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bitchie's review against another edition
3.0
Hopefully this review goes through, GR is being a little bitch today.
I think this book had a lot of potential. I liked both Duke and Vaughan, but I felt that Duke fell for Vaughan WAY too fast. They have known each other since Vaughan was a kid, and Vaughan has been in love with Duke just about as long. There is more than a ten year age difference, and because of this, and the fact that Vaughan is the son of Duke's best friend, Duke never looked at Vaughan that way, until Vaughan came home from several years away, traveling and going to law school. Vaughan immediately starts his pursuit of Duke, but he didn't have to try too hard, Duke gets in deep fairly fast.
I really wish that they had had more time to be together and get to know each other in a romantic way, before Duke got hurt. Things seemed fairly unbalanced, because that happened fairly early on in the story, leaving the rest of the focus on Duke's injuries and saving his life, and not enough on the guys being together. The first sex scene doesn't even happen until 80% in, which is almost unheard of from books I've read from this author.
There were also the standard editing errors that you find in this author's books, things like a character "pinning" for someone, "the justice and the peace", and once a character's name was mixed up with another character- Doctor Cayson(is that really even a name?) suddenly becomes Duke for a sentence. I'd love to offer my beta reading skills to this author, not for big stories, but just to fix these little things.
I think this book had a lot of potential. I liked both Duke and Vaughan, but I felt that Duke fell for Vaughan WAY too fast. They have known each other since Vaughan was a kid, and Vaughan has been in love with Duke just about as long. There is more than a ten year age difference, and because of this, and the fact that Vaughan is the son of Duke's best friend, Duke never looked at Vaughan that way, until Vaughan came home from several years away, traveling and going to law school. Vaughan immediately starts his pursuit of Duke, but he didn't have to try too hard, Duke gets in deep fairly fast.
I really wish that they had had more time to be together and get to know each other in a romantic way, before Duke got hurt. Things seemed fairly unbalanced, because that happened fairly early on in the story, leaving the rest of the focus on Duke's injuries and saving his life, and not enough on the guys being together. The first sex scene doesn't even happen until 80% in, which is almost unheard of from books I've read from this author.
There were also the standard editing errors that you find in this author's books, things like a character "pinning" for someone, "the justice and the peace", and once a character's name was mixed up with another character- Doctor Cayson(is that really even a name?) suddenly becomes Duke for a sentence. I'd love to offer my beta reading skills to this author, not for big stories, but just to fix these little things.
evethingiread's review against another edition
5.0
Sweet mother of God!! Aiden Snow is probably my favorite narrator. He made this book sinfully hot.
The story itself was pretty fun and hot, if not a little angsty. I found it a little funny how Vaughn played the "I'm a MAN" to prove he's not a kid anymore, but nearly every time he did that, it made him sound like a kid LOL. I don't know if the author intended for that, but either way, it was fun and cheesy. Vaughn was VERY cheesy. And I love that Duke loved that. Duke was starved for affection and physical touch. They suited each other. I wish they got together sooner. The plot twist was very surprising and I couldn't sleep last night because I wanted to get to the part where they finally get together.
All in all, good story. Absolutely love all the characters. Via is one of my favorite mm authors. Her books are like drugs! I can never put them away. And I really hope she always uses Aiden Snow to voice her men!
The story itself was pretty fun and hot, if not a little angsty. I found it a little funny how Vaughn played the "I'm a MAN" to prove he's not a kid anymore, but nearly every time he did that, it made him sound like a kid LOL. I don't know if the author intended for that, but either way, it was fun and cheesy. Vaughn was VERY cheesy. And I love that Duke loved that. Duke was starved for affection and physical touch. They suited each other. I wish they got together sooner. The plot twist was very surprising and I couldn't sleep last night because I wanted to get to the part where they finally get together.
All in all, good story. Absolutely love all the characters. Via is one of my favorite mm authors. Her books are like drugs! I can never put them away. And I really hope she always uses Aiden Snow to voice her men!
drez80's review against another edition
I skimmed, but I could not get into this book at all. Everyone was perfectly fine with this relationship, so there was zero drama, and it was beyond cheesy.
evaxo's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Initially hesitant due to the whole best friend's son trope, I was pleasantly surpised to have really enjoyed this! I like how it was handled, the best friend was supportive, son was 30+ and the age gap wasn't as big as I expected, 10 years I think. The best part, was the son (the younger man) is the one romancing his father's friend, it's adorable. There is a bit of action and some medical drama midway through, as well as a character from 'Nothing Special: Don't Judge' frequenting, as Duke did in his book. We also get a sneak peak of the romance from the next book, between the best friend/father and a doctor, which started in conflict but there is definitely a spark. Overall I very enjoyable listen, the narrator did an excellent job as always. It was a little slow in parts, but no major complaints!
hellishlyawkward's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This story has gotta be in the running for an insta-love gold medal right?
The story jumped straight in with Duke immediately returning Vaughan’s long held and almost obsessive love, which was odd. And the oddness didn’t fade as the story progressed. Being almost immediately in love with your best friends son upon seeing him, after not seeing him since he was basically a child…? Seems like quite a high hurdle to leap.
It's not that I took issue with Vaughan being a kid and growing up around Duke - who was already very much an adult - and then them becoming romantic. But the speed with which they became a couple just seemed entirely unrealistic.
