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jce 's review for:
Contract Season
by Cait Nary
emotional
funny
hopeful
Loveable characters:
Yes
Got approved for the ARC yesterday, started it this morning and then proceeded to binge read it all day. I'll definitely be reading the first in the series now that I've finished this one.
I was somewhat iffy on this one in the beginning. Some of the framing of the breakup between one of the MCs and his ex made me a little wary. And then the catalyst for the fake relationship is really rough. I know forced outing is a thing that happens to celebrities, it's one of the multitude of reasons being famous sounds like a complete nightmare to me, but it's just so fucking awful. That whole part of the book went beyond angsty to being just a total gut punch. For a while I wondered if I could even enjoy the whole fake dating bit because the reasons for it were just so fucked up. So it's a credit to the author that the pacing of this and the emotional arc did end up working for me.
Although the MCs hook up right at the beginning of the book, from there on out its a slooooooooow burn. There's little I love more than a super slow burn, so it was very much my cup of tea. Both of the MCs felt very real. I LOVED the side characters. Again, they felt very real and had depth and were interesting and funny and just added so much to the book. Also, obviously, I was obsessed with Kiwi the cat.
Spice wise, I'd rate this as low heat. There aren't a lot of sex scenes. That was fine by me, even though there were some perfect opportunities for a pining wank scene or a phone sex scene, both of which are faves for me. But really the heat level felt right for these characters and their relationship and I certainly didn't feel like the book was lacking. I also happen to really like when an MC either doesn't feel comfortable doing certain things when it comes to sex or doesn't like them or feels inadequate at them. I'm always happy to see that whole aspect of the awkwardness and insecurity that can come along with sex in romance books, and I really liked it here. I also liked that not every sex scene went well. And the whole vibe of playful and teasing banter between the MCs during sex. It all worked for me.
I appreciated that there was queerness on page apart from the MCs, and the mentions of ace and aro identities being valid things that exists in the world. There was one conversation with two characters discussing whether they thought a side character was still a virgin that I could have done without, but for the most part I liked the way virginity was framed as not a big deal.
I wanted a bit more from the ending and was annoyed by the last paragraph. But it was far from a deal breaker in a book that I couldn't put down and overall really enjoyed. I'll absolutely be checking out anything in the future from this author.
I was somewhat iffy on this one in the beginning. Some of the framing of the breakup between one of the MCs and his ex made me a little wary. And then the catalyst for the fake relationship is really rough. I know forced outing is a thing that happens to celebrities, it's one of the multitude of reasons being famous sounds like a complete nightmare to me, but it's just so fucking awful. That whole part of the book went beyond angsty to being just a total gut punch. For a while I wondered if I could even enjoy the whole fake dating bit because the reasons for it were just so fucked up. So it's a credit to the author that the pacing of this and the emotional arc did end up working for me.
Although the MCs hook up right at the beginning of the book, from there on out its a slooooooooow burn. There's little I love more than a super slow burn, so it was very much my cup of tea. Both of the MCs felt very real. I LOVED the side characters. Again, they felt very real and had depth and were interesting and funny and just added so much to the book. Also, obviously, I was obsessed with Kiwi the cat.
Spice wise, I'd rate this as low heat. There aren't a lot of sex scenes. That was fine by me, even though there were some perfect opportunities for a pining wank scene or a phone sex scene, both of which are faves for me. But really the heat level felt right for these characters and their relationship and I certainly didn't feel like the book was lacking. I also happen to really like when an MC either doesn't feel comfortable doing certain things when it comes to sex or doesn't like them or feels inadequate at them. I'm always happy to see that whole aspect of the awkwardness and insecurity that can come along with sex in romance books, and I really liked it here. I also liked that not every sex scene went well. And the whole vibe of playful and teasing banter between the MCs during sex. It all worked for me.
I appreciated that there was queerness on page apart from the MCs, and the mentions of ace and aro identities being valid things that exists in the world. There was one conversation with two characters discussing whether they thought a side character was still a virgin that I could have done without, but for the most part I liked the way virginity was framed as not a big deal.
I wanted a bit more from the ending and was annoyed by the last paragraph. But it was far from a deal breaker in a book that I couldn't put down and overall really enjoyed. I'll absolutely be checking out anything in the future from this author.