It was great, y'all! I actually didn't expect it. I can even say that the writing improves enormously with this last instI FREAKING ADORED THIS BOOK.
It was great, y'all! I actually didn't expect it. I can even say that the writing improves enormously with this last installment and FYI you can read this as standalone if you want to, I think it won't spoil the story.
Ezra appears from book one, he was Gabe's stiff roommate and then Connor's. He considers himself demisexual, he's an artist, he has trouble opening up to people but that hasn't stopped him from having a great group of friend that he definitely finds annoying sometimes. He doesn't think he needs anything more, he's those kinds of people who have trouble taking risks and getting out of his comfort zone, so when Daevonte appears on his life, all his foundations shake, all his walls crumble.
Daeveonte is the total opposite from Ezra and seeing them function together reminded me Sabrina Carpenter's song Why that says: "Tell me how we're not alike, but we work so well and we don't even know why" well, exactly like that.
This was a great slow-burn. Ezra being demisexual it couldn't have been any other way, as his friend Ben says, he always falls for friends. I like Daevonte's doubts about having a relationship with Ezra. It felt real, big, important. He knew that starting something physical with him wasn't going to be easy, that if something happened, he needed to be all in because it there would have been no going back for them.
Paint The Stars is a beautiful story with engaging characters and I consider this was a great ending to Free Fall series. Ezra fits perfectly with the story these authors established from book one.
If you want a story with real and strong characters, I recommend you these books. ...more
Age gap, student-professor dynamics, complex characters and funny dialogues. What else would I want?
Sebastian Cruz is the hot and scowly professor thAge gap, student-professor dynamics, complex characters and funny dialogues. What else would I want?
Sebastian Cruz is the hot and scowly professor that had my heart at full speed. Tristan Holt is a professional hockey player that decided to go back to school to have a backup plan in case things go south with hockey.
From the first pages, I was hooked. I don't know if it was because this was partly Avon's work or what, but I loved every second of it. The dialogues were witty and the plot was fast-paced. I never got bored. I sighed, laughed, blushed and swooned almost the whole book.
I haven't read Piper's work so I wouldn't know how she added her magic here but I think these two meshed their writings and ideas pretty well.
I flat-out love how Tristan went back to his study even though he knew it was going to be difficult because of his hockey stuff and I love he wasn’t discouraged because of his hockey mates who didn’t understand why he bothered. He’s brave and hard working and you have no idea how I adore those kinds of people.
And oh my god, KINKY SEX ALERT!!!
The sex was hot af. It was bossy and dirty, though this kinky stuff of humiliating someone during the sex isn't my cup of tea I have to admit it was hot as hell and I could stand it because I *cough* love bossy men in bed *cough*
I enjoy the way the relationship developed: it was smooth and real -just like the characters -and I must say the UST at the beginning was the best part for me. I always love slow build-ups. aaaaaaand just like every couple they obviously had issues. The way these two authors kicked those problems out of the picture was perfect. No unnecessary drama or rash conclusion.
Another fantastic hit on the sports romance department. Highly recommended.
ARC of Off the Ice was generously provided by the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. ...more
I'm in love with Roe's writing. Everything the author writes evokes so many feelings and I'm a sucker for that.
This was a delicious slow burn with agI'm in love with Roe's writing. Everything the author writes evokes so many feelings and I'm a sucker for that.
This was a delicious slow burn with age-gap and what I liked the most was that the story was developed in Germany and part in Spain. Different settings that I'm not used to read, it makes this author so unique and more appealing to me.
4 stars because I didn't find it as amazing as The Layover and because Chris annoyed the hell out of me going behind Alexander back to read his work when he clearly said 'no'. I know he meant well but that's a way of betraying someone's trust and I just can't accepted and let it go that easily.
*sigh* Anyway... I highly recommend it because it's a short story worth reading and what bothered me might be nothing for someone else, so don't mind me :-P....more
I saw many people loved this book but for me, it was ‘ok.’ A bit OTT. Andy made me rolled my eyes so many times that I was afraid I was going to hurt I saw many people loved this book but for me, it was ‘ok.’ A bit OTT. Andy made me rolled my eyes so many times that I was afraid I was going to hurt myself because of him. I didn’t find it funny; it was exasperating at times –again- because of Andy. And I hated the end! (view spoiler)[Uhg, I can’t stand public proposals (hide spoiler)] and as I see is Andy trademark, it was rushed and it seems he didn’t think through it. I mean, (view spoiler)[he outed his best friend in from of everyone without talking about it first. I know they wanted to be out, (hide spoiler)] but that was too much exhibitionism for me. Sorry, not my jam.
