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monismmreviews's review
5.0
If I can sum up this book with a couple of words, they would be acceptance and self-love. This was one of the best trans representations I’ve ever read, Miller is amazing and I enjoyed getting to know him so much. Sweet, awkward Dimitri deserved him 100%, they both have such a gentle, kind soul.
Miller fits right with the guys at Four Bear Construction. He is living a comfortable life, managing his ADHD well, and enjoying hanging out with West (his coworker) in the gym nearly every day. His next job site is at the local university, where he recognizes shy Dimitri, who used to be his teen crush. Dimitri never realizes if someone is flirting with him, he genuinely does not think anyone could ever want him. He clearly needs someone to adore him … and Miller does just that. Once they start hanging out as friends, it’s really effortless and fun ... although eventually, Dimitri agrees to a date. Initially, he doesn’t want to risk anything more with Miller ... yet in the end, he takes a leap of faith (because how can you say no to all those rippling muscles, bright smile, and kind nature?). The absolute acceptance these two have toward each other is beyond beautiful. I enjoyed getting to know them and loved seeing them getting more and more comfortable with each other … Miller really knows how to woo a guy, both emotionally and physically. This was really a beautiful love story from the beginning til the end.
Trans Rep
ADHD Rep
Teen Crush
Construction Worker/Professor
Found Family
Steamy
Miller fits right with the guys at Four Bear Construction. He is living a comfortable life, managing his ADHD well, and enjoying hanging out with West (his coworker) in the gym nearly every day. His next job site is at the local university, where he recognizes shy Dimitri, who used to be his teen crush. Dimitri never realizes if someone is flirting with him, he genuinely does not think anyone could ever want him. He clearly needs someone to adore him … and Miller does just that. Once they start hanging out as friends, it’s really effortless and fun ... although eventually, Dimitri agrees to a date. Initially, he doesn’t want to risk anything more with Miller ... yet in the end, he takes a leap of faith (because how can you say no to all those rippling muscles, bright smile, and kind nature?). The absolute acceptance these two have toward each other is beyond beautiful. I enjoyed getting to know them and loved seeing them getting more and more comfortable with each other … Miller really knows how to woo a guy, both emotionally and physically. This was really a beautiful love story from the beginning til the end.
Trans Rep
ADHD Rep
Teen Crush
Construction Worker/Professor
Found Family
Steamy
krispyaustin's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
imme_van_gorp's review
3.0
|| 2.5 stars ||
This is a story about two very different kinds of people.
Miller is a hunky confident trans man, who works in construction and, at the age of 40, is ready to settle down and find a partner for life.
Demetri is an extremely insecure history professor, who, at 40 years old, doesn't want to ever date again after all the horrible exes he's had so far, who have done nothing but tear him down.
The dynamic between these two was pretty sweet and charming, but I mostly loved how absolutely infatuated Miller was with Demetri. No matter how many times Demetri shot him down due to his nerves, insecurities or obliviousness, Miller never wavered and constantly tried again and again. He adored the ground Demetri walked on an was desperate to get a chance with him. It made my heart swoon plenty of times!
However, once Demetri and Miller started hooking up and eventually got together for real, I have to say that I became very bored. They couldn't really hold my interest, and I feel like we got a lot of telling instead of showing. For example, we were suddenly being told they had a perfect date or a meaningful conversation, no longer shown... Not that the showing was very strong to begin with, but it had completely gone the further along we went into the story.
I liked seeing Miller's confidence about being transgender, and especially about him not having (nor wanting) bottom surgery. I thought it was interesting and kind of cool to see that he was the one so sure of himself, willing to and capable of making Demetri feel more secure about himself and their relationship. Other stories might have created a lot of angst surrounding Miller being transgender, but I really loved how it simply wasn't a big deal here, especially since they're both quite old, and Miller has had the time to accept himself fully.
Unfortunately, despite me loving his confidence, I did dislike reading from Miller's perspective a lot of the time whenever he wasn't with Demetri, mostly because I simply could not be bothered with the construction crew he worked with (and who this series is based on). They all acted so incredibly childish! And I'm sure it doesn't help that I skipped most of this series and therefore don't know all of them individually, but I really didn't enjoy their entire dynamic. It was too over-the-top, frat boy-ish, ridiculous and annoying for me. The pranks? The crude dick jokes? The immaturity? No thanks. These are supposed to be grown adults, I'd like them to act it as well.
I did like Demetri's POV though, and I actually wish we would have spent more time in the book dedicated to his life, work situation and past. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it far more than Miller and his crew of man-children.
I just loved reading about Demetri's insecurities, and then about him finding more confidence. The way he started to notice how other people saw him in such a positive light rather than the horrible view he had of himself was quite endearing: I wish this would have been given more attention and development.
Demetri was honestly just quite adorable in general. Him knitting clothes for and talking to his tortoise Mars? Yea, that was cute. Honestly, I would have loved for Mars to be in the story the entire time; I was kind of obsessed with him, and I don't even know why. I just was. Descriptions of him eating a piece of fruit or something were literally the highlight of this book for me. And I don't know if that says more about my love for the tortoise or about the lacklustre nature of this book, but well... It is was it is.
Long story short, I liked plenty of things in this book, but hardly any of those things were developed very well or had enough of an emotional punch.
