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A review by aleksandrareading
Time to Shine by Rachel Reid
2.0
2.5/5
Look, I really wanted to adore Time to Shine, I really did, but there were a few things about it that I'm not a big fan of in romance stories that kept me from rating it higher. I was actually really looking forward to this release because Rachel Reid finally decided to do a cover without a shirtless man, and the blurb and tropes also appealed to me as they seemed like something I would probably enjoy reading. I mean, it's another MM hockey romance with grumpy/sunshine characters, but I'll never get tired of it. At least I hope so.
But without further ado, let's get down to business — I'll start with our main characters. Spoilers also start here!
Landon Stackhouse, or "Stacks" to Casey, I know his character may seem rude or unfriendly to some people, but I actually related to him a lot, especially, to his antisocial-homebody persona. He had some rude outbursts where he was quite “bitchy” as he himself said, but I eventually warmed up to him at the end. He just wanted to belong somewhere and be understood.
Even though I liked his character, there were a few things about him that I still don't know what to think about. The first thing is his decision to end his relationship with Casey. I understand that he thought that long distance might not work with their schedules, constant traveling, and Casey's future plans to trade teams, but at the same time, if he really cared about their relationship, he would have at least tried. I also wanted him to be the one to fly to Casey to confess his love, because having Casey fly to him made it seem like he cared more about their relationship, when he himself had already suggested trying long distance.
Moving on to our second main character — Casey Hicks. I usually like sunny heroes in books, even though they aren't my favorite type, but Casey was sometimes too much for me. He was sweet, talkative, understanding, and generally a good person, but he had some traits that were a big no for me. If I had to say three things about him, they would be: he played hockey, he liked having sex, and he was the "funny friend" in the group. First off I just want to say that I have absolutely no problem with people liking sex, it's your life, your decisions, if it makes you happy and you're not hurting others in the process, then do it. But, I'm not the biggest fan of the main character having a lot of it in a book with other people who aren't the main love interest. Casey was quite sexually active with a lot of people in the first half of the book when he and Landon weren't together yet, but they started thinking about each other more and more. They haven't been together yet, but I despise when the author describes his character kissing, flirting, trying to sleep (successfully) with other people who aren't the main love interest, even if they aren't together yet. It’s just my personal preference, so it might not be a problem for everyone, but as I said I despise it. Let me explain why I hated this here.
I don't really care that Casey thinks both of his teammates are attractive enough that he would sleep with them — even though that would never happen.
I don't care and I don't want to read about him kissing other people. If it was once, then maybe, but no more.
I know he had a flirty personality, but I really don't care, and I don't want to read about him flirting with other people.
I DON’T CARE.
I DON’T CARE that you like some other guy, and the sex with him was "top-notch".
I ESPECIALLY DO NOT WANT to read about Casey taking some random guy home and then Landon watching Casey kiss that guy on the cheek in the morning.
Oh, wow, I don't care that you had an "amazing, five stars" experience with Claudia when you wanted to take Landon to your room that night.
And finally, once again something I personally didn't like about his character — Casey calling Landon "buddy", "bud", "dude" in bed. It sounds too straight-frat-bro for me, so every time he said that I died a little inside. To add at the end, it's not that I didn't like Casey, he was sweet and he was the one who wanted to fight more for their relationship, but what I said above left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Moving on to the romance between Landon and Casey — it was just lovely, I loved how they went from roommates to friends to lovers. They were sweet, understanding, talked about everything that mattered and despite their different personalities, they were a perfect fit. Generally speaking, I adore friendship-based relationships because then I have more faith that the love will last because your partner should also be your friend/best friend.
I rarely talk about intimate scenes in a book because I don't usually focus on them, but I loved how understanding and communicative they were. The fact that Landon didn't like certain things in bed, and Casey had no problem with it and completely accepted it without pressuring him to change his mind about it, made my pretty average opinion of Casey go up a lot. I know it should be the bare minimum, but let's be honest, the bar is hell these days. I've never read about a character who didn't like this in an MM romance, so it was nice to see it here, as there should be more characters with different preferences. I'm sure there are books like that, but it's not very common.
One last thing at the end. I hated the way Casey’s teammates made fun of him. "We chirp you all the time, and I told myself that we do it out of love.”. It's so damn funny to make people feel stupid. I know they didn’t meant that, but I couldn’t imagine grown ass men — some almost forty, thinking it’s a good and funny idea.
As you can see, I'm a bit disappointed, but I hope I'm in the minority, because if it weren't for those few things I'm not a fan of in romances, I think I could have rated it much higher, as I still had fun at times.
────────
Finally a cover without shirtless man
Look, I really wanted to adore Time to Shine, I really did, but there were a few things about it that I'm not a big fan of in romance stories that kept me from rating it higher. I was actually really looking forward to this release because Rachel Reid finally decided to do a cover without a shirtless man, and the blurb and tropes also appealed to me as they seemed like something I would probably enjoy reading. I mean, it's another MM hockey romance with grumpy/sunshine characters, but I'll never get tired of it. At least I hope so.
But without further ado, let's get down to business — I'll start with our main characters. Spoilers also start here!
Landon Stackhouse, or "Stacks" to Casey, I know his character may seem rude or unfriendly to some people, but I actually related to him a lot, especially, to his antisocial-homebody persona. He had some rude outbursts where he was quite “bitchy” as he himself said, but I eventually warmed up to him at the end. He just wanted to belong somewhere and be understood.