2 stars because as Goodreads says: ‘it was ok’. ...more
I was in the mood for a sports romance and this book has been on my sight long before it was released, I mean, have you seen that cover? *fanning myseI was in the mood for a sports romance and this book has been on my sight long before it was released, I mean, have you seen that cover? *fanning myself* Hot blond quarterback! Besides, the blurb adds a pierced and tattooed fellow? Yes, please.
However, I read this and I ended up with mixed feelings about it. I’m gonna be pretty straightforward and start saying what I didn’t like:
~ The beginning. What kind of friends are those!? You know your bestie is a closeted gay and why on earth would you drop a bomb like that by taking him to a massage parlor where he’s going to receive a prostate massage by a complete stranger? That was so fucking ruthless. He had his reason of why he hadn’t come out and they freaking knew them! Wasn’t it better to just say: “We know you are gay, we have your back man”? *inhales and exhales to calm my ranting mind* Well, my conclusion to this big mess was that they were college boys and sometimes they can be incredible clueless and dumb.
Apart from that, the massage was pretty hot though; I just wish that it would have started being something that Matt agreed on beforehand. It would have been better and it wouldn’t have hovered on the edge of rape. Imagine yourself having a massage and suddenly having a finger up on your ass? Impossible not to freak out!
~ The dialogues and thoughts were kind of repetitive at times. And from time to time the MCs were the biggest and the ridiculous gay cliché of history. They will hear “tits” and would say stupid shit like this:
“Hey! You’re scarring the gay guys down here”
*eye roll* oh, please.
~ Matt’s insecurities were a huge deal at the beginning and then out of the blue he thought they were silly (which they were but the change was so fast that the whole issue was a bit farfetched and it made me feel that all the problems he went through were unnecessary.)
~ The sex was hot but a bit rushy. It left me feeling cold, it was like…. “did you finish already? That fast?”
~ Matt sometimes had behaviors that were so out of character for him. The author pictures him as a sweet and smart guy but there was a scene where he was so mean to Trevor that left me cringing because it was something so unlike him. I know he was scared at that moment, but that isn’t an excuse to call your boyfriend a whore. With the image the author gave me from him, I’d never have thought he would be so insensitive and rude… Besides, I hated that Trevor forgave him so quickly, dude, make him grovel a little!
On the bright side, there were stuffs that helped me to not DNF this book.
~ I liked that Matt wasn’t a dumb jock, he was pretty smart and that was hell of attractive!
~ Trevor went through hell after outing himself to his family and I like that he managed to come out of that pretty well, he was independent and strong. I liked he fought hard building himself a future and that Matt was just a nice plus to his life because it wasn’t like something he needed.
~ The friends. They were the main reason I started liking this so much more. All of them were so funny and caring! And I kinda have to thank the secondary characters; they made this story so much better.
~ Oh, and I liked that the way things happened I didn't see them coming. I can't shut down my brain and I'm always trying to predict things (which I hate) and the way the stuff developed here were ok. I mean, I knew they were going to happen but they didn't happen in the way I imagined them to, does that make sense? Whatever, because of that, I will round up my rating.
This isn’t a flawless story and I guess is due to being a debut M/M story for this author. I mean, how else would you explain the gay clichés?
Quarterback has pretty good ratings, it’s just me that didn’t love every single detail of it, so don’t feel discouraged by me.
“You’re it,” I whispered. “A perfect ten on the Rikker scale.”
Great plot, splendid writing, complex and real characters. This book is a perfect 4
“You’re it,” I whispered. “A perfect ten on the Rikker scale.”
Great plot, splendid writing, complex and real characters. This book is a perfect 4 stars on the Dani scale (or Goodreads for that matter).
John Rikker and Michael Graham were best friends and when they were sixteen they started having feelings not too friendly for each other. Unfortunately, a terrible incident pulled them away from each other. Five years later, their lives collide again and oh my, my, the angst department worked full-time in this story.