Also, Duke didn't feel like the kind of man who would get romantically involved with his friend's son and not talk to his friend about it first. That felt a bit like the author cheated or something. Like, you either have these tough macho bounty hunters with a completely unbreakable bro-code, or you don’t.
Story felt like a roller coaster of dirty talk - which I'm partial to in general, but it seemed to pop out so unexpectedly it would make me laugh out loud while listening.
I had a lot of trouble picturing Duke. The occasional shyness from him, while sweet, made it even harder for me to picture him at all.
Nevertheless, the story wasn't bad, it was just…odd. I do think A.E. Via's work is particularly well suited to audio format. I'm not sure I'd get through the books if I was reading them in print, but listening to them is an entertaining and wild ride. You just have to relax into it and take it for the fun it is. So three stars - because I was entertained!
The story jumped straight in with Duke immediately returning Vaughan’s long held and almost obsessive love, which was odd. And the oddness didn’t fade as the story progressed. Being almost immediately in love with your best friends son upon seeing him, after not seeing him since he was basically a child…? Seems like quite a high hurdle to leap.
It's not that I took issue with Vaughan being a kid and growing up around Duke - who was already very much an adult - and then them becoming romantic. But the speed with which they became a couple just seemed entirely unrealistic.
Also, Duke didn't feel like the kind of man who would get romantically involved with his friend's son and not talk to his friend about it first. That felt a bit like the author cheated or something. Like, you either have these tough macho bounty hunters with a completely unbreakable bro-code, or you don’t.
Story felt like a roller coaster of dirty talk - which I'm partial to in general, but it seemed to pop out so unexpectedly it would make me laugh out loud while listening.
I had a lot of trouble picturing Duke. The occasional shyness from him, while sweet, made it even harder for me to picture him at all.
Nevertheless, the story wasn't bad, it was just…odd. I do think A.E. Via's work is particularly well suited to audio format. I'm not sure I'd get through the books if I was reading them in print, but listening to them is an entertaining and wild ride. You just have to relax into it and take it for the fun it is. So three stars - because I was entertained!
shan198025's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
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
4.0
k_a_r_e_n_b's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
oliviak_31's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
hmmm_ireadthatsomewhere's review against another edition
2.0
Blah. Wasn't necessarily bad, but wasn't good imo. Not going to finish this series.
jamie_w's review against another edition
3.0
2.5⭐️ - Yeah, this just wasn't it. It was the strangest insta-love, slow burn, dad's best friend set up. First, the characters are all likable so I won't dive deeper into that since there isn't any character development in this - which isn't really an issue because the MCs deal with medical trauma.
Ok, so Vaughn's dad had been best friends with Duke for something like 20 years. Duke is mid 40s and Vaughn is 31. I guess Duke hadn't seen Vaughn in something like 7 years because Vaughn had finished law school and traveled during that time. Ok fine...but Vaughn had been in love with Duke for years! Whereas, Duke still kind of saw Vaughn as a kid. Also fine, I guess except that Vaughn just declared his love for Duke and Duke fell in love with him within a couple of weeks, even though Vaughn had to yell at him that he' wasn't a kid anymore and they hadn't even gone on a date yet. But I suppose falling in love with someone who donates a kidney to you is enough of a romantic gesture.
There was NO conflict anywhere. There was no struggle. There was no romance. There wasn't much of anything. It was weird. And there is no spice until after 80%.
This is how it went...
Vaughn: Duke, I love you.
Duke: You what? You can't be serious.
Vaughn: Stop treating me like a kid! I know how I feel.
Duke: Ok then.
...some days pass...
Duke: I love you too, Vaughn.
Vaughn: I can't wait to fuck you.
…a kidney donation and recovery period pass...
Vaughn: You have such a pretty hole.
Duke: I think your dad is attracted to your doctor. I know he’s not gay but he might be…
Also, there was toooooo much Judge in this book and the fact he found out about Vaughn donating the kidney and spilling that secret to Duke infuriated me. Anyone but Judge!
Ok, so Vaughn's dad had been best friends with Duke for something like 20 years. Duke is mid 40s and Vaughn is 31. I guess Duke hadn't seen Vaughn in something like 7 years because Vaughn had finished law school and traveled during that time. Ok fine...but Vaughn had been in love with Duke for years! Whereas, Duke still kind of saw Vaughn as a kid. Also fine, I guess except that Vaughn just declared his love for Duke and Duke fell in love with him within a couple of weeks, even though Vaughn had to yell at him that he' wasn't a kid anymore and they hadn't even gone on a date yet. But I suppose falling in love with someone who donates a kidney to you is enough of a romantic gesture.
There was NO conflict anywhere. There was no struggle. There was no romance. There wasn't much of anything. It was weird. And there is no spice until after 80%.
This is how it went...
Vaughn: Duke, I love you.
Duke: You what? You can't be serious.
Vaughn: Stop treating me like a kid! I know how I feel.
Duke: Ok then.
...some days pass...
Duke: I love you too, Vaughn.
Vaughn: I can't wait to fuck you.
…a kidney donation and recovery period pass...
Vaughn: You have such a pretty hole.
Duke: I think your dad is attracted to your doctor. I know he’s not gay but he might be…
Also, there was toooooo much Judge in this book and the fact he found out about Vaughn donating the kidney and spilling that secret to Duke infuriated me. Anyone but Judge!