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imme_van_gorp's Reviews (778)
Oh wow, this was absolutely delightful.
This cracked me up more than just a few times; it was genuinely hilarious.
This novella is about Jason and Sacha who have been best friends for a few years now. They hang out all the time and have lot of banter going on between them.
However, as time goes on, Jason starts to notice that he has fallen in love with Sacha, but he doesn't think Sacha will ever feel the same way.
Then, Sacha suddenly asks Jason if he is willing to be the first guy he ever has sex with, and Jason simply does not have the strength to say no to something like that. Nor does he want to.
Obviously this all seems like the most simple premise imaginable. Best friends to lovers? Been there, done that. And trust me, this is not a new spin to the trope, nor does it have a super interesting plotline. No, that's not it.
Instead, what makes this novella stand out from the rest of these type of stories is the genuine friendship portrayed here. The friendship feels so authentic, and has a lot of bickering and banter. Their dynamic was absolutely hilarious and oh so real.
Every time they communicated with each other it sounded like an actual conversation real-life human beings could have. With this I mean that I could imagine actual people speaking to each other like this: it was so genuine and organic. For some reason this type of good writing for dialogue is quite hard to find in books, but [a:Marina Vivancos|17206706|Marina Vivancos|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1599516156p2/17206706.jpg] absolutely nailed it.
Sacha was honestly also one of the best characters ever. He is a big Russian guy who is not afraid to show emotion or affection, but is also super direct and straight-to-the-point. Neither is he afraid to give as good as he gets when it comes to his very sarcastic and unsociable best friend, Jason.
Sacha honestly had me laughing so many times with his broken English and no-bullshit attitude. I literally couldn't help but love the guy. Seriously, I love this dude so much.
Jason was also a very likable character and he has this interesting sexual kink called ‘dacryphilia’. This basically means that he gets turned on by people crying.
And before you immediately click away from this review in disgust: no it is not as weird as it sounds, and the way the story and characters incorporated this kink was really great.
It’s not a vicious or sadistic kink either; Jason doesn’t want to hurt people, he just likes to see people vulnerable and open, and how much more vulnerable can you get than by crying?
Now, to give a good idea of what this novella is like, I figured I would simply put a random scene out of the book down here. It's not the funniest or best scene (that wouldn't be representative), but it does give a really good impression of what this novella is like and how the friendship between these two is, so if you think this looks fun, I'm sure you'll enjoy the entire thing. Anyway, here we go:
By the time he was crawling over Sacha, the man was flushed from laughing, and Jason couldn't help but kiss him again, tasting the smile he's loved for years.
"I knew this was good idea," Sacha said against his lips. "I am genius."
"For once, I couldn't agree with you more. Maybe you're a sexual savant."
"Savant?"
"It's like someone that is very gifted at something."
"Yes, that me."
"I guess I'm a great teacher."
"No, savant is natural gift, not learn."
"You literally didn't know what savant meant a second ago."
"I just know."
"Okay, well, Mr. I-Just-Know, can I eat you out or nah?"
Sacha stared at him for a moment. "Like... ass?"
Jason pressed his lips together to avoid laughing. "Yea. No pressure, I know we've never done that before."
"I shower before I come here."
"Yeah, I know, dude, your hair's still wet."
Sacha touched his hair. "Is not wet, is a little bit damp!"
"Jeez, I didn't know the level of moisture in your hair was such a personal and touchy subject. My deep and sincere apology."
Sacha shoved at his face which, of course, necessitated retaliation. What ensued was surprisingly non-sexy naked wrestling that didn't end up with crushed balls by holy and divine miracle alone.
"Okay, fuck, stop," Jason panted, flopping over Sacha's belly like a tired cat. "We've deviated significantly from the mission."
"Not my fault."
"It absolutely was your... you know what? I can let this go."
"Wow. Did not know that was even possible."
"Finding my Zen place. It's fine."
"He has Zen place. It was built yesterday, very new, never seen before."
"Practicing mindfulness in times of stress."
"He has mind. It was built yesterday, very new, never—"
Another few minutes of naked wrestling ensued.
They collapsed next to each other, already sweaty and flushed. Jason threw an arm over his eyes. "Okay, I think we're done for today."
"With fighting or orgasm?"
"With fighting, obviously. So, I can eat you out?"
But, of course it's not only fun and games between these two, and they definitely do care about each other a whole lot. Even if Sacha finally tells Jason he loves him in the most 'them' way possible:
"Don't act like this was more than sex from your end. From the start, you’ve made it clear this was casual for you."
"You crazy! How? How—what did I do to say, oh, this casual?"
"You.... I mean, you, at the start, you said this was only because you wanted to, you know. Have sex with someone you trusted before going out and finding the love of your life or whatever."
"I never say this."
"Yes, you did."
"No."
"Well, you implied it."
Sacha threw his hands in the air, looking up as if pleading with God. "You are stupidest man. How you function, unbelievable." He looked at Jason. "I'm in love with you. You are best friend, good friend, always think of me, treat me best. And sex best, too. What are you talking about, finding love of life? You are love of life! I'm in love with stupidest man on planet."
All in all, this whole novella was just immensely enjoyable. The humour, the friendship, the writing-style, the chemistry, the characters, the feels, the banter: it was all absolutely amazing!
This cracked me up more than just a few times; it was genuinely hilarious.
This novella is about Jason and Sacha who have been best friends for a few years now. They hang out all the time and have lot of banter going on between them.
However, as time goes on, Jason starts to notice that he has fallen in love with Sacha, but he doesn't think Sacha will ever feel the same way.
Then, Sacha suddenly asks Jason if he is willing to be the first guy he ever has sex with, and Jason simply does not have the strength to say no to something like that. Nor does he want to.