Rikker came from a very religious family (even more so than Graham’s) and when they found out he was gay, they send him to live with his grandma. He grew ok, he was strong so he healed (mentally and physically) and he set his life to live it the way he wanted. Unlike Graham.
Graham was a bit difficult at the beginning; he definitely grew on me after I understood where he was coming from but the way he acted toward Rikker was unacceptable at first. He definitely had some pretty heavy baggage and I loved seeing how he outgrew his own self-imposed troubles.
“It struck me how badly I wanted my share of that affection. I’d been missing out, and all because of fear.”
I like Rikker’s loyalty with Graham. He was lonely, he lived under the rules of not being a public friend with Graham because of his paranoia, he wasn’t completely ok with it but he understood him and he preferred living that way instead of leaving without Graham. That's admirable, I don't know if I'd have been capable of doing the same thing.
Their path toward their happy ending wasn’t easy and they had a few internal fights to battle to be completely happy with each other and with what they were. Besides, I liked that Rikker knew his way around Graham. He was the only capable of disarming that tough shell of his to show his tender soul. And they NEVER doubted their feelings. It was perfect, really. I hate when MCs start “he loves me, he doesn’t love me” scene.
Oh, what I liked the most was that Rikker wasn’t hung on Graham. He was able to live his life; he had boyfriends, hookups, adventures. It was refreshing. Obviously, Graham wasn’t able to do the same, but it wasn’t because of Rikker. It was because of himself. He didn’t want to be gay, and he was living through the motion, pretending something he wasn’t.
“Because it didn’t matter that my parents weren’t bigots like Rikker’s parents. I didn’t want to be their gay son.”
I just had a few niggles. When Rikker’s grandma was in the E.R. I didn’t like Graham telling to the whole team that Rikker was kicked out of his house when he was younger like he was speaking of the weather. That wasn’t his story to tell. Why would he do that? When the team obviously wasn’t so fond of Rikker – with the exception of a few – was it to make them feel pity? I don’t know. Anyway, that was so out of place.
And Rik’s dad, why didn’t he contact his son earlier if he still wanted him in his life? It felt like the author was trying to amend their lives in the last minute to make you think they’ll eventually have their happily ever after… not buying it.
To finish my ramblings, I liked this book so much that I'm not even bothered by the off-page sex. I just would have preferred an HEA instead of an HFN but logically, they still have a long road ahead of them.
“There was more love, friendship, and affection in that look than I’d ever known. It was pure and perfect… and meant for me.”
Funny, kinky, sweet a
“There was more love, friendship, and affection in that look than I’d ever known. It was pure and perfect… and meant for me.”
Funny, kinky, sweet and hot. What else do I want?
Rand and Will are pretty different people with only one thing in common: Music.
“In times of stress, a musician always turned to his instrument.”
God, you have no idea how good this story was! Rand caught me from the very beginning, his mind, his sense of humor, his bluntness, his smart mouth and his passion was just what makes this story amazing. I connected with him so fast and things get so much better when he meets Will, a nerdy and shy guy with a kinky side. Their connection was undeniable and I had blast seeing their relationship grow and how they manage to accomplish their goals.
“This wasn’t an adrenaline-induced high. This was love.”
It was so realistic and it had some good steam, Will can be feral when he wants to ;). And I liked the title had a reason that you find out at the end.
Even though this book didn’t have Will’s POV, I didn’t miss it because getting to know him from Rand’s eyes was such a good experience. Side characters were pretty good too, Rand’s friends were great (I liked Tim very much) and Mr. G (from the bagels store) was so cool, wise and I LOL with him.
“A good parent learns from their children as much as they learn from us.”
The writing was great, though it repeated “over-the-top” like millions of times and it drove me crazy. Everything was “over-the-top” for Rand *eye roll*. I only have a few niggles about the plot but that didn’t pull me out of it or stop me from loving this book so much. It’s my first book by this author and I certainly enjoyed it a lot! I’m jumping to the next one right now. Highly recommend to anyone who wants something fluffy and full of passion....more
This definitely wasn’t for me. Thank God, it was a short book, otherwise, I wouldn’t have finished it.
The only thing I liked was Chris becaus2 stars.
This definitely wasn’t for me. Thank God, it was a short book, otherwise, I wouldn’t have finished it.
The only thing I liked was Chris because he was snarky and flirty. He just made me laugh and he helped me a lot to finish this...
