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kristis390's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
reading_rainy's review
3.0
High school bully/enemies to lovers story. I can’t stand bully books, but damn this cover had me intrigued. Van is an erotic, mostly mm photographer, who can’t let go of the guilt he feels for the way he treated Shane in high school. Those bully moments were hard to forgive but Van gives good grovel. Told in flash backs, high school to current day.
It was super hot, but I didn’t feel the relationship as I should have. The way they came together at first was so…technical, mechanical, and just pure lust. While there is certainly a place for that, with the depth of emotions these characters had from years past, I was expecting more communication first.
I really felt for Shane. He was constantly bullied in high school for being gay and taking care of his agoraphobic mother. What really sucks is that Van (Max) is gay as well, but hides it and bullied Shane incessantly when he was a teen. There is more to his back-story, but I don’t have a ton of sympathy for bully characters.
I really loved Shane’s relationship with his mother Annie, they had such a beautiful connection.
It was super hot, but I didn’t feel the relationship as I should have. The way they came together at first was so…technical, mechanical, and just pure lust. While there is certainly a place for that, with the depth of emotions these characters had from years past, I was expecting more communication first.
I really felt for Shane. He was constantly bullied in high school for being gay and taking care of his agoraphobic mother. What really sucks is that Van (Max) is gay as well, but hides it and bullied Shane incessantly when he was a teen. There is more to his back-story, but I don’t have a ton of sympathy for bully characters.
I really loved Shane’s relationship with his mother Annie, they had such a beautiful connection.
tuai's review
2.0
3/10. It's bad, but not totally unreadable. But it is Bad. I mean, the first half of the book is kinda entertaining in a sort of laughing-at-it-not-with-it way, but it gets old and boring fast.
The story is so repetitive, I feel like it kept going in circles and it never arrived anywhere. Every conflict gets swept under the rug or is resolved magically. The characters are so one-dimensional it's painful. The dialogue wants to be witty and it's honestly terrible, the prose is lowkey awful too, but the sex scenes are straight up nasty. I went into it kind of excited, because I read some reviews here that made it sound Hot and Steamy and Dirty in a good way. Nah.
Here's a list of words I never want to read ever again in my life: prick, hole, pucker, sac, nuts. There's a lot of talk about balls and scrotums in this book. Aching balls, balls full of cum, tight balls, dudes laving nuts, lapping at sacs with their tongue... You know what? I don't want any of it. I officially hate testicles, thanks.
There's a lot of dirty talking that's the antithesis of hot. That's a common thing in these genre, I've found. (The shirtless-dudes-in-the-cover genre, that is). They give us stuffy full on conversations mid-sex where the characters explain what the're doing, instead of investing the time in building evocative and well written erotic scenes. Kind of a lazy choice, in my opinion. But everything about this book is lazy.
Anyway. Once again, I'm amazed by the reviews these kind of books get in this website. This is Not Good. It may be entertaining for a while if you're in the right mood, it might be an easy read, but it's not good by any stretch of the imagination. The writing is lazy, the characters are shallow, the argument is so thin. I keep coming back to this kind of books because I want them to be good, a fun read with porny porn and easy romance, maybe some angst, maybe some cuteness... But it's never even somewhat decent. Jeez.
PS: Also, there's So Much Winking. Who winks?? I've never seen a person wink in my entire life, and these two motherfuckers can't stop doing it. It's not cute! People, it's 2019, stop fucking winking!
The story is so repetitive, I feel like it kept going in circles and it never arrived anywhere. Every conflict gets swept under the rug or is resolved magically. The characters are so one-dimensional it's painful. The dialogue wants to be witty and it's honestly terrible, the prose is lowkey awful too, but the sex scenes are straight up nasty. I went into it kind of excited, because I read some reviews here that made it sound Hot and Steamy and Dirty in a good way. Nah.
Here's a list of words I never want to read ever again in my life: prick, hole, pucker, sac, nuts. There's a lot of talk about balls and scrotums in this book. Aching balls, balls full of cum, tight balls, dudes laving nuts, lapping at sacs with their tongue... You know what? I don't want any of it. I officially hate testicles, thanks.
There's a lot of dirty talking that's the antithesis of hot. That's a common thing in these genre, I've found. (The shirtless-dudes-in-the-cover genre, that is). They give us stuffy full on conversations mid-sex where the characters explain what the're doing, instead of investing the time in building evocative and well written erotic scenes. Kind of a lazy choice, in my opinion. But everything about this book is lazy.
