Tag: mm romance (Page 13 of 14)

Pressure Head by JL Merrow

November 2, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I’m a JL Merrow fan and had this one pre-ordered.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Some secrets are better left hidden.

To most of the world, Tom Paretski is just a plumber with a cheeky attitude and a dodgy hip, souvenir of a schoolboy accident. The local police keep his number on file for a different reason—his sixth sense for finding hidden things.

When he’s called in to help locate the body of a missing woman up on Nomansland Common, he unexpectedly encounters someone who resurrects a host of complicated emotions. Phil Morrison, Tom’s old school crush, now a private investigator working the same case. And the former bully partly responsible for Tom’s injury.

The shocks keep coming. Phil is now openly gay, and shows unmistakable signs of interest. Tom’s attraction to the big, blond investigator hasn’t changed—in fact, he’s even more desirable all grown up. But is Phil’s interest genuine, or does he only want to use Tom’s talent?

As the pile of complicated evidence surrounding the woman’s murder grows higher, so does the heat between Tom and Phil. But opening himself to this degree exposes Tom’s heart in a way he’s not sure he’s ready for…while the murderer’s trigger finger is getting increasingly twitchy.

Warning: Contains a flirtatious plumber with hidden talents, a cashmere-clad private investigator with hidden depths, and an English village chock full of colourful characters with plenty to hide.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I love the humour in JL Merrow’s books. It is subtle and distinctly British and it suits me fine. Told from Tom’s first person POV, the story is part mystery, part comedy and part romance. Tom has a self-deprecating style which I found endearing and just his way of describing things made me smile.

Once I got there, it was a lot easier to be quiet, as the carpet had the sort of pile you don’t so much walk on as hack your way through with a machete.

Phil is harder to know as we don’t spend any time in his head and he is fairly quiet and intense. The romance is fairly understated and slow to develop. Normally I might find myself getting impatient about such a thing but in this book, the timing was right. Tom had been horribly hurt – both emotionally and physically – directly and indirectly because of Phil and they both carry baggage because of it. For them to fall into bed and/or a relationship quickly would have felt forced. It is clear there they have a connection almost from the start, but it takes time and some forgiveness and understanding before they can start to embark on a relationship. As it is, by the end of the story, their relationship is really only beginning.

I enjoyed the secondary characters in the book too – many of them were sympathetic even though they might not have had much page time – and I liked the friendship Tom had developed with police detective Dave Southgate. Merrow tends to have a bit of the quirky in her books (which I love) and it is found here especially in Tom’s campanologist friend Gary and his new boyfriend Julian who is a dwarf ex-porn star with attitude.

What else? Before I read this one, I saw someone talking about it on Twitter to the effect that she hoped it would be a series. I had that thought in my head when I started reading it and to be honest, I think that affected my grade. If this is the first book in the series, then my grade stands because I think it is a great start. But, if it is a standalone book, then the grade would be a B because, to be honest, I did think there was an element of it being incomplete. Which makes perfect sense if the characters are to return in future books but which would bug me if they are not. I enjoyed the time spent in setting up the secondary characters and fleshing out Tom’s life but I’m hoping this means we will see them again. Call it wishful thinking, but I’m going with the “it’s the first in a series” grade.

Grade: B+

Handle with Care by Josephine Myles

October 20, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: This is one I’d had on my wishlist for some time and when I bought The Hot Floor recently, I picked up this and Barging In. They were on sale and I couldn’t resist. 🙂

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) The best things in life aren’t free…they’re freely given.Ben Lethbridge doesn’t have many vices left. After raising his little sister to adulthood, he wasted no time making up for the youth he lost to responsible parenting. Two years of partying it up—and ignoring his diabetes—has left him tethered to a home dialysis regimen.

He can do his job from his flat, fortunately, but most of his favourite things are forbidden. Except for DVD porn…and fantasizing over Ollie, the gorgeous, purple-haired skateboarder who delivers it.

Their banter is the highlight of Ben’s lonely day, but his illness-ravaged body is the cruel reality that prevents him from believing they’ll do anything more than flirt. Not to mention the age gap. Still, Ben figures there’s no harm in sprucing himself up a bit.

Then one day, a package accidentally splits open, revealing Ben’s dirty little secret…and an unexpected connection that leaves him wondering if he’s been reading Ollie wrong all this time. There’s only one way to find out: risk showing Ollie every last scar. And hope “far from perfect” is good enough for a chance at love.

