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wendylynnm's review
3.0
3.5
Oh how I wanted to love this book but I didn't feel a great connection between Rhys and Jevon, I do think it was a well written book. I liked Rhys from the beginning of the series, I liked his snarky attitude that only got better when he talked to his brother. Even though the two men worked well together I felt it was closer to a "Bromance"(with sex) than a relationship.
Bringing in all the other guys from the first two books made it better for me.
Oh how I wanted to love this book but I didn't feel a great connection between Rhys and Jevon, I do think it was a well written book. I liked Rhys from the beginning of the series, I liked his snarky attitude that only got better when he talked to his brother. Even though the two men worked well together I felt it was closer to a "Bromance"(with sex) than a relationship.
Bringing in all the other guys from the first two books made it better for me.
coconutlavender's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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
3.0
the_novel_approach's review
5.0
Ok, I loved it, just going to throw that out there right from the get go. This is book three in the Skins series and while each is absolutely a standalone, if you are familiar with Leigh’s writing at all, you know she likes to keep all her stories “in the family”, so to speak. So, while you can read this one all by itself, you actually won’t get the full picture unless you read the first two books also. Believe features Harry and Joe from Whisper (as Harry is Rhys brother), and it has Angelo and Dylan from Dream; it also has Marc from Soul to Keep and Efe from the Urban Souls works.
Rhys is at a crossroads. His life has become monotonous and his drug of choice—anonymous sex—just isn’t working to take him out of his head for a while anymore. When we met Rhys in the other books in the series, he seemed like a likable guy, a sex positive guy, but there were hints that all wasn’t right with him. Boy, were those hints right. Growing up in an abusive home has left some deep psychological scars on him. His easygoing nature masks an emotionally introverted man whose shadows often overpower him. The sexual extrovert we see in previous books all of a sudden has new meaning, and all the playing he does is now a cause for worry. Rhys has trouble with the word happy. He’s just not. But he’s trying so hard to move forward and find a place where if he’s not happy, at least he is content. He’s quit the sex club and is trying to be a better brother. He’s joined the air ambulance and is working to make a difference with those he rescues. And then he finds Jevon, a man comfortable in his own skin with a penchant for saving small children all alone in the world, and Rhys finally discovers what he has been searching for—if he will let himself believe.
“…he had no idea what to do with the ever-growing, bone-deep affection he felt every time Jevon crossed his mind. Every time they touched.
Kissed.
More.
I can’t do this.
But I need him.”
I will interject here a comment about Rhys’ past: it was pretty horrific, and you won’t find that explanation in this book. To understand Rhys past and know why he has such deep shadows, you have to get the full story from Harry’s book, Whisper. I wish that the story had been laid out in this book like it was for Harry. We get a vague few sentences, a paragraph at most, about Rhys and Harry’s father and their home life. I feel like Jevon needed to know this about Rhys, because it goes a long way toward explaining who Rhys was before he met Jevon, and the reason he is trying so hard to reinvent himself into a better man when he and Jevon meet. I do understand that this book is about who Rhys is today, though, not who he has been. I just wish it had been explained in greater detail in this book.
Jevon has found a calling, and it is a calling. It’s his life’s work. Being a play therapist and making children smile isn’t just a passion; it is why he gets up every day in internment camps around the globe, puts on a silly hat and let’s children who have been affected by war and genocide just be children for a few stolen days, hours, or minutes. Being bisexual isn’t something he has had the time to explore, but he has always felt that a part of himself was missing and would continue to be unless he owned up to it and learned to embrace it. A chance meeting with a really great guy in a bar leads to his first male sexual encounter, and while Jevon would like to get the guy’s number, he knows that he will be out of the country for an extended time and just doesn’t see how it could work. So, he walks away. Fast forward three months, and Jevon is called in on a tragedy once again. Only he doesn’t expect to see Rhys, who has bonded with a small girl whose story will break your heart. The spark is lit between the two, however, and now it’s about making the time and making the connection. Jevon see’s the shadows in Rhys and his inner therapist can’t help but want to heal him, to make Rhys smile so that it hits his eyes.
This book is a bit of a departure for Leigh in that there are extraneous influences all around our main characters, which keep them occupied and away from each other for good portions of the story. What that means is that when they do get together, it holds a great deal more meaning for the MCs and, by extension, the reader. The sex has a purpose in this book; it pushes the storyline forward with Jevon exploring his newfound bisexuality and Rhys discovering the difference between gratuitous sex and true intimacy with someone he cares for. And absences aside, the chemistry between these two men is there right from the get-go. You feel the connections, the threads that form and that bring them together. Reading about these men and the lives they lead, the weight of the good they are trying to accomplish, invests you in their love story as much as in their lives in general.
