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A review by mousie
Extra Whip by L.A. Witt
3.0
3.5 stars, rounded down
I loved each of the characters, and watching them all slowly fall in love together was lovely, but the overall pacing wasn't great. I felt that inordinate amounts of time were spent on Kelly's family issues, and the story as a whole lagged because of it. I adore a slow burn, so I'm not complaining about the pacing because of that, but the narrative itself felt slow when multiple pages in each of Kelly's chapters were dedicated to the same issue over and over again, namely the house he'd unwillingly inherited, his father's disapproval, and his bad relationships with his siblings.
The "oh no, we got feelings" fight and angst at the end before the happy ending was expected, even if it got a bit tedious how insistent Will and Aaron were that they weren't looking for anything poly, all the way to the end. They've been together 20 years, and clearly understand that desires can change, or at least their awareness of desires, since a night of more heavy pain play is what lead them to where they are now. For a couple that so heavily emphasized the importance of healthy communication, it was unrealistic to me how much the entire thing blew up on them. And Will's side of their fight thay night felt completely out of character to me.
I was very, very annoyed by the fact that Aaron and Will didn't text Kelly before just showing up on his doorstep for their reconciliation scene. Again, they were so big on honest communication from day one, but then literally left Kelly on read, even after they resolved their issues with each other and decided to talk to Kelly. I honestly have no idea how either of them went to bed that night, knowing they had left Kelly hanging. His texts were clearly concerned, and they just...had makeup sex together then went to bed?
In the same vein, it seemed unrealistic to me that Kelly so quickly and easily accepted their offer to join them without speaking to them about how hurt he was that they shut him out? He explicitly said he was terrified of becoming a third wheel to them, then they completely kept him out of the loop after they had resolved things on their end.
Outside the pacing, I had no issues with the story. I am a total sucker for slow burns, so I really enjoyed that aspect of watching them all gradually fit into a life together and fall for each other.
I loved each of the characters, and watching them all slowly fall in love together was lovely, but the overall pacing wasn't great. I felt that inordinate amounts of time were spent on Kelly's family issues, and the story as a whole lagged because of it. I adore a slow burn, so I'm not complaining about the pacing because of that, but the narrative itself felt slow when multiple pages in each of Kelly's chapters were dedicated to the same issue over and over again, namely the house he'd unwillingly inherited, his father's disapproval, and his bad relationships with his siblings.
The "oh no, we got feelings" fight and angst at the end before the happy ending was expected, even if it got a bit tedious how insistent Will and Aaron were that they weren't looking for anything poly, all the way to the end. They've been together 20 years, and clearly understand that desires can change, or at least their awareness of desires, since a night of more heavy pain play is what lead them to where they are now. For a couple that so heavily emphasized the importance of healthy communication, it was unrealistic to me how much the entire thing blew up on them. And Will's side of their fight thay night felt completely out of character to me.
I was very, very annoyed by the fact that Aaron and Will didn't text Kelly before just showing up on his doorstep for their reconciliation scene. Again, they were so big on honest communication from day one, but then literally left Kelly on read, even after they resolved their issues with each other and decided to talk to Kelly. I honestly have no idea how either of them went to bed that night, knowing they had left Kelly hanging. His texts were clearly concerned, and they just...had makeup sex together then went to bed?
In the same vein, it seemed unrealistic to me that Kelly so quickly and easily accepted their offer to join them without speaking to them about how hurt he was that they shut him out? He explicitly said he was terrified of becoming a third wheel to them, then they completely kept him out of the loop after they had resolved things on their end.
Outside the pacing, I had no issues with the story. I am a total sucker for slow burns, so I really enjoyed that aspect of watching them all gradually fit into a life together and fall for each other.