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kj468's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Really really good book. I loved both of the MCs; they both had excellent journeys in the book (Brent with reinventing himself after hockey and John finding himself after divorce). I loved seeing a bi man who married a woman & when he married her, everyone knew he was bi.
The communication between the MCs and their inner dialogue were two of the best parts in the book. The author really dived into their thoughts and emotions, and they seemed so realistic for the circumstances they were both in.
Brent’s journey with his chronic pain was wonderful. I loved seeing a character with chronic pain in such detail, hearing how the pain affected him both mentally and physically. I thought this rep was excellent.
John had a compelling journey too, even thought I got annoyed with a major action of his in the third act.
Still, I could understand why he was doing the annoying thing and it felt very human. The way he apologized for the annoying thing was too notch though.
The ex wife character bothered me a little — partially because she sucked, and partially because she fell into the stereotype of mean ex wife.
The communication between the MCs and their inner dialogue were two of the best parts in the book. The author really dived into their thoughts and emotions, and they seemed so realistic for the circumstances they were both in.
Brent’s journey with his chronic pain was wonderful. I loved seeing a character with chronic pain in such detail, hearing how the pain affected him both mentally and physically. I thought this rep was excellent.
John had a compelling journey too, even thought I got annoyed with a major action of his in the third act.
Still, I could understand why he was doing the annoying thing and it felt very human. The way he apologized for the annoying thing was too notch though.
The ex wife character bothered me a little — partially because she sucked, and partially because she fell into the stereotype of mean ex wife.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Chronic illness, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, and Mental illness
Minor: Animal cruelty and Infertility
20sidedbi's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Grief, Medical content, Chronic illness, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Infertility
piperclover's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Emotional, angsty, very reflective, and, sweet. I love Greg Boudreau as a narrator and I came to enjoy John solo as the second narrator.
There's a lot of discussion both explicit and implicit about self-discovery and how it can be done with out the expense of other peoples happiness. Due to the nature of Brent's injuries of discussion and portrayal of chronic pain, having a body that doesn't do what you want to do or what other people's bodies do, how people grieve the loss of mobility, and how it's a constant struggle to accept your new body. Brent goes through waves of acceptance and hope and then really low lows of self-loathing and extremely low self-esteem. It felt really genuine and true to what having a chronic disability would be like.
It also discusses how if there are people in your life who refuse to believe that your disability is real or that makes you feel bad for needing certain accommodations then maybe they aren't the right people for you. I honestly hadn't expected this to be so deep and have so many different layers but I feel like the author handled them well.
I am deeply bothered however by the is that Jon's ex-wife moves through the story. She admits tocheating on Jon and receives no punishment/scolding/ anything. I despise cheating more than almost anything an author could put in a book and I am deeply upset by how It's framed as normal and fine. Beyond that the ex-wife allows her new boyfriend to be little their son and make him feel bad about how he acts and what he feels and except a tense conversation with Jon, she never atones for either. I'm struggling with how I'm supposed to see her character as a good mother even if she has a bad relationship with John after she admits to cheating and allows a grown man to bully her child. She also makes it clear that she didn't care about Jon as a person with emotions when she divorced him but she was unhappy and that's all the mattered. She was completely unconcerned with devasting Jon or their son because she only cared about herself. All of this combined means that when the end of the book tells us she is now cordial with Jon and Brent and has broken up with the new boyfriend so all is well and happy now- I just don't want her to be happy. I feel like she's been painted as the villain through this whole book and then she gets such a happy, easy ending and I hate it.
Also I dislike how Brent's mother is never called out for her bad behavior. She lets Brent's dad bully Brent every week but never ever stands up for him or tries to talk to the dad or anything. Early on in the book Brent notes that she doesn't stand up for him and yet at the end she just supposedly has a nice relationship with everyone. She's given too much leeway. I again don't understand how I'm supposed to be happy by how smoothly and seemlessly everything is wrapped up at the end of the story when I feel so dissatisfied by how easily both the mother and the ex-wife have gotten off. .
I think if this had been only about John and Brent as a couple with no outside characters or with more emotionally satisfying resolutions, I would rate it 4.5 or 4.75. I loved their relationship and the growth both characters have.