"I go where I’m needed until no one needs me anymore.”
“I need you.” Casey sounded pathetic, but he didn’t care."
Even though I liked his character, there were a few things about him that I still don't know what to think about. The first thing is his decision to end his relationship with Casey. I understand that he thought that long distance might not work with their schedules, constant traveling, and Casey's future plans to trade teams, but at the same time, if he really cared about their relationship, he would have at least tried. I also wanted him to be the one to fly to Casey to confess his love, because having Casey fly to him made it seem like he cared more about their relationship, when he himself had already suggested trying long distance.
Moving on to our second main character — Casey Hicks. I usually like sunny heroes in books, even though they aren't my favorite type, but Casey was sometimes too much for me. He was sweet, talkative, understanding, and generally a good person, but he had some traits that were a big no for me. If I had to say three things about him, they would be: he played hockey, he liked having sex, and he was the "funny friend" in the group. First off I just want to say that I have absolutely no problem with people liking sex, it's your life, your decisions, if it makes you happy and you're not hurting others in the process, then do it. But, I'm not the biggest fan of the main character having a lot of it in a book with other people who aren't the main love interest. Casey was quite sexually active with a lot of people in the first half of the book when he and Landon weren't together yet, but they started thinking about each other more and more. They haven't been together yet, but I despise when the author describes his character kissing, flirting, trying to sleep (successfully) with other people who aren't the main love interest, even if they aren't together yet. It’s just my personal preference, so it might not be a problem for everyone, but as I said I despise it. Let me explain why I hated this here.
"the evenings would be full of movies, video games, beer, weed, bars, and sex. Not with each other, though Casey wouldn’t have been opposed to that. Gio and Petey both seemed pretty committed to heterosexuality, so Casey had never gone there."
I don't really care that Casey thinks both of his teammates are attractive enough that he would sleep with them — even though that would never happen.
"She broke the kiss, smiled a little sadly at him,"
"Landon spotted Casey without meaning to, still on the dance floor, and now kissing the handsome man. Landon’s heart froze. He had no right to feel jealous, and maybe it was shock as much as jealousy."
I don't care and I don't want to read about him kissing other people. If it was once, then maybe, but no more.
"Then they’d driven to the arena for practice, stopping at a café on the way where Casey had flirted with the barista. Landon hadn’t loved that part, but it was probably a useful reminder that Casey was not someone he should develop a crush on."
I know he had a flirty personality, but I really don't care, and I don't want to read about him flirting with other people.
"Landon managed to stop himself from physically recoiling. “A date?”
“Yeah. There’s this guy I hooked up with the last couple of times I was in Seattle. He’s smoking hot. He wanted to get dinner this time too, which I think is kind of adorable.”
Oh.
Oh."
I DON’T CARE.
"He liked Devon, and if they lived in the same city, maybe Casey would even consider going on more dates with him. The sex had been top-notch too. Devon was very talented. So the past couple of days had been decent."
I DON’T CARE that you like some other guy, and the sex with him was "top-notch".
“Aw,” Casey said, then kissed Zach quickly on the cheek. Landon turned to focus all of his attention on the coffee maker, as if it needed to be watched."
I ESPECIALLY DO NOT WANT to read about Casey taking some random guy home and then Landon watching Casey kiss that guy on the cheek in the morning.
"Casey had hoped that having sex with Claudia—which had been awesome, five stars—would clear his head a bit when it came to Landon. It hadn’t."
Oh, wow, I don't care that you had an "amazing, five stars" experience with Claudia when you wanted to take Landon to your room that night.
And finally, once again something I personally didn't like about his character — Casey calling Landon "buddy", "bud", "dude" in bed. It sounds too straight-frat-bro for me, so every time he said that I died a little inside. To add at the end, it's not that I didn't like Casey, he was sweet and he was the one who wanted to fight more for their relationship, but what I said above left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Moving on to the romance between Landon and Casey — it was just lovely, I loved how they went from roommates to friends to lovers. They were sweet, understanding, talked about everything that mattered and despite their different personalities, they were a perfect fit. Generally speaking, I adore friendship-based relationships because then I have more faith that the love will last because your partner should also be your friend/best friend.
“You make me so happy,” he said, in case Casey had forgotten. “That’s all I want.”
“Can I kiss you?”
“Yes,” Landon whispered, with no hesitation. “Okay, but just to warn you: I might not stop. Ever.”
“I’ll risk it.”
I rarely talk about intimate scenes in a book because I don't usually focus on them, but I loved how understanding and communicative they were. The fact that Landon didn't like certain things in bed, and Casey had no problem with it and completely accepted it without pressuring him to change his mind about it, made my pretty average opinion of Casey go up a lot. I know it should be the bare minimum, but let's be honest, the bar is hell these days. I've never read about a character who didn't like this in an MM romance, so it was nice to see it here, as there should be more characters with different preferences. I'm sure there are books like that, but it's not very common.
One last thing at the end. I hated the way Casey’s teammates made fun of him. "We chirp you all the time, and I told myself that we do it out of love.”. It's so damn funny to make people feel stupid. I know they didn’t meant that, but I couldn’t imagine grown ass men — some almost forty, thinking it’s a good and funny idea.
As you can see, I'm a bit disappointed, but I hope I'm in the minority, because if it weren't for those few things I'm not a fan of in romances, I think I could have rated it much higher, as I still had fun at times.
────────
Finally a cover without shirtless man