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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-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
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3 “maybe we can hold hands through the scary bits” stars
They’d said they loved each other.
That was enough.
That was everything.
Wasn’t it?
Remember how I was loving this book when I was at like 50%? It feels like so long ago, sadly. I have no clue what happened, one second I was absolutely loving this and then it just went downhill and I started really disliking one of the main character.
I’m a really big fan of Jay Hogan. For the longest time (before she released a new book in May that I haven’t read yet) this was the only Jay Hogan book I hadn’t read. There is no big reason for this, I just wasn’t in the mood to read a Jay Hogan book when it came out (if you’ve read her books before, i’m sure you will understand what I mean, her books require a lot of focus and they feel really long while reading them and sometimes my brain just can’t do it) and I never got around to reading it after that. I have no clue why, this book has a main character who is a wheelchair user and I always love reading about characters with disabilities. I only finally read this one because I got an ARC of the upcomming fifth book in the series and I wanted to catch up on the series before I read book 5, which i’m dying to read. I really enjoyed this book, my only problem with the book is that I would have enjoyed it much better if one of the main character wasn’t in it. I was really loving this before the 50-60% mark but then it just started going downhill fast.
Brief summary
Miller is 35 years old, he plays wheelchair rugby and is the clinical gouvernance coordinator at Aukland Med. He’s also very prickly, in the closet and doesn’t talk to many people. One day at work he meets Sandy, who’s 34 years old and the forensic pathology assistant. Miller is a jerk to Sandy at first and Sandy refuses to date him. Miller apologizes, they go on a couple of dates and fall in love.
First, the main trope here was grumpy and sunshine, but make it grumpy and snarky sunshine and I just loved it so much. It was so lovely. I really love a good prickly character who only has a soft spot for his man and his man only. Miller was exactly that.
Second, I really appreciated all the descriptions of wheelchair rugby, that was so damn fun to read about. I really enjoyed the descriptions of Miller as a wheelchair user, who still walks a little. It was really lovely to read about.
Third, it was a little frustrating to read about but I did really enjoy how they both had fears and were both set in their ways and it took them a long time and lots of effort to change. I really enjoyed that it wasn’t effortless. Miller was prickly, closed off and never dated anyone. I loved how he freaked out about dating at first and how he had fumbles. I really enjoyed how dating didn’t come easy to him. Miller’s character was quite frustrating at time, because his hang ups made him really hot and cold but I really appreciated how they made sense with his character and how realistic he felt.
Fourth, I really loved how their dating was awkward at first and how they tried so much to be good and do well but it just didn’t work sometimes, so good and so realistic.
Fifth, now we can talk about my feelings about Sandy. Sandy was one of those out and proud characters who demands that everyone respect him, which I usually love in a character. My problem with him is that he so focused on himself that he never thought about Miller’s needs and what the guy wanted. It was all about getting Sandy what he wants while Miller never got what he wanted. Sandy was definitely way too pushy sometimes, Miller always seemed to feel bad about something when he was around Sandy. At one point Sandy was making Miller feel bad and apologize for everything he did, which was a bit strange to me. I wanted Sandy to be more understanding and stop doubting Miller. Sandy had no respect for Miller and his wants most of the time, he just asked for what he wanted and if he didn’t get it, he threw a tantrum until Miller was forced to apologize and give Sandy what he wants, even if Miller does not want to do it. I was so fucking tired of Sandy calling Miller out and saying how Miller was a bad boyfriend when Miller did nothing wrong. Miller just didn’t do exactly what Sandy wanted so Sandy got pissed
Little rant incoming. Miller was clearly an introvert and didn’t like hanging out with people, he made that very clear. But Sandy always invited Miller out and then got mad at Miller for not wanting to go and Sandy kept saying how it was because Miller doesn’t want to be seen with him, but it wasn’t?? Miller likes to stay at home and not hang out with random people, which is a perfectly normal thing, by the way.
Sixth, there was a side plot with a 17 years old and his father who abused him because he’s gay. I enjoyed it but I felt like it took away from the romance, a lot.
Seventh, this probably won’t bother most people but this book is over 400 pages and there was barely any sex and no descriptive sex scenes. Just such a damn shame to me. I know Jay Hogan can write killer sex scenes too, so this is just sad.
Eigtht, there was way too much happening all the time. I wanted some slower parts where they two characters enjoyed their time together instead of drama every 2 seconds
Ninth, here is a little gif that explains perfectly my reaction so the drama at 80%:
Tenth, I love Jay Hogan but I really don’t enjoy how she keeps having these weird and unrelated to the story crime plots at 90%. They always come out of nowhere. I’m really tired of my main characters almost dying at 90% for no reason. Like seriously, can’t we just keep them alive and safe?
