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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
Ooh, this new series from Lucy is shaping up to be an absolute belter.
I loved the free short story starring folk rock musician Gentry and OT Winter, but this one was even better.
This is really sweet, has all the feels and a pair who will always put the other one's feelings at the heart of their relationship.
What I really liked about this one was the clear friendship and connection between Tiller and Mickey irrespective of their attraction to each other.
There was love and respect there before they gave up fighting their feelings and became lovers.
They also, mostly, talked through their issues and, the one time they didn't, it made complete sense why not.
It wasn't just a dramatic moment for the sake of it. I also loved being back in Aster Valley and catching up with the town's people, and I'm seriously looking forward to the next book!
#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
I loved the free short story starring folk rock musician Gentry and OT Winter, but this one was even better.
This is really sweet, has all the feels and a pair who will always put the other one's feelings at the heart of their relationship.
What I really liked about this one was the clear friendship and connection between Tiller and Mickey irrespective of their attraction to each other.
There was love and respect there before they gave up fighting their feelings and became lovers.
They also, mostly, talked through their issues and, the one time they didn't, it made complete sense why not.
It wasn't just a dramatic moment for the sake of it. I also loved being back in Aster Valley and catching up with the town's people, and I'm seriously looking forward to the next book!
#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5 stars!
What a strong start to a new series by Lucy Lennox. After the prequel we got, I was only too excited to get Mikey and Tiller's story.
And overall, it did not disappoint. I was sucked in from the beginning, these two had great chemistry, and their love was believable and interesting.
We get two prologues in this, that shows us when these two first meet. Tiller is the first out gay guy in the NFL - so kind of like a fictional version of that guy, Michael Sam, who was drafted into the NFL and who was out when he was - except Tiller has become something close to a superstar, and this really starts 5 years after they meet, with Tiller well into his NFL career and even a superbowl win under his belt.
Mikey has been Tiller's personal cook/assistant for the past five years, and for a long time they've been able to keep away from each other, meanwhile they falling for each other more and more. When Tiller gets seriously hurt during a game that will require him to be out for at least 4 weeks, he and Mikey go to Aster Valley to just get away from everything.
And it's there, where they get to be away from everything and everyone - specifically Mikey's father, TIller's coach, who is an absolute asshole - that things move beyond their quasi-friendship/employer/employee relationship and into something more.
And yes, I did .5 stars off of this for that fade to black scene! I'm sorry but that frustrated me beyond belief.
Because like, listen...if a book is clearly not meant to be an adult romance with the sexytimes - so like, it's young adult, or if it was like...a romance story but you can just tell sexytimes isn't going to happen on page, like maybe it's a romance/action thriller or romance/mystery, what have you, and it's leaning more towards the other genre instead of the romance, I'm fine with the no on page sex thing. I get it, and I go in expecting not on page sex.
But with these adult romance books, well...we all expect the sex, right? Especially with authors like Lennox who doesn't usually skimp out on these things. And even though we didn't get any anal sex until 87% - YEP. And it wasn't even that detailed, mind you - we did get other sexytimes things, like blowjobs and so on, so it's not like this is a book shying away from showing any sexy times.
So put all those factors together, and then on top of ALL that I said above, there's all this build up and anticipation for them to have anal sex. Also especially because neither of them have had anal sex before! So their first time having that will be with each other. And even if not, it's still their first time together. So it's supposed to be special and a big thing and all that.
So all that then leads to 70% where...it fucking fades to black just as Tiller just gets inside Mikey for the first time. I WAS LIKE - WHAT?! Because come on. All that build up, all that anticipation, and....nothing? Why? It was just so out of place, out of character, for the author, and to just not get to see this monumentally important moment between the two MC's.
It just...skips to the next day and that's it. It was jarring and surprising and frustrating. So yeah, I had to give this .5 stars off for that. It just threw me, and yeah, upset me a bit.
Now, does that take away from the rest of this to round down or anything? No. The rest of this is still wonderful and I loved it and couldn't get enough of it.
