A review by illstoptheworldandreadwithyou
For Real by Alexis Hall

4.75

I love Alexis Hall’s writing. His writing style and sense of humor immediately pull me into the story each and every time I pick up one of his works. 

 

If you’re familiar with the other Spires stories already, you know that the content tends to be heavier and the physical intimacy displayed on page is much greater than some of Hall’s other contemporary works, like the Winner Takes All and London Calling series. 

 

For Real, in particular, takes that door—which sometimes gets closed during romance—and blows it off its hinges. It depicts a MM dom-sub relationship with an age gap. 

 

Laurie is a trauma doctor with an established career and established proclivities. He knows what he likes and he’s open to physical intimacy but is closed off to anything else. Compared to Laurie, it feels like Toby is barely out of high school. He may not have as much experience in the Scene, but he knows what he wants. With Laurie, things just click. 

 

I’ll admit that, given the ages of these characters, I had my initial misgivings about this relationship, but as the book went on, I learned that, although Toby is young age-wise, in many ways he’s been the adult in his household for years. I ended up rooting for the couple. 

 

Since this relationship is initially driven by physical intimacy, much of the book is spent depicting physical acts, but, as Hall is apt to do, that honesty and vulnerability portrayed physically turns into emotional vulnerability as well. 

 

This one may not be a hit for all Alexis Hall fans, but it will definitely pull on the heartstrings of those willing to leap into the Scene. 

 

This rereleased version from Sourcebooks Casablanca includes annotations from the author as well as Toby’s lemon meringue pie recipe. 

 

I received an advance copy of the book from Sourcebooks Casablanca. All review opinions are my own.