3.5 stars

Logan has moved to a small community with his friends and works in the kitchen of the pub that they own as the cook. His parents would prefer it if Logan lived in Portland close to them and dated men in their fiscal bracket. Logan is attracted to the local chainsaw carver, who is grumpy and definitely not attracted to Logan. Then an incident causes Curtis to see Logan in a different light, and Logan convinces Curtis to let him learn the lifestyle from him, as Logan has never had practical experience. Curtis is existing in his life, but Logan seems determined to get him living it.

I really liked Logan. He knew what he wanted and who he was, and he didn't let anyone take that away from him. He steadily resisted his parents attempts to make him into their clone without pushing them away. He respected the boundaries that Curtis set up while still being true to himself and his own feelings. Curtis had had such a sad life, and it was hard for him to believe that another something good could happen in it, but his journey to acceptance of that was good to see. Overall, I felt as though these two were made for each other, without diminishing Curtis' past. ( )

4.5 stars

Much, much better than first book in the Series. ( )

The most basic rules I've gleaned for giving a reader what they want, from almost six decades of reading, book Twitter, and from books about the craft, is to start with a hook, maintain interest with characters and events, and give a satisfying ending (whatever that means for the genre). This novel succeeded in the first two, and would have given me the last one, but it kept going, and going, and going, restating everything repeatedly. It felt very much like a word count was needed and this was where the lack was made up. I might have just said the end needed work, but the first two parts were very good, so I resent that bloated ending I ended up skimming. ( )

I liked the story, Curtis and Logan seem like an unlikely fit but they worked well together, even though I would have liked for more of them outside of the kink scenes. The kink parts (and they are a big part of the book) didn't really click with me though, and I can't tell if it's because of how it was written or because I felt like March Bachmann's voice didn't fit the story or the characters, and the scenes narrated by him felt forced. ( )

I have read a dozen and dozens of Annabeth Albert's books and enjoyed every single one of them. This one...” Tender with a Twist” is a whole new level. The main characters are very opposite...young, coddled, urban chef and older, grief-stricken, small-town artist. The supporting characters...friends, parents etc. are so vehement in their disapproval of this relationship. Logan's parents and Curtis' mother-in-law are so over the top negative and pushy about trying to keep them apart. I can't imagine saying those things to one of my adult children, even if I didn't approve of the relationship. Both Curtis and Logan were way too passive with the way they allowed this behavior. I know that there are families who think they should have some say in who their kids get involved with. These characters were rude and overly pushy. Logan is 27 years old, and Curtis is in his early 40’s. Love doesn't come with an "age-gage", and they are both old enough to make their own decisions even if they should turn out to be wrong. Both guys' friends even were not very supportive.... yet they all said, "We want you to be happy." Even with all the negativity it didn't stop me from loving this book. Very well-written m/m romance with unique, memorable characters. Definitely on my re-read list. ( )