Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
DNF at 38%. Just not liking the storyline. The writing is fine.
This isn't a book for me, I admit as much. It moved too fast when I wanted slow burn. I wanted lingering touches and looks over a long period of a time, but I got almost instant smut. It maybe for some, but not for me.
Also not a fan of that one sex scene, but again, not my cup of tea.
Also not a fan of that one sex scene, but again, not my cup of tea.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓲𝓷 𝓪𝓷𝔂 𝓬𝓪𝓹𝓪𝓬𝓲𝓽𝔂, 𝓲𝓼 𝓮𝓪𝓼𝔂. 𝓑𝓾𝓽 𝓯𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓷 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓽𝓪𝓫𝓵𝓮."
𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 💭
I really enjoyed this one. From the start, the tension and longing between Jordan and Gael was undeniable, and it pulled me right in. The build-up was fantastic, and when it finally peaked, it was so freaking good! Every emotion hit hard. Fear, longing, anger... I felt it all.
I did feel for the fiancée, but given the deep connection between Jordan and Gael, it was hard to see why she stayed, though her backstory made it a little more understandable. I'm not sure I'd get into a relationship with a man knowing he was once attracted to his gay best friend, but hey... 🤷♀️
The plot twist was completely unexpected and absolutely heartbreaking. Jordan’s protective instincts and Gael’s confusion added such emotion I wasn't expecting. Their journey ended up being frustrating but in the best way because it showed how much I cared for them. Although the miscommunication does get to me a little. I was shouting at the book and just wanted to jump in and mediate!
My only gripe was the ending. After such an emotional ride, their "reunion" felt too brief. A longer ending or a slightly shorter middle would’ve balanced it out a little better. Basically, I wanted more of them! That said, the writing was beautiful, and their friendship and love were portrayed so well. The cameos from Deacon and Julian were unexpected, so I loved that! (I adored their book!) I'm not sure I'd re-read this one, but I’d definitely recommend it and look forward to more from this author.
𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 💭
I really enjoyed this one. From the start, the tension and longing between Jordan and Gael was undeniable, and it pulled me right in. The build-up was fantastic, and when it finally peaked, it was so freaking good! Every emotion hit hard. Fear, longing, anger... I felt it all.
I did feel for the fiancée, but given the deep connection between Jordan and Gael, it was hard to see why she stayed, though her backstory made it a little more understandable. I'm not sure I'd get into a relationship with a man knowing he was once attracted to his gay best friend, but hey... 🤷♀️
The plot twist was completely unexpected and absolutely heartbreaking. Jordan’s protective instincts and Gael’s confusion added such emotion I wasn't expecting. Their journey ended up being frustrating but in the best way because it showed how much I cared for them. Although the miscommunication does get to me a little. I was shouting at the book and just wanted to jump in and mediate!
My only gripe was the ending. After such an emotional ride, their "reunion" felt too brief. A longer ending or a slightly shorter middle would’ve balanced it out a little better. Basically, I wanted more of them! That said, the writing was beautiful, and their friendship and love were portrayed so well. The cameos from Deacon and Julian were unexpected, so I loved that! (I adored their book!) I'm not sure I'd re-read this one, but I’d definitely recommend it and look forward to more from this author.
If you enjoy a story packed with romance tropes this will be a good read. There is also quite a bit of emotional tension.
I purchased this story because I like the narrator, and I thought it would be interesting to hear them team up. I enjoyed the performance, but the main characters and the plot just didn't quite work for me. This might be projecting, but ... So many instances of gay for you or friends to lovers stories are classic examples of a demisexual character who is trying to sort out their identity. I hesitate to discount how the character eventually identifies himself, but his behavior fits the general definition of demisexual, and I think the story would have flowed better if that had been explored.
I purchased this story because I like the narrator, and I thought it would be interesting to hear them team up. I enjoyed the performance, but the main characters and the plot just didn't quite work for me. This might be projecting, but ... So many instances of gay for you or friends to lovers stories are classic examples of a demisexual character who is trying to sort out their identity. I hesitate to discount how the character eventually identifies himself, but his behavior fits the general definition of demisexual, and I think the story would have flowed better if that had been explored.
*** I received an eArc from the author in exchange for an honest review.***
This was another enjoyable read by Marley Valentine. Ache has elements of angst sprinkled throughout that took me by surprise while elevating the passion between the main characters, Gael and Jordan. Marley Valentine expertly weaves together a story that is both loving and earnest in its depiction of best friends discovering and acknowledging their profound love for one another.
I was pleasantly surprised with the depth this story took because it starts in one place emotionally between the two main characters and evolves to a completely different and more mature place that I was happy to see.