Product Warnings
Contains superhero porn comics and a cute, accident-prone delivery guy with colour-changing hair. Readers may experience coffee cravings, an unexpected liking for bad mullets, and the urge to wrap Ollie up and take him home.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Jo Myles has a pleasing, easy writing voice so it was easy to slide into this story and enjoy it. I did have a few problems with the book, but overall, it was a very enjoyable read.

The story is told from Ben’s 1st person POV and because of that, I missed some of the action I would have liked to have seen – particularly the developing (platonic) relationship between Ben’s sister Zoe and Ollie, which was, unfortunately, all done off page.

I don’t know whether the author intended it or not, but for a while I wondered if Ollie had some illness fetish and that was what attracted him to Ben. He certainly seemed to get off on Ben’s scars and tubes but it wasn’t really explained. For a while I wondered if Ollie would only like him if Ben was an invalid. I don’t know much about it, but I understand that there are people about who have such a fetish.

The whole idea about Ben being ill, having to have a multi-organ transplant etc and him still being the sexy hero was unusual and I liked it (I gather that his own view of what he looked like was more dire than the actuality though – nothing unusual there is there?). It was also educational without being in the least boring – it actually made me want to go and Google the kind of dialysis he used etc. After the organ transplant there is only small mention of the immunosuppressant drugs Ben has to take – I don’t know much about them and thought they could cause bloating and other bad things but it seemed Ben’s reaction to the drugs was all good.

Ben has been lusting after Ollie for months – he orders porn DVD’s more for the guarantee of Ollie delivering them than anything else but he’s so shy and his body image is so poor, he just can’t make a move. I did become a little impatient with that because the couple together is where the fun is, so I was glad when Ollie decided to take matters into his own hands.

I liked the way that Ollie and Ben had to learn to navigate their relationship – a healthy relationship (or for Ben, any relationship) was very much unknown territory and they make a few missteps and have to learn to communicate what they think and feel to make it work. I believed that it would but I would have liked more of it on the page. Overall, I’d say there was a certain… sketchiness to the story – not bad, but I would have liked more colouring in of the lines.

There is a 13 year age gap between Ben and Ollie and it does show. I think as Ollie gets more confident he will take more of an equal place in their relationship – that is what Ben wants (which I was glad about), but the story was more about the beginning of Ollie’s confidence and so that equality was more of a promise in the book I think.

The sex was pretty hot but also realistic, with Ben’s fears of whether he’d be able to get it up after the surgery, whether he’d be able to satisfy Ollie. I also appreciated the somewhat unusual depiction of their sex life after the surgery – Ben isn’t allowed to have sex, but he’s very happy to “see to” Ollie. It’s not that often that I’ve read in a book where one partner can’t have sex but is still not just willing, but enthusiastic about seeing to their partner’s pleasure. Although it was partly done out of a fear that Ollie would leave him otherwise I think, I still thought it showed something special about Ben’s character – and why Ollie would be so drawn to him.

What else? On my reader, I had 158 pages and I thought that most of that would be story so it was with a bit of shock that the story finished at page 145. It wasn’t so much that the story was unfinished (although I did find the ending somewhat abrupt) but that my expectation was that the story was going to be longer than it was.

I liked the unusual premise of the story and I enjoyed spending time with Ben and Ollie. I would have liked a few more details and for it to be perhaps a bit longer, but it was nonetheless an enjoyable read and I’m glad I bought it.

Grade: B-

The Hot Floor by Josephine Myles

October 6, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: It’s an m/m/m romance so that was enough to pique my interest. Then I saw some reviews which said the boys actually talk, so I was in. Bought it the week it was released. Plus, Books on Board was having a sale (so I bought the author’s other 2 books also).

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Two plus one equals scorching hot fun.

Dumped by his boyfriend and reduced to living in a grotty bedsit, Josh Carpenter has gotten used to expecting the worst. Now he lives only for his job as a glassblower…and occasional glimpses of his sexy downstairs neighbors, Rai Nakamura and Evan Truman.

Every time he overhears the diminutive academic and the hunky plumber having loud and obviously kinky sex, Josh is overwhelmed with lust…and a longing for a fraction of what they have.

To his amazement, Rai and Evan find his embarrassing tendency to blush utterly charming, and the three men grow closer over the course of the long, hot summer. Despite Rai’s charming flirtation and Evan’s smoldering gaze, Josh is determined never to break his new friends’ loving bonds.