Obviously this all seems like the most simple premise imaginable. Best friends to lovers? Been there, done that. And trust me, this is not a new spin to the trope, nor does it have a super interesting plotline. No, that's not it.
Instead, what makes this novella stand out from the rest of these type of stories is the genuine friendship portrayed here. The friendship feels so authentic, and has a lot of bickering and banter. Their dynamic was absolutely hilarious and oh so real.
Every time they communicated with each other it sounded like an actual conversation real-life human beings could have. With this I mean that I could imagine actual people speaking to each other like this: it was so genuine and organic. For some reason this type of good writing for dialogue is quite hard to find in books, but [a:Marina Vivancos|17206706|Marina Vivancos|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1599516156p2/17206706.jpg] absolutely nailed it.
Sacha was honestly also one of the best characters ever. He is a big Russian guy who is not afraid to show emotion or affection, but is also super direct and straight-to-the-point. Neither is he afraid to give as good as he gets when it comes to his very sarcastic and unsociable best friend, Jason.
Sacha honestly had me laughing so many times with his broken English and no-bullshit attitude. I literally couldn't help but love the guy. Seriously, I love this dude so much.
Jason was also a very likable character and he has this interesting sexual kink called ‘dacryphilia’. This basically means that he gets turned on by people crying.
And before you immediately click away from this review in disgust: no it is not as weird as it sounds, and the way the story and characters incorporated this kink was really great.
It’s not a vicious or sadistic kink either; Jason doesn’t want to hurt people, he just likes to see people vulnerable and open, and how much more vulnerable can you get than by crying?
Now, to give a good idea of what this novella is like, I figured I would simply put a random scene out of the book down here. It's not the funniest or best scene (that wouldn't be representative), but it does give a really good impression of what this novella is like and how the friendship between these two is, so if you think this looks fun, I'm sure you'll enjoy the entire thing. Anyway, here we go:
By the time he was crawling over Sacha, the man was flushed from laughing, and Jason couldn't help but kiss him again, tasting the smile he's loved for years.
"I knew this was good idea," Sacha said against his lips. "I am genius."
"For once, I couldn't agree with you more. Maybe you're a sexual savant."
"Savant?"
"It's like someone that is very gifted at something."
"Yes, that me."
"I guess I'm a great teacher."
"No, savant is natural gift, not learn."
"You literally didn't know what savant meant a second ago."
"I just know."
"Okay, well, Mr. I-Just-Know, can I eat you out or nah?"
Sacha stared at him for a moment. "Like... ass?"
Jason pressed his lips together to avoid laughing. "Yea. No pressure, I know we've never done that before."
"I shower before I come here."
"Yeah, I know, dude, your hair's still wet."
Sacha touched his hair. "Is not wet, is a little bit damp!"
"Jeez, I didn't know the level of moisture in your hair was such a personal and touchy subject. My deep and sincere apology."
Sacha shoved at his face which, of course, necessitated retaliation. What ensued was surprisingly non-sexy naked wrestling that didn't end up with crushed balls by holy and divine miracle alone.
"Okay, fuck, stop," Jason panted, flopping over Sacha's belly like a tired cat. "We've deviated significantly from the mission."
"Not my fault."
"It absolutely was your... you know what? I can let this go."
"Wow. Did not know that was even possible."
"Finding my Zen place. It's fine."
"He has Zen place. It was built yesterday, very new, never seen before."
"Practicing mindfulness in times of stress."
"He has mind. It was built yesterday, very new, never—"
Another few minutes of naked wrestling ensued.
They collapsed next to each other, already sweaty and flushed. Jason threw an arm over his eyes. "Okay, I think we're done for today."
"With fighting or orgasm?"
"With fighting, obviously. So, I can eat you out?"
But, of course it's not only fun and games between these two, and they definitely do care about each other a whole lot. Even if Sacha finally tells Jason he loves him in the most 'them' way possible:
"Don't act like this was more than sex from your end. From the start, you’ve made it clear this was casual for you."
"You crazy! How? How—what did I do to say, oh, this casual?"
"You.... I mean, you, at the start, you said this was only because you wanted to, you know. Have sex with someone you trusted before going out and finding the love of your life or whatever."
"I never say this."
"Yes, you did."
"No."
"Well, you implied it."
Sacha threw his hands in the air, looking up as if pleading with God. "You are stupidest man. How you function, unbelievable." He looked at Jason. "I'm in love with you. You are best friend, good friend, always think of me, treat me best. And sex best, too. What are you talking about, finding love of life? You are love of life! I'm in love with stupidest man on planet."
All in all, this whole novella was just immensely enjoyable. The humour, the friendship, the writing-style, the chemistry, the characters, the feels, the banter: it was all absolutely amazing!
"Wes, will you marry me?"
Aww, this gave me such good vibes!!
I love seeing Wes and Dustin being together; happy and thriving.
Their relationship is still so good and so sweet and so hot!
The dynamic they have just works so well!
"I always thought I'd be single forever. And kid-free. But then I met you and everything changed. Now I love having a home together, somewhere to come back to. And yeah, I keep having these stray thoughts about what our future might look like. Years down the road. That sort of thing. Because I want to be with you forever, and thinking about growing older together makes me really happy."
They not only have amazing chemistry together, they honestly have true love.
Aww, this gave me such good vibes!!
I love seeing Wes and Dustin being together; happy and thriving.
Their relationship is still so good and so sweet and so hot!
The dynamic they have just works so well!
"I always thought I'd be single forever. And kid-free. But then I met you and everything changed. Now I love having a home together, somewhere to come back to. And yeah, I keep having these stray thoughts about what our future might look like. Years down the road. That sort of thing. Because I want to be with you forever, and thinking about growing older together makes me really happy."
They not only have amazing chemistry together, they honestly have true love.
This wasn't really all that great to me.
A big part of this already very short novella focuses on some sort of security assignment for a random celebrity wedding, which I quite frankly could not have cared less about.
