henri is not against the idea of kissing someone.
On The Edge was another great addition to the SCU Hockey series, which may be my favorite ongoing MM romance series (not counting danmei). While I struggled a lot to get into the story, once I started to care about the characters I had a blast reading it.
My main problem with this book was how difficult it was to believe in the main characters. They are both a bit over the top, and it was hard to see them as actual humans. Henri, for example, was supposed to be great at talking with people but, let’s be honest, he was weird. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE weird. I’m always into characters who are awful at social interaction, which I’m sure was Henri’s case, so I couldn’t understand why he was described as being good at social interaction when he was kind of awkward. I don’t know if I’m explaining myself, but his character was very contradictory to me and, for that reason, I had a hard time believing in him.
On the other hand, Atlas was the typical grumpy guy who is angry at the world and hates everyone around him. I’ve read too many of these characters already, so I was also not interested in him. That means I spent the first half of the book not vibing with the story and struggling to understand why Henri was so obsessed with Atlas, when Atlas was behaving like a jerk, and with the contradictions on Henri’s character.
Once I get bored with a book, there is no coming back. For some reason, this is one of the few books that was able to make me care about the characters when I had already given up and was playing with the idea of dnfing it. I started to care about both of them, especially Henri, and I started crying along with them and falling in love with their relationship. Basically, I experienced that special connection I felt with book one, it only took me a while to get there.
“One day, I will tell you something,” I promise. “You will not believe me if I say it today, so I will wait for now. But, one day.”
The best thing about this book was, hands down, the demisexual/asexual representation; that was the reason why the story won me over. I always love demisexual rep because it often means slow burn romances that aren’t too spicy, more focused on the emotions behind the attraction, and mixing the romance and the smut the way I like it. However, this was one of my favorites because Henri is more in the asexual spectrum than the demisexual characters authors often write about. There is still spice (I love having a bit of spice), but it’s hard for Henri to want to do more than kissing. I appreciated seeing that rep, and how Henri struggled when Atlas was in the mood but he wasn’t.
Overall, this book and I didn’t start off on the right foot, but I ended up falling in love with it. I enjoyed the demisexual rep and how beautiful they were together, especially Henri. He was an adorable ray of light that this world doesn’t deserve. I hope this isn’t the last book in the series, I can’t wait to read more!
it feels nice to enjoy again a Saxon James-Eden Finley book
Tripp has been in love with his best friend, Dex, since they met. It’s the cliché case of fit feels nice to enjoy again a Saxon James-Eden Finley book
Tripp has been in love with his best friend, Dex, since they met. It’s the cliché case of falling for a straight man who is so confident in his sexuality that he doesn’t mind hugging and kissing and even snuggling with his gay best friend without even realizing it’s hell and heaven for Tripp.
One day, after Dex was dumped, he convinces Tripp to ‘practice’ marriage with him, so they do a fake, very platonic wedding. Only that maybe it’s not so platonic after all…
I was hesitant to try this one after dnfing the first book in the series, but a friend of mine kept recommending this one to me so I decided to give it a try. I had my era of loving everything these two wrote (especially Saxon James), until the books started to feel too similar. Maybe I’ve let enough time pass, because I liked this one. It was great finally reading a romance under 300 pages and following a poor gay man suffering from unrequited love and a oblivious ‘straight’ hockey player who is unable to realize what he really wants.
My favorite part was the slow burn at the beginning, with Tripp suffering and Dex not realizing why his best friend was avoiding him. While I’ve read similar books before, it was nice to pass the time and I appreciated that they were able to entertain me enough to not think about dnfing it (the bar is in hell right now, it’s been a difficult month).
Overall, I may forget this one next week but it was a fun time. I especially liked Tripp, he was a sweetheart and I wished we saw more of him suffering ‘unrequited’ love....more
What would happen if you meet the kid who made your high school years a nightmare and you have the power to make their life a living hell?
After selliWhat would happen if you meet the kid who made your high school years a nightmare and you have the power to make their life a living hell?
After selling his software for a lot of money, Andrew arrives in London with no clue about how to bring some meaning to his life and find a job that he actually enjoys. What he finds is his high school bully, Justin. Andrew has fantasized about this moment for so long: showing Justin how far he has reached and letting him beg for forgiveness. But that’s far from the reality: Justin doesn’t even recognize him.
Angry and frustrated, Andrew decides to spend his money and time crafting the best revenge game to deliver the karma Justin deserves. Only that, the more he gets to know Justin, the harder it is to remember why he’s doing this in the first place.