On the night a naked Josh falls—quite literally—into the middle of one of Rai and Evan’s marathon sex sessions, the force of their mutual attraction takes control. But just as Josh dares to hope, he senses a change. Leaving him to wonder if the winds of love are about to blow his way at last…or if history is about to repeat itself.

Warning: Contains one well-endowed stud with a sexy accent, one improbably toppy bottom boy with an unfortunate owl obsession, and one blushing naïf who can’t believe his luck. Also, the occasional indulgence in mathematical spanking and some shameless armpit sex.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I have a weakness for m/m/m romance. I’m not quite sure why that is. But, much of what I have read has been firmly in the realm of fantasy (no matter that the label said contemporary) because there is often very little discussion on how the relationship is going to work. What I liked about this one is that it was clear from early on that Evan and Rai was in the habit of talking over things explicitly in their relationship. Josh is very shy and finds it difficult to talk about his feelings or his desires but Evan and Rai just won’t put up with it. They require (in a kind way) Josh to participate actively, to answer questions and ask for what he wants himself and, over the course of the book, he finds it comes easier and easier to him and he sees for himself how much easier it is in the long run to have open and clear communication.

For all that communication is big with these guys, there were a couple of conversations I would have liked to have seen on page. Rai and Evan decide that they want to have a long term relationship with Josh (and I don’t think it was inappropriate for them to have that talk just the two of them) and plan on talking to Josh about it. I felt like we got half the conversation but I would have liked a little more of it.

There was also a place where Evan and Josh are getting started while waiting for Rai (with his encouragement) and Josh lets slip something stupid inviting a comparison between Rai and himself. Evan just will not compare. I loved that about Evan. He really was straight up and down – what you see is what you get, and a man of true integrity and I liked that he didn’t want to get into any silly games which would only lead to tension. But what was missing was the conversation with all three of them about it – not to shame Josh but, maybe to set out some further ground rules. One of the things which happens a number of times as the triad relationship emerges is that they have to make more rules because what was initially expected to be a fling, with the prime relationship staying Evan and Rai, becomes something more. I liked that Evan and Rai were quick to identify when things were moving beyond expectations and bring things up (by the end, I thought Josh would do that too, but for most of the book he was unsure of his place and so I didn’t expect him to lead the process).

I wondered if they moved to the no condoms a bit too quickly – would they not actually exchange test results? However, I’m glad they talked about it and at least some effort was made to deal with the sexual health issue.

The story was told from Josh’s 1st person POV so the view of Evan and Rai was somewhat limited. I did think there was enough of the both of them though to get a fairly clear picture of them, separately and together and I liked that both Evan and Rai made an effort to spend time with Josh alone too.

The book was humorous and quirky, from Rai’s obsession with 70’s kitsch and his owl fetish and Evan’s love of Kerplunk and B horror movies. There were also positive female roles in the book – something which is always welcome, with Josh having a strong friendship with Denise, his downstairs neighbour and friend and fellow tenant Stella the little old lady with the open and somewhat dirty mind who needs help because of her arthritis.

Josh’s glass blowing job was interesting too and it was nice to see him become more confident in himself professionally as well as on the personal front over the course of the book. I wonder if we might not see Dylan in a future story?

What else? I will admit I got a little confused during the armpit sex. I thought Rai and Josh should be facing the other way – but I am not in any way the expert on this.

The sex was smoking and there was no pronoun abuse – I always knew who was doing what and saying what – something that can be problematic for me in m/m and which can be magnified in m/m/m. It says something about the strong characterisations that Evan and Rai came off the page so distinctly.

I also enjoyed the Bath setting and the authentic English vernacular (although I now have to go look up “gert lush” means).

I’d love to catch up with Josh, Rai and Evan in a future story -maybe a Christmas short (hint hint) or something because these guys were fun and sexy and a joy to spend time with.

Before reading this book, I’d only read Pole Star (a free short) from this author. I’m glad I have 2 others on my TBR because this was great.

Grade: B+

But My Boyfriend Is by KA Mitchell

August 31, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: Love KA Mitchell’s books – love the Florida series. Pre-ordered and bumped to the top of the reading list as soon as it became available.

What it’s about: For those who’ve read the earlier books in the series, Dylan Williams, Aaron Chase’s brother (Collision Course). Dylan and his mirror twin Darryl are in Texas – Darryl is about to graduate from college and Dylan is a line cook at The Cheesecake Factory. Dylan is NOT GAY. Except, he sometimes trawls local gay hangout Webber Park and to get a blowjob. When Darryl cuts through the park one night, he is mistaken for Dylan and bashed.

