This seems like it wouldn't be out of place in that Park Avenue Princes series. Basically kids talking a big game like they're big bad mafia bossesThis seems like it wouldn't be out of place in that Park Avenue Princes series. Basically kids talking a big game like they're big bad mafia bosses...more
Leland continues to do murder twink things, almost smothers Jackson with love. So...the usual.
Oh, and they get a child. Kind of. Sort of.
And get marrLeland continues to do murder twink things, almost smothers Jackson with love. So...the usual.
Oh, and they get a child. Kind of. Sort of.
And get married. The pep talk this man required to get rid of wedding nerves?
"Think of how much you love harassing him. Now you get to harass him for the rest of your lives."
I think I'm done with my slump so I'm going back to books with cheating between MCs. Plus I don't want to get oversaturated with these two to a point where I don't enjoy the other books. So I'll get back to them later....more
I've wanted to read a royal non-fantasy romance where one of the MCs is the crown prince for a whileeeeeee. And then it had to be this.
It's not bad, bI've wanted to read a royal non-fantasy romance where one of the MCs is the crown prince for a whileeeeeee. And then it had to be this.
It's not bad, but it feels rushed. I'd expect a romance between a closeted king-in-waiting and a paparazzo to be a slow burn, given the intricacies of one MC needing to learn to let go of his innate mistrust for the other.
But nope. Xavier's occupation isn't even a secret at the start. Just a crown prince meeting a paparazzo at (GET THIS) a sex party, learning his occupation, and going oh, I feel like he's trustworthy.
WHAT?
And then days later, they're conducting a flagrant affair and being kinky with each other through hotel windows.
So, yeah. Required a lot of suspension of disbelief.
Even we commoners have heard of curtains. And the concept of being discreet. Not our royal (or his sister), both of whom enjoy being in flagrante delicto right next to open windows.
The idea has merit, but the execution was lacking. The story was rushed. I don't feel like these two got to know each other beyond sneak sex sessions before they started making VERY life-altering declarations and decisions for each other.
The main pull(for me, at least) for reading a story with this premise fell flat. Because what do you mean the crown prince of England comes out publicly and WE. DON'T. EVEN. GET. TO SEE. THE. AFTERMATH?!?!
This was literally why I was here. Come on, man. I felt cheated.
Otherwise this is an okay feel good story with very implausible plot and a very effortless HEA.
If you like it when MCs make this huge deal about stuff and then the stuff happens and you don't even really know what happened except that they end up together, then this book may be just what the doctor ordered....more
"Jackson loves me and he has to deal with the consequences of that love." —Leland. Also, a high level summary of this book. And the previous one. And "Jackson loves me and he has to deal with the consequences of that love." —Leland. Also, a high level summary of this book. And the previous one. And most probably the 5 after this.
At first I thought I'd make a note of everything that made me laugh out loud in this. But almost everything does.
So there's that.
Leland is incredibly unserious and Jackson is just lost in the sauce. There's nothing this man does that Jackson objects to.
Nothing. He'd meet him halfway anywhere. Anytime.
To be fair, Leland keeps him young. There's no way Jackson will ever get old. Not if this is his day to day life.
These two don't even need to say 'I love you'.
I feel it within every interaction. They enjoy each other so fucking much. They could spend every day together and still have fun. The only couple that I support getting into business together.
I love that Leland thinks he's going to die whenever he feels emotional ...more
Saying “This isn’t an overnight retreat for the clergy. Take your clothes off.”, to an actual priest. Only you, Nicky. Only you.
Objectively, I shouldSaying “This isn’t an overnight retreat for the clergy. Take your clothes off.”, to an actual priest. Only you, Nicky. Only you.
Objectively, I should have loved this. I LIVE for fallen priests. I love when it's a second chance situation that wasn't due to egregious crimes in the past(dumped for God, oof)
But somehow, although the story had all the ingredients of something I'd love, I failed to fully immerse in the romance and eventually I figured out why.
We don't get to see these two fall in love. We're told they fell in love as kids, but in brief, throwaway sentences. No flashbacks, just a few words here and there referencing what happened.
I know Nicky got blindsided by Jazz's decision to join the seminary, but I don't feel his past heartbreak. I feel his residual anger and resentment over it, sure, but it didn't quite hit the same.
It didn't help the situation that they seemed to fall back into old patterns very quickly, either.
I guess I just felt that Nick's emotional openness towards Jazz was too quick, given how that brutal dumping when they were teens actually sent him careening into a tailspin of drugs and bad decisions that he's still actively struggling with the repercussions of.
Then again, maybe their connection as kids was just THAT strong and nothing could get in the way of them once they're in each other's lives again. But that's part of the issue. We don't know that, because we don't get to experience them as kids falling in love.
And for Jazz to leave the church that easily, with not much guilt or wringing of hands really calls into question how strongly he was committed to it way back then, to have done what he did. Lends credence to Nicky's suspicion that his mom's talk swayed him more than he let on.