As you can imagine from the blurb, The Revenge Game is a fun and light mm romance with some ridiculous scenes that aren't meant to be taken seriously. I often struggle with that, but I actually didn’t mind this time. I think Andrew was immature enough to do a revenge game at the age of twenty-seven, but mature enough to realize that sometimes he was taking things too far and fixed the problems before they escalated. He was also aware that he liked Justin, so he had mixed feelings about what he should do instead of the unrealistic hatred you often see in these kinds of scenarios.
The most interesting part of this book for me was the discussion of morality shown in Andrew’s POV. The anger he felt moved him to get closure in the form of revenge, but he was also aware he would just become a bully like Justin was. Another thing I like was Justin’s reaction when he finally realized Andrew was the guy he used to torment in high school.
Justin’s character ARC was great. He isn’t even out at the beginning of the book because the homophobia he experienced from his stepfather made him feel he would lose everything if he came out. In fact, he doesn’t even have friends because he doesn’t want to lie to people when they ask about his dating life (which is zero) and try to set him on dates with women, but he also isn’t ready to tell them the truth. It shows how seeing someone out and proud (Andrew, in this case) can really set a precedent in other queer people who are afraid of the consequences of being themselves.
To be honest, I requested this one because I’ve been reading/rereading novellas by the author, Jax Calder, and really enjoying them, so I decided to give her full novels another try. While I loved other novels by her (the YA ones, especially Attractive Forces), I didn’t finish her most famous book, The Unlikely Heir, because I was bored to tears. I had a similar experience with certain parts of The Revenge Game. While I found it more entertaining, it was way too long for me. According to goodreads, this is 450 pages. I sound like a broken record but I really don’t think we need romances to be that long (but I’m also aware that I used to LOVE long romances, so maybe that’s me getting old and wanting to get to the point).
I was dreading the moment Justin realized who Andrew was. I was hoping it was going to be before the third act break up, but I knew it was going to be very unlikely taking into account this is 450 pages and, once they fixed that lie, it was basically going to be over. I ended up liking how the author executed this more than I thought I was going to, but I would still have preferred it to be earlier on the book (and the book to be shorter).
Overall, this was cute but I think I just prefer the pacing of her shorter work (novellas and YA novels). So, if you enjoyed The Unlikely Heir, you’re probably going to enjoy this one way more than I did. I found this one a bit more entertaining and I liked how the author executed the idea presented in the blurb, because it ended up being more a strangers to friends to lovers than an enemies to lovers.
I kindly received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own....more
This book is a companion novella of the original story, The Anonymous Hook-Up, and tells the story from Sam’s perspective. I would recommend reading tThis book is a companion novella of the original story, The Anonymous Hook-Up, and tells the story from Sam’s perspective. I would recommend reading the original first, where you follow the other main character, Lane. The Anonymous Hook-up (book 1) feels more complete because Sam’s thoughts are crystal clear from his expressions, so you don’t really miss his POV.
Overall, I thought I’d enjoy this one more than the original, because I love the angst of following the main character who thinks his love is unrequited, but I ended up liking the first one more because it felt more complete (as I said before, you don't miss Sam POV the way you miss Lane's).
Still, I enjoyed having Sam’s perspective after rereading the original. If you enjoyed the anonymous hook-up (that I really recommend, that novella saved me from a reading slump) and would like to read Sam’s POV and a 10-years later epilogue, I would recommend reading this.
The consequences of hiring a fake boyfriend without knowing he’s your childhood enemy.
When Matthew goes to the airport to pick up his fake boyfriend, The consequences of hiring a fake boyfriend without knowing he’s your childhood enemy.
When Matthew goes to the airport to pick up his fake boyfriend, he doesn't expect him to be someone he knows. Especially not someone he used to spend the day pranking when he was a kid. Not that Liam was any better. Now they have to pretend to be in love for an entire week so that Matthew’s company doesn't discover he hired someone to accompany him to the company retreat.
But you know what they said: from hate to love there is only one step…
To be fair I read this because I LOVED Love Language by the author and decided I needed to pick up all the novellas she has written (I also enjoyed The Anonymous Hook-Up a lot). I don’t think I was the audience for this, because I don’t like the whole: “I hate you but you’re hot, let’s make use of this huge hotel bed”. But I know this is something a lot of people enjoy-I’m guessing that’s why this has a higher average rating than Love Language, when I think Love Language was a masterpiece.