There are hardly any sweet or cute moments between Dustin and Wes to be found here, and their only extended intimiate interaction is a sex scene, which, by the way, has really gone a LOT more heavy on the BDSM than they used to be.
Nonetheless, I of course still love these two so much, even if the feelings were a bit off for me, and they weren't really the same people or couple as before.
But oh well, it's supposed to be years later, so some change is realistic, I guess.
"I love you. So much. Feels like I can never tell you enough. Never show you enough."
"You do. And just you. That's enough for me."
I will always enjoy reading more about Wes and Dustin, but I liked their happily ever after in their previous novella, Homebodies, more. This simply didn't add anything for me.
It's a bit of a wasted opportunity, since Wes and Dustin had such a great dynamic, that this story had the potential to be once again amazing!
Instead, this novella was bland and nothing all too interesting.
I wanted the Wes and Dustin I know and love! Which, unfortunately, I didn’t get here.
A big part of this already very short novella focuses on some sort of security assignment for a random celebrity wedding, which I quite frankly could not have cared less about.
There are hardly any sweet or cute moments between Dustin and Wes to be found here, and their only extended intimiate interaction is a sex scene, which, by the way, has really gone a LOT more heavy on the BDSM than they used to be.
Nonetheless, I of course still love these two so much, even if the feelings were a bit off for me, and they weren't really the same people or couple as before.
But oh well, it's supposed to be years later, so some change is realistic, I guess.
"I love you. So much. Feels like I can never tell you enough. Never show you enough."
"You do. And just you. That's enough for me."
I will always enjoy reading more about Wes and Dustin, but I liked their happily ever after in their previous novella, Homebodies, more. This simply didn't add anything for me.
It's a bit of a wasted opportunity, since Wes and Dustin had such a great dynamic, that this story had the potential to be once again amazing!
Instead, this novella was bland and nothing all too interesting.
I wanted the Wes and Dustin I know and love! Which, unfortunately, I didn’t get here.
Well, how positively lovely this was! It was absolutely wonderful.
This book had pretty much everything it needed to be great: there was a lot of humour, plenty of depth, delightful characters, a slow-burn romance with a lot of sweetness and chemistry, and a character arc of someone finding their true self and happiness again.
This story is about Henry, an extremely funny and witty, yet insecure, 35-year old guy.
The book begins immediately after he has just been dumped by his boyfriend of 8 years who tells him it is because he is "old and overweight".
Of course Henry is absolutely devastated by this, and, for the first time in years, has to face the reality that he has really let himself go. He decides he is going to have to make some changes, for a big part so he can get his ex-boyfriend back, starting with going to the gym to lose weight.
Once there, he meets the insanely fit and sexy Reed, his new personal trainer, and they hit it off instantly. Reed helps him, albeit with constant struggle and complaints coming from Henry, to persevere in doing his exercises, but also to find joy in other things.
They develop a deep trust and friendship, finding themselves constantly laughing easily together, but Henry cannot even imagine that someone like Reed would ever be interested in something more than friendship with someone who looks like him.
Nonetheless, Henry slowly but surely finds himself happier than he has been in years, and although he always remains himself, he becomes the best version of who he can possibly be.
I can honestly say that I loved this book. I really liked the idea of the story, and also how it was executed.
It worked even better because the characters were so likable and you were truly rooting for them.
Henry was amazing. He was so witty, sarcastic, self-deprecating, and just all-around funny as hell. He cracked me up so many times, and I loved seeing how much Reed appreciated his humour.
Henry's insecurities were also very real, and his struggles were poignant enough without it feeling oppressive: this is a light-hearted story, but that doesn't mean it cannot have serious themes. This combination of humour and self-doubt was done really well.
Reed was such a sweetheart: caring, kind, motivating and thoughtful. I honestly couldn't imagine a more perfect guy for Henry (or for anyone, for that matter).
Reed helps inspire Henry, but most of all they just fit together so incredibly well. They truly understand one another and love spending time together.
The secondary characters were all also very entertaining and added to the overall story. I really liked Henry's friends and the dynamic he had with them. I loved how he wasn't some sad guy who didn't have anyone before he met Reed: he actually already had really good friends, he just found something even better with Reed. And that's lovely.
This was really a very nice story, and I'm super glad I read it. I enjoyed reading every single page!
Please read this if you’re in the mood for a soft, feel-good, cute and funny book!
This book had pretty much everything it needed to be great: there was a lot of humour, plenty of depth, delightful characters, a slow-burn romance with a lot of sweetness and chemistry, and a character arc of someone finding their true self and happiness again.
This story is about Henry, an extremely funny and witty, yet insecure, 35-year old guy.
The book begins immediately after he has just been dumped by his boyfriend of 8 years who tells him it is because he is "old and overweight".
Of course Henry is absolutely devastated by this, and, for the first time in years, has to face the reality that he has really let himself go. He decides he is going to have to make some changes, for a big part so he can get his ex-boyfriend back, starting with going to the gym to lose weight.
Once there, he meets the insanely fit and sexy Reed, his new personal trainer, and they hit it off instantly. Reed helps him, albeit with constant struggle and complaints coming from Henry, to persevere in doing his exercises, but also to find joy in other things.
They develop a deep trust and friendship, finding themselves constantly laughing easily together, but Henry cannot even imagine that someone like Reed would ever be interested in something more than friendship with someone who looks like him.
Nonetheless, Henry slowly but surely finds himself happier than he has been in years, and although he always remains himself, he becomes the best version of who he can possibly be.
I can honestly say that I loved this book. I really liked the idea of the story, and also how it was executed.
It worked even better because the characters were so likable and you were truly rooting for them.
Henry was amazing. He was so witty, sarcastic, self-deprecating, and just all-around funny as hell. He cracked me up so many times, and I loved seeing how much Reed appreciated his humour.