The Jimmy Orlean thing was a cop out on Jazz's end. The way they talk about their past selves? No way he believed that.
So for me, this fell a little short of my expectations.
I was sort of hoping for a Mick and Sez romance, but well. The authors put a very firm kibosh on that...more
"I'm a sodomite, Abuela." is a sentence I legitimately never thought I'd read anywhere, ever "I'm a sodomite, Abuela." is a sentence I legitimately never thought I'd read anywhere, ever ...more
Mmmm. This was definitely a book. That I read. And all I can tell you is that one MC has buns that the other likens to two basketballs.
Not much else sMmmm. This was definitely a book. That I read. And all I can tell you is that one MC has buns that the other likens to two basketballs.
Not much else stuck. Two workmates, a book club, a stalker. Surprisingly not much thrill, given the premise. Called it on the identity of the stalker(tbf, so did they but they dismissed the idea)
Aside from the stalker subplot, nothing happens romantically. They like each other, they start a fwb arrangement, feelings get involved, they start dating, the end.
They're lucky someone was out to get one of them, honestly. Otherwise they'd have had a very boring story....more
See, the issue with making your MC do despicable, unforgivable things is that sometimes, the reader won't forgive him. The grovel in this book starts See, the issue with making your MC do despicable, unforgivable things is that sometimes, the reader won't forgive him. The grovel in this book starts 40% in and it's still not enough to change my mind on Taylor.
I'm convinced that this was so long in the hope that if the basic bitch apologies and justifications didn't work, time would have us forgetting all the fuckery Taylor's been up to.
Bitch, I didn't forget.
I've never really got the 'nobody can hurt him but me' thing, and this book takes it the extra mile. I get stepbrothers who have a history of antagonizing each other. I get squabbling. I even get a few physical altercations.
Breaking the other's arm though? He'd not even done anything, really. Just tried to protect himself against the other threatening to out him to his dad. It's not romantic. It's bullying.
“But for the right person, I would burn the world to the ground.”
Okay. The context surrounding this floored me a bit. Like.....you're teens. It's your“But for the right person, I would burn the world to the ground.”
Okay. The context surrounding this floored me a bit. Like.....you're teens. It's your first date. Where is this coming from? I love an intense MC as much as the next girl but this felt a bit over the top.
Also. How do you know this about yourself?
Also 2. If you say this and nobody ends up dead, then why was it said?
Anyway. Darren's intense. But he also knows what he wants (Christian, football - in that order) and doesn't dither about it.
Because how are these kids on their first date but making declarations like 'I need you' (not horn-based, mind. Actual 'I have to have you in my life because you see the good in me and it grounds me'
WDYM 'I won’t stand in the way of your goals, but now I can be by your side while you do it.'
On a first date. As teens. What in the AP Romance is going on here?! What happened to starter romance ...more
These two making love declarations at 14 because they'd been together 'a while now and it was time' These two making love declarations at 14 because they'd been together 'a while now and it was time' ...more
'Lars questioned if he was relationship material.' So did I. Many, many, many times. Yet, not once did Ryan. Blind as a bat, our Ryan.
First things fi'Lars questioned if he was relationship material.' So did I. Many, many, many times. Yet, not once did Ryan. Blind as a bat, our Ryan.
First things first. It's been a really long while since I got so invested in an MM hockey romance. Reading (and loving this) felt like coming home.
I'm going to say something that sounds bad but really isn't. There's nothing over the top dramatic about this book (that hasn't happened in other hockey MM romances before) but this book was really good.
Diving into the review.
I'll be the first to admit that I sort of boxed Ryan into this personality where I NEVER would have called him bringing up the Juniors thing, but I was so delighted that he did!
Surprised, because this man never stands up for himself, but so happy that he was confident enough in their budding friendship to feel like he could speak up about something bothering him rather than just roll over like he ordinarily would.
Because we don't get to see anything about Ryan pre-Juniors, it's easy to assume from the little we do see that the incident played a part in why he's the way he is, why he has so little self-esteem.
Must have been a mind-fuck to have the person who forgot your existence telling you how amazing you are. Like okay, then why don't you remember? I love dual POV for these kinds of stories because the way I cackled when Ryan said, "I know I'm not worth the effort." and Lars had the GALL to be offended ...more
My favorite thing about this author duo is how good they are at writing nuanced characters.
And glorious, GLORIOUS fights. Yeeish. The MCs will say heaMy favorite thing about this author duo is how good they are at writing nuanced characters.
And glorious, GLORIOUS fights. Yeeish. The MCs will say heartless, cutting, ACCURATE things and you'll think.....yoooo how on earth do they get back from this...more
I've never seen an MC less capable of apologizing. Caught in a lie and the defense is that it's only an 'approximation of the truth' I've never seen an MC less capable of apologizing. Caught in a lie and the defense is that it's only an 'approximation of the truth' ...more
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