If you are interested in the childhood enemies to lovers and fake dating, I’d recommend reading this novella. The pacing and execution were good, and the final scenes of them coming back to the village they used to live in were hilarious....more
Not me giving the lowest rating to the highest rated book in the series. But this reminded me a bit of Heated Rivalry, which I didn't love, so it alsoNot me giving the lowest rating to the highest rated book in the series. But this reminded me a bit of Heated Rivalry, which I didn't love, so it also makes plenty of sense ...more
I can’t believe this is the same author who wrote SCU Hockey series. There isn’t really anything bad about From Coast to Coast, but I’ve read hundredsI can’t believe this is the same author who wrote SCU Hockey series. There isn’t really anything bad about From Coast to Coast, but I’ve read hundreds of hockey romances like this one before-maybe it’s on me for reading so many books. On top of that, this felt like reading again the first book in the series, Changing the Game, but with a different format and better pacing.
This was especially disappointing because one of the reasons why I thought J.J.Mulder could become a new favorite author was the fact that she was able to write two completely different stories in the SCU Hockey series: different vibes, characters, tropes and storylines. The last thing I expected when I picked up From Coast to Coast was reading a copy of her own debut:
♦️the two main characters are also living together, but this time both are hockey players ♦️the gay hockey player is crushing on the ‘straight’ flatmate ♦️the flatmate has a bi-awakening
The characters were different from the ones in book 1, but they didn’t really stand up from other characters I’ve read before. I finished the book having one single highlight, which shows how little it made me feel. I read this last week and already forgot about the whole plot.
Overall, I have nothing bad to say about it, but nothing really good to say either. It was okay to pass the time, especially if you haven’t read many hockey romances before, but there wasn’t anything original about it. I’m really tired of books that make me feel I’m rereading the same thing over and over again. I’ve decided I’m not going to read the book I have left from this series, the third one, but I’ll be looking forward to her new SCU Hockey release; she’s been nailing them so far.
“Fuck, you’re good at this. You should-you should teach me.” Gabe had been doing a decent job ignoring his own cock, but he wasn’t a saint-tha
“Fuck, you’re good at this. You should-you should teach me.” Gabe had been doing a decent job ignoring his own cock, but he wasn’t a saint-that image made him groan. “You’re a menace.”
After spending several years wasting time on the AHL because his coach was racist, Dante Baltierra is ready to show the world latinos can play hockey too. This is going to be his year. But, after seeing one of his teammates kissing another guy, Dante realizes that he’s also bi. He hates hiding, but he doesn’t know if he can be latino and queer and still survive the league.
Gabe is the star of his hockey team, but he’s hiding one big secret that could change everything: he’s gay. He’s spent all his life making sure not to drink around his teammates, not to interact more than it was necessary, not to talk about himself. The more isolated he is, the safest.
But one photo changes everything.
I’ve read so many hockey romances that I really appreciate when authors are able to make me care about the characters, make me remember their names and their struggles. Dante and Gabe felt real and also very different. This was written by two authors, I don’t know if each wrote one POV or not, but the end result was that their POVs were not interchangeable, as it often happens in mm romance books.
My favorite part was Gabe’s character arc: seeing how he went from hiding to, slowly, let the world see him. Even though there were fans who hated him for being queer, at the end of the book I felt he realized he was actually happier being out. He was playing better than ever, he finally could form real bonds with his teammates and party with them without having to worry about hiding his sexuality. He showed the world you could be the best player on your team and also like men.
Dante was a ray of light. He was impulsive, but never without thinking. While Gabe overthought everything, Dante let himself act. He was confident in who he was and he didn’t let haters dictate how he was going to live his life.
It seemed like the authors wanted to give a positive message without taking away from the hardships of being latino/queer. Dante could have spent the book complaining about the racism he suffered. Instead, he decided to use that rage to work harder to be his own role model. He wanted to be the spotlight and show the world he could be latino, queer and a great hockey player. The same way with Gabe: he was happier after he was out, despite all the drama with the media and the fans.
I enjoyed seeing Dante and Gabe become best friends before anything else happened. I’m a huge fan of the quote ‘romance is friendship set on fire’. They were attracted to each other, but you could also see how they made sense as a couple; they always knew what the other needed.
My other favorite thing was all the secondary characters: it was such a pleasure to see the team together. I loved Flash and Ollie, but I had a soft spot for Kitty. He was responsible for so many of my favorite moments (the maple syrup scene killed me). I really hope we’ll see him again in future books.