It’s hard to confront the realities that these men share. From Syrian refugees to a terror attack in London, Leigh gives us glimpses of these tragedies from the eyes of two men who fictionally live them. Jevon sees firsthand the overwhelming migrant situation in Lesbos, Greece, and Rhys is caught in the Tower of London stabbings. Both men come out of the story stronger and more able to handle the devastation around them because they have the foundation of their relationship to draw strength from.
Can you tell I loved it? I did. This is an insta-love story, but I didn’t even realize that until I reflected on the book after I finished it. I am a big fan of this series, mainly because each of these books has been so different from the one before it. Even though the characters overlap, each of the books has been as individual as the men inside them. That takes talent and Garrett Leigh has that in spades.
Reviewed by Carrie for The Novel Approach
Rhys is at a crossroads. His life has become monotonous and his drug of choice—anonymous sex—just isn’t working to take him out of his head for a while anymore. When we met Rhys in the other books in the series, he seemed like a likable guy, a sex positive guy, but there were hints that all wasn’t right with him. Boy, were those hints right. Growing up in an abusive home has left some deep psychological scars on him. His easygoing nature masks an emotionally introverted man whose shadows often overpower him. The sexual extrovert we see in previous books all of a sudden has new meaning, and all the playing he does is now a cause for worry. Rhys has trouble with the word happy. He’s just not. But he’s trying so hard to move forward and find a place where if he’s not happy, at least he is content. He’s quit the sex club and is trying to be a better brother. He’s joined the air ambulance and is working to make a difference with those he rescues. And then he finds Jevon, a man comfortable in his own skin with a penchant for saving small children all alone in the world, and Rhys finally discovers what he has been searching for—if he will let himself believe.
“…he had no idea what to do with the ever-growing, bone-deep affection he felt every time Jevon crossed his mind. Every time they touched.
Kissed.
More.
I can’t do this.
But I need him.”
I will interject here a comment about Rhys’ past: it was pretty horrific, and you won’t find that explanation in this book. To understand Rhys past and know why he has such deep shadows, you have to get the full story from Harry’s book, Whisper. I wish that the story had been laid out in this book like it was for Harry. We get a vague few sentences, a paragraph at most, about Rhys and Harry’s father and their home life. I feel like Jevon needed to know this about Rhys, because it goes a long way toward explaining who Rhys was before he met Jevon, and the reason he is trying so hard to reinvent himself into a better man when he and Jevon meet. I do understand that this book is about who Rhys is today, though, not who he has been. I just wish it had been explained in greater detail in this book.
Jevon has found a calling, and it is a calling. It’s his life’s work. Being a play therapist and making children smile isn’t just a passion; it is why he gets up every day in internment camps around the globe, puts on a silly hat and let’s children who have been affected by war and genocide just be children for a few stolen days, hours, or minutes. Being bisexual isn’t something he has had the time to explore, but he has always felt that a part of himself was missing and would continue to be unless he owned up to it and learned to embrace it. A chance meeting with a really great guy in a bar leads to his first male sexual encounter, and while Jevon would like to get the guy’s number, he knows that he will be out of the country for an extended time and just doesn’t see how it could work. So, he walks away. Fast forward three months, and Jevon is called in on a tragedy once again. Only he doesn’t expect to see Rhys, who has bonded with a small girl whose story will break your heart. The spark is lit between the two, however, and now it’s about making the time and making the connection. Jevon see’s the shadows in Rhys and his inner therapist can’t help but want to heal him, to make Rhys smile so that it hits his eyes.
This book is a bit of a departure for Leigh in that there are extraneous influences all around our main characters, which keep them occupied and away from each other for good portions of the story. What that means is that when they do get together, it holds a great deal more meaning for the MCs and, by extension, the reader. The sex has a purpose in this book; it pushes the storyline forward with Jevon exploring his newfound bisexuality and Rhys discovering the difference between gratuitous sex and true intimacy with someone he cares for. And absences aside, the chemistry between these two men is there right from the get-go. You feel the connections, the threads that form and that bring them together. Reading about these men and the lives they lead, the weight of the good they are trying to accomplish, invests you in their love story as much as in their lives in general.
It’s hard to confront the realities that these men share. From Syrian refugees to a terror attack in London, Leigh gives us glimpses of these tragedies from the eyes of two men who fictionally live them. Jevon sees firsthand the overwhelming migrant situation in Lesbos, Greece, and Rhys is caught in the Tower of London stabbings. Both men come out of the story stronger and more able to handle the devastation around them because they have the foundation of their relationship to draw strength from.
