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iamltr's review
5.0
I had read the ebook first, which made me fall in love with Rocco and Simon, but the audio shoved me into love.
The narrator was great and did the sex scenes awesomely.
The story was wonderful and I very much want to live there.
The narrator was great and did the sex scenes awesomely.
The story was wonderful and I very much want to live there.
kelbee's review
3.0
Cute enough with not too much angst. A little plot-lite, and insta love, but it’ll fill a fluff craving if that’s what you’re looking for. I always enjoy reading about MCs outside of the norm, and it’s great this author in particular gives them a voice. ASL has always fascinated me, and I love learning more about it so that was a bonus.
mom2pcnl's review
5.0
So good!
Loved this story so much! My heart went out to Simon. His struggles were tough to read at times. I loved the idea of Rocco and Simon finding each other the way they did. Such a sweet love story.
Loved this story so much! My heart went out to Simon. His struggles were tough to read at times. I loved the idea of Rocco and Simon finding each other the way they did. Such a sweet love story.
words_i_read's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
claudia_is_reading's review
4.0
A lovely romance, strong in personal challenges and low on external-caused angst, I was thoroughly smitten by this story.
Both MC live with disabilities, but while Rocco has addressed his deafness and is living a full and productive life (if you are willing to overlook his bad taste in boyfriends), Simon has retreated on himself while his world is crumbling around him.
The dynamics between these two men is fantastic, their chemistry out of the charts, and they simply work. Simon problems are addressed, not magically cured, and he gets to work on them.
And then, this is narrated by Nick Hudson, so you know that this can't get any better :P
Both MC live with disabilities, but while Rocco has addressed his deafness and is living a full and productive life (if you are willing to overlook his bad taste in boyfriends), Simon has retreated on himself while his world is crumbling around him.
The dynamics between these two men is fantastic, their chemistry out of the charts, and they simply work. Simon problems are addressed, not magically cured, and he gets to work on them.
And then, this is narrated by Nick Hudson, so you know that this can't get any better :P
shelbanuadh's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this.
I had only very quickly glanced at the blurb, and I'm glad I did because if I had realized Rocco was a porn star, I probably wouldn't have read this - and not because I have anything against the porn industry, but because MM romance with a porn star tend to be heavy on the sex and light on the plot. Not at all the case with this. Yes, there is sex, but this is more so about the plot and the romantic part of their relationship.
I was a bit wary, as I've read a few books with ASL involved and sometimes the way the author goes about narrating it can be annoying. The way this was formatted made it easy to tell when someone was speaking, signing or texting, without having to literally spell it out.
The only reason why I am giving this 4 stars instead of 5 is because at least half of the side characters are from other books/series/authors. Levi & Simon have such a complex relationship, and I kept thinking that I must have been mistaken about this being book 1, but then reading another review, it pointed out that Levi & James are from Kate Hawthorne's Room for Love series. I am not a fan of having to read multiple series from an author to get the whole picture, and I'm definitely not into reading multiple series from multiple authors to get the whole picture. Not to mention that I'm not a fan of Kate Hawthorne's writing and there is no mention of Levi & James' story until the end of the book. Put something like that at the beginning.
Cameron - [b:Reckless|50995420|Reckless (Room for Love, #1)|Kate Hawthorne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580818176l/50995420._SY75_.jpg|75841645] (Room for Love #1)
Levi & James - [b:Heartless|52826003|Heartless (Room for Love, #2)|Kate Hawthorne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585675499l/52826003._SY75_.jpg|78976931] (Room for Love #2)
Charlie - [b:Faultless|53289119|Faultless (Room for Love, #3)|Kate Hawthorne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1588079923l/53289119._SY75_.jpg|81191429] (Room for Love #3)
Collin, Max & Spencer - [b:Cloudy with a Chance of Love|52023893|Cloudy with a Chance of Love|E.M. Lindsey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583189178l/52023893._SY75_.jpg|76729943]
Enzo & Tristan - [b:Just Say When|50805129|Just Say When|E.M. Lindsey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580560938l/50805129._SY75_.jpg|75774075]
I got by without having read any of the other books. I think reading [b:Cloudy with a Chance of Love|52023893|Cloudy with a Chance of Love|E.M. Lindsey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583189178l/52023893._SY75_.jpg|76729943] and especially [b:Heartless|52826003|Heartless (Room for Love, #2)|Kate Hawthorne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585675499l/52826003._SY75_.jpg|78976931] before reading this wouldn't hurt. I feel like Ronan and Parker must have a book somewhere, but if it exists, I don't know who wrote it.
Between Fitz, Birdie, Theo, Kyle, and maybe Ronan & Parker, I'm interested in seeing who will be featured in the next book, and in the rest of the series.
Merged review:
Owen was a character that I kept wondering when he was going to get his story, so for him to get this short story that just glazes over everything was a bit of a disappointment.
I hadn't gotten around to reading the third book of Breaking the Rules, so I didn't really know anything about Wes, other than the one line mentioned about him in Temptation, so I had no horse in that race.
Good thing it was a free read, too, as the editing was a bit sloppy. Missing words. Owen's therapist goes from being a man an referred to as a "he" to a woman halfway through.