And then Dante, whose presence Gabe had completely forgotten about in his surprise of seeing Kitty, yelled from the kitchen, “Hey, Gabe, where do you keep the maple syrup?” Kitty met Gabe’s eyes. Gabe panicked. “Um.” On cue, Dante emerged from the back of the house. “Breakfast is just about-uh. Hi, Kitty.” He flushed. Kitty looked at Gabe. “I’m hope maple syrup is for breakfast.”
The book lost me a bit at the end because I don’t really care about hockey and that part was more about that. There wasn’t much more to add to the romance, so it could have ended sooner, but it was a short part so I didn’t mind a lot.
Overall, I see why all of you have been loving this series. I’m really glad I gave it a try. Winging It deals with themes I’ve read before, but the execution made it feel like it was something new. The main characters were beautiful together and the secondary characters made the book even more special. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
I was very excited to try out this one because I know it’s a lot of people’s favorite book, and I was hoping it was going to get me addicted adnf @36%
I was very excited to try out this one because I know it’s a lot of people’s favorite book, and I was hoping it was going to get me addicted as For the Fans did (another very long mm romance book between two stepbrothers). While I don’t have anything bad to say about it, I also was losing interest in the story and didn’t want to use four hours of my limited free time to read a book I wasn’t really interested in anymore.
I enjoyed the beginning. I was a bit worried about what was said in the blurb about one of the main characters (Ezra) kissing his gay new stepbrother only to mess up with him. It was more than that. You can see that Ezra is into it and that Josh doesn’t let Ezra play with him and fights back. You won’t hate Ezra, you can see that he’s hurting and it seems like he was abused and hasn’t been able to talk about it with anyone (in fact, the book starts with Ezra trying to kill himself, so check the trigger warnings the author provides at the beginning if you are sensitive).
Josh is such a ray of light, he was adorable. To be honest, I thought I was going to read the entire thing, but I started to lose interest when the slow burn finished (very soon for me, taking into account this book is 700 pages) and the smut started. I don’t do well with a lot of smut, after a couple of scenes of them messing around I decided I didn’t want to read another 400 pages of that, while slowly discovering their secrets.
Because of that, I’m not rating this one. If you like long romances and having more than a couple of spicy scenes towards the end, I would recommend this one. At the pace they were going, you’ll have over a dozen of them to enjoy....more
There is a note from the author at the end of the book that says this book is the result of her ‘writing some porn with plot to get over a writer’s blThere is a note from the author at the end of the book that says this book is the result of her ‘writing some porn with plot to get over a writer’s block’. I finished the book actually wondering why there was so much smut-until I read the author’s note and everything made sense ...more
New York City, 1960. Mark is grieving. After he lost his previous relationship, it’s hard for him to find aIt should be illegal to make me this bored
New York City, 1960. Mark is grieving. After he lost his previous relationship, it’s hard for him to find a goal in life, something that makes him happy again. When he’s asked to write a column in the newspaper he works at about a baseball player, despite not knowing anything about the game, Mark isn’t thrilled about getting to know the cocky, non-filtered Eddie O’Leary. Until he meets him, and discovers that everyone is wrong about him.
Eddie is awful at talking with reporters: he keeps saying the wrong things. Now his new team ignores him, the fans hate him and he’s playing the worst he’s ever played. It’s like he doesn’t even know how to play baseball anymore. When he’s asked to work with a journalist to ‘clean’ his image, Eddie isn’t expecting a miracle. But his luck is about to turn.
I’ll start admitting I shouldn’t have tried this book. I’ve read other books by the author and her writing style doesn’t work for me. The problem is that, in theory, her books are perfect for me.. So I decided I must be wrong before and give her yet another try. I don’t remember being so bored reading a book. I felt I spent hours seeing the percentage of book read unchanged. I should have dnfed it, but I’m stubborn and was aware it was on me for buying another book by her.
The pacing was worse than in book 1. Maybe if you connect with the characters you don’t mind the super slow-pace and slow burn, the continuous dialogues where they would talk about nothing or all the daily scenes with secondary characters that didn’t move the plot forward. I’ve loved huge books where two hundred pages could have been cut without changing the plot, but when you don’t care it’s a complete nightmare.
Overall, there is nothing really bad I can say about this book other than the book being way longer than it needed to be. The characters were good and there was character development. I would say give it a try if you love Cat Sebastian. As for me, this book bored me to death and there was nothing I could save from it.
PS: if anybody ever sees me adding or starting reading a Cat Sebastian book again, please send me a message and save me from myself...more