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A review by bookish_notes
Daily Grind by Anna Zabo
4.0
Do you ever just find yourself reading a book very slowly because you didn't want the story to end? This is exactly what I did while reading this book. I didn't want this to be the end of a series and I guess you could say I'm still in a bit of denial? Yes, I've already started re-reading this series. And this book, Daily Grind, is about two lovely, adorable men, Brian and Rob.
We've met Brian Keppler in the previous Takeover books as the owner of Grounds N'at, a coffee shop stationed beneath the consulting company where most of the characters from the previous books now work. Brian is coming off a relationship and is struggling to keep his coffee shop out of the red. The prices have gone up for the supplies he needs to stock up his shop and he doesn't have a steady stream of employees working for him. The shop means everything to him. But, Brian is working 12-hour days and is quickly starting to burn himself out.
Robert Ancroft is the CEO of a tech company (where Todd from Due Diligence now works at). He meets Brian at Grounds N'at and there's definitely an attraction between the two the first time they set eyes on each other. Rob is a British redhead and he's super flirty. He longs to embrace his artistic side through photography. It was something frowned upon by his parents and he just wants to pursue something that he never really got the chance to when he was younger.
Brian is very protective and very proud of his coffee shop. Grounds N'at is the mistress in Brian and Rob's relationship. It's something that's been entirely Brian's for 10 years now, but Brian is struggling to keep it all together. He is 100% a workaholic and feels terrible even taking a morning shift off and leaving the shop for his employees to handle. He doesn't take vacation or sick days and it's wearing him down. Rob knew all this going into their relationship, and Rob's admitted he's a bit of a workaholic himself. But where these two differ come from personal experiences. Rob's been through some life-changing circumstances in his life that has gotten him out of that workaholic mindset and more into a enjoy life kind of mindset. Brian's not in the same boat. He hasn't exactly had any big moments that could convince him to take a step back, and breathe. I guess I just wanted Rob to be more understanding of where Brian was coming from, because Brian couldn't really see that he was running his life into the ground. But, I also understand that this is something Brian has to realize for himself and decide what he really wants out of life.
This is the second story in this series with a bisexual character (yay!). In this book, Brian is 38-years-old and has only ever dated women. He's known he was bi since high school, but he's never dated guys. Now, he's super crushing on 40-year-old Rob and doesn't know what to do with all his feelings. I really liked that this book didn't go into tropes I've read where the boyfriend gets super antsy and jealous that their bi boyfriend also finds women attractive. In this book, it's just all Brian and Rob and I loved that.
Something else I loved about this book? There are so many coffee jokes. Seriously though, there are a lot. They're a nice mix of super corny and hot depending on the situation. I definitely found myself laughing through most, if not all, of them. In case anyone was wondering, there's less kink in this book, but the sex scenes are filled with lots of dirty talk and the romance burns hot, steamy, and a bit filthy between Brian and Rob.
There's cameos from all the previous characters in the Takeover series and I loved reading how they're woven into the story. AH. I love this series so much. At the time of writing this review, I've already started re-reading the books. Maybe it's time for me to take this a step further and get the audiobooks too since there's no physical print edition? I just really highly recommend reading this series!!!
We've met Brian Keppler in the previous Takeover books as the owner of Grounds N'at, a coffee shop stationed beneath the consulting company where most of the characters from the previous books now work. Brian is coming off a relationship and is struggling to keep his coffee shop out of the red. The prices have gone up for the supplies he needs to stock up his shop and he doesn't have a steady stream of employees working for him. The shop means everything to him. But, Brian is working 12-hour days and is quickly starting to burn himself out.
Robert Ancroft is the CEO of a tech company (where Todd from Due Diligence now works at). He meets Brian at Grounds N'at and there's definitely an attraction between the two the first time they set eyes on each other. Rob is a British redhead and he's super flirty. He longs to embrace his artistic side through photography. It was something frowned upon by his parents and he just wants to pursue something that he never really got the chance to when he was younger.
Brian is very protective and very proud of his coffee shop. Grounds N'at is the mistress in Brian and Rob's relationship. It's something that's been entirely Brian's for 10 years now, but Brian is struggling to keep it all together. He is 100% a workaholic and feels terrible even taking a morning shift off and leaving the shop for his employees to handle. He doesn't take vacation or sick days and it's wearing him down. Rob knew all this going into their relationship, and Rob's admitted he's a bit of a workaholic himself. But where these two differ come from personal experiences. Rob's been through some life-changing circumstances in his life that has gotten him out of that workaholic mindset and more into a enjoy life kind of mindset. Brian's not in the same boat. He hasn't exactly had any big moments that could convince him to take a step back, and breathe. I guess I just wanted Rob to be more understanding of where Brian was coming from, because Brian couldn't really see that he was running his life into the ground. But, I also understand that this is something Brian has to realize for himself and decide what he really wants out of life.
This is the second story in this series with a bisexual character (yay!). In this book, Brian is 38-years-old and has only ever dated women. He's known he was bi since high school, but he's never dated guys. Now, he's super crushing on 40-year-old Rob and doesn't know what to do with all his feelings. I really liked that this book didn't go into tropes I've read where the boyfriend gets super antsy and jealous that their bi boyfriend also finds women attractive. In this book, it's just all Brian and Rob and I loved that.
It wasn't a crush - it was downright infatuation. Yeah, he was too old for that, but he didn't give a fuck anymore.
Something else I loved about this book? There are so many coffee jokes. Seriously though, there are a lot. They're a nice mix of super corny and hot depending on the situation. I definitely found myself laughing through most, if not all, of them. In case anyone was wondering, there's less kink in this book, but the sex scenes are filled with lots of dirty talk and the romance burns hot, steamy, and a bit filthy between Brian and Rob.
Oh, he'd caught a live one when he'd picked up Brian. He'd known that, but nothing cemented it more than the way Brian pulled Rob forward - no holds barred - and took his mouth.
There's cameos from all the previous characters in the Takeover series and I loved reading how they're woven into the story. AH. I love this series so much. At the time of writing this review, I've already started re-reading the books. Maybe it's time for me to take this a step further and get the audiobooks too since there's no physical print edition? I just really highly recommend reading this series!!!