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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-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:
Complicated
A little PSA. Ex-bullies, by the very definition, are not entitled to common decency. So if one shows at your doorstep demanding things of you, you're well within your rights of slamming the door to his face. Just like other ex bully romances I've read there is very little effort at apology on bully's side. We're supposed to believe that Phil is a good guy and changed man since high school, because he's helping at a homeless shelter, except when it comes to Tom, the guy he used to bully in high school to the point he was a factor in Tom getting hit by a car, he is still very much an asshole and putting the blame for his shitty behavior on Tom instead of apologizing properly at all.
So yeah, I was going through Best Gay Romance Featuring Childhood Bully Becomes Lover list and since this book was pretty high up on the list (considering how old the list is this really isn't any good indicator of the book's actual quality) and I have read J.L. Merrow's books in the past that I liked I decided to finally give this one a go.
I will admit it was a bit of a rocky start, after the first evening I started reading this I kind of completely forgot that fact, then when I finally came back to the story I still could not stand Phil half of the time. The mystery of a murdered girl wasn't that exciting as a side plot either. Still I could not be help but be entirely charmed by Tom Paretski, plumber by day and inadvertent detective by night with his freaky spidey sense when it comes to discovering all kinds of dark secrets (and water leaks). His suffering yet easygoing nature completely won me over and he is the whole reason I enjoyed this book as much as I did.
Themes: single POV, ex bully, blue collar, private investigator, murder mystery
So yeah, I was going through Best Gay Romance Featuring Childhood Bully Becomes Lover list and since this book was pretty high up on the list (considering how old the list is this really isn't any good indicator of the book's actual quality) and I have read J.L. Merrow's books in the past that I liked I decided to finally give this one a go.
I will admit it was a bit of a rocky start, after the first evening I started reading this I kind of completely forgot that fact, then when I finally came back to the story I still could not stand Phil half of the time. The mystery of a murdered girl wasn't that exciting as a side plot either. Still I could not be help but be entirely charmed by Tom Paretski, plumber by day and inadvertent detective by night with his freaky spidey sense when it comes to discovering all kinds of dark secrets (and water leaks). His suffering yet easygoing nature completely won me over and he is the whole reason I enjoyed this book as much as I did.
Themes: single POV, ex bully, blue collar, private investigator, murder mystery
Tom Paretski isn't just an ordinary plumber. He has a special talent--one for finding things that people are trying to hid--that gives him unique insights into people and places. He's sometimes called on by the local police to help with their investigations, so it's not entirely out of the ordinary when it's asked to help with a case of a missing woman. But what makes this case unique is the involvement of private investigator Phil Morrison, Tom's childhood crush and a man partly responsible for an injury that left Tom with a messed up hip that still bothers him to this day. But has Phil changed or is he still the same macho bully Tom remembers? Can the two of them really work together on the case? And what is it that Phil really wants from Tom?
As interesting as the description might be, I found this to be an enjoyable light mystery. Obviously there is heavy content here between the disappearing people, murder, possible suicides, and much unresolved childhood angst, but I really enjoyed Tom as a character and the story is an easy and engaging read. I definitely look forward to continuing with this series and seeing what's in store for this interesting pair...
As interesting as the description might be, I found this to be an enjoyable light mystery. Obviously there is heavy content here between the disappearing people, murder, possible suicides, and much unresolved childhood angst, but I really enjoyed Tom as a character and the story is an easy and engaging read. I definitely look forward to continuing with this series and seeing what's in store for this interesting pair...
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I have mixed feelings about this book, and I doubt I'll be continuing the series. It's very....bro-ish. The romantic leads are bro-ly, the narrator doesn't take life very seriously, and the humor is of the South Park/Family Guy style. None of that is bad, necessarily, but it wasn't really my kind of book.
The narrator's voice was very appealing, and it reminded me of Prosperity by Alexis Hall, or of Jane Eyre, even. It was conversational in tone and full of humor and character, making everything feel immediate and real.
Due to the narrative style, the main character is immensely likable, although he's not really a great person. I know I tend to like Mary Sues, but I feel this was a case where the author overcompensated away from that kind of thing and made her PoV character a little bit of a jerk, in some ways. He tries to do what's morally right, mostly, but often views behaving kindly as a burden.
The love interest, Phil, wasn't as bad of a guy as he seemed to be at first. The author handled that deftly, giving hints that there was a lot going on beneath his surface. But I have trouble getting into books where the leads are mostly awful to each other. So my annoyance threshold had been passed by the time he got around to treating Tom decently.
