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blurrypetals's review against another edition
1.0
I don't even know why I listened to this. I knew I wasn't going to like it, so why I actually listened to it, I don't know. The only reason it wasn't a DNF was because it was so short. By the time I was about to just DNF, I had less than an hour left so I figured fuck it, I'll just finish it I guess.
gillianw's review against another edition
2.0
https://justloveromance.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/timing-mary-calmes/#more-14298
Oh gosh, where to start? Well, first off, this is my first Mary Calmes book. Her name is familiar to me, of course, but I’ve never had the opportunity or the inclination to read anything by her until now. A few months back I asked some friends in a FB group what people thought of her books and the reaction was pretty mixed. But one thing was certain: it seemed you either really liked her books or you really disliked her books. There didn’t seem to be much middle ground. Unfortunately, after reading this book, I find myself in the latter category.
I almost DNF’d fairly early in, but I can be stubborn when I’m reading and unless the content is vile, I want to give the author every opportunity to entertain me. Sadly, the one part I actually liked was a case of too little too late, and nothing that came after could make me change my mind.
The problem I had wasn’t with the overall storyline itself, which was fairly decent, but it was more with the outrageous and frankly unbelievable behavior of the characters themselves. I didn’t like any of them. Stef is too perfect, Charlotte is too needy and Rand is too unpredictable. And the enemies-to-lovers storyline between Stef and Rand might have been more believable had the change not happened literally overnight. Like, one moment they’re treating each other much like they have for the past 10 years when suddenly, Rand is getting all alpha male and being all demanding for Stef’s time and attention.
And then there was this:
“Stop,” I breathed out, taking in gulps of air.
His eyes were heavy-lidded, his mouth curling in the corner as he looked at me. “I can feel your heart beating in your cock,’ he said, leaning in to bit the curve of my shoulder where it met my neck. “I need to taste you.”
“Stop,” I panted, feeling his words in the pit of my stomach.
“I don’t wanna stop,” he said, his voice hoarse, deep. “I just wanna touch you.”
“Rand-“
“Stop fighting,” he said.
Yeah.
Not really feeling a big seduction scene when two clear requests to stop are patently ignored. That doesn’t exactly fill me up with the warm fuzzies. Not to mention that this scene comes minutes after Rand admits that he basically treated Stef like crap for so many years because he really liked him. Um, schoolyard antics anyone? Oh wait, we actually encourage kids to treat each other with more respect than that.
And then there is Stef’s best friend, Charlotte. When she isn’t flinging herself into Stef’s arms every 5 minutes, and literally clinging on to him like a baby monkey, she’s yelling at him in true Bridezilla fashion (Stef is in town to act as ‘man of honour’ at her wedding), and ordering him around or begging him to fix some wedding snafus that she is clearly incapable of handling. I get that the author was trying to impress upon the reader the importance of their place in each other’s lives, but all I got out of it was that their relationship was incredibly one-sided with Stef always jumping in to save her without getting much in return.
There were a few other things I didn’t like – Stef is perfect and EVERYONE is either hitting on him or acting like he’s their new best friend – but from what I understand, this book is fairly typical of Mary Calmes’ writing. And if that’s the case, I firmly believe that this is author is just not the one for me.
One last thing: that cover is stellar *heart eyes*
I received an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Oh gosh, where to start? Well, first off, this is my first Mary Calmes book. Her name is familiar to me, of course, but I’ve never had the opportunity or the inclination to read anything by her until now. A few months back I asked some friends in a FB group what people thought of her books and the reaction was pretty mixed. But one thing was certain: it seemed you either really liked her books or you really disliked her books. There didn’t seem to be much middle ground. Unfortunately, after reading this book, I find myself in the latter category.
I almost DNF’d fairly early in, but I can be stubborn when I’m reading and unless the content is vile, I want to give the author every opportunity to entertain me. Sadly, the one part I actually liked was a case of too little too late, and nothing that came after could make me change my mind.
The problem I had wasn’t with the overall storyline itself, which was fairly decent, but it was more with the outrageous and frankly unbelievable behavior of the characters themselves. I didn’t like any of them. Stef is too perfect, Charlotte is too needy and Rand is too unpredictable. And the enemies-to-lovers storyline between Stef and Rand might have been more believable had the change not happened literally overnight. Like, one moment they’re treating each other much like they have for the past 10 years when suddenly, Rand is getting all alpha male and being all demanding for Stef’s time and attention.
And then there was this:
“Stop,” I breathed out, taking in gulps of air.
His eyes were heavy-lidded, his mouth curling in the corner as he looked at me. “I can feel your heart beating in your cock,’ he said, leaning in to bit the curve of my shoulder where it met my neck. “I need to taste you.”