There's a lot of discussion both explicit and implicit about self-discovery and how it can be done with out the expense of other peoples happiness. Due to the nature of Brent's injuries of discussion and portrayal of chronic pain, having a body that doesn't do what you want to do or what other people's bodies do, how people grieve the loss of mobility, and how it's a constant struggle to accept your new body. Brent goes through waves of acceptance and hope and then really low lows of self-loathing and extremely low self-esteem. It felt really genuine and true to what having a chronic disability would be like.
It also discusses how if there are people in your life who refuse to believe that your disability is real or that makes you feel bad for needing certain accommodations then maybe they aren't the right people for you. I honestly hadn't expected this to be so deep and have so many different layers but I feel like the author handled them well.
I am deeply bothered however by the is that Jon's ex-wife moves through the story. She admits to
Also I dislike how Brent's mother is never called out for her bad behavior. She lets Brent's dad
I think if this had been only about John and Brent as a couple with no outside characters or with more emotionally satisfying resolutions, I would rate it 4.5 or 4.75. I loved their relationship and the growth both characters have.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness
tragicgloom's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Biphobia, Chronic illness, Ableism, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Moderate: Body shaming, Car accident, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Animal cruelty, Infertility, and Infidelity
readingtotravel's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Chronic illness
chambersaurusrx's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Ableism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
kharlan3's review against another edition
(m/m, contemporary, romance). This may be my favorite one so far. A recently divorced bi massage therapist single dad meets a former professional hockey player recovering from catastrophic injuries with ED. Dogs!! I liked Jon’s refusal to find Brent a burden, and the abusive/manipulative dad storyline was effective. I really liked the creative sex and journey around that. The best part was obviously them adopting the dogs, duh. There was some weirdness with this audiobook- the narrator for Jon was oddly quiet/solemn on the chapter names, and there was one moment of what sounded like strange re-records on a Brent chapter. Only a little distracting though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, and Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Alcohol and Animal cruelty
moatzilla's review
challenging
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Car accident, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, and Infertility
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Grief, and Infidelity
ollie_again's review
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
3.75
So far, my favourite out of the series. The story was really fleshed out (it was also the longest book so far) and I was invested in it. Both MCs had their own set of worries and they were not one dimensional.
One night stand turns to a couple of men seeking comfort in each other's company. The hurt/comfort aspect of this was pretty great, because both men are for different reasons starved of intimacy and company. Weirdly enough, I most enjoyed the inclusion oferectile dysfunction in this story, because that's something I've never came across in M/M (or any) book. It was handled very well in my opinion and it added another layer to the relationship between Jon and Brent.
Despite the book being relatively long as it is, I wouldn't mind another 50 pages at the end just to enjoy the smooth landing of the end.
One night stand turns to a couple of men seeking comfort in each other's company. The hurt/comfort aspect of this was pretty great, because both men are for different reasons starved of intimacy and company. Weirdly enough, I most enjoyed the inclusion of
Despite the book being relatively long as it is, I wouldn't mind another 50 pages at the end just to enjoy the smooth landing of the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness
Moderate: Car accident and Medical content
Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Mental illness
irisheyz77's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.0
**I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this installment in the Vino & Veritas series and while this one was a quick read with many feels there was just something about it that didn't click with me. I really enjoyed these two MCs and their love story but kind felt that once they met each other that almost every other character fell by the wayside. It felt very siloed. However, I did like how LA Witt handled the issues of these two broken men and how she helped to heal them both by finding the other. I was also glad that this one was over 300 pages as so many in this series have felt short and rushed which gave plenty of time for character and plot development. Overall, a good read but not my favorite in the series.
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this installment in the Vino & Veritas series and while this one was a quick read with many feels there was just something about it that didn't click with me. I really enjoyed these two MCs and their love story but kind felt that once they met each other that almost every other character fell by the wayside. It felt very siloed. However, I did like how LA Witt handled the issues of these two broken men and how she helped to heal them both by finding the other. I was also glad that this one was over 300 pages as so many in this series have felt short and rushed which gave plenty of time for character and plot development. Overall, a good read but not my favorite in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Sexual content
Toxic Relationship is between an MC and his father
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