Mike Aurietta witnesses the bashing, calls 911 and the ambulance and helps scare he bad guys off. He and Dylan meet in the hospital where Darryl is being treated.

Mike is a trainer at UT for the Longhorns. He’s out to his friends and family but not at work, because he doesn’t want the football players to worry about him checking them out or feeling them up when he’s strapping a hamstring. And, this is Texas, where homophobia is strong.

Mike’s gaydar pings with Dylan and there is instant attraction between the two. But Dylan is NOT GAY. Dylan feels pretty guilty for Darryl’s circumstances and he’s also struggling with Darryl pulling away from him – apart from one week in foster care early on, they’ve never been separated. As the family screw-up Dylan is pretty down on himself. He finds himself drawn to Mike, someone who doesn’t share the family baggage. And having sex with Mike certainly relieves the tension. But Dylan is NOT GAY. Even though he likes buttsecks and blowjobs.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Actually, I didn’t think Dylan was gay either. It seemed to me he was bi, perhaps with a gay leaning – Dylan had relationships with girls and seemed to enjoy sex with women – while Mike certainly turned his crank, it didn’t seem beyond the realm that Dylan could have a meaningful and sexual relationship with a woman. Before he fell in love with Mike at least.

I gather from my tweetstream that Dylan is disliked by some readers. For me, it wasn’t so much that I didn’t like him, it was more that I didn’t get to see enough of his transition. Even at the end, I’m not sure he comfortably identified as gay and I can’t say I was super confident that he and Mike would work out in the long term – even though I wanted them too. The set up of showing how resistant to being gay-identified Dylan was worked so well, that I needed more in the last part of the book to show the turnaround and make me believe that it would stick.

There was some subtext in the book which I didn’t quite get. Perhaps I need to be bashed over the head with something but I didn’t understand (for example) Dylan to be asking Joey to come out to Aaron on his behalf – but that’s apparently what happened. And there didn’t seem to be anything which came from that – I didn’t feel that Dylan was comfortable with his sexual identity at the end of the book either and one of the reasons for that was that he didn’t really come out to his family himself – except for a private chat with Darryl, kind of.

Dylan did come to grips, somewhat, with “Operation: Amputation” – separating his life from Darryl’s but I wondered if his reliance on Mike was a product of that rather than the catalyst for the relationship. Dylan did not like to be alone. I don’t think that changed throughout the book. I wonder if Mike got a good deal. Mike was certainly worth it. He’s a genuinely nice guy who was possibly more patient with Dylan than was deserved. I did feel that Mike’s career change at the end was somewhat glossed over given his angst about it.

I’ve seen a few reviews and tweets to the effect that the book finished abruptly. They wanted another sex scene and/or more of Dylan and Mike happy together. And I agree 100% with that sentiment. (KA Mitchell writes hot sex so I’m always happy for there to be another sex scene!) The story seemed somewhat unfinished to me – I wasn’t confident that Dylan could stand as an out and proud gay man. I wasn’t even sure what he was doing with his own career at the end; whether he would maybe pursue his computer aided design in some way maybe. Dylan felt unfinished – he started off the book drifting and uncertain and unfortunately he didn’t end up settled and confident. He was well on the way, but it wasn’t quite done.

But.

I did like Dylan. (I had less sympathy for Darryl actually. Darryl was keeping his own secrets too and I didn’t quite get why he was so freaked out by his secret fear he might be gay too. He seemed pretty homophobic and I wondered by Aaron hadn’t kicked his ass about it.) I mean, I was sympathetic to the fact that Darryl was horribly beaten and he did not deserve that. But blaming Dylan for it and not even calling on their birthday? Not so much.

I also had some sympathy for Dylan; being a black gay man in Texas doesn’t sound easy. He has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about being black too and wonders for a little while if Mike only has a case of “jungle fever” (a new-to-me term) but it doesn’t take him long to realise that Mike is not like that.

And I loved Mike. He was steady and strong and just what Dylan needed. Dylan bounced around like a fly in a bottle and Mike was just… there. He grounded Dylan and helped him breathe.

There’s also a bit of Joey and Aaron which is always fun – and Joey is at his talkative best – to the point where Dylan notes:

Joey kept right on. It was a miracle Aaron hadn’t found a reason to get Joey’s jaw wired shut.