Now, I’m gonna start rambling about what I didn’t like:
The threesomes and the girlfriend.
I usually don’t have problems with threesomes, but I had problems with this one because I mostly felt it as a cheating… I have read pretty steamy threesomes where the MCs don’t change their feelings about their partner…
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To me, it was like Alec was cheating his girlfriend just in front of her face! C’mon dude!
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It was undeniable that Alec’s girlfriend was the freaking third wheel between him and Chris. I was so relieved when Chris stopped agreeing with this shit.
Dios mío, I’m SO frustrated right now that I can't think properly in English.
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BESIDES, they didn’t even have sex without her around! Not even after Alec dumped her. I’m so mad. Was it really necessary having her around until the end?
And obviously, this story was utterly unbelievable as the first one. That may be the pattern with this author. MCs’ love didn’t feel real to me. They did not spend too much time together and when they did, they were with the freaking girlfriend, or Shawn, or Alec’s cousins (I forgot his name, hehe). Not to mention that Chris didn’t even know what he liked about Alec *SNORT*
So yeah… That’s it. That was my rambling :-).
I’ll keep reading the series because my dear friend Vir told me they get better and I trust you honey!
Besides I like the little bit I read about Alec’s cousin and the French guy (whatever their names are)...more
I really enjoyed it but there were some extremely unbelievablHot teacher
Needy student
Age gap
Adorable kids
Feels-good-low-angst story
What’s not to like?
I really enjoyed it but there were some extremely unbelievable moments that no, please…..
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I can’t give it more stars because of that and because of the kids….. I didn’t like how the author managed the situation with them; they were some kind of props to fill in the plot and I was constantly rolling my eyes. Shawn was supposed to take care of them but whenever he had the chance he’ll leave those cute girls aside while he was having dirty and nasty sex with his naughty professor.
But whatever, I’m currently avoiding deep and angsty stories so that may be the reason why I liked it so much.
One morning I woke, but the two halves of my heart did not.
That’s the very first line of this book and it was exactly what made me read it.
Loved it.
One morning I woke, but the two halves of my heart did not.
That’s the very first line of this book and it was exactly what made me read it.
Loved it. This book was so perfect in many ways.
This is not a fluffy story at all, it deals with lots of dark emotions and it is not an easy read.
As I already said it is such an emotional story that wraps you from the very beginning. Summers has a way with words that makes you feel Archer and Mallory’s pain as it was your own. You’ll get one or two tears rolling down your face at very least.
"People could see the storm cloud hanging over my head and the phantom at my back. They could hear the shattered glass clanking in my throat when I spoke, see a void in my eyes when my gaze met their own. I was broken now, and I was utterly unfixable."
Angst. It definitely has its dose of angst but you won’t drown in your own tears with this book, those who are not an angst-junkie as me, you won’t have any problem. It’ll just remind you that happiness is not so easy to get and you sometimes have to be strong and determined enough to fight for it.
Now, the story. We have two moments in this book, Before that is told by Archer and After that's from Mallory's POV and both POV are really difficult to read at times. I’ll try to this review as spoiler free as possible.
Archer is a 21-year-old guy who’s grieving a lot by the loss of his parents and Mallory is around 38 and he’s trying to move on from the death of his wife.
These two meet each other thanks to Danny, who is Mallory’s son and Archer’s best friend. And after a terrible incident, Archer is forced to live with Mallory and that’s when their story begins…
I gotta say that Danny is awesome, he’s the only good thing that Archer allows himself to have before he meets Danny’s dad. Danny and Archer relationship is pure brotherly and I like seeing that is that way the entire book, I adore how Danny loves and cares for Archer’s wellbeing. Even after some issues, Danny is still there for him.
“You’re like a brother to me, Archer. You’re not perfect, but no one is. And if I met a billion people on this planet, I’d still choose you. You and your silent fucking depression - you and your quite heart and your fear of living.”
Archer and Mallory are very similar. Both are in pain and both are reserved people who liked to deal with things alone. Let me say that this slow burn was incredible and Summers did an excellent job writing a love that feels so real. It was refreshing that we didn’t have insta love/lust in here; their attraction grew little by little and when they just fall into each other arms was delicious.
“People fall into each other in different ways. Some people fall together in laughter, surrounded by energy and joy. Some fall into each other in passion, unable to keep their skin from touching. But Mallory and I fell into each other slowly, gently, tentatively, like almost everything we did. We were quite and fluid.”