None of that made me want to set the book aside, but I almost did, because this book has a ton of humor that I found tasteless. I kept trying to rearrange my preconceptions and remind myself that the jokes weren't meant to be taken seriously. But in a romance novel, especially one with a good amount of angst in the background, these kinds of jokes are really hard for me to enjoy. I'm not in the right mindset at that point. There was a lot of borderline-misogynist stuff, such as a character being blamed for her husband's infidelity because she was cold and rude; at another point, the narrator wonders how an ugly woman possibly found a man to marry her. There were also some awful jokes about little people, lesbians, campy gay men, on and on.
The mystery was very exciting, I thought, and kept me reading despite my issues. Most of the side characters lacked depth, but I did like Dave and his friendship with Tom. I also liked the pacing of the romance.
This is by no means a bad book. If crass humor doesn't bother you, you would probably enjoy this novel.
The narrator's voice was very appealing, and it reminded me of Prosperity by Alexis Hall, or of Jane Eyre, even. It was conversational in tone and full of humor and character, making everything feel immediate and real.
Due to the narrative style, the main character is immensely likable, although he's not really a great person. I know I tend to like Mary Sues, but I feel this was a case where the author overcompensated away from that kind of thing and made her PoV character a little bit of a jerk, in some ways. He tries to do what's morally right, mostly, but often views behaving kindly as a burden.
The love interest, Phil, wasn't as bad of a guy as he seemed to be at first. The author handled that deftly, giving hints that there was a lot going on beneath his surface. But I have trouble getting into books where the leads are mostly awful to each other. So my annoyance threshold had been passed by the time he got around to treating Tom decently.
None of that made me want to set the book aside, but I almost did, because this book has a ton of humor that I found tasteless. I kept trying to rearrange my preconceptions and remind myself that the jokes weren't meant to be taken seriously. But in a romance novel, especially one with a good amount of angst in the background, these kinds of jokes are really hard for me to enjoy. I'm not in the right mindset at that point. There was a lot of borderline-misogynist stuff, such as a character being blamed for her husband's infidelity because she was cold and rude; at another point, the narrator wonders how an ugly woman possibly found a man to marry her. There were also some awful jokes about little people, lesbians, campy gay men, on and on.
The mystery was very exciting, I thought, and kept me reading despite my issues. Most of the side characters lacked depth, but I did like Dave and his friendship with Tom. I also liked the pacing of the romance.
This is by no means a bad book. If crass humor doesn't bother you, you would probably enjoy this novel.
It was okay. I liked the characters but in a way Phil was en still is a mistery for me. It was Tom's POV but most of the time you get to know the other mc just as well. In this story it was only Tom and of course, that was okay but I like to know things about both of them.
I love their banter and I'm a big fan of their British word-use. Like bloke, bloody hell and so on. I often laughed out loud. But that was it. Not exceptional, just okay.
I love their banter and I'm a big fan of their British word-use. Like bloke, bloody hell and so on. I often laughed out loud. But that was it. Not exceptional, just okay.
I am an American who married a Brit. We lived in England for several years and there was a longstanding joke among my husband and his family that I was the only one in the household who enjoyed British cozy mysteries. They all used to roll their eyes at me when I watched them. The thing is that they'd been watching them their whole lives in one form or another. I'd had Columbo and Murder She Wrote but Midsummer Murders, Miss Marple, and A touch of Frost were new and exciting for me.
Pressure Head was a bit like that for me. I loved the Britishness of it, but as an outsider I can't tell how much was played up for the camera, so to speak. I liked the investigation that took the character to different communities and to eat in a variety of local pubs. I liked the parking restrictions and footie references. It was an enjoyable environment to sink into for a while.
I also liked the characters. Granted, we were a little limited with just the one POV and I would have loved to know where the stormy Phil was coming from. I felt I knew the guilt and anger they brought out in one another, as well as where it came from, but not that I actually knew them well.
The mystery was a mystery all the way until the end and I appreciated that I couldn't guess. I so often do. I did feel Tom jumped into Phil's investigation with both feet and, as hesitant as he had been previously, that felt a little out of character. Similarly, for being as angry with Phil as he was in the beginning, he sure let it go quickly.
These are all small quibbles though. I have two more book in this series and I'm looking forward to reading them.
Merged review:
I am an American who married a Brit. We lived in England for several years and there was a longstanding joke among my husband and his family that I was the only one in the household who enjoyed British cozy mysteries. They all used to roll their eyes at me when I watched them. The thing is that they'd been watching them their whole lives in one form or another. I'd had Columbo and Murder She Wrote but Midsummer Murders, Miss Marple, and A touch of Frost were new and exciting for me.