“Stop,” I panted, feeling his words in the pit of my stomach.
“I don’t wanna stop,” he said, his voice hoarse, deep. “I just wanna touch you.”
“Rand-“
“Stop fighting,” he said.
Yeah.
Not really feeling a big seduction scene when two clear requests to stop are patently ignored. That doesn’t exactly fill me up with the warm fuzzies. Not to mention that this scene comes minutes after Rand admits that he basically treated Stef like crap for so many years because he really liked him. Um, schoolyard antics anyone? Oh wait, we actually encourage kids to treat each other with more respect than that.
And then there is Stef’s best friend, Charlotte. When she isn’t flinging herself into Stef’s arms every 5 minutes, and literally clinging on to him like a baby monkey, she’s yelling at him in true Bridezilla fashion (Stef is in town to act as ‘man of honour’ at her wedding), and ordering him around or begging him to fix some wedding snafus that she is clearly incapable of handling. I get that the author was trying to impress upon the reader the importance of their place in each other’s lives, but all I got out of it was that their relationship was incredibly one-sided with Stef always jumping in to save her without getting much in return.
There were a few other things I didn’t like – Stef is perfect and EVERYONE is either hitting on him or acting like he’s their new best friend – but from what I understand, this book is fairly typical of Mary Calmes’ writing. And if that’s the case, I firmly believe that this is author is just not the one for me.
One last thing: that cover is stellar *heart eyes*
I received an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
teenykins's review against another edition
3.0
2nd re-listen. Dropping rating to 3 stars from the 5 that it was.
For starters I'm being generous with 3 stars to Sean Crisden, whom I absolutely love but here nope. This wasn't really a narration but a speed reading with hardly any performance and indication of new chapters. Rand's voice also at times sounded more like a 60yo cowboy that smokes than a 30yo man.
If you are a fan of Mary's there's a lot of characteristics in both Stefan and Rand that are very, very familiar. For example the gold all over, beautiful man, with the incredible charisma, abandoned by their mother but is loved by everyone and can turn any straight man gay just for him. And the strong, silent Alpha with the thick, perfect hair, the smoldering eyes and the commanding voice.
Anyways it is undeniable that there's tons of chemistry between Stefan and Rand and I always enjoy their interactions (no matter how juvenile they start) and seeing them come together. It's just that the rest (the sister's wedding and everything it entailed) is filler and eye rolling worthy. I mean what was the point of the bridesmaids touching (to sexual harassment degree) Stefan all the time? For Rand to say "...everyone wants to touch you all the time. I'm the only one who can't when I want to be the only one that" ? Yes that is quite the powerful sentence that expresses Rand's deep longing for Stefan, but couldn't it be accomplished without Stefan being accosted at every turn? Like when he was in Rand's kitchen cooking and the son of the guy that Rand's mother is dating, gropes him.
This was a comfort read and very often re-read and re-listened (just the Rand and Stefan moments) but as a more mature reader now I can see it's faults although as this was one of Mary's first stories a lot can be forgiven.
------------
One of the best of Mary Calmes with a Sean Crisden narrating! What more can you ask for?
For starters I'm being generous with 3 stars to Sean Crisden, whom I absolutely love but here nope. This wasn't really a narration but a speed reading with hardly any performance and indication of new chapters. Rand's voice also at times sounded more like a 60yo cowboy that smokes than a 30yo man.
If you are a fan of Mary's there's a lot of characteristics in both Stefan and Rand that are very, very familiar. For example the gold all over, beautiful man, with the incredible charisma, abandoned by their mother but is loved by everyone and can turn any straight man gay just for him. And the strong, silent Alpha with the thick, perfect hair, the smoldering eyes and the commanding voice.
Anyways it is undeniable that there's tons of chemistry between Stefan and Rand and I always enjoy their interactions (no matter how juvenile they start) and seeing them come together. It's just that the rest (the sister's wedding and everything it entailed) is filler and eye rolling worthy. I mean what was the point of the bridesmaids touching (to sexual harassment degree) Stefan all the time? For Rand to say "...everyone wants to touch you all the time. I'm the only one who can't when I want to be the only one that" ? Yes that is quite the powerful sentence that expresses Rand's deep longing for Stefan, but couldn't it be accomplished without Stefan being accosted at every turn? Like when he was in Rand's kitchen cooking and the son of the guy that Rand's mother is dating, gropes him.
This was a comfort read and very often re-read and re-listened (just the Rand and Stefan moments) but as a more mature reader now I can see it's faults although as this was one of Mary's first stories a lot can be forgiven.