Henry's insecurities were also very real, and his struggles were poignant enough without it feeling oppressive: this is a light-hearted story, but that doesn't mean it cannot have serious themes. This combination of humour and self-doubt was done really well.
Reed was such a sweetheart: caring, kind, motivating and thoughtful. I honestly couldn't imagine a more perfect guy for Henry (or for anyone, for that matter).
Reed helps inspire Henry, but most of all they just fit together so incredibly well. They truly understand one another and love spending time together.
The secondary characters were all also very entertaining and added to the overall story. I really liked Henry's friends and the dynamic he had with them. I loved how he wasn't some sad guy who didn't have anyone before he met Reed: he actually already had really good friends, he just found something even better with Reed. And that's lovely.
This was really a very nice story, and I'm super glad I read it. I enjoyed reading every single page!
Please read this if you’re in the mood for a soft, feel-good, cute and funny book!
Damn. Wow. Okay. I didn't expect this.
I went into this thinking I would get a hot prison romance, but instead I got that and so much more.
This story is very beautiful and very heart-breaking. It does not have a happy ending, beware of that.
The story takes place in the 1930's in Wentworth Prison.
It follows two prisoners, one who has been there for 6 years and is set to spend his entire life in prison, the other a newly convicted doctor who just arrived and will have to stay in prison for 18 years.
I don't want to go into the details of this book as I think it is best enjoyed if you go into it blind.
All you need to know is: the writing of this book is stunning, the plot is engrossing, the characters are haunting, and the romance consists of a love surprisingly pure although it starts absolutely horrifyingly.
You will get attached to these characters and their experiences in prison. It felt oddly authentic, and was extremely intriguing.
The cards these men were dealt in life often made my chest hurt.
This book will make your heart squeeze in good ways as well as bad: It will give you a love story to make your heart float and swoon, yet that same love story will then rip your heart out and break it in two.
“I’ll go to my grave defending you and expect no more than a kiss before bed at night.”
The idea of behaving as if he and Gabriel were friendly, much less friends, made Joey want to jerk the blade out of a safety razor and open his wrists.
And maybe he'd do that before long, anyway.
“Did—did I hurt you so bad?”
“What happened before was one stanger attacking another. What happens now is between you and me.”
“Joey. I can't hurt you again. I'll kill myself first.”
“My own love. My only love.”
“I'm afraid, Joey.”
“I know. But I've gone with you as far as I can. And I'll be waiting for you, I promise. Remember, I'll be waiting for you.”
“I love you.”
I went into this thinking I would get a hot prison romance, but instead I got that and so much more.
This story is very beautiful and very heart-breaking. It does not have a happy ending, beware of that.
The story takes place in the 1930's in Wentworth Prison.
It follows two prisoners, one who has been there for 6 years and is set to spend his entire life in prison, the other a newly convicted doctor who just arrived and will have to stay in prison for 18 years.
I don't want to go into the details of this book as I think it is best enjoyed if you go into it blind.
All you need to know is: the writing of this book is stunning, the plot is engrossing, the characters are haunting, and the romance consists of a love surprisingly pure although it starts absolutely horrifyingly.
You will get attached to these characters and their experiences in prison. It felt oddly authentic, and was extremely intriguing.
The cards these men were dealt in life often made my chest hurt.
This book will make your heart squeeze in good ways as well as bad: It will give you a love story to make your heart float and swoon, yet that same love story will then rip your heart out and break it in two.
“I’ll go to my grave defending you and expect no more than a kiss before bed at night.”
The idea of behaving as if he and Gabriel were friendly, much less friends, made Joey want to jerk the blade out of a safety razor and open his wrists.
And maybe he'd do that before long, anyway.
“Did—did I hurt you so bad?”
“What happened before was one stanger attacking another. What happens now is between you and me.”
“Joey. I can't hurt you again. I'll kill myself first.”
“My own love. My only love.”
“I'm afraid, Joey.”
“I know. But I've gone with you as far as I can. And I'll be waiting for you, I promise. Remember, I'll be waiting for you.”
“I love you.”
I might not have rated this book very high, but that doesn't mean I didn’t enjoy it. I actually quite liked it, but I just don't think it was particularly good.
This book doesn't offer anything distinctly new or interesting or even something to actually make me feel very invested.
The characterization is not all that great, the plot is a bit half-arsed and the writing is fairly simple.
So, although I enjoyed it well enough, it's definitely not something to write home about.
Nonetheless, I really liked the general idea of the book's fictional world and overall romantic dynamic!
The story takes place in a world where humans co-exist with paranormal beings called Kriila who look exactly like humans with the exception of a pair of gigantic beautiful wings on their back.
In this world, Kriila hold a lot of power as opposed to humans who are really not doing too well and often live in poverty. This, of course, results in quite a bit of animosity towards the Kriila, but there are also those among the humans who look up to them.
Another thing that sets Kriila apart from humans is that they 'mate' with a partner. Not every Kriila is capable of this or ever finds their supposed 'mate', but all of them strive to achieve this. And once they find their 'mate', nothing is more important. Their happiness, their care, their safety, their love; it means everything.
The main characters of this story are Jude and Kiran.
Jude is a poor orphan, who has a strong dislike towards the Kriila, and despises them for their riches and prosperity. He thinks the leaders are all terrible and don't do anything to help humans get better lives.
Kiran is the supreme leader of a political system they call 'Circles', and basically has the highest position someone can have in Kriila hierarchy. He is desperately trying to make their world better for humans, but is being worked against at every turn by those who believe the Kriila should remain superior.
I'm not going to go into the details of the hows and whys and whens, but, long story short, Kiran and Jude meet, and Kiran immediately recognizes Jude as his mate. A lot of turmoil erupts, but Kiran’s main focus and attention is on Jude and just wants Jude to accept him and love him back.