I definitely liked the first half of this story a lot more than the second half! I was totally planning on rating this somewhere between 3-4 stars at first, so that was a bit of a shame.
'Four Bears Construction' series:
1. Caulky - 3.0 stars
6. Stripped - 2.5 stars
Short Story:
1.5. Happy Birthday, Honey - 1.0 star
This is a story about two very different kinds of people.
Miller is a hunky confident trans man, who works in construction and, at the age of 40, is ready to settle down and find a partner for life.
Demetri is an extremely insecure history professor, who, at 40 years old, doesn't want to ever date again after all the horrible exes he's had so far, who have done nothing but tear him down.
The dynamic between these two was pretty sweet and charming, but I mostly loved how absolutely infatuated Miller was with Demetri. No matter how many times Demetri shot him down due to his nerves, insecurities or obliviousness, Miller never wavered and constantly tried again and again. He adored the ground Demetri walked on an was desperate to get a chance with him. It made my heart swoon plenty of times!
However, once Demetri and Miller started hooking up and eventually got together for real, I have to say that I became very bored. They couldn't really hold my interest, and I feel like we got a lot of telling instead of showing. For example, we were suddenly being told they had a perfect date or a meaningful conversation, no longer shown... Not that the showing was very strong to begin with, but it had completely gone the further along we went into the story.
I liked seeing Miller's confidence about being transgender, and especially about him not having (nor wanting) bottom surgery. I thought it was interesting and kind of cool to see that he was the one so sure of himself, willing to and capable of making Demetri feel more secure about himself and their relationship. Other stories might have created a lot of angst surrounding Miller being transgender, but I really loved how it simply wasn't a big deal here, especially since they're both quite old, and Miller has had the time to accept himself fully.
Unfortunately, despite me loving his confidence, I did dislike reading from Miller's perspective a lot of the time whenever he wasn't with Demetri, mostly because I simply could not be bothered with the construction crew he worked with (and who this series is based on). They all acted so incredibly childish! And I'm sure it doesn't help that I skipped most of this series and therefore don't know all of them individually, but I really didn't enjoy their entire dynamic. It was too over-the-top, frat boy-ish, ridiculous and annoying for me. The pranks? The crude dick jokes? The immaturity? No thanks. These are supposed to be grown adults, I'd like them to act it as well.
I did like Demetri's POV though, and I actually wish we would have spent more time in the book dedicated to his life, work situation and past. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it far more than Miller and his crew of man-children.
I just loved reading about Demetri's insecurities, and then about him finding more confidence. The way he started to notice how other people saw him in such a positive light rather than the horrible view he had of himself was quite endearing: I wish this would have been given more attention and development.
Demetri was honestly just quite adorable in general. Him knitting clothes for and talking to his tortoise Mars? Yea, that was cute. Honestly, I would have loved for Mars to be in the story the entire time; I was kind of obsessed with him, and I don't even know why. I just was. Descriptions of him eating a piece of fruit or something were literally the highlight of this book for me. And I don't know if that says more about my love for the tortoise or about the lacklustre nature of this book, but well... It is was it is.
Long story short, I liked plenty of things in this book, but hardly any of those things were developed very well or had enough of an emotional punch.
I definitely liked the first half of this story a lot more than the second half! I was totally planning on rating this somewhere between 3-4 stars at first, so that was a bit of a shame.
'Four Bears Construction' series:
1. Caulky - 3.0 stars
6. Stripped - 2.5 stars
Short Story:
1.5. Happy Birthday, Honey - 1.0 star
smelsela's review
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-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
4.25
chiarob's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
The good
- ADHD representation
- Trans MC who is comfortable in his skin and his identity
- Finding love at (almost) 40
- I wanted to protect Demetri from all the bad in the world
The neutral
- It's book 6 in a series of 7. I've read 4 of the past books, but still I felt a bit lost with the MANY side characters
The bad
- It felt bit absurd at timesthat there were so many people crushing on Demetri and he didn't realize, but I do understand where it was coming from
- ADHD representation
- Trans MC who is comfortable in his skin and his identity
- Finding love at (almost) 40
- I wanted to protect Demetri from all the bad in the world
The neutral
- It's book 6 in a series of 7. I've read 4 of the past books, but still I felt a bit lost with the MANY side characters
The bad
- It felt bit absurd at times
mabellene's review
funny
lighthearted
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Transphobia
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Dysphoria
Minor: Infidelity
deebo0183's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
bookpimpfairy's review
5.0
Miller is an open and proud trans man, who is comfortable in his skin and with his friends at 4 Bears Construction. Demetri (Dem) has never had a healthy relationship, leading him to having self esteem issues for being on the bigger side. Miller instantly wants Dem, hes a smart chubby bear, even if Dem cant see it, they do agree to start working out together.
Once they hang out more Dem starts to see himself in Miller (and others) eyes and gain the confidence to try a real healthy relationship.
We do get to see more 4 bears construction shennigans including a deck pic contest and a mannequin orgy ;).
Liam DiCosimo and Tim Paige again were paired together for the audiobook and again made a good book better.
Once they hang out more Dem starts to see himself in Miller (and others) eyes and gain the confidence to try a real healthy relationship.
We do get to see more 4 bears construction shennigans including a deck pic contest and a mannequin orgy ;).
Liam DiCosimo and Tim Paige again were paired together for the audiobook and again made a good book better.