Special mentions to Jay Hogan’s writing which is always lovely and such a joy to read and to the banter between the characters, it was so fun.
And now that i’m all caught up on the series, if you’re looking for me in the next few days, I will probably be lost in my ARC of book 5 in the series.
They’d said they loved each other.
That was enough.
That was everything.
Wasn’t it?
Remember how I was loving this book when I was at like 50%? It feels like so long ago, sadly. I have no clue what happened, one second I was absolutely loving this and then it just went downhill and I started really disliking one of the main character.
I’m a really big fan of Jay Hogan. For the longest time (before she released a new book in May that I haven’t read yet) this was the only Jay Hogan book I hadn’t read. There is no big reason for this, I just wasn’t in the mood to read a Jay Hogan book when it came out (if you’ve read her books before, i’m sure you will understand what I mean, her books require a lot of focus and they feel really long while reading them and sometimes my brain just can’t do it) and I never got around to reading it after that. I have no clue why, this book has a main character who is a wheelchair user and I always love reading about characters with disabilities. I only finally read this one because I got an ARC of the upcomming fifth book in the series and I wanted to catch up on the series before I read book 5, which i’m dying to read. I really enjoyed this book, my only problem with the book is that I would have enjoyed it much better if one of the main character wasn’t in it. I was really loving this before the 50-60% mark but then it just started going downhill fast.
Brief summary
Miller is 35 years old, he plays wheelchair rugby and is the clinical gouvernance coordinator at Aukland Med. He’s also very prickly, in the closet and doesn’t talk to many people. One day at work he meets Sandy, who’s 34 years old and the forensic pathology assistant. Miller is a jerk to Sandy at first and Sandy refuses to date him. Miller apologizes, they go on a couple of dates and fall in love.
First, the main trope here was grumpy and sunshine, but make it grumpy and snarky sunshine and I just loved it so much. It was so lovely. I really love a good prickly character who only has a soft spot for his man and his man only. Miller was exactly that.
Second, I really appreciated all the descriptions of wheelchair rugby, that was so damn fun to read about. I really enjoyed the descriptions of Miller as a wheelchair user, who still walks a little. It was really lovely to read about.
Third, it was a little frustrating to read about but I did really enjoy how they both had fears and were both set in their ways and it took them a long time and lots of effort to change. I really enjoyed that it wasn’t effortless. Miller was prickly, closed off and never dated anyone. I loved how he freaked out about dating at first and how he had fumbles. I really enjoyed how dating didn’t come easy to him. Miller’s character was quite frustrating at time, because his hang ups made him really hot and cold but I really appreciated how they made sense with his character and how realistic he felt.
Fourth, I really loved how their dating was awkward at first and how they tried so much to be good and do well but it just didn’t work sometimes, so good and so realistic.
Fifth, now we can talk about my feelings about Sandy. Sandy was one of those out and proud characters who demands that everyone respect him, which I usually love in a character. My problem with him is that he so focused on himself that he never thought about Miller’s needs and what the guy wanted. It was all about getting Sandy what he wants while Miller never got what he wanted. Sandy was definitely way too pushy sometimes, Miller always seemed to feel bad about something when he was around Sandy. At one point Sandy was making Miller feel bad and apologize for everything he did, which was a bit strange to me. I wanted Sandy to be more understanding and stop doubting Miller. Sandy had no respect for Miller and his wants most of the time, he just asked for what he wanted and if he didn’t get it, he threw a tantrum until Miller was forced to apologize and give Sandy what he wants, even if Miller does not want to do it. I was so fucking tired of Sandy calling Miller out and saying how Miller was a bad boyfriend when Miller did nothing wrong. Miller just didn’t do exactly what Sandy wanted so Sandy got pissed
Little rant incoming. Miller was clearly an introvert and didn’t like hanging out with people, he made that very clear. But Sandy always invited Miller out and then got mad at Miller for not wanting to go and Sandy kept saying how it was because Miller doesn’t want to be seen with him, but it wasn’t?? Miller likes to stay at home and not hang out with random people, which is a perfectly normal thing, by the way.
Sixth, there was a side plot with a 17 years old and his father who abused him because he’s gay. I enjoyed it but I felt like it took away from the romance, a lot.
Seventh, this probably won’t bother most people but this book is over 400 pages and there was barely any sex and no descriptive sex scenes. Just such a damn shame to me. I know Jay Hogan can write killer sex scenes too, so this is just sad.
Eigtht, there was way too much happening all the time. I wanted some slower parts where they two characters enjoyed their time together instead of drama every 2 seconds
Ninth, here is a little gif that explains perfectly my reaction so the drama at 80%:
Tenth, I love Jay Hogan but I really don’t enjoy how she keeps having these weird and unrelated to the story crime plots at 90%. They always come out of nowhere. I’m really tired of my main characters almost dying at 90% for no reason. Like seriously, can’t we just keep them alive and safe?
