Emma AlcottCritiques

Oh wow ive had this on my tbr forever as part of a free giveaway ages ago

Its rushed and there is big continuity errors.

So 2 stars for Gavin and Sawyer

This is a book of two halves. 60% to the end is the book I was promised by the blurb.
Unfortunately the first 60% needed trigger warnings that weren't provided. This is enemies to lovers which I normally adore but for me the start of the relationship was just too much.
TW: Hate sex, dub con, r*pe fantasy, barebacking without discussion, no aftercare, no safe word/action until 4 or 5 interactions in, fisting.

I wasn't enamored with Warren for quite a while, I found him petty and desperate to hold on to a grudge.

On a positive note, I liked the last 40% and I adored Jack, Chris' son. Not every book child feels real. Jack does.

Enjoyable reunited friends to lovers story.
This had an adorable character in Clark, a high school dropout who had to take on the role of Dad to all his brothers and sisters when his dad died. When his high school best friend returns to teach at the local school, Clark realises his feelings for Gabe are more than just best friends.
Added to their romance is an issue with Clark's brother Devon (trigger warnings for this at the end of the review)
Gabe was a positive addition to the school and help with Devon's issue. However his internal voice was exhausting.
Similarly to the first book in this series, I found the sex became to much once they started. Considering how often they were around young children they didn't mind sneaking off for aex in the living room or the back of the truck. Clark didn't consider himself gay but took to the sex like a champ and the baby endearment was dropped all the time during sex which didn't fit with how they were the rest of the time.

Overall an enjoyable story, but if like me your tolerance is low you may want to skim the sex scenes.

TW: catfishing of a minor, grooming, attempted abduction.

Audiobook - 5 Stars

Story - 3.25 stars

The Good

This was a solid mm romance story, without the unnecessary miscommunication thrown in.

JF Harding's narration was great as always. Eargasms galore.

It was sweet and light.

The characters were very likable.

Marshall and Fox had chemistry and that helped me to connect with them and the banter was good.

Sam stole the show, he was funny and had some amazing one liners.

The Rest

The story felt rushed especially halfway through, i wasn't given time to know the characters and see how their relationship developed.

There were so many things left hanging, Fox's relationship with his family, more about Marshall's background and his relationship with his mother.

Sam's story was unnecessary, IMO, it was meant to create the angst that was not really needed.

Fox being gay all of a sudden, that took me a while to adjust, the way it was done didn't feel authentic but i just rolled with it.

Overall it was an okay story.

I was anticipating so much angst, but I was so glad that there really wasn’t any! Clark and Gabe were best friends, but then Gabe went away to college. Gabe has always had feelings for Clark; Clark was clueless and “straight” (eventually demi). They were so amazing together. There was very little doubt in their feelings and when Clark had his realization, he didn’t shy away from it. I loved their relationship. I also enjoyed the surrounding story of family. This was a great book.

I am voluntarily reviewing an ARC provided by LesCourt Author Services

Cute short story with Sam from After the Crash.

Cute short story

Wowzers. Boy did Warren and Chris dislike each other. Hate sex is such a real thing in this book for sure! Chris and Warren together started out as an interesting dynamic, and naturally shifted to so much more. They couldn't stand each other, but they were also very attracted to the other. There was a lot of past to overcome, but they definitely did that. Their growth to more than enemies was very subtle, and it was great to see them start to recognize it. The main "drama" incident in the book was something that didn't surprise me, but it was so well written. Warren's emotion was real and I felt for him. Having Chris and Warren acknowledge their feelings was beautiful and heartwarming. I really loved these guys.

I am voluntarily reviewing an ARC provided by Gay Romance Reviews

This started a bit slow in my mind, but a real connection was formed and believable by the characters because of that. It took me a bit to really get into it, but then I really became invested. Marshall and Fox had relatively interesting pasts that brought them to a path where their lives were flipped. Marshall was the bullied kid turned slightly more confident billionaire, Fox had a good childhood but severe PTSD from the military. They were a great match. I loved watching them become friends and really get to know each other before any romantic relationship happened. I loved Sam as a character and he was a ton of fun. Marshall and Fox were perfect mentors for him, and he was perfect for helping them as well. Very enjoyable story.