But that doesn't change that for me, a small portion of this book was spent with me going "wait what the fuck? Where the sex???" lol. And just feeling majorly disappointed and frustrated. So yeah, .5 stars off it is.
But with that, it overall doesn't detract too much from the rest of the story, which was well paced, I thought, and had great chemistry between the two MC's, and an interesting story, with interesting side characters, and also an interesting epilogue to introduce us to the new couple for the next book - although it didn't bother me much, it still niggles at me that it was an epilogue more about the next couple than Mikey and Tiller. Like we get a preview to the next book after the book is over, that's usually is how it's done, we don't really need that in the epilogue of a story meant for another couple, ya know? - but anyway, Sam and Truman certainly intrigue me, nonetheless.
So overall, a good story, a good kicking off point for this new series, and I was so happy everything was able to work out for Mikey and Tiller, who deserved it. It seemed like things wouldn't work out for a bit, but of course it did :D.
So overall, two big thumbs up from me, and I highly recommend. And ya know, maybe you guys won't be as bothered by the fade to black as I was haha. Still, can't wait for the next one <3
What a strong start to a new series by Lucy Lennox. After the prequel we got, I was only too excited to get Mikey and Tiller's story.
And overall, it did not disappoint. I was sucked in from the beginning, these two had great chemistry, and their love was believable and interesting.
We get two prologues in this, that shows us when these two first meet. Tiller is the first out gay guy in the NFL - so kind of like a fictional version of that guy, Michael Sam, who was drafted into the NFL and who was out when he was - except Tiller has become something close to a superstar, and this really starts 5 years after they meet, with Tiller well into his NFL career and even a superbowl win under his belt.
Mikey has been Tiller's personal cook/assistant for the past five years, and for a long time they've been able to keep away from each other, meanwhile they falling for each other more and more. When Tiller gets seriously hurt during a game that will require him to be out for at least 4 weeks, he and Mikey go to Aster Valley to just get away from everything.
And it's there, where they get to be away from everything and everyone - specifically Mikey's father, TIller's coach, who is an absolute asshole - that things move beyond their quasi-friendship/employer/employee relationship and into something more.
And yes, I did .5 stars off of this for that fade to black scene! I'm sorry but that frustrated me beyond belief.
Because like, listen...if a book is clearly not meant to be an adult romance with the sexytimes - so like, it's young adult, or if it was like...a romance story but you can just tell sexytimes isn't going to happen on page, like maybe it's a romance/action thriller or romance/mystery, what have you, and it's leaning more towards the other genre instead of the romance, I'm fine with the no on page sex thing. I get it, and I go in expecting not on page sex.
But with these adult romance books, well...we all expect the sex, right? Especially with authors like Lennox who doesn't usually skimp out on these things. And even though we didn't get any anal sex until 87% - YEP. And it wasn't even that detailed, mind you - we did get other sexytimes things, like blowjobs and so on, so it's not like this is a book shying away from showing any sexy times.
So put all those factors together, and then on top of ALL that I said above, there's all this build up and anticipation for them to have anal sex. Also especially because neither of them have had anal sex before! So their first time having that will be with each other. And even if not, it's still their first time together. So it's supposed to be special and a big thing and all that.
So all that then leads to 70% where...it fucking fades to black just as Tiller just gets inside Mikey for the first time. I WAS LIKE - WHAT?! Because come on. All that build up, all that anticipation, and....nothing? Why? It was just so out of place, out of character, for the author, and to just not get to see this monumentally important moment between the two MC's.
It just...skips to the next day and that's it. It was jarring and surprising and frustrating. So yeah, I had to give this .5 stars off for that. It just threw me, and yeah, upset me a bit.
Now, does that take away from the rest of this to round down or anything? No. The rest of this is still wonderful and I loved it and couldn't get enough of it.
But that doesn't change that for me, a small portion of this book was spent with me going "wait what the fuck? Where the sex???" lol. And just feeling majorly disappointed and frustrated. So yeah, .5 stars off it is.
