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greginpalmsprings's review
4.0
This is a good story but here goes another m/m author writing about guys who have never explored their sexuality and who go "all in" on every imaginable sex act their second trip to bed. I get it, authors, you want to get your story revved up and going full throttle but it's just not realistic. I did appreciate the fact that it was halfway through the book before they had their first actual experience together...at least that wasn't rushed the way it's been in other series I've read. Ms Grech does write a good story, though, so just a one-star deduction for rushing these previously straight boys into full-on gay sex a bit too quickly.
digthewriter's review
3.0
2.5 rounded up. I think I found the book that made me realize why I prefer audiobooks.
I liked the premise a lot, but execution was utter failure.
It moved on far too fast for two supposedly straight men that'd never been with another man before -- the homophobia from some of the friends didn't even make sense/ like it was so forced.
Also the giant paragraphs made it really really hard to keep my focus on. I reckon this is why I prefer audio. Someone reading it for me, and I pay more attention.
I liked the premise a lot, but execution was utter failure.
It moved on far too fast for two supposedly straight men that'd never been with another man before -- the homophobia from some of the friends didn't even make sense/ like it was so forced.
Also the giant paragraphs made it really really hard to keep my focus on. I reckon this is why I prefer audio. Someone reading it for me, and I pay more attention.
jpjackson's review
2.0
Initially, I was really enjoying this story, and even let go and went for the ride when two straight men, after being stranded together in a mountain cabin after an avalanche suddenly find they have a sexual attraction to each other.
What the hell... why not! It could happen!
But then the story fell apart for me. There was just too much sweetness and not enough 'real life'.
On top of that, there were many, many times when the following phrases were used over and over, which made me cringe. A talented author should be able to find multiple ways of describing a scene, action or situation. Phrases in question: warm brown eyes, his breath ghosted on his skin, lips brushed, hands fisted ( which, by the way, has a completely DIFFERENT connotation.)
But hey, I might have even forgiven all that until I read the last 5 pages.
Reef was going into Pre-season training in Calgary, where he would be separated from Ford and that prospect of a long distance relationship was tearing him up. Ford then revealed that he had called the resort (presumably in Calgary) and pulled favors with a long time acquaintance to get him a job on the slopes as a ski instructor.
Okay, let's make something very clear: I live 3 hours away from Calgary. It is NOT in the mountains, it is nestled into the foothills, and although there are schools and training centers in the city, for skiing and snowboarding let me assure you there are no mountainous slopes. The ski hills are all at least an hours drive west of the city.
This stretching of the truth, lack of research just killed it for me, and that made me sad because really, the story had potential.
In the end, this just didn't measure up for me.
What the hell... why not! It could happen!
But then the story fell apart for me. There was just too much sweetness and not enough 'real life'.
On top of that, there were many, many times when the following phrases were used over and over, which made me cringe. A talented author should be able to find multiple ways of describing a scene, action or situation. Phrases in question: warm brown eyes, his breath ghosted on his skin, lips brushed, hands fisted ( which, by the way, has a completely DIFFERENT connotation.)
But hey, I might have even forgiven all that until I read the last 5 pages.
Reef was going into Pre-season training in Calgary, where he would be separated from Ford and that prospect of a long distance relationship was tearing him up. Ford then revealed that he had called the resort (presumably in Calgary) and pulled favors with a long time acquaintance to get him a job on the slopes as a ski instructor.
Okay, let's make something very clear: I live 3 hours away from Calgary. It is NOT in the mountains, it is nestled into the foothills, and although there are schools and training centers in the city, for skiing and snowboarding let me assure you there are no mountainous slopes. The ski hills are all at least an hours drive west of the city.
This stretching of the truth, lack of research just killed it for me, and that made me sad because really, the story had potential.
In the end, this just didn't measure up for me.
apostrophen's review
So, this book showed up in my in-box as a recommendation for an LGBT read, and as a freebie. I clicked it, read the description, saw the part about "opposite sex" and thought, oh, cool, a bisexual character. The blurb read like two bi guys of very different types (one a settle-downer, one a one-night-stand sort) finding chemistry and going from there.
So, to be clear for those of you who misread the blurb like I did, that's not what this book is at all. Instead, it's a double gay-for-you, and the kind that comes with a tonne of problems and bi/pan/queerphobia issues.
Now, lord knows I've talked about the harm of gay-for-you stories before, but the specific issues with this one include:
* Magic penis. They get together and then one character is immediately thereafter, wow, women do nothing for me anymore.
* Bi/pan-erasure. Almost entirely. At one point I had a glimmer of hope when one character did say to his ex, "I'm bi," and I thought, hey, look, at least the word is present, but later on he's dropped it, and gay is it. The other guy sticks to "I'm straight" for even longer, and I don't think he ever actually says anything otherwise, though he does refer to his boyfriend. Once more for the rows in the back, bi or pan people dating same or other-gender people are still bi or pan. And when you've got a perfect opportunity to actually include them in your narrative and you out-and-out don't, just because "straight going gay" is "sexier," you're being a 'phobe. It also just doesn't make sense when the characters are having their internal awareness moments or discussions with others. I mean, okay, the two guys in this book barely have those moments, but when they do, neither of them even considers the word 'bisexual.' It's 2017. People know bisexuals exist. Labels are tools. Word tools. Words are how we process things. It's just ridiculous to have a character attracted to someone of the same gender for the first time and have them flailing around with their feelings and never drop the darn word into the mix.