Can you tell I loved it? I did. This is an insta-love story, but I didn’t even realize that until I reflected on the book after I finished it. I am a big fan of this series, mainly because each of these books has been so different from the one before it. Even though the characters overlap, each of the books has been as individual as the men inside them. That takes talent and Garrett Leigh has that in spades.
Reviewed by Carrie for The Novel Approach
suzy76's review
5.0
I didn't think I could love a Foster brother more than I loved Harry but I was wrong. Rhys was amazing, he was so lost but at the same time put together that I just fell head over heart for him. Jevon was amazing too, I thought it would be Rhys sorting him out but Garrett spun that notion on its head. Garrett has been an automatic auto-buy for a while now and I don't see that changing any time soon.
knrt_17's review
5.0
Easy five star book. What a beautiful mm contemporary story. Love is never simple but it does find a way. Love this series and author. Auto buy for me.
codyjames's review
5.0
Book 3 in the “Skin” series, “Believe” follows the brother of Harry,who the story of “Whisper” centered around, Rhys. We also saw Rhys in “Dream” book 1 in the series, where he is someone Angelo and Dylan play with at their club. In “Believe” we see Rhys being effected by the happy couples around him. Seeing his brother fall head over heels has skewed his view on his activities in the club, and also his involvement as an add on to Angelo and Dylan’s sex life, and he’s decided to take a step back. As a paramedic, he throws himself into work. When he decides to go out for a drink he meets Jevon and is immediately drawn in. Jevon is a “play therapist” who travels to different camps around the world to entertain and distract the children of the awfulness around them. The pair go home together, but it’s quickly revealed that Jevon is a virgin. This is a running theme throughout the book as Jevon becomes more comfortable with himself and his sexuality and allows himself to explore it with Rhys. The two are torn apart from each other by their respective jobs frequently, so there’s a lot of angst in this book. There’s also a...idk I guess it’s a twist?...at seemingly came out of nowhere but propelled the two to the eventual solution to the problem of being together while both are immersed in their work. This twist finds the pair at Joe’s farm, and we get to see Joe and Harry from “Whisper” Angelo and Dylan from “Dream” and Toby from “The Sex Coach”. Rhys faces his jealousy of Harry, and their traumatic past at the hands of their father, while Jevon gets used to being surrounded by attractive queer men. A cute fun addition to this series.
cadiva's review
5.0
So, you all know how highly I rate Garrett Leigh as an author so it won't be the slightest surprise to anyone that this was another 5* book for me.
But, having said that, this one is a bit different in that Garrett firmly places part of the narrative into a specific time and place - the 2017 London Bridge Terrorist Attack - and it works to stunning effect in this story about two people who are quite different on the surface but at heart both want someone to care for.
Rhys we already know, he's the "third" in [b:Dream|36423334|Dream (Skins, #1)|Garrett Leigh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1508169887s/36423334.jpg|58121603] who plays a major role in that scene at Lovato's with Angelo and Dylan. He's Harry's brother (from [b:Whisper|38482523|Whisper (Skins, #2)|Garrett Leigh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1518341396s/38482523.jpg|60117645]) and Garrett also sneaks in further cameos and connections to her extended universe as Jevon is Efe's cousin (she's the amazing baker that Tom hires in the Urban Souls series) and Marc from [b:Soul to Keep|36291180|Soul to Keep (Rented Heart, #2)|Garrett Leigh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1508439332s/36291180.jpg|57955556] is the air ambulance doctor Rhys works with at the start of the story.
I love how this book weaves its way around really sensitive issues - displaced peoples' camps, the situation in Syria, the terrorist attack - but it never feels gratuitous.
These form key areas in the lives of both. Rhys is an air ambulance paramedic. Jevon has a totally cool job I've never come across before - as a play coordinator with a non-profit organisation working with kids in hospitals and the camps.
They meet in a bar and there's both an instant attraction and a sense of wariness as if both instantly recognise that the other man has the potential to bring great joy, but also inflict untold hurt if things went wrong.
Neither can resist though and I loved how Garrett worked the narrative to show Rhys slowly changing from an introverted man who struggled with the emotional intimacy of being with someone he had feelings for, to someone willing to put it all on the line for the guy he was in love with.
Jevon though, oh he's just such a wonderful man. Loving, caring, inexperienced and newly realising he's bisexual and lacking in confidence that he can keep a man happy. He was a joy to read.
Together they come to realise that sometimes you have to open yourself up to the possibility of hurt to reap the full rewards of a love which can heal them all.
#ARC kindly provided by the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
As I always say with this author, all fangirling is totally my own work and unashamedly so.
But, having said that, this one is a bit different in that Garrett firmly places part of the narrative into a specific time and place - the 2017 London Bridge Terrorist Attack - and it works to stunning effect in this story about two people who are quite different on the surface but at heart both want someone to care for.