Pressure Head was a bit like that for me. I loved the Britishness of it, but as an outsider I can't tell how much was played up for the camera, so to speak. I liked the investigation that took the character to different communities and to eat in a variety of local pubs. I liked the parking restrictions and footie references. It was an enjoyable environment to sink into for a while.
I also liked the characters. Granted, we were a little limited with just the one POV and I would have loved to know where the stormy Phil was coming from. I felt I knew the guilt and anger they brought out in one another, as well as where it came from, but not that I actually knew them well.
The mystery was a mystery all the way until the end and I appreciated that I couldn't guess. I so often do. I did feel Tom jumped into Phil's investigation with both feet and, as hesitant as he had been previously, that felt a little out of character. Similarly, for being as angry with Phil as he was in the beginning, he sure let it go quickly.
These are all small quibbles though. I have two more book in this series and I'm looking forward to reading them.
Pressure Head was a bit like that for me. I loved the Britishness of it, but as an outsider I can't tell how much was played up for the camera, so to speak. I liked the investigation that took the character to different communities and to eat in a variety of local pubs. I liked the parking restrictions and footie references. It was an enjoyable environment to sink into for a while.
I also liked the characters. Granted, we were a little limited with just the one POV and I would have loved to know where the stormy Phil was coming from. I felt I knew the guilt and anger they brought out in one another, as well as where it came from, but not that I actually knew them well.
The mystery was a mystery all the way until the end and I appreciated that I couldn't guess. I so often do. I did feel Tom jumped into Phil's investigation with both feet and, as hesitant as he had been previously, that felt a little out of character. Similarly, for being as angry with Phil as he was in the beginning, he sure let it go quickly.
These are all small quibbles though. I have two more book in this series and I'm looking forward to reading them.
Merged review:
I am an American who married a Brit. We lived in England for several years and there was a longstanding joke among my husband and his family that I was the only one in the household who enjoyed British cozy mysteries. They all used to roll their eyes at me when I watched them. The thing is that they'd been watching them their whole lives in one form or another. I'd had Columbo and Murder She Wrote but Midsummer Murders, Miss Marple, and A touch of Frost were new and exciting for me.
Pressure Head was a bit like that for me. I loved the Britishness of it, but as an outsider I can't tell how much was played up for the camera, so to speak. I liked the investigation that took the character to different communities and to eat in a variety of local pubs. I liked the parking restrictions and footie references. It was an enjoyable environment to sink into for a while.
I also liked the characters. Granted, we were a little limited with just the one POV and I would have loved to know where the stormy Phil was coming from. I felt I knew the guilt and anger they brought out in one another, as well as where it came from, but not that I actually knew them well.
The mystery was a mystery all the way until the end and I appreciated that I couldn't guess. I so often do. I did feel Tom jumped into Phil's investigation with both feet and, as hesitant as he had been previously, that felt a little out of character. Similarly, for being as angry with Phil as he was in the beginning, he sure let it go quickly.
These are all small quibbles though. I have two more book in this series and I'm looking forward to reading them.
Extremely cute, love a gay mystery. The love story was a little unbelievable, it seemed a little sudden and underdeveloped considering the characters haven't seen each other in many years and were never close. Plus,
Spoiler
Phil's husband's death was really glossed over, and it felt a little weird to have them hooking up a few chapters later without really processing that.
This is more a mystery than a romance, and I perfectly okay with it. I really liked Tom and his gift. Particularly because it's not a solve-it-all gift, but a small, useful in his day-to-day life gift.
Phil... I wasn't really fond of him at the beginning. But then, I don't really like people who lash out at other people because they can't deal with their own shortcomings, so it wasn't a surprise. But, by the end, I wasn't so annoyed with him. Tom is still my favourite, though :P
When the book ends the romance is still in that point where it can go in any way, but I liked that, too. I'm not really fond of Insta-love, and these two need to work in a lot of issues. As we have at least four more books in this series I think they'll manage.
A great mystery, and a romance with lovely possibilities :)
Phil... I wasn't really fond of him at the beginning. But then, I don't really like people who lash out at other people because they can't deal with their own shortcomings, so it wasn't a surprise. But, by the end, I wasn't so annoyed with him. Tom is still my favourite, though :P
When the book ends the romance is still in that point where it can go in any way, but I liked that, too. I'm not really fond of Insta-love, and these two need to work in a lot of issues. As we have at least four more books in this series I think they'll manage.
A great mystery, and a romance with lovely possibilities :)