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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The book started off so well, and from 30% onwards, it faltered rapidly. Friends to lovers, gay awakening, Kellys lovable family and an bombshell friendship. So why, upon realizing his feelings, did Blue choose to be an asshole and have absolutely no regard for Kelly anymore. The two were too toxic and I think a little bit less smut would have done the story good and you could have focused more on the feelings. And also Sleeping with your best friend, where you know he has feelings for you and you still wanting to remain friends is so fucked up. In the end it feels like they only got together because Blue didn't want him to sleep with anyone else. So just his jealousy again. I have absolutely no desire to read the second one. I'm not in the mood for this back and forth.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book follows Kelly and Blue who have been best friends since childhood. At the start of the story, Kelly rejects a proposal from his boyfriend because he’s been hopelessly in love with his straight best friend for forever. While things seem hopeless for him, things take a turn when Blue starts to show an interest in him.
I would say overall I liked this book but it wasn’t my favourite book ever or anything. I’ve read a lot of books like this before so in ways I’d just felt like I’d read this book already.
I’m such a sucker for friends to lovers so it was easy to win me over in that regard. My main gripe with the trope is a lot of times because the characters already know each other, authors forget to show and convince the reader that these two characters were friends. I think I was definitely convinced they were friends, however their romantic development from friends into lovers was where this book lost me.
When it came to their emotional relationship development, I think that came much later in the story than I would’ve liked and even then what we got was little. A lot of it was rooted in jealousy of not wanting the other person to sleep with someone else and while I think jealousy can definitely show a character is interested in someone, it never really went past that.
“So this is another jealousy thing.”
“No. Well, yes. But no.”
“That’s clear as mud.”
I feel like the characters needed more of a reason to want to be together at the end of the book rather than just not wanting the person with somebody else. Because of that, the characters acted out of pure selfish need, rather than actually showing that they loved each other. This book seemed to focus more on the fact that these characters wanted to sleep together rather than developing them romantically.
I’m all for stories where characters are figuring out their sexuality and all, but the way Blue went about all of it rubbed me the wrong way. It’s one thing to want to experiment, but it’s a whole other thing to continuously sleep with your best friend who you’re fully aware is in love with you when you want to remain just friends. While you know they’ll end up together in the end, I didn’t like the intentional way Blue was hurting Kelly because he wanted to have sex with him.
Overall, I would say I liked this book. While I definitely had issues with it, I would still consider it an enjoyable read. I definitely had higher expectations at the beginning of the book that were not met but maybe that’s just because this book was a little smuttier than I would’ve liked it.
I would say overall I liked this book but it wasn’t my favourite book ever or anything. I’ve read a lot of books like this before so in ways I’d just felt like I’d read this book already.
I’m such a sucker for friends to lovers so it was easy to win me over in that regard. My main gripe with the trope is a lot of times because the characters already know each other, authors forget to show and convince the reader that these two characters were friends. I think I was definitely convinced they were friends, however their romantic development from friends into lovers was where this book lost me.
When it came to their emotional relationship development, I think that came much later in the story than I would’ve liked and even then what we got was little. A lot of it was rooted in jealousy of not wanting the other person to sleep with someone else and while I think jealousy can definitely show a character is interested in someone, it never really went past that.
“So this is another jealousy thing.”
“No. Well, yes. But no.”
“That’s clear as mud.”
I feel like the characters needed more of a reason to want to be together at the end of the book rather than just not wanting the person with somebody else. Because of that, the characters acted out of pure selfish need, rather than actually showing that they loved each other. This book seemed to focus more on the fact that these characters wanted to sleep together rather than developing them romantically.
I’m all for stories where characters are figuring out their sexuality and all, but the way Blue went about all of it rubbed me the wrong way. It’s one thing to want to experiment, but it’s a whole other thing to continuously sleep with your best friend who you’re fully aware is in love with you when you want to remain just friends. While you know they’ll end up together in the end, I didn’t like the intentional way Blue was hurting Kelly because he wanted to have sex with him.
Overall, I would say I liked this book. While I definitely had issues with it, I would still consider it an enjoyable read. I definitely had higher expectations at the beginning of the book that were not met but maybe that’s just because this book was a little smuttier than I would’ve liked it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 stars rounded up!