This book doesn't offer anything distinctly new or interesting or even something to actually make me feel very invested.
The characterization is not all that great, the plot is a bit half-arsed and the writing is fairly simple.
So, although I enjoyed it well enough, it's definitely not something to write home about.
Nonetheless, I really liked the general idea of the book's fictional world and overall romantic dynamic!
The story takes place in a world where humans co-exist with paranormal beings called Kriila who look exactly like humans with the exception of a pair of gigantic beautiful wings on their back.
In this world, Kriila hold a lot of power as opposed to humans who are really not doing too well and often live in poverty. This, of course, results in quite a bit of animosity towards the Kriila, but there are also those among the humans who look up to them.
Another thing that sets Kriila apart from humans is that they 'mate' with a partner. Not every Kriila is capable of this or ever finds their supposed 'mate', but all of them strive to achieve this. And once they find their 'mate', nothing is more important. Their happiness, their care, their safety, their love; it means everything.
The main characters of this story are Jude and Kiran.
Jude is a poor orphan, who has a strong dislike towards the Kriila, and despises them for their riches and prosperity. He thinks the leaders are all terrible and don't do anything to help humans get better lives.
Kiran is the supreme leader of a political system they call 'Circles', and basically has the highest position someone can have in Kriila hierarchy. He is desperately trying to make their world better for humans, but is being worked against at every turn by those who believe the Kriila should remain superior.
I'm not going to go into the details of the hows and whys and whens, but, long story short, Kiran and Jude meet, and Kiran immediately recognizes Jude as his mate. A lot of turmoil erupts, but Kiran’s main focus and attention is on Jude and just wants Jude to accept him and love him back.
Jude truly looked like he thought the worst of Kiran when he just wanted to care for him. Be there. Look after him... Love him.
Jude is very wary of Kiran at first, but he quickly sees him for who he really is; gentle, kind and loving. It was hard for Jude not to see this, when it was so clear that this big powerful leader would do anything just to make him happy.
Kiran had bandied words with the largest political giants these Circles had to offer, but he was weak at the knees over saying the slightest thing wrong to Jude.
Kiran was super protective and caring, and was patiently awaiting for Jude to see him as his mate and love him back. He just wanted a chance, and when he got one, he was over the moon.
"I'm so incredibly in love with you."
"And I'm so incredibly close to feeling the same. Every day, every hour I get closer."
"I'll be waiting when you get there."
So, obviously I loved this dynamic between these two. The drive from Kiran to win Jude over, the pure love, obsession and adoration he had for him; it was all pretty damn great.
I just think that their development could have been handled better. Jude's switch was pretty fast; he accepted Killian after not all too much effort, which I guess makes sense, because they're 'mates' and all, but I still would have liked to see a little more depth to this.
I would have loved it if we saw them getting to know each other a little more, and form a relationship on things based outside of the 'mate' bond.
Kiran and Jude were both decently likable characters, but I never felt a connection to them and their characterization never went very deep.
Nevertheless, I specifically liked Jude's love for animals. That was quite adorable. And seeing how they had their little nest of kittens in the epilogue was pretty damn cute.
Anyway, long story short, I liked the premise of this book, but the execution made it an average read.
Despite my lukewarm feelings towards this book, I am irrationally excited for the sequel. For some reason I think Levi and Arne's story is going to be so much fun.
I can't wait to see how the protective Arne will get the scared and traumatized Levi out of his shell. It definitely has the potential to be pretty darn cute. Here's to hoping it will live up to my expectations!
Ugh. Me and this book did not click at all. In fact, I kind of hated everything about it.
Call me crazy, but the entire plotline of this book was already pretty damn ridiculous.
In my humble opinion, Jamie had absolutely no rational reason to keep up the charade of playing rent-boy instead of just flat-out saying he was interested and wanted to date Oliver.
Maybe I could see why he lied during their first meeting (although, not really), but continuing to pretend to be a prostitute for weeks on end, even while you’re head-over-heels in love with the guy? Um. No. Stupid.
And this plot device seriously went on for ages. Most of the book takes place within this lie, so you're definitely working up to the 'big reveal'. Yet, when Oliver finally finds out the truth it is honestly the most anti-climactic thing I have ever witnessed. He hardly even reacts, and they just go about their day.
Anyway, the supposed ‘head-over-heels in love’ part brings me to one of my biggest problems with this book: I saw no connection between Jamie and Oliver whatsoever. I tried to remember a conversation these two had that did not either involve Oliver’s insecurities or sex, and had to conclude that I came up empty. Seriously, I could think of nothing. They had no depth. None.
And well, this brings me to these next two points: sex and insecurities.
First of all, there is way too much sex in this book. There was triple as much sex as there was an actual story or characterization, so if you’re looking for fleshed-out characters, a swoon-worthy romance, a story about self-acceptance, or anything unrelated to sex, you are at the wrong address here.
Now, let’s move on to the ‘insecurities’ part of this book. God, how this annoyed me.
Oliver and Jamie both had one single personality trait, and both of those come back to Oliver’s weight.
Oliver is insecure like you can’t even imagine: this guy thinks nobody will ever like him, care about him or look at him twice. Which, obviously, is in theory a very sad fact, but I quite frankly just couldn’t find myself to care about him or his struggles. If a character’s only character trait is the fact that they’re insecure, then I have no reason to connect with them, and therefore care about said struggles. Sorry, but I was kind of over him and his issues pretty fast.
Jamie was also not a fleshed-out character at all. He, like Oliver, has one thing that defines him, and in his case it is that he is obsessively attracted to people who are overweight. Seriously, this guy talks about nothing other than how sexy he finds big bodies and how he could never feel a spark or attraction to anyone who isn’t overweight. Which, I mean, fair enough, but that shouldn’t be all you think about when it comes to your partner. The way Jamie spoke and thought about it almost made it sound like some sort of kink, and I am convinced Jamie’s main reason for being with Oliver was the fact that Oliver was overweight. Call me sentimental, but that’s not a great love story in my eyes.