* Homophobia and hate. So, they kiss outside a bar, and get some drive-by hate tossed at them. Their reaction? Laughter. They seriously chuckle in a "Oh, wow, you think that 'fag' was for us?" way. Um, no. It's frightening. It's humiliating. It's surprising. It's many things, but it's not funny.
* But that homophobia and hate? Only sometimes. Conversely, the guys go to a not-gay bar and grind like mad with each other moments after telling one of the character's friends they're together. No one says a word, they're completely unselfconscious. They roll around on a grassy field while a band is playing. They kiss everywhere, all the freaking time. Except for once at the movies, where suddenly one of them is shy when the lights come up, which upsets the other. But... But you were making out at the side of the street beside a bar just a day ago..? It's incredibly inconsistent. These guys are frankly the luckiest guys to ever make out in public. No shoulder checks, no consideration of where they are, they just go for it and learn no lesson whatsoever from the initial hate tossed their way. Which bears out, because nothing bad happens. How magical for them.
Anyway. That was frustrating, it's exhausting to read yet another book where there is zero attention paid to the reality of queer people, and telling a story where there's the perfect opportunity to include bisexuality and/or pansexuality and instead doubling down in the opposite direction. I should have stopped at the first few chances that were blown, but that once mention of "bi" had me thinking I'd found a book that might actually get there.
It didn't.
So, to be clear for those of you who misread the blurb like I did, that's not what this book is at all. Instead, it's a double gay-for-you, and the kind that comes with a tonne of problems and bi/pan/queerphobia issues.
Now, lord knows I've talked about the harm of gay-for-you stories before, but the specific issues with this one include:
* Bi/pan-erasure. Almost entirely. At one point I had a glimmer of hope when one character did say to his ex, "I'm bi," and I thought, hey, look, at least the word is present, but later on he's dropped it, and gay is it. The other guy sticks to "I'm straight" for even longer, and I don't think he ever actually says anything otherwise, though he does refer to his boyfriend. Once more for the rows in the back, bi or pan people dating same or other-gender people are still bi or pan. And when you've got a perfect opportunity to actually include them in your narrative and you out-and-out don't, just because "straight going gay" is "sexier," you're being a 'phobe. It also just doesn't make sense when the characters are having their internal awareness moments or discussions with others. I mean, okay, the two guys in this book barely have those moments, but when they do, neither of them even considers the word 'bisexual.' It's 2017. People know bisexuals exist. Labels are tools. Word tools. Words are how we process things. It's just ridiculous to have a character attracted to someone of the same gender for the first time and have them flailing around with their feelings and never drop the darn word into the mix.
* Homophobia and hate. So, they kiss outside a bar, and get some drive-by hate tossed at them. Their reaction? Laughter. They seriously chuckle in a "Oh, wow, you think that 'fag' was for us?" way. Um, no. It's frightening. It's humiliating. It's surprising. It's many things, but it's not funny.
* But that homophobia and hate? Only sometimes. Conversely, the guys go to a not-gay bar and grind like mad with each other moments after telling one of the character's friends they're together. No one says a word, they're completely unselfconscious. They roll around on a grassy field while a band is playing. They kiss everywhere, all the freaking time. Except for once at the movies, where suddenly one of them is shy when the lights come up, which upsets the other. But... But you were making out at the side of the street beside a bar just a day ago..? It's incredibly inconsistent. These guys are frankly the luckiest guys to ever make out in public. No shoulder checks, no consideration of where they are, they just go for it and learn no lesson whatsoever from the initial hate tossed their way. Which bears out, because nothing bad happens. How magical for them.
Anyway. That was frustrating, it's exhausting to read yet another book where there is zero attention paid to the reality of queer people, and telling a story where there's the perfect opportunity to include bisexuality and/or pansexuality and instead doubling down in the opposite direction. I should have stopped at the first few chances that were blown, but that once mention of "bi" had me thinking I'd found a book that might actually get there.
It didn't.
anitalouise's review
4.0
Very sweet. Starts off a bit slowly and found my attention wandering but it was a sweet read. Reef Reid (really, that name is odd) meet Stratford "Ford" in New Zealand when Reef books a heli-tour on a ski trail and Ford is his guide. Reef has just broken up with his cheating girlfriend and Ford is a self-described womanizer. Love'em and leave'em. They get stuck on a mountaintop and things change. So I liked the rather subtle way the author has us believe that these guys are attracted to each other but it's not just out of the blue, so to speak. There have been inklings for each separately, Reef in particular, that perhaps there has always been some sort of attraction to men. Ford finds that he doesn't feel a "connection" to women which is why he is such a womanizer. I always find these gfy labeled books hard to categorize probably because of the bi-erasure discussions here on GR and in other settings so not sure what I can call these guys. At the end of the day, I don't think you have to use labels. You love who you love and that's it. And I think that is what I got from this book. Reef and Ford are gobsmacked at their insane connection and chemistry. Their sex life is positively incendiary (although they seemed quite the experts with little practice!). Yes, it's a shock but hey that's ok and that's how I took it. Their relationship takes off over the course of a number of weeks and they have to figure out how to be together. Liked the connection between them. Big gruff American and an older Brit. Nicely written but there were a few typos (broach instead of brooch). Lots of sex which generally, is ok but I would have liked a bit more story. The book ends at 81% and then there's a snippet of part 2, Whitewash. Looked up this author and see that under this name, she has written mostly M/F but she has some M/M erotic shorts under Olive Hiscock. Will check those out.
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