So going into this book I was kind of expecting the ending to be the worst and for Blue to drive me nuts.
It wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I read some of the other reviews and I saw one saying how it barely felt like a HFN ending and that there was no guarantee that Blue wouldn't pull back as he did several times in this book, and I have to say I don't quite agree.
I agree that Blue, throughout this, was frustrating. He was wishy-washy and wanted to have his cake and eat it too and it was selfish at times and he seemed to not give a shit. I get that he working through his shit, but that doesn't make his selfish behavior any less selfish.
But I do feel that at the end, he was ready to be with Kelly, and I was left with a sense that they would work it out.
I only felt an epilogue was needed to solidify that feeling. See by the end I felt like Blue was ready to be with Kelly full stop, and that was sweet and everything, but both he and Kelly were not ready to be public, what with Blue being an NFL star. I would have loved to see them get to that point, to that more solid HFN, if not a HEA.
So my biggest problem wasn't the ending, per se, but more that it dragged out them getting together for real until the very end. It frustrated me to no end in this. I feel like instead of that, it could have gotten them together early, had Blue go through his bullshit and getting his head of his ass, and then a good portion could have been them getting to a more secure place. That would have felt more satisfying, in my opinion.
So while I didn't think the ending was open ended or barely squeaking by as a HFN, i do feel it could have been more solid. Because the wishy-washy, back and forth, will-they-wont-they goes on through basically the whole book. And it left a lot less time for them to be immersed in their romance, to be together and that is what frustrated me.
Now, why am I rounding up to 4 stars? Because despite that, I really enjoyed this book a lot. I felt that Blue and Kelly had amazing chemistry, their interactions were funny and this was really well written. I loved the secondary characters - Kelly's parents were the best and his sister was cool.
I honestly loved that Robert never showed up again - the guy Kelly is engaged to for all of 2 seconds in the beginning - and he wasn't used as a plot device for ~drama as I see way too much in romance books. Once they were over, they were over, thankfully.
And Blue...yeah, he was frustrating, but he also never promised Kelly anything when he knew he shouldn't, when he knew he wasn't ready to promise anything. While it frustrated me how long it took him to get his head out of his ass - and yes, made me roll my eyes several times - he also never tried to be more with Kelly when he knew he wasn't ready or might never be ready to be more.
He told Kelly the score from the beginning - now, did he still act selfishly? Yes - they do sexual things several times and 2 times Blue could blame the alcohol - and so could Kelly - but they do go all the way several days after Blue says they have to stay friends and then he pulls back the next day.
So yeah Blue wasn't perfect and he got on my nerves and he did mess with Kelly's head when he shouldn't have, but I feel like...at least he didn't say "I'm ready to be together" when he wasn't, because I feel like that would have been a way worse fucking-of-Kelly's-head-and-emotions than those few times he had sex with him and pulled back ever were.
I imagine him diving into a relationship with Kelly before he was ready and then freaking the fuck out somewhere down the line and hurting Kelly even worse and I hate thinking about that scenario.
Ultimately I enjoyed this, I enjoyed their relationship and chemistry, but I think maybe the dragged out bullshit could been a little less dragged out. That was my main issue, that Blue could have become ready earlier, and then we could have gotten less of the wishy-washy bullshit and more of them being together because so much time was spent on them getting to that place that it got kind of really tiring to read at times.
So, some issues with this book that couldn't quite get it to a 4 star read for me, but I still enjoyed a lot of the other aspects of this book to round it up to 4 stars instead of down to three. And I do think that that ending was a pretty solid HFN.
Also, the sex is is fairly hot and steamy, and the only downside is that happens way too far down the line in this book. But still, hot sex to look forward to ;)
***ARC provided by the Alpha Book Club in exchange for an honest review***
So going into this book I was kind of expecting the ending to be the worst and for Blue to drive me nuts.
It wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I read some of the other reviews and I saw one saying how it barely felt like a HFN ending and that there was no guarantee that Blue wouldn't pull back as he did several times in this book, and I have to say I don't quite agree.