Special mentions to Jay Hogan’s writing which is always lovely and such a joy to read and to the banter between the characters, it was so fun.
And now that i’m all caught up on the series, if you’re looking for me in the next few days, I will probably be lost in my ARC of book 5 in the series.
Jay does not disappoint! In a word: fantastic!!
Sandy gets his HEA! I loved Sandy. He's so unique and not like other characters out there and I loved Jay's approach to his gender and sexual identity. There's not always a need for labels and how it is explained by sandy was great.
Miller was so much more than I expected! I loved that once he made his decision he went for it full ball, no ifs ands or buts. He's reserved yet passionate and he is struck by Sandy since their first encounter. While there are challenges I loved Jay's novel approach to actually discussing the problems with honesty and being adult about it all.
Geo is wonderful and my heart broke for him. I loved his underlying story and this new makeshift family.
I loved it!!
Sandy gets his HEA! I loved Sandy. He's so unique and not like other characters out there and I loved Jay's approach to his gender and sexual identity. There's not always a need for labels and how it is explained by sandy was great.
Miller was so much more than I expected! I loved that once he made his decision he went for it full ball, no ifs ands or buts. He's reserved yet passionate and he is struck by Sandy since their first encounter. While there are challenges I loved Jay's novel approach to actually discussing the problems with honesty and being adult about it all.
Geo is wonderful and my heart broke for him. I loved his underlying story and this new makeshift family.
I loved it!!
This is such a beautifully crafted book with smooth and seamless plot formation, perfect pacing and superb character development. Jay Hogan certainly has the ability to weave a wonderful story that grabs your heart from the very beginning and doesn’t let go until the very end.
The relationship that develops between the very likeable two main characters, Miller and Sandy, is very realistic with fun, laughter, sweet moments, heat filled moments, a bit of drama, miss steps and bumps along the way. Through it all Sandy remains true to himself and Miller emerges from a self imposed compartmentalised life of work and sport out into a life filled with colour. All aided by the fantastic cast of side characters including the couples from the previous books in the series.
Be prepared for some feels to come at you, from tugging at your heart strings to laughing out loud at some of the sassy dialogue.
If I could give this gem of a book more than 5 stars I would, it’s an absolute delight of a story that worked its way into my heart and makes me smile just thinking about it.
The relationship that develops between the very likeable two main characters, Miller and Sandy, is very realistic with fun, laughter, sweet moments, heat filled moments, a bit of drama, miss steps and bumps along the way. Through it all Sandy remains true to himself and Miller emerges from a self imposed compartmentalised life of work and sport out into a life filled with colour. All aided by the fantastic cast of side characters including the couples from the previous books in the series.
Be prepared for some feels to come at you, from tugging at your heart strings to laughing out loud at some of the sassy dialogue.
If I could give this gem of a book more than 5 stars I would, it’s an absolute delight of a story that worked its way into my heart and makes me smile just thinking about it.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Gah! I wish we could add .5 stars! 3.5 Stars so rounding up to 4
So, I can normally read a book in a couple of days. Even when I’m as busy as I am now…but this one took me 5 days to get through. And it’s not that I didn’t like the book, more that it was just long and a bit slow for me. There are some parts of it I loved and some parts I just skimmed because it felt so long. I do usually really like this author’s books and I like her writing, this just was weird for me…not sure if it’s this year or just me.
I think it might be best to just talk about what I like and didn’t care for instead of trying to get my feelings on paper. I’m going to list what I liked first.
I liked Sandy and Miller together. I liked their differences and how they complemented each other.
While I hated what happened with Geo I loved how Sandy and Miller reacted.
I loved seeing all the characters from previous books. Every one of them fit into this book organically and added to the depth of the story. (sidebar – if you haven’t read the other books in this series you might get confused by the characters because there are a few of them and keeping them straight could be a problem)
I appreciated that the relationship drama didn’t carry on for more than a day. If it had, I probably would have abandoned the book because it already felt really long.
The following sums up why I’m not 100% feeling this book even though I did really like a lot of it.
I honestly can’t even imagine watching chair rugby and enjoying it.
The plotline with Sandy’s father felt unfinished or abandoned.
As stated above, the story just felt too long.
I’m not sure where this series goes from here…there are a few things to wrap up I think, but there isn’t much left after that I don’t imagine.
So, I can normally read a book in a couple of days. Even when I’m as busy as I am now…but this one took me 5 days to get through. And it’s not that I didn’t like the book, more that it was just long and a bit slow for me. There are some parts of it I loved and some parts I just skimmed because it felt so long. I do usually really like this author’s books and I like her writing, this just was weird for me…not sure if it’s this year or just me.