Summers give us a story so well written, her prose is so captivating. Both POV were brilliant, they help you to connect better with the MC because they are so closed off that it was kinda necessary and I adore Archer and Mallory have their own voices that are pretty easy to differentiate in their POV. I also liked very much the time jump; it added more realism to the story.
Overall, the author makes it difficult to put the book down to continue with RL, you just get lost in the story and the characters that the only thing you want to do is devoured the book in one sitting and then after you finished you can’t stop thinking about it.
I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a story about grieving, love, and healing....more
Ok, you should know that I usually don’t read series in order if their books are standalone. I usually start with those that catch my attention the moOk, you should know that I usually don’t read series in order if their books are standalone. I usually start with those that catch my attention the most. I already read book 1 and 3 and when I read book 3 I got curious with what happened with Mills so I thought I should give it a chance. Besides, I really liked Hendricks style so far so I knew I may enjoy this as well.
Was it good? *cringes*
I actually enjoy book 1 and 3 better than this one.
Mitch is the new guy on the team, he looks like Thor and he comes from a wealthy family. He has one year to prove himself to his asshole dad or else he’ll finish his studies in Yale. Dante is the opposite from Mitch, he’s black and he comes from a family that has always struggle to pay the bills and he wants to play in the NFL to help his mom but before the season begins, the Coach decides that everyone on the team has to prove themselves in practice to play in each game so Dante won’t have it so easy anymore. Mitch and Dante’s relationship complicates because both are fighting to have a place as LB.
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When I read the blurb I thought it was going to be enemies to lovers story but NO, it wasn’t like that at all. Dante was very friendly to Mitch till the coach makes them compete against each other to have a place on the games. And even so, I didn’t feel like both were competing. It was just Dante, Mitch was lost in his lustful thoughts. Things were always hot and cold between these two. They were always screwing things up and apologizing after The.Whole.Freaking.Book.
It has too much sex off pages; I think it only had at least three sex scenes and they were like porn, in and out. I found myself skimming them. And their connection didn’t feel real to me. It was constantly compared to Derek and Jason’s connection from book 1.
Dante was a prejudicial motherfucker. Just because Mitch’s dad had money he thought Mitch was being some pretentious douche bag when he wasn’t! The one who was always an asshole was Dante and I hate that Mitch was kind and understandable and he never got mad. NEVER! I don’t know how he put up with Dante. Maybe because he had a serious case of insta-lust almost insta-love. And God Mitch!!! He had the habit of poking his nose in places where no one called him.
And I don’t know, I didn’t like how Mitch was always wasting *his father’s money* and when they finally ended up together I don’t like that he invites Dante to live with him when the place isn’t his, I mean, that place it's being pay with his dad's money, right? Things could have gone pretty bad (worse than they already were) if his dad had found out his awful gay son was living with his boyfriend.
Not to mention Hendricks left some loose strings. I don’t know what happened with Mitch’s dad at the end, I don’t know if he cut him loose or what. What did happen with his tuition after they broke their deal? She didn’t mention that aspect afterward and the end was a bit rush. I would have preferred to know more about what Mitch was gonna do with his life now, it was obvious what Dante was going to do though and I didn’t like that epilogue at all.
I still prefer book 1 and 3. I didn’t feel passion, chemistry, connection. NOTHING. I don’t know what they like from each other. I don’t even think Dante would have felt something for Mitch if it weren’t for the little accident they had in the locker room.
Anyta's stories always take me out of my book slumps.
I'm so getting late to the party so I will keep it short because there are tons of amazing revieAnyta's stories always take me out of my book slumps.
I'm so getting late to the party so I will keep it short because there are tons of amazing reviews out there. True Colors was utterly amazing, I devoured in one sitting. This kind of enemies-to-lovers story was angsty, insanely hot at times (something I'm not that used to with Anyta, but it was a really refreshing change) and sweet (obviously, as all Anyta's books).
I have no words to describe how much I enjoyed this book. This story is full of colorful prose, Marco's view of the world was unique and it added evocative feelings to the narrative.
A poignant story about friendship, first love, and forgiveness.
5 sunglow yellow stars.
“But like, how do you know it’s love?” “When you miss the other person even if they’re half a room away.”
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