Anyway. Once again, I'm amazed by the reviews these kind of books get in this website. This is Not Good. It may be entertaining for a while if you're in the right mood, it might be an easy read, but it's not good by any stretch of the imagination. The writing is lazy, the characters are shallow, the argument is so thin. I keep coming back to this kind of books because I want them to be good, a fun read with porny porn and easy romance, maybe some angst, maybe some cuteness... But it's never even somewhat decent. Jeez.
PS: Also, there's So Much Winking. Who winks?? I've never seen a person wink in my entire life, and these two motherfuckers can't stop doing it. It's not cute! People, it's 2019, stop fucking winking!
lbrick363's review
4.0
Well that was a surprise...
I wasn’t sure did like the whole “bully from your past becomes your lover” thing. But this was a super sweet story and I’m glad I read it.
I wasn’t sure did like the whole “bully from your past becomes your lover” thing. But this was a super sweet story and I’m glad I read it.
bookishforever's review
4.0
I loved this way more than I thought I was going to. It's written in third person, which I'm not a huge fan of - but it worked for this story. This story had so much depth, healing, and character growth.
Shane was such a strong, loving man. He spent his whole life taking care of his mom who struggled with mental illness. Always putting her needs above his own, often sacraficing himself. What warmed my heart the most, was he never seemed resentful of this dynamic. He loved his mom, and felt an overwhelming sense of obligation to her and geniunely wanted to be the person caring for her.
Maxwell (Van) - Holy character growth! This man! As a teenager in Last Chance - Van stepped into a role that was expected of him, not who he necessarily really was or wanted to be. Van was the cause of a lot of pain for Shane growing up. He and his friends often bullied Shane. When Van graduated, he left Last Chance and never looked back. 12 Years later, he returns and talk about a complete personalty overhaul. When he left, he was free - able to be who he knew he was always meant to be. We later find out all the reasons behind teenage Van's behavior, and my heart broke for him.
The connection and chemistry between Shane and Van was instant. Shane's ability to forgive and move forward was another display of his strength. Van stepping up and being their for Shane's mom were some of my favorite scenes in this book, and truely showed Van's character growth.
I should also mention this was probably the hottest book I've read by this author - Lots of spice!
Looking forward to reading Book 2 (Color Me In).
Shane was such a strong, loving man. He spent his whole life taking care of his mom who struggled with mental illness. Always putting her needs above his own, often sacraficing himself. What warmed my heart the most, was he never seemed resentful of this dynamic. He loved his mom, and felt an overwhelming sense of obligation to her and geniunely wanted to be the person caring for her.
Maxwell (Van) - Holy character growth! This man! As a teenager in Last Chance - Van stepped into a role that was expected of him, not who he necessarily really was or wanted to be. Van was the cause of a lot of pain for Shane growing up. He and his friends often bullied Shane. When Van graduated, he left Last Chance and never looked back. 12 Years later, he returns and talk about a complete personalty overhaul. When he left, he was free - able to be who he knew he was always meant to be. We later find out all the reasons behind teenage Van's behavior, and my heart broke for him.
The connection and chemistry between Shane and Van was instant. Shane's ability to forgive and move forward was another display of his strength. Van stepping up and being their for Shane's mom were some of my favorite scenes in this book, and truely showed Van's character growth.
I should also mention this was probably the hottest book I've read by this author - Lots of spice!
Looking forward to reading Book 2 (Color Me In).
abhidnya's review
4.0
i loved the chemistry between van and shane. the book is written super well and the characters are amazing but i expect nothing else from riley hart. i cannot wait for caleb's book. i want to see what he thinks of the whole van and shane situation.
shunsicker's review
Shane got stuck in his boring hometown, but he's made the best of things. He has his own garage, he's doing well enough and he takes care of his mother. He's content.
Until Maxwell "Van" Sullivan waltzes back into his life. Van, who bullied Shane in school, left town after graduation and is only back to help his mother deal with his father's death. He's looking forward to tying up the loose ends and then hurrying back to Los Angeles. But then Shane catches his eye and what starts simply as his desire to apologize for the shit he did in school becomes something much more...
This was nice. I felt the ending was a bit sudden and very quickly resolved, but overall the storyline was done well and the characters felt true. The sex scenes were pretty hot. Definitely some nice afternoon reading.
Until Maxwell "Van" Sullivan waltzes back into his life. Van, who bullied Shane in school, left town after graduation and is only back to help his mother deal with his father's death. He's looking forward to tying up the loose ends and then hurrying back to Los Angeles. But then Shane catches his eye and what starts simply as his desire to apologize for the shit he did in school becomes something much more...
This was nice. I felt the ending was a bit sudden and very quickly resolved, but overall the storyline was done well and the characters felt true. The sex scenes were pretty hot. Definitely some nice afternoon reading.
hopelois's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5 ⭐️ but rounding up! OH MY GOD, the things these men said to each other