But with that, it overall doesn't detract too much from the rest of the story, which was well paced, I thought, and had great chemistry between the two MC's, and an interesting story, with interesting side characters, and also an interesting epilogue to introduce us to the new couple for the next book - although it didn't bother me much, it still niggles at me that it was an epilogue more about the next couple than Mikey and Tiller. Like we get a preview to the next book after the book is over, that's usually is how it's done, we don't really need that in the epilogue of a story meant for another couple, ya know? - but anyway, Sam and Truman certainly intrigue me, nonetheless.
So overall, a good story, a good kicking off point for this new series, and I was so happy everything was able to work out for Mikey and Tiller, who deserved it. It seemed like things wouldn't work out for a bit, but of course it did :D.
So overall, two big thumbs up from me, and I highly recommend. And ya know, maybe you guys won't be as bothered by the fade to black as I was haha. Still, can't wait for the next one <3
I can do a slow burn, but 5 years between introduction to first spark might be my limit.
DNF at 52%
DNF at 52%
Lucy's books keep getting better and better!
I've always enjoyed Lucy's books, but when she released Wilde Love, it was a game changer. Every release since has been fantastic. This book is no exception. I loved it! I adore the whole "they're basically already a married couple and don't realize it" trope and Mikey and Tiller are lovely together. The story is really interesting, the pacing is just right, the town of Aster Valley is a lot of fun, and the characters go through a lot of growth. Plus, the conflict is mostly external and the relationship is strong and full of love even when Mikey and Tiller are going through "I'm only human and I make mistakes" moments.
The epilogue teases the next book and I can't wait for it! Especially for the couple! Highly recommend checking out this book.
I've always enjoyed Lucy's books, but when she released Wilde Love, it was a game changer. Every release since has been fantastic. This book is no exception. I loved it! I adore the whole "they're basically already a married couple and don't realize it" trope and Mikey and Tiller are lovely together. The story is really interesting, the pacing is just right, the town of Aster Valley is a lot of fun, and the characters go through a lot of growth. Plus, the conflict is mostly external and the relationship is strong and full of love even when Mikey and Tiller are going through "I'm only human and I make mistakes" moments.
The epilogue teases the next book and I can't wait for it! Especially for the couple! Highly recommend checking out this book.
I'm not a big fan of sport romances, I guess that's because I'm not a big fan of sports in general. But this story was pretty good. There is relatively little sport in here and more complex family relationships and expectations.
Basically it's a story in a well-known style What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas, except that instead of Vegas we have Colorado. This is a theme that well done works pretty well and we can see it here. The reason why the main characters are alone in a mansion in the mountains is quite reasonable.
The reasons why Mikey and Tiller shouldn't be together weren't for the most part serious in my opinion. But the author has built the tension around them very well and did a good job of showing why Mikey and Tiller think they have no chance of being together. She managed to successfully convince me of these arguments to the point that I found them believable for this story.
Mikey and Tiller make a nice couple. There is not much development of their relationship in the story, but that's because from the beginning you have no doubts that they are in love with each other. There is something very sweet about their relationship and how they get on so well. Although at some point there is a bit of a lack of communication between them. I like how much Tiller supports Mikey in making his dreams come true. These are very good characters that I found easy to like.
I hope to meet this couple in the next book in this series.
Basically it's a story in a well-known style What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas, except that instead of Vegas we have Colorado. This is a theme that well done works pretty well and we can see it here. The reason why the main characters are alone in a mansion in the mountains is quite reasonable.
The reasons why Mikey and Tiller shouldn't be together weren't for the most part serious in my opinion. But the author has built the tension around them very well and did a good job of showing why Mikey and Tiller think they have no chance of being together. She managed to successfully convince me of these arguments to the point that I found them believable for this story.
Mikey and Tiller make a nice couple. There is not much development of their relationship in the story, but that's because from the beginning you have no doubts that they are in love with each other. There is something very sweet about their relationship and how they get on so well. Although at some point there is a bit of a lack of communication between them. I like how much Tiller supports Mikey in making his dreams come true. These are very good characters that I found easy to like.
I hope to meet this couple in the next book in this series.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No