I think it might be best to just talk about what I like and didn’t care for instead of trying to get my feelings on paper. I’m going to list what I liked first.
I liked Sandy and Miller together. I liked their differences and how they complemented each other.
While I hated what happened with Geo I loved how Sandy and Miller reacted.
I loved seeing all the characters from previous books. Every one of them fit into this book organically and added to the depth of the story. (sidebar – if you haven’t read the other books in this series you might get confused by the characters because there are a few of them and keeping them straight could be a problem)
I appreciated that the relationship drama didn’t carry on for more than a day. If it had, I probably would have abandoned the book because it already felt really long.
The following sums up why I’m not 100% feeling this book even though I did really like a lot of it.
I honestly can’t even imagine watching chair rugby and enjoying it.
The plotline with Sandy’s father felt unfinished or abandoned.
As stated above, the story just felt too long.
I’m not sure where this series goes from here…there are a few things to wrap up I think, but there isn’t much left after that I don’t imagine.
One man living with disability.
Another living with constant judging and prejudice.
One man struggling with people who all have an opinion on his condition.
Another strughling with the same just about his appearence.
One living in the closet.
Another living openly out.
And one crushing meeting that changes everything.
Sandy is a man who hates labels and mostly identifies as fluid. He wears pants, he wears skirts, he wears make-up... depending on his mood. But findig acceptence is hard. Especially in a partner.
Miller has lived with disability for 10 years now. He uses a chair or he uses canes, but surely, he's deifferent. He found his place in the wheelchair rugby but he hasn't found his place as a gay man.
Their crushing meeting sets out a lot of changes in both their lives. Sandy's guarded heart is in trouble as well as Miller's closet door.
Can they live up to the other's needs to be together?
The Characters:
I really loved Sandy's character with his unique style and confidence in himself. That confidence is damaged a lot in the book and the story amazingly shows how it can hang on threads, especially when someone close to you does the damage.
He was sassy and confident and stylish and brave. I was amazed by him.
Miller is in some way the complete opposite. He likes to be somewhat invisible, not sticking out of the croud. He's kind of an asshole because he has storng opinions, but also he has a kind heart that rarely anyone sees.
I absolutely loved the story. So much to think about after reading it. Gender expression and labels are one topic that was amazingly described and also the fact how much struggle it can be to be yourself in a world that's not ready to accept you. The other thing was living with disability and overcoming the endless challanges it poses. Also I was quite stunned how the disabled sports industry is much the same as the regular one. The same issues with toxic masculanity and the fear of coming out are there.
The issue of coming out as a teen was also raised in this story and mostly the impact the familiy's reaction can make on the individual is harshly described. I loved how the book was not afraid to talk about the really bad thing that can happen to a family when the parents are not ready for a LGBTQIA child.
The love story was funny, hot and sweet and I seriously enjoyed reading it.
Another living with constant judging and prejudice.
One man struggling with people who all have an opinion on his condition.
Another strughling with the same just about his appearence.
One living in the closet.
Another living openly out.
And one crushing meeting that changes everything.
Sandy is a man who hates labels and mostly identifies as fluid. He wears pants, he wears skirts, he wears make-up... depending on his mood. But findig acceptence is hard. Especially in a partner.
Miller has lived with disability for 10 years now. He uses a chair or he uses canes, but surely, he's deifferent. He found his place in the wheelchair rugby but he hasn't found his place as a gay man.
Their crushing meeting sets out a lot of changes in both their lives. Sandy's guarded heart is in trouble as well as Miller's closet door.
Can they live up to the other's needs to be together?
The Characters:
I really loved Sandy's character with his unique style and confidence in himself. That confidence is damaged a lot in the book and the story amazingly shows how it can hang on threads, especially when someone close to you does the damage.
He was sassy and confident and stylish and brave. I was amazed by him.
Miller is in some way the complete opposite. He likes to be somewhat invisible, not sticking out of the croud. He's kind of an asshole because he has storng opinions, but also he has a kind heart that rarely anyone sees.
I absolutely loved the story. So much to think about after reading it. Gender expression and labels are one topic that was amazingly described and also the fact how much struggle it can be to be yourself in a world that's not ready to accept you. The other thing was living with disability and overcoming the endless challanges it poses. Also I was quite stunned how the disabled sports industry is much the same as the regular one. The same issues with toxic masculanity and the fear of coming out are there.
The issue of coming out as a teen was also raised in this story and mostly the impact the familiy's reaction can make on the individual is harshly described. I loved how the book was not afraid to talk about the really bad thing that can happen to a family when the parents are not ready for a LGBTQIA child.
The love story was funny, hot and sweet and I seriously enjoyed reading it.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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:
Yes
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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:
Complicated