I received the book Secrets and Bow Ties from the author through the Goodreads M/M Romance Group’s Don’t Buy My Love program for an honest review. This story is told in third person through the eyes of Dylan Price.


Dylan Price is a hot, flakey, self-proclaimed gold-digger looking for a sugar daddy. He never wants to be poor again and thinks the best way to do that is to find someone who will provide for him since he doesn’t have any other talents that his body.

Simon Wainwright isn’t anything like the kind of man Dylan is looking for. He’s intelligent, nerdy, shy and definitely not rich. But he’s also kind, steady and the kind of guy Dylan needs.

Instead Dylan hooks up with a guy named Ed and that’s where his trouble begins. Ed is killed and the ones after him, connect Dylan to what they want. Dylan hides out with Simon without telling him why and then Dylan decides they should take a trip to Las Vegas. Where all the people he is trying to avoid come looking for him.

I have to say, that I was disappointed in the romance aspect of this book, there wasn’t that much even though the blurb made it out that’s what the story was about. Instead it’s mostly about Dylan being on the run from the bad guys and the Mexican drug cartel. When that happened I realized that this book really wasn’t going to have the intense romance that was suggested in misleading blurb, I lost interest.

I would have loved to learn more about Simon because he was an all-around great guy. Dylan was OK a pretty weak character that Simon fell in love with because of his smile. I couldn’t find a reasonable reason why he did.

There was a lot of passive language in this book that kept me distanced and I didn’t get a lot of intensity from it because of that.

This is an okay story. The one thing that stands out is Simon who really should have had more written about him and the fact that the blurb is misleading. If you’re looking for lots of romance, this book doesn’t really have it. It’s more about drugs and Dylan himself and how he deals with everything that happens to him. Let’s say he doesn’t have very good common sense.

I give Secrets and Bow Ties, 3 Stars

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Really enjoy this series.
Another entertaining read. And I was really quite scared for Dylan for a while there. ( )

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

For me, I loved parts of this book (5 stars) and then other parts annoyed me (to a 3 star level), so I am averaging that and giving this 4 stars.

I love that we get to see Dylan. It was explained in the blurb and briefly in the beginning of the book that he was a gold digger, but I didn't see much evidence of that until we were a bit farther into the book. It was almost like he took on that persona after the book started. I know that isn't how it was intended, but that was how it felt as I read it and it felt like "oops...better make it clear he is a gold digger".

I absolutely loved Simon's character. Sweet, quiet, bookish, nerdy, and adorable. What I loved best about this (which was what I loved about book 1) was that they became friends. There was attraction and one night together, but circumstances allowed them to become friends without those sexual expectations.

The one thing that really annoyed me about this was the mystery/action plot. It seemed WAY too over the top, especially for 3 friends to all have some big drama like this. It made sense that Olly would have a big drama plot in his story because it was related to the first book. This plot was not related in any way and just seemed completely out there. I didn't love the drama story line.

What I did love though? Simon and Dylan. They were great together. It was nice to see Dylan acknowledge that his expectations were unrealistic and not necessarily the best for him, and that he could find and be happy with a really nice guy where the focus was not money. Simon's friends were great side characters for the few moments we saw them.

Overall, I enjoyed this continuation to the series. I hope we get Teag's story next!! That boy needs some LOVE (preferably without more of the same predictable murder, blackmail, and mayhem!!) :-) ( )

Really enjoy this series.
Another entertaining read. And I was really quite scared for Dylan for a while there. ( )

Wonderful

Each book in this series is better than the last! I think Dylan and Simon are wonderful together, but then I have a soft spot for adorkable nerds. Highly recommended ( )