Long story short, I didn’t connect with these characters, the story was absolutely ridiculous, the sex was too much and took away from everything else, the insecurities held no emotional punch, and I quite frankly found myself bored throughout this entire read and couldn’t wait to be done with it.
Call me crazy, but the entire plotline of this book was already pretty damn ridiculous.
In my humble opinion, Jamie had absolutely no rational reason to keep up the charade of playing rent-boy instead of just flat-out saying he was interested and wanted to date Oliver.
Maybe I could see why he lied during their first meeting (although, not really), but continuing to pretend to be a prostitute for weeks on end, even while you’re head-over-heels in love with the guy? Um. No. Stupid.
And this plot device seriously went on for ages. Most of the book takes place within this lie, so you're definitely working up to the 'big reveal'. Yet, when Oliver finally finds out the truth it is honestly the most anti-climactic thing I have ever witnessed. He hardly even reacts, and they just go about their day.
Anyway, the supposed ‘head-over-heels in love’ part brings me to one of my biggest problems with this book: I saw no connection between Jamie and Oliver whatsoever. I tried to remember a conversation these two had that did not either involve Oliver’s insecurities or sex, and had to conclude that I came up empty. Seriously, I could think of nothing. They had no depth. None.
And well, this brings me to these next two points: sex and insecurities.
First of all, there is way too much sex in this book. There was triple as much sex as there was an actual story or characterization, so if you’re looking for fleshed-out characters, a swoon-worthy romance, a story about self-acceptance, or anything unrelated to sex, you are at the wrong address here.
Now, let’s move on to the ‘insecurities’ part of this book. God, how this annoyed me.
Oliver and Jamie both had one single personality trait, and both of those come back to Oliver’s weight.
Oliver is insecure like you can’t even imagine: this guy thinks nobody will ever like him, care about him or look at him twice. Which, obviously, is in theory a very sad fact, but I quite frankly just couldn’t find myself to care about him or his struggles. If a character’s only character trait is the fact that they’re insecure, then I have no reason to connect with them, and therefore care about said struggles. Sorry, but I was kind of over him and his issues pretty fast.
Jamie was also not a fleshed-out character at all. He, like Oliver, has one thing that defines him, and in his case it is that he is obsessively attracted to people who are overweight. Seriously, this guy talks about nothing other than how sexy he finds big bodies and how he could never feel a spark or attraction to anyone who isn’t overweight. Which, I mean, fair enough, but that shouldn’t be all you think about when it comes to your partner. The way Jamie spoke and thought about it almost made it sound like some sort of kink, and I am convinced Jamie’s main reason for being with Oliver was the fact that Oliver was overweight. Call me sentimental, but that’s not a great love story in my eyes.
Long story short, I didn’t connect with these characters, the story was absolutely ridiculous, the sex was too much and took away from everything else, the insecurities held no emotional punch, and I quite frankly found myself bored throughout this entire read and couldn’t wait to be done with it.
I've got mixed feelings on this because there were certain things I liked, but also certain things I didn't.
Let's start with what I did like: I really enjoyed the general idea of this book and series. The world-building is interesting, the plotline caught and held my attention, and I definitely love the family dynamic the 'brothers' have going on. The idea with each of the brothers representing the Seven Deadly Sins was something I found very cool, and can't wait to see explored further.
What I didn't like, however, was the romantic relationship in this book.
Simon and Galen had a complete insta-love connection, and I never really saw them bond or get to know each other better. It was like they both randomly loved each other, and that was that.
Nonetheless, even though they are both head-over-heels in love with each other, there is still a constant string of 'fuck-and-leave' going on between them. Galen refuses to fall in love, so he keeps Simon at bay 'emotionally', but they do have sex all the time.
I don't like those type of love stories: Either just accept you are falling in love or at least don't have sex, and instead let the tension simmer. But the way it was now, with the sex and no feelings (even though they did have feelings, so it was stupid as well), it feels kinda... cheap to me. Especially since the sex was non-stop.
The whole relationship had no emotional factor for me and really bored me most of the time.
The characters were fun. Mostly the secondary characters, though. Simon and Galen were once again not all that interesting to me. Simon especially; I feel like all he did was ask questions, and that was like his entire personality.
Out of the secondary characters I loved Gray the most. He is so cute and adorable, and I cannot wait to read his book. Daman and Bellamy have not gotten a lot of attention in this book yet, but they did both peek my interest quite a lot. Raiden and Castor seem sweet albeit a bit bland, and Alastair is kinda mweh.
Considering I do like the plotline, characters and general idea of this series, and my dislike lay more with this book's couple, I still have faith in this series as a whole.
Let's start with what I did like: I really enjoyed the general idea of this book and series. The world-building is interesting, the plotline caught and held my attention, and I definitely love the family dynamic the 'brothers' have going on. The idea with each of the brothers representing the Seven Deadly Sins was something I found very cool, and can't wait to see explored further.
What I didn't like, however, was the romantic relationship in this book.
Simon and Galen had a complete insta-love connection, and I never really saw them bond or get to know each other better. It was like they both randomly loved each other, and that was that.
Nonetheless, even though they are both head-over-heels in love with each other, there is still a constant string of 'fuck-and-leave' going on between them. Galen refuses to fall in love, so he keeps Simon at bay 'emotionally', but they do have sex all the time.
I don't like those type of love stories: Either just accept you are falling in love or at least don't have sex, and instead let the tension simmer. But the way it was now, with the sex and no feelings (even though they did have feelings, so it was stupid as well), it feels kinda... cheap to me. Especially since the sex was non-stop.