------------
One of the best of Mary Calmes with a Sean Crisden narrating! What more can you ask for?
readerbreather's review against another edition
1.0
The plot was so fast-paced and seemed to jump around a lot for the author's convenience, making the book not flow the way a story should. Like one moment this guy is focused on his job, the next he's in fights and getting murdered and the next he's having sex on a table with a guy he reconciled with a day ago who he has hated for years since the first moment they met.
The whole book just screams unrealistic and I'm not even talking about what I previously mentioned. Why is everyone obsessed with Stefan? Because he's good-looking? Even hetero, married men. Like I'm all for straight guys having gay buddies but, in Texas? I know, I know people from Texas can be accepting but you're really going to tell me that every single person in the family, despite being literal cowboys from Texas (on a damn ranch at that), are so easily accepting of a gay person? Don't get me wrong, I'm okay with a good old M/M book where everyone accepts the couple and ride into the sunset, but I feel like usually it's done a bit more tastefully. The author usually either will ignore the concept of homophobia entirely creating a utopia of sorts or, the author will allude to the fact that the family will be accepting or already know and an unaccepting character will be thrown in the mix to spice it up. However, I can't help but feel that the author does the opposite here. We are led to believe that Texas is as it is, a generally unaccepting place, and then we arrive to find that everyone and their great grandparents from the 1950s are in love with the gorgeous gay guy who arrived from the city... ?
I'm not even going to talk about the fact that the MC has no struggles with his sexuality or outing himself, at all, despite previously marrying a woman.
Honestly overall, I just feel like sex was used to blur the story and their attraction to each other were supposed to overcome all barriers. I never got a chance to see what they love so much about each other other than knowing each other sooooo well and reading each other's eyes despite the fact that clearly, they didn't know what the heck each other were thinking when they thought they hated each other for the past how many years. And although this is supposedly an enemies to lovers, I didn't feel it. The only enemies we got where flinging insults at each other for a bunch of years with no real substance other than a horrific comment made years and years ago. That's not enemies to lovers, that's what you call immature to lovers. Or immature to immature. Every writer should write an enemies to lovers trope the way they want but I find a slow progression where each character fully learns what made them enemies and understand why the person did what they did and why they no longer feel that hate towards that person is my favourite type of enemies to lovers. But can't find that in this book because their times as enemies has no substance other than petty remarks over a statement made years ago, so the change from enemies to lovers is like a switch and all their arguments and remarks toward each other are just voided because their attraction is just that strong.
A wedding is not a long enough time frame to turn an enemy into a lover.
Also, why is Stefan able to take down 5 men? Is this a joke, like why am I reading a story about modern-day, gay Clark Kent? Why does Stefan have to be so perfect?
I recommend this book to intense lovers of 'cowboy' type clichés, and it's a hetero-leaning romance that is quite steamy with a relatively capturing plot. So definitely give it a go if you think you may like it. This book is loved by many so it may well be a case of not-for-me-but-for-everyone-else.
TL;DR - I don't mind unrealistic books and I don't mind books with cliches. But when I get unrealistic clichés. I DNF.
The whole book just screams unrealistic and I'm not even talking about what I previously mentioned. Why is everyone obsessed with Stefan? Because he's good-looking? Even hetero, married men. Like I'm all for straight guys having gay buddies but, in Texas? I know, I know people from Texas can be accepting but you're really going to tell me that every single person in the family, despite being literal cowboys from Texas (on a damn ranch at that), are so easily accepting of a gay person? Don't get me wrong, I'm okay with a good old M/M book where everyone accepts the couple and ride into the sunset, but I feel like usually it's done a bit more tastefully. The author usually either will ignore the concept of homophobia entirely creating a utopia of sorts or, the author will allude to the fact that the family will be accepting or already know and an unaccepting character will be thrown in the mix to spice it up. However, I can't help but feel that the author does the opposite here. We are led to believe that Texas is as it is, a generally unaccepting place, and then we arrive to find that everyone and their great grandparents from the 1950s are in love with the gorgeous gay guy who arrived from the city... ?
I'm not even going to talk about the fact that the MC has no struggles with his sexuality or outing himself, at all, despite previously marrying a woman.
Honestly overall, I just feel like sex was used to blur the story and their attraction to each other were supposed to overcome all barriers. I never got a chance to see what they love so much about each other other than knowing each other sooooo well and reading each other's eyes despite the fact that clearly, they didn't know what the heck each other were thinking when they thought they hated each other for the past how many years. And although this is supposedly an enemies to lovers, I didn't feel it. The only enemies we got where flinging insults at each other for a bunch of years with no real substance other than a horrific comment made years and years ago. That's not enemies to lovers, that's what you call immature to lovers. Or immature to immature. Every writer should write an enemies to lovers trope the way they want but I find a slow progression where each character fully learns what made them enemies and understand why the person did what they did and why they no longer feel that hate towards that person is my favourite type of enemies to lovers. But can't find that in this book because their times as enemies has no substance other than petty remarks over a statement made years ago, so the change from enemies to lovers is like a switch and all their arguments and remarks toward each other are just voided because their attraction is just that strong.