I agree that Blue, throughout this, was frustrating. He was wishy-washy and wanted to have his cake and eat it too and it was selfish at times and he seemed to not give a shit. I get that he working through his shit, but that doesn't make his selfish behavior any less selfish.
But I do feel that at the end, he was ready to be with Kelly, and I was left with a sense that they would work it out.
I only felt an epilogue was needed to solidify that feeling. See by the end I felt like Blue was ready to be with Kelly full stop, and that was sweet and everything, but both he and Kelly were not ready to be public, what with Blue being an NFL star. I would have loved to see them get to that point, to that more solid HFN, if not a HEA.
So my biggest problem wasn't the ending, per se, but more that it dragged out them getting together for real until the very end. It frustrated me to no end in this. I feel like instead of that, it could have gotten them together early, had Blue go through his bullshit and getting his head of his ass, and then a good portion could have been them getting to a more secure place. That would have felt more satisfying, in my opinion.
So while I didn't think the ending was open ended or barely squeaking by as a HFN, i do feel it could have been more solid. Because the wishy-washy, back and forth, will-they-wont-they goes on through basically the whole book. And it left a lot less time for them to be immersed in their romance, to be together and that is what frustrated me.
Now, why am I rounding up to 4 stars? Because despite that, I really enjoyed this book a lot. I felt that Blue and Kelly had amazing chemistry, their interactions were funny and this was really well written. I loved the secondary characters - Kelly's parents were the best and his sister was cool.
I honestly loved that Robert never showed up again - the guy Kelly is engaged to for all of 2 seconds in the beginning - and he wasn't used as a plot device for ~drama as I see way too much in romance books. Once they were over, they were over, thankfully.
And Blue...yeah, he was frustrating, but he also never promised Kelly anything when he knew he shouldn't, when he knew he wasn't ready to promise anything. While it frustrated me how long it took him to get his head out of his ass - and yes, made me roll my eyes several times - he also never tried to be more with Kelly when he knew he wasn't ready or might never be ready to be more.
He told Kelly the score from the beginning - now, did he still act selfishly? Yes - they do sexual things several times and 2 times Blue could blame the alcohol - and so could Kelly - but they do go all the way several days after Blue says they have to stay friends and then he pulls back the next day.
So yeah Blue wasn't perfect and he got on my nerves and he did mess with Kelly's head when he shouldn't have, but I feel like...at least he didn't say "I'm ready to be together" when he wasn't, because I feel like that would have been a way worse fucking-of-Kelly's-head-and-emotions than those few times he had sex with him and pulled back ever were.
I imagine him diving into a relationship with Kelly before he was ready and then freaking the fuck out somewhere down the line and hurting Kelly even worse and I hate thinking about that scenario.
Ultimately I enjoyed this, I enjoyed their relationship and chemistry, but I think maybe the dragged out bullshit could been a little less dragged out. That was my main issue, that Blue could have become ready earlier, and then we could have gotten less of the wishy-washy bullshit and more of them being together because so much time was spent on them getting to that place that it got kind of really tiring to read at times.
So, some issues with this book that couldn't quite get it to a 4 star read for me, but I still enjoyed a lot of the other aspects of this book to round it up to 4 stars instead of down to three. And I do think that that ending was a pretty solid HFN.
Also, the sex is is fairly hot and steamy, and the only downside is that happens way too far down the line in this book. But still, hot sex to look forward to ;)
***ARC provided by the Alpha Book Club in exchange for an honest review***
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
There are too many examples out there of authors whose characters' banter falls flat on the page. Honestly, I almost never find myself laughing when the characters are supposedly cracking each other up and it's so annoying! Harmon's The Blueprint is one of the few instances of an author who can successfully write snark and make me laugh about it when I'm supposed to. Kudos.
Overall, I can appreciate that this author is giving these guys more than a single book to realistically go from best friends to lovers and potentially blow up this football star's career (sad, but true), but I'm not convinced that they've got another 250 pages of compelling story left in them. We shall see, I guess.
Overall, I can appreciate that this author is giving these guys more than a single book to realistically go from best friends to lovers and potentially blow up this football star's career (sad, but true), but I'm not convinced that they've got another 250 pages of compelling story left in them. We shall see, I guess.