I had only very quickly glanced at the blurb, and I'm glad I did because if I had realized Rocco was a porn star, I probably wouldn't have read this - and not because I have anything against the porn industry, but because MM romance with a porn star tend to be heavy on the sex and light on the plot. Not at all the case with this. Yes, there is sex, but this is more so about the plot and the romantic part of their relationship.
I was a bit wary, as I've read a few books with ASL involved and sometimes the way the author goes about narrating it can be annoying. The way this was formatted made it easy to tell when someone was speaking, signing or texting, without having to literally spell it out.
The only reason why I am giving this 4 stars instead of 5 is because at least half of the side characters are from other books/series/authors. Levi & Simon have such a complex relationship, and I kept thinking that I must have been mistaken about this being book 1, but then reading another review, it pointed out that Levi & James are from Kate Hawthorne's Room for Love series. I am not a fan of having to read multiple series from an author to get the whole picture, and I'm definitely not into reading multiple series from multiple authors to get the whole picture. Not to mention that I'm not a fan of Kate Hawthorne's writing and there is no mention of Levi & James' story until the end of the book. Put something like that at the beginning.
Cameron - [b:Reckless|50995420|Reckless (Room for Love, #1)|Kate Hawthorne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580818176l/50995420._SY75_.jpg|75841645] (Room for Love #1)
Levi & James - [b:Heartless|52826003|Heartless (Room for Love, #2)|Kate Hawthorne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585675499l/52826003._SY75_.jpg|78976931] (Room for Love #2)
Charlie - [b:Faultless|53289119|Faultless (Room for Love, #3)|Kate Hawthorne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1588079923l/53289119._SY75_.jpg|81191429] (Room for Love #3)
Collin, Max & Spencer - [b:Cloudy with a Chance of Love|52023893|Cloudy with a Chance of Love|E.M. Lindsey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583189178l/52023893._SY75_.jpg|76729943]
Enzo & Tristan - [b:Just Say When|50805129|Just Say When|E.M. Lindsey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580560938l/50805129._SY75_.jpg|75774075]
I got by without having read any of the other books. I think reading [b:Cloudy with a Chance of Love|52023893|Cloudy with a Chance of Love|E.M. Lindsey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583189178l/52023893._SY75_.jpg|76729943] and especially [b:Heartless|52826003|Heartless (Room for Love, #2)|Kate Hawthorne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585675499l/52826003._SY75_.jpg|78976931] before reading this wouldn't hurt. I feel like Ronan and Parker must have a book somewhere, but if it exists, I don't know who wrote it.
Between Fitz, Birdie, Theo, Kyle, and maybe Ronan & Parker, I'm interested in seeing who will be featured in the next book, and in the rest of the series.
Merged review:
Owen was a character that I kept wondering when he was going to get his story, so for him to get this short story that just glazes over everything was a bit of a disappointment.
I hadn't gotten around to reading the third book of Breaking the Rules, so I didn't really know anything about Wes, other than the one line mentioned about him in Temptation, so I had no horse in that race.
Good thing it was a free read, too, as the editing was a bit sloppy. Missing words. Owen's therapist goes from being a man an referred to as a "he" to a woman halfway through.
susanscribs's review
2.0
Wow, this didn't work for me at all, which is a shame because I really enjoyed the author's Iron & Works series ([b:Free Hand|44752509|Free Hand (Irons and Works, #1)|E.M. Lindsey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554153249l/44752509._SX50_.jpg|69385197] et al). But I guess I should have known because it uses some of my least favorite tropes: porn star MC, insta-love and an almost Old Skool fascination with the other MC's virginity. I didn't buy the relationship between the MCs and I was bored with all of the sex scenes, so I ended up skimming through the last 30% or so.
I did appreciate the complex relationship between Simon and his brother Levi, who apparently already had his own book written by a different author. They start out barely speaking and end up in a much better albeit realistic place; you can't undo decades of bad feelings in a few days and I'm glad the author didn't try to tie everything up neatly with a bow.
Gets points for strong Jewish and Deaf representation, but that wasn't enough to overcome my dislike for the plot. Sorry Ms. Lindsey, this is a rare miss for me.
I did appreciate the complex relationship between Simon and his brother Levi, who apparently already had his own book written by a different author. They start out barely speaking and end up in a much better albeit realistic place; you can't undo decades of bad feelings in a few days and I'm glad the author didn't try to tie everything up neatly with a bow.
Gets points for strong Jewish and Deaf representation, but that wasn't enough to overcome my dislike for the plot. Sorry Ms. Lindsey, this is a rare miss for me.
endemictoearth's review
4.0
The last book I reviewed I called "an escapist delight." This book is not that. It's E.M. Lindsey, who I trust with premises like this one, which I might not take a chance on in the hands of an author I'd never read. It's angsty, and as someone pointed out, this book connects to a couple of other series, but that's not clearly noted. I could tell that Levi and James probably had a book of their own, but it wasn't too distracting from the main story.
Simon and Rocco are an unlikely pairing, and things get even unlikelier as the story goes on, but they are written with a lot of empathy and heart and I never felt like it was outside the realm of possibility in their world.
Simon and Rocco are an unlikely pairing, and things get even unlikelier as the story goes on, but they are written with a lot of empathy and heart and I never felt like it was outside the realm of possibility in their world.