Rhys we already know, he's the "third" in [b:Dream|36423334|Dream (Skins, #1)|Garrett Leigh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1508169887s/36423334.jpg|58121603] who plays a major role in that scene at Lovato's with Angelo and Dylan. He's Harry's brother (from [b:Whisper|38482523|Whisper (Skins, #2)|Garrett Leigh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1518341396s/38482523.jpg|60117645]) and Garrett also sneaks in further cameos and connections to her extended universe as Jevon is Efe's cousin (she's the amazing baker that Tom hires in the Urban Souls series) and Marc from [b:Soul to Keep|36291180|Soul to Keep (Rented Heart, #2)|Garrett Leigh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1508439332s/36291180.jpg|57955556] is the air ambulance doctor Rhys works with at the start of the story.
I love how this book weaves its way around really sensitive issues - displaced peoples' camps, the situation in Syria, the terrorist attack - but it never feels gratuitous.
These form key areas in the lives of both. Rhys is an air ambulance paramedic. Jevon has a totally cool job I've never come across before - as a play coordinator with a non-profit organisation working with kids in hospitals and the camps.
They meet in a bar and there's both an instant attraction and a sense of wariness as if both instantly recognise that the other man has the potential to bring great joy, but also inflict untold hurt if things went wrong.
Neither can resist though and I loved how Garrett worked the narrative to show Rhys slowly changing from an introverted man who struggled with the emotional intimacy of being with someone he had feelings for, to someone willing to put it all on the line for the guy he was in love with.
Jevon though, oh he's just such a wonderful man. Loving, caring, inexperienced and newly realising he's bisexual and lacking in confidence that he can keep a man happy. He was a joy to read.
Together they come to realise that sometimes you have to open yourself up to the possibility of hurt to reap the full rewards of a love which can heal them all.
#ARC kindly provided by the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
As I always say with this author, all fangirling is totally my own work and unashamedly so.
terriaminute's review
5.0
I enjoyed all three of these stories, as well as the overarching connections, but I think Jevon's my favorite character of the six, so that makes this one my favorite of the three. They can be read independently, but for best effect, read them in order. I was a little dissatisfied with the epilogue, until I gave it further thought, and then I smiled. And that was cool.
alextweetsbooks's review
5.0
I always have high expectations for Leigh’s books and I haven’t been disappointed yet! This one is also amazing.
It is wonderful and also admirable how Leigh can take difficult themes, such as addiction, illnesses, even migrant camps! and manages to incorporate all the romance as well, without making anything seem weird.
Rhys and Jevon both have similar jobs – they help people. But their workplace differs greatly. While Rhys is paramedic in London, Jevon works as a ‘clown’ (not a scary one!) in migrant camps. Having seen many photos of those camps, and also seeing how our country handled migrant crisis, I could not imagine anything good about them. But of course there are people who care and who try to make it at least a bit better – and Jevon is one of them.
And concerning Rhys, we have met him in previous books, but here, we see so much more. He doesn’t have much more than his work and Lovato’s and the latter is not bringing him much satisfaction lately. I loved how Rhys and Jevon clicked, and how patient Rhys was with him!
But Rhys had other problems. He’s lonely, and sad, and definitely NOT kind to himself. Honestly, for most of the book I just wanted to hug him ❤ He’s so not the positive guy I imagined him to be from the first book, but he is just as kind as he was with Angelo when he needed help in the first book!
I loved how Rhys and Jevon clicked and how they cared for each other (and the sex isn’t bad either
It is wonderful and also admirable how Leigh can take difficult themes, such as addiction, illnesses, even migrant camps! and manages to incorporate all the romance as well, without making anything seem weird.
Rhys and Jevon both have similar jobs – they help people. But their workplace differs greatly. While Rhys is paramedic in London, Jevon works as a ‘clown’ (not a scary one!) in migrant camps. Having seen many photos of those camps, and also seeing how our country handled migrant crisis, I could not imagine anything good about them. But of course there are people who care and who try to make it at least a bit better – and Jevon is one of them.
And concerning Rhys, we have met him in previous books, but here, we see so much more. He doesn’t have much more than his work and Lovato’s and the latter is not bringing him much satisfaction lately. I loved how Rhys and Jevon clicked, and how patient Rhys was with him!
But Rhys had other problems. He’s lonely, and sad, and definitely NOT kind to himself. Honestly, for most of the book I just wanted to hug him ❤ He’s so not the positive guy I imagined him to be from the first book, but he is just as kind as he was with Angelo when he needed help in the first book!
I loved how Rhys and Jevon clicked and how they cared for each other (and the sex isn’t bad either