A wedding is not a long enough time frame to turn an enemy into a lover.
Also, why is Stefan able to take down 5 men? Is this a joke, like why am I reading a story about modern-day, gay Clark Kent? Why does Stefan have to be so perfect?
I recommend this book to intense lovers of 'cowboy' type clichés, and it's a hetero-leaning romance that is quite steamy with a relatively capturing plot. So definitely give it a go if you think you may like it. This book is loved by many so it may well be a case of not-for-me-but-for-everyone-else.
TL;DR - I don't mind unrealistic books and I don't mind books with cliches. But when I get unrealistic clichés. I DNF.
a_reader_obsessed's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars
You know what?? Mary Calmes has a formula. It is consistent, it is expected, and I don't think I fully appreciated it until now. But I get it. I embrace it.
So this is a perfect example of what many of my peeps call "Calmes crack".
Take one popular, beautiful and coveted gay man. Add in a supposed straight, tough alpha. Mix and shake and toss and you've got a sexy, over the top, ridiculous romance that just works. Every time.
You know what?? Mary Calmes has a formula. It is consistent, it is expected, and I don't think I fully appreciated it until now. But I get it. I embrace it.
So this is a perfect example of what many of my peeps call "Calmes crack".
Take one popular, beautiful and coveted gay man. Add in a supposed straight, tough alpha. Mix and shake and toss and you've got a sexy, over the top, ridiculous romance that just works. Every time.
lyss008's review
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
drez80's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book; however, Rand and Stef completely reminded me of Sam and Jory. Rand was a little rough with Stef, like Sam was with Jory, and he was bossy with Stef too. Stef and Jory look alike. Everyone loved Stef just like everyone loved Jory, but at least Jory would tell people to back off. Some of the things that happened with Stef and Charlotte or the bridesmaids or even Ben just seemed really weird to me, and I kept wondering why Stef didn't tell them to back off.
Charlotte seemed to be the Dylan of this story but a lot more obnoxious and needy. And the story of the worst night of her life just seemed kind of random. That whole situation with Stef knowing and Ben being mad at Stef cuz Char wouldn't tell him just wasn't at all necessary, and the story itself was worse because if she really did kill someone, whether it was self defense or not, I'm pretty sure the cops wouldn't have just let it go, and how could her parents and/or brother have never found out?!
A lot of things in this book seemed kind of rushed or out of the blue, and I wish we could have had more time to see how Rand and Stef's relationship built up to the supposed hatred and maybe had some more hints that they were only acting that way because they actually liked/loved each other. Rand's confession and he and Stef getting together just seemed sudden. I did have an inkling that they were feigning hatred because they were interested in each other, but I still never really felt any chemistry between them prior to Rand's confession. And the whole Knox/Mrs. Freeman situation seemed sort of thrown in for what I'm not really sure?! But again, Jory is always in trouble, getting shot at, etc. It just didn't work for me in this story, and this book just wasn't as good for me as the A Matter of Time series.
Charlotte seemed to be the Dylan of this story but a lot more obnoxious and needy. And the story of the worst night of her life just seemed kind of random. That whole situation with Stef knowing and Ben being mad at Stef cuz Char wouldn't tell him just wasn't at all necessary, and the story itself was worse because if she really did kill someone, whether it was self defense or not, I'm pretty sure the cops wouldn't have just let it go, and how could her parents and/or brother have never found out?!
A lot of things in this book seemed kind of rushed or out of the blue, and I wish we could have had more time to see how Rand and Stef's relationship built up to the supposed hatred and maybe had some more hints that they were only acting that way because they actually liked/loved each other. Rand's confession and he and Stef getting together just seemed sudden. I did have an inkling that they were feigning hatred because they were interested in each other, but I still never really felt any chemistry between them prior to Rand's confession. And the whole Knox/Mrs. Freeman situation seemed sort of thrown in for what I'm not really sure?! But again, Jory is always in trouble, getting shot at, etc. It just didn't work for me in this story, and this book just wasn't as good for me as the A Matter of Time series.
wrenae's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Well written with a REALLY fun chast of characters. Stef is amazing and perseveres through all sorts of conflict. The romance is still too easy but it's miles above the last several books by other authors.
awant's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
saeta's review against another edition
I'd love to hear more about how absolutely amazing the main character is but unfortunately I'm not strong enough to do that 😔