The whole relationship had no emotional factor for me and really bored me most of the time.
The characters were fun. Mostly the secondary characters, though. Simon and Galen were once again not all that interesting to me. Simon especially; I feel like all he did was ask questions, and that was like his entire personality.
Out of the secondary characters I loved Gray the most. He is so cute and adorable, and I cannot wait to read his book. Daman and Bellamy have not gotten a lot of attention in this book yet, but they did both peek my interest quite a lot. Raiden and Castor seem sweet albeit a bit bland, and Alastair is kinda mweh.
Considering I do like the plotline, characters and general idea of this series, and my dislike lay more with this book's couple, I still have faith in this series as a whole.
I feel like I am the last person on the planet to read this book, and I honestly feel like an absolute idiot for waiting so long.
I suppose I was scared it wouldn't live up to the hype, and if I hadn't been continually persecuted by Gloria and Kati to read this, I'm afraid I might have never even dared take the leap (especially since I disliked the first book in this series quite a lot). So, I suppose this is like my official thank you to these two girls to push me into reading this <3
Anyway, back to the actual book: obviously I loved it. I don't even know what makes this book so special, but somehow it just is.
In theory this shouldn't have been a book I love this much; I like rivals-to-lovers, but a relationship that starts with and is built entirely on sex? That's usually not really my thing at all.
But, somehow, everything just works brilliantly here. This had me hooked from start to finish and my interest did not waver for even a single second. Every page had me enthralled, and I was reading the whole thing with a big ass smile on my face.
I think the reason this book works so well is due to three things:
1) The book is spread out over seven years. Things that usually feel rushed or superficial somehow become believable when it is put in the mindset that these two have been hooking up with and pining for each other for years. It really gives everything so much more of an emotional punch, raises the stakes a lot higher and gives us the opportunity to grow with the relationship as well as the characters during a very long journey.
2) These characters. I love them. Ilya and Shane are so different from each other, but each have such a likableness to them in their own way. We spend 7 years with these characters, and thus not only see them grow, but also see the little things that make these two so special. This is not a book that is very heavy on the characterization by any means, yet I felt a true connection to them both, and I think that's pretty special considering the little amount of time that is actually spend on this.
3) THE RELATIONSHIP!! Oh. My. God. The chemistry??? Jeez, it was absolutely scorching. If you manage to have as much sex in a book as this one did, and not have me be bored at least once? Then you've really done something, because I'm truly not the biggest smut fan. Somehow every interaction Ilya and Shane had together just felt intimate. They had this.. connection, which resulted in amazing banter but also a very pure kind of love. I can't even really explain it, but their pairing was just brilliant and I couldn't get enough of them. The longing each of them felt to be together? My heart couldn't take it!
But well, I don't want to make this review all too long, especially since everyone has either already read this, is planning on reading it, or has somehow decided they just don't want to, and I doubt my review will make a lick of difference.
So. I'll end this by saying I loved this book so much, I enjoyed it immensely, this relationship will go into my books as one of the best and most swoon-worthy ones I've had the pleasure of reading about, and I genuinely wish I could have the experience of reading this for the first time all over again.
Oh, and can someone please tell me if I can read 'The Long Game' right after this, or do I need to read the entire series before that?
I suppose I was scared it wouldn't live up to the hype, and if I hadn't been continually persecuted by Gloria and Kati to read this, I'm afraid I might have never even dared take the leap (especially since I disliked the first book in this series quite a lot). So, I suppose this is like my official thank you to these two girls to push me into reading this <3
Anyway, back to the actual book: obviously I loved it. I don't even know what makes this book so special, but somehow it just is.
In theory this shouldn't have been a book I love this much; I like rivals-to-lovers, but a relationship that starts with and is built entirely on sex? That's usually not really my thing at all.
But, somehow, everything just works brilliantly here. This had me hooked from start to finish and my interest did not waver for even a single second. Every page had me enthralled, and I was reading the whole thing with a big ass smile on my face.
I think the reason this book works so well is due to three things:
1) The book is spread out over seven years. Things that usually feel rushed or superficial somehow become believable when it is put in the mindset that these two have been hooking up with and pining for each other for years. It really gives everything so much more of an emotional punch, raises the stakes a lot higher and gives us the opportunity to grow with the relationship as well as the characters during a very long journey.
2) These characters. I love them. Ilya and Shane are so different from each other, but each have such a likableness to them in their own way. We spend 7 years with these characters, and thus not only see them grow, but also see the little things that make these two so special. This is not a book that is very heavy on the characterization by any means, yet I felt a true connection to them both, and I think that's pretty special considering the little amount of time that is actually spend on this.
3) THE RELATIONSHIP!! Oh. My. God. The chemistry??? Jeez, it was absolutely scorching. If you manage to have as much sex in a book as this one did, and not have me be bored at least once? Then you've really done something, because I'm truly not the biggest smut fan. Somehow every interaction Ilya and Shane had together just felt intimate. They had this.. connection, which resulted in amazing banter but also a very pure kind of love. I can't even really explain it, but their pairing was just brilliant and I couldn't get enough of them. The longing each of them felt to be together? My heart couldn't take it!
But well, I don't want to make this review all too long, especially since everyone has either already read this, is planning on reading it, or has somehow decided they just don't want to, and I doubt my review will make a lick of difference.
So. I'll end this by saying I loved this book so much, I enjoyed it immensely, this relationship will go into my books as one of the best and most swoon-worthy ones I've had the pleasure of reading about, and I genuinely wish I could have the experience of reading this for the first time all over again.
Oh, and can someone please tell me if I can read 'The Long Game' right after this, or do I need to read the entire series before that?
This is a story about two very different kinds of people.
Miller is a hunky confident trans man, who works in construction and, at the age of 40, is ready to settle down and find a partner for life.