Overall I enjoyed this story and the relationship between Jordan and Gael, you can really tell they have so much love for one another with having dual POVs and it was exciting to see how they achieve their HEA. This was another winning story and I look forward to more from the wonderful Marley Valentine.
This was another enjoyable read by Marley Valentine. Ache has elements of angst sprinkled throughout that took me by surprise while elevating the passion between the main characters, Gael and Jordan. Marley Valentine expertly weaves together a story that is both loving and earnest in its depiction of best friends discovering and acknowledging their profound love for one another.
I was pleasantly surprised with the depth this story took because it starts in one place emotionally between the two main characters and evolves to a completely different and more mature place that I was happy to see.
Overall I enjoyed this story and the relationship between Jordan and Gael, you can really tell they have so much love for one another with having dual POVs and it was exciting to see how they achieve their HEA. This was another winning story and I look forward to more from the wonderful Marley Valentine.
this book was a lot. so much happened while precisely n o t h i n g happened.
im basically gonna split this review in half— the first half recapping the first half of the book, aka, the novella while the second half is all the new material.
the first half, aka, the novella:
so after reading the Regrets and Resolutions novella back when it was released in December 2020, i wanted to pick up Ache to see how Jordan and Gael’s story concluded.
now... was i expecting the full length novel to pick up where the novella left off? absolutely yes i was. the MCs despite finally getting together after years of denial, still had a lot of obstacles to overcome and bridges to mend— mainly confronting Elena about Gael and Jordan having an affair and Gael calling off their wedding. as well as dealing with the fall out of their family too since Gael cheated on Elena (who the family adored) with Jordan.
but i wasn’t expecting Marley Valentine to rehash the entire plot of Regrets and Resolutions with some tweaks and improvements incorporated into Ache... then continue where the novella left off.
i planned on skim reading it, but the author included new information and delved deeper into some characters we’d barely got to know from the novella— namely Elena. she was kinda the faceless, female lover of every straight-boy-turned-gay-or-bi-for-his-life-long-bestie which all MM best friends to lovers seem to have. it’s like authors aren’t allowed to write a MM best friends to lovers if one isn’t openly gay and pining for his supposed straight best friend, who in turn has unexplored feelings for said openly gay best friend.
the *straight guy* always has a girlfriend or fiancé just for shits and giggles, and she’s literally just a plot device and usually a monumental bitch to justify the impending cheating. Elena was definitely the faceless, plot device back in the novella, but here, she was explored a bit more with more personality and back story just within the first few chapters. so i did appreciate that... but then it meant i couldn’t skim what id already basically read since Marley Valentine had included just enough new info that if id have skimmed, id have been confused af.
so rehashing the entire novella wasn’t something i vibed with... and it kinda made the whole book even dumber than the original bcos in this Gael has openly admitted to Elena in the past that he was in love with Jordan.
while in the novella, Gael is very closed-lipped about his feelings and barely acknowledges them, so his reasoning for not being with Jordan made a lil more sense, you know? but having him openly admit and acknowledge those feelings by telling Elena just made everything more real and thus dumber bcos Gael admits he suspects and even knows Jordan is in love with him too...
this is at the 16% mark:
so... Gael knows Jordan is in love with him, while also being in love with Jordan... but does precisely nothing? huh. yeah. makes total sense. even later on after the *plot twist* Gael admits that he sees the “unspoken worry and fear and always love shining in” Jordan’s eyes, “the love he didn’t know I saw, the love I hated him hiding.”
sooooo... am i making sense? that these fuckers are dumb? bcos Gael knows Jordan loves him. Jordan knows Gael used to have feelings for him... but Gael is engaged to Elena? and Gael and Jordan aren’t together...
so the reason they weren’t together made zero sense to me.
*Cardi B screaming what was the reason??*
i mean, Jordan thinks Gael is straight since he openly identifies as such and has never indicated otherwise (other than a kiss they drunkenly shared a decade ago) so naturally he would never suspect Gael’s feelings and make a move. if the relationship is to progress, it kinda needs to be Gael who makes the first move.
so the full-length book just made me think both Jordan and Gael were even dumber than their novella counterparts bcos here there was just SO MUCH known information they never bothered to utilise and a fuck-tonne of miscommunication. at least in the novella they came across as naive and too timid to cross the line into a romantic relationship. and being a novella, i don’t expect deep-diving into countless plot lines bcos there simply isn’t the time. but a full length novel has time... so i expected more.
but here they were just two giant dumb fucks.