I am voluntarily reviewing an ARC provided by LesCourt Author Services

This is a book of two halves. 60% to the end is the book I was promised by the blurb.
Unfortunately the first 60% needed trigger warnings that weren't provided. This is enemies to lovers which I normally adore but for me the start of the relationship was just too much.
TW: Hate sex, dub con, r*pe fantasy, barebacking without discussion, no aftercare, no safe word/action until 4 or 5 interactions in, fisting.

I wasn't enamored with Warren for quite a while, I found him petty and desperate to hold on to a grudge.

On a positive note, I liked the last 40% and I adored Jack, Chris' son. Not every book child feels real. Jack does.

Enjoyable reunited friends to lovers story.
This had an adorable character in Clark, a high school dropout who had to take on the role of Dad to all his brothers and sisters when his dad died. When his high school best friend returns to teach at the local school, Clark realises his feelings for Gabe are more than just best friends.
Added to their romance is an issue with Clark's brother Devon (trigger warnings for this at the end of the review)
Gabe was a positive addition to the school and help with Devon's issue. However his internal voice was exhausting.
Similarly to the first book in this series, I found the sex became to much once they started. Considering how often they were around young children they didn't mind sneaking off for aex in the living room or the back of the truck. Clark didn't consider himself gay but took to the sex like a champ and the baby endearment was dropped all the time during sex which didn't fit with how they were the rest of the time.

Overall an enjoyable story, but if like me your tolerance is low you may want to skim the sex scenes.

TW: catfishing of a minor, grooming, attempted abduction.

This is a heartwarming tale of a bullied out teen returning to the town he grew up a success. Surprisingly there isn't much interaction with the town and its people, but on one visit Marshall discovers his high school crush hiding in a bush. This is a lovely scene and really gives the listener a sense of what Marshall is about. Fox has PTSD and Marshall appears to be the first person to actually ackowledge this fact and act accordingly (God, I hate Fox's mum so much). He gets Fox to move in to his house to be a live in gardener. These early scenes where Fox is finding his feet and they are dancing around their attraction to each other are just delightful.
Once they had sex it slipped a bit for me. There were too many sex scenes and Fox turned into a super confident dominant type in the bedroom, despite having never been with a man before and his PTSD having him questioning everything.
I felt some things got lost in favour of more bedroom/kitchen/office/any flat surface scene. Sam seemed to get forgotten about for a while, and Fox relationship with his parents was dismissed with one line--they live in the same town, they will bump into each other, I'd have liked to have seen this confrontation.
There's very little in the way of relationship angst, but that is not to say there aren't some anguish-filled moments. Fox's PTSD and the symptoms, his mother's treatment of him, the treatment of one of the secondary characters, the bullying of Marshall at the beginning.
Honestly this was heading for a 5 star read but ended up as a 4. Such a shame.
Overall a heart warming read with engaging characters (Marshall's mother is a delight).

ETA (review of audio)
The narrator did a great job. I've not listened to anything of their's before but I would pick up another book performed by them.

This is a great friends to lovers story.

Gabe left town, madly in love with his best friend Clark. His straight best friend. But then Gabe ends up having to move him and right there's Clark. Not only is Clark right there, he is ready to be just as close a friend as he was before, and he needs the help that only Gabe can give.

I thought that Clark was ridiculously sweet. Totally oblivious and clueless, but incredibly sweet. He is a really good man. He cares for his family, deeply, and he's loyal to all his friends. He wants to do what he can to advance his life and to be able to take care of everyone he loves. Just a truly good, sweet man.

Gabe is a good man too. He's done what he can do to protect himself, which included leaving town so he could be more himself. It's really good that he does come back when he does, because there are so many people in town that need him. I really liked him a lot.

This was a fantastic story, and I would love to see more of these guys.

This was a great story. I love the fact that Fox and Marshall had some not good history, but that Marshall could get totally past that in order to help Fox out.

These guys build such a wonderful connection and are so tight together, even before they start a relationship, and the romantic part of it just deepens their whole relationship. I also really like the fact that they become mentors as well.

This was cute and I had fun. Casey and Roman were funny together. I nice, quick read.