Demetri is an extremely insecure history professor, who, at 40 years old, doesn't want to ever date again after all the horrible exes he's had so far, who have done nothing but tear him down.
The dynamic between these two was pretty sweet and charming, but I mostly loved how absolutely infatuated Miller was with Demetri. No matter how many times Demetri shot him down due to his nerves, insecurities or obliviousness, Miller never wavered and constantly tried again and again. He adored the ground Demetri walked on an was desperate to get a chance with him. It made my heart swoon plenty of times!
However, once Demetri and Miller started hooking up and eventually got together for real, I have to say that I became very bored. They couldn't really hold my interest, and I feel like we got a lot of telling instead of showing. For example, we were suddenly being told they had a perfect date or a meaningful conversation, no longer shown... Not that the showing was very strong to begin with, but it had completely gone the further along we went into the story.
I liked seeing Miller's confidence about being transgender, and especially about him not having (nor wanting) bottom surgery. I thought it was interesting and kind of cool to see that he was the one so sure of himself, willing to and capable of making Demetri feel more secure about himself and their relationship. Other stories might have created a lot of angst surrounding Miller being transgender, but I really loved how it simply wasn't a big deal here, especially since they're both quite old, and Miller has had the time to accept himself fully.
Unfortunately, despite me loving his confidence, I did dislike reading from Miller's perspective a lot of the time whenever he wasn't with Demetri, mostly because I simply could not be bothered with the construction crew he worked with (and who this series is based on). They all acted so incredibly childish! And I'm sure it doesn't help that I skipped most of this series and therefore don't know all of them individually, but I really didn't enjoy their entire dynamic. It was too over-the-top, frat boy-ish, ridiculous and annoying for me. The pranks? The crude dick jokes? The immaturity? No thanks. These are supposed to be grown adults, I'd like them to act it as well.
I did like Demetri's POV though, and I actually wish we would have spent more time in the book dedicated to his life, work situation and past. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it far more than Miller and his crew of man-children.
I just loved reading about Demetri's insecurities, and then about him finding more confidence. The way he started to notice how other people saw him in such a positive light rather than the horrible view he had of himself was quite endearing: I wish this would have been given more attention and development.
Demetri was honestly just quite adorable in general. Him knitting clothes for and talking to his tortoise Mars? Yea, that was cute. Honestly, I would have loved for Mars to be in the story the entire time; I was kind of obsessed with him, and I don't even know why. I just was. Descriptions of him eating a piece of fruit or something were literally the highlight of this book for me. And I don't know if that says more about my love for the tortoise or about the lacklustre nature of this book, but well... It is was it is.
Long story short, I liked plenty of things in this book, but hardly any of those things were developed very well or had enough of an emotional punch.
I definitely liked the first half of this story a lot more than the second half! I was totally planning on rating this somewhere between 3-4 stars at first, so that was a bit of a shame.
Miller is a hunky confident trans man, who works in construction and, at the age of 40, is ready to settle down and find a partner for life.
Demetri is an extremely insecure history professor, who, at 40 years old, doesn't want to ever date again after all the horrible exes he's had so far, who have done nothing but tear him down.
The dynamic between these two was pretty sweet and charming, but I mostly loved how absolutely infatuated Miller was with Demetri. No matter how many times Demetri shot him down due to his nerves, insecurities or obliviousness, Miller never wavered and constantly tried again and again. He adored the ground Demetri walked on an was desperate to get a chance with him. It made my heart swoon plenty of times!
However, once Demetri and Miller started hooking up and eventually got together for real, I have to say that I became very bored. They couldn't really hold my interest, and I feel like we got a lot of telling instead of showing. For example, we were suddenly being told they had a perfect date or a meaningful conversation, no longer shown... Not that the showing was very strong to begin with, but it had completely gone the further along we went into the story.
I liked seeing Miller's confidence about being transgender, and especially about him not having (nor wanting) bottom surgery. I thought it was interesting and kind of cool to see that he was the one so sure of himself, willing to and capable of making Demetri feel more secure about himself and their relationship. Other stories might have created a lot of angst surrounding Miller being transgender, but I really loved how it simply wasn't a big deal here, especially since they're both quite old, and Miller has had the time to accept himself fully.
Unfortunately, despite me loving his confidence, I did dislike reading from Miller's perspective a lot of the time whenever he wasn't with Demetri, mostly because I simply could not be bothered with the construction crew he worked with (and who this series is based on). They all acted so incredibly childish! And I'm sure it doesn't help that I skipped most of this series and therefore don't know all of them individually, but I really didn't enjoy their entire dynamic. It was too over-the-top, frat boy-ish, ridiculous and annoying for me. The pranks? The crude dick jokes? The immaturity? No thanks. These are supposed to be grown adults, I'd like them to act it as well.
I did like Demetri's POV though, and I actually wish we would have spent more time in the book dedicated to his life, work situation and past. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it far more than Miller and his crew of man-children.
I just loved reading about Demetri's insecurities, and then about him finding more confidence. The way he started to notice how other people saw him in such a positive light rather than the horrible view he had of himself was quite endearing: I wish this would have been given more attention and development.
Demetri was honestly just quite adorable in general. Him knitting clothes for and talking to his tortoise Mars? Yea, that was cute. Honestly, I would have loved for Mars to be in the story the entire time; I was kind of obsessed with him, and I don't even know why. I just was. Descriptions of him eating a piece of fruit or something were literally the highlight of this book for me. And I don't know if that says more about my love for the tortoise or about the lacklustre nature of this book, but well... It is was it is.
Long story short, I liked plenty of things in this book, but hardly any of those things were developed very well or had enough of an emotional punch.
I definitely liked the first half of this story a lot more than the second half! I was totally planning on rating this somewhere between 3-4 stars at first, so that was a bit of a shame.