it felt like they weren’t together for the sake of angst and furthering the plot. not bcos there was an actual, justifiable reason. so hence, dumb fucks. a major pet peeve of mine in romance is when the MCs both have feelings for one another and they know it, but still aren’t together. the reason they’re not together never seems to make any sense lmao. and it was the case here.
other than the fact Jordan insisting he knows Gael’s feelings better than Gael does and convincing Gael he doesn’t actually have feelings for Jordan. i–
im basically gonna split this review in half— the first half recapping the first half of the book, aka, the novella while the second half is all the new material.
the first half, aka, the novella:
so after reading the Regrets and Resolutions novella back when it was released in December 2020, i wanted to pick up Ache to see how Jordan and Gael’s story concluded.
now... was i expecting the full length novel to pick up where the novella left off? absolutely yes i was. the MCs despite finally getting together after years of denial, still had a lot of obstacles to overcome and bridges to mend— mainly confronting Elena about Gael and Jordan having an affair and Gael calling off their wedding. as well as dealing with the fall out of their family too since Gael cheated on Elena (who the family adored) with Jordan.
but i wasn’t expecting Marley Valentine to rehash the entire plot of Regrets and Resolutions with some tweaks and improvements incorporated into Ache... then continue where the novella left off.
i planned on skim reading it, but the author included new information and delved deeper into some characters we’d barely got to know from the novella— namely Elena. she was kinda the faceless, female lover of every straight-boy-turned-gay-or-bi-for-his-life-long-bestie which all MM best friends to lovers seem to have. it’s like authors aren’t allowed to write a MM best friends to lovers if one isn’t openly gay and pining for his supposed straight best friend, who in turn has unexplored feelings for said openly gay best friend.
the *straight guy* always has a girlfriend or fiancé just for shits and giggles, and she’s literally just a plot device and usually a monumental bitch to justify the impending cheating. Elena was definitely the faceless, plot device back in the novella, but here, she was explored a bit more with more personality and back story just within the first few chapters. so i did appreciate that... but then it meant i couldn’t skim what id already basically read since Marley Valentine had included just enough new info that if id have skimmed, id have been confused af.
so rehashing the entire novella wasn’t something i vibed with... and it kinda made the whole book even dumber than the original bcos in this Gael has openly admitted to Elena in the past that he was in love with Jordan.
while in the novella, Gael is very closed-lipped about his feelings and barely acknowledges them, so his reasoning for not being with Jordan made a lil more sense, you know? but having him openly admit and acknowledge those feelings by telling Elena just made everything more real and thus dumber bcos Gael admits he suspects and even knows Jordan is in love with him too...
this is at the 16% mark:
“You think he’s in love with me,” I say, repeating the words Julian has said to me since the first time he met Jordan.
“You know he is,” he says with conviction, and I don’t bother arguing, because I feel like I’ve known it for a long time.
so... Gael knows Jordan is in love with him, while also being in love with Jordan... but does precisely nothing? huh. yeah. makes total sense. even later on after the *plot twist* Gael admits that he sees the “unspoken worry and fear and always love shining in” Jordan’s eyes, “the love he didn’t know I saw, the love I hated him hiding.”
sooooo... am i making sense? that these fuckers are dumb? bcos Gael knows Jordan loves him. Jordan knows Gael used to have feelings for him... but Gael is engaged to Elena? and Gael and Jordan aren’t together...
so the reason they weren’t together made zero sense to me.
*Cardi B screaming what was the reason??*
i mean, Jordan thinks Gael is straight since he openly identifies as such and has never indicated otherwise (other than a kiss they drunkenly shared a decade ago) so naturally he would never suspect Gael’s feelings and make a move. if the relationship is to progress, it kinda needs to be Gael who makes the first move.
so the full-length book just made me think both Jordan and Gael were even dumber than their novella counterparts bcos here there was just SO MUCH known information they never bothered to utilise and a fuck-tonne of miscommunication. at least in the novella they came across as naive and too timid to cross the line into a romantic relationship. and being a novella, i don’t expect deep-diving into countless plot lines bcos there simply isn’t the time. but a full length novel has time... so i expected more.
but here they were just two giant dumb fucks.
it felt like they weren’t together for the sake of angst and furthering the plot. not bcos there was an actual, justifiable reason. so hence, dumb fucks. a major pet peeve of mine in romance is when the MCs both have feelings for one another and they know it, but still aren’t together. the reason they’re not together never seems to make any sense lmao. and it was the case here.
other than the fact Jordan insisting he knows Gael’s feelings better than Gael does and convincing Gael he doesn’t actually have feelings for Jordan. i–
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The second half of the book is much better than the first and where things really get going.