A review by ashlightgrayson
Him by Elle Kennedy, Sarina Bowen

emotional hopeful
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book felt like reading a forum that was trying to convince me that two characters that are obviously a gay couple, aren't a gay couple. Wes and Jamie spend a lot of time in this novel ignoring the elephant in the room. Both of them clearly love each other very much, even before their relationship developed into mutual sexual/romantic attraction.  Wes carries around a sense of guilt about pressuring his friend into engaging in sexual activity with him when he's always identified as straight. It made me wonder if this is something that members of the queer community feel more often than I thought. I can relate somewhat to the sense of responsibility of not purposefully misleading someone. However, I also think that a lot of obstacles in Jamie and Wes's relationship could have been resolved by communicating more. Although, the miscommunication did not feel forced or misconstrued. It felt like it was something that could reasonably occur in real life. At no point did I think that either of them had concerns that weren't valid.

There is a reasonably thorough exploration within the plot of homophobia and the fears surrounding that in both Jamie and Wes's lives. There is a lot of pressure on them as male professional athletes to be taken seriously and be perceived as masculine. Additionally, they are responsible for child athletes and unfortunately the ignorance of homophobia does not differentiate between parents and everyone else. 

Overall, I enjoyed watching Jamie and Wes reconnect with each other. Outside of respecting each other as friends, they also respect each other as peers and that definitely bleeds into their eventual romantic relationship. Their love for each other helps them find ways to accommodate each other back into their lives. This novel can be read as a standalone, but I plan on continuing to read the sequel. Sarina Bowen is definitely a go to romance author for me now. This is the fourth book I've read by her and her stories never disappoint.
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