Joey helps Dylan quite a bit, with his velvet steamroller charm, smoothing the way for Dylan and Darryl to reconnect and helping him avoid trouble with Aaron and giving Dylan boyfriend advice.

I could see, in the intimate scenes (which were hot hot hot) Dylan’s sexual progression – fumbling, uncomfortable and embarrassed but horny at first, then gradually becoming more comfortable with his own body and Mike’s and his own desire for Mike. But like I said above, I didn’t feel the journey was quite complete by the end of the book.

What else? In the book Darryl has short hair (like on the cover) and Dylan has long hair done in cornrows. I wish the cover had shown a picture of Dylan instead.

My favourite in the series is still No Souvenirs. And now I need me a Dr. Kim fix. Stat.

Grade: B-

A Younger Man by Cameron Dane

August 27, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I heard the buzz on Twitter. The words “carrot sex” were used. I bought.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Recently divorced and out of the closet, Noah Maitland is a regular-Joe, salt-of-the-earth guy who is newly navigating the world of dating other men. So far he hasn’t had a lot of luck. Noah is a father first — he has two teenage sons. As the owner of a handyman business in a small community, Noah wants someone to love who is also appropriate for where he is in his life.

Zane Halliday is a young man — much too young for Noah — who is struggling to take care of his brother and sister and meet his bills every month. Recently thrown out of his apartment, Zane stumbles on Noah, literally. Noah offers Zane a place where he and his siblings can temporarily live, and later gives him a part time job.

Each man is dealing with his own set of problems, and both crave someone to talk to and trust. Soon a friendship between Noah and Zane blossoms. But Noah could never fall for someone so much younger than he is — not to mention Zane is not gay. But what if sexually innocent Zane isn’t as straight as he assumed he was? How will Noah be able to resist this much younger man once Zane figures out the only person he wants is Noah?

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I read Grey’s Awakening some time ago and barely remember it now. I haven’t read others in the series but I think this one works fine as a standalone novel. Unfortunately, the novel didn’t work that well for me overall.

I felt that it dragged in parts – a lot of the first third/half of the book was spent with Noah and Zane separately angsting about how they ought not be together and how they should hide their feelings. I had thought, from the blurb, that there would be an initial development of a friendship which would then become attraction – on that basis the over 300 pages seemed appropriate. But the attraction was pretty much immediate and the angsting felt drawn out to me.

Parts of the dialogue felt very unrealistic to me – more suited to the narrative perhaps but not what people would actually say. Here’s an example of what I mean:

“I was going to tell you something like that a minute ago,” Zane chuckled, and new pink bloomed under the afterglow still making his skin glisten, “but when you started coming so powerfully, I lost myself, and all I could do was fall into the pleasure you were feeling and willfully let it suck me into the abyss too.”

I mean, who talks like that?

So, there were some problems. I did enjoy the way Noah was with his sons and I’m glad that Noah was able to reconcile with his father. It took time and that felt realistic to me. But, There was one point in the book where Zane is threatened with some naked/sex photos regarding the custody of his brother and sister. Given the estrangement between Noah and his dad, it did feel like a strange choice for him to come to the legal rescue for Zane – surely he would have had to see the photos?

The set up, with Noah meeting Zane and then immediately helping him out with a place to live and lending him his car indefinitely made me raise my eyebrows a bit – Noah’s “good guy radar” must be stellar. Zane wanted to be considered an equal to Noah in the relationship and I can certainly see how he would struggle with that. But, Zane clearly read as a much younger man to Noah – older than his years maybe but very much younger than Noah and I’m not sure that was really addressed in the book by anyone.

Zane and Noah do like to have sex outdoors – it’s a wonder they weren’t sprung more often considering. For an older man, Noah certainly has a short recovery time! And, then there’s the carrot sex. Yep, sex and a carrot. Enough said.

What else? I’m not a gay man so I can’t speak with any authority on this, but it seemed odd to me that a self described gay man (as opposed to say, a bisexual man) would refer to his heterosexual sex life as very satisfying. Admittedly, I haven’t spoken to ~~many~~ any gay men on the topic (can you imagine how that conversation would go? o-0) but I’ve heard Dan Savage say on his podcast that gay guys don’t like to have sex with women. Maybe he’s wrong? Anyway, it felt odd in the book and didn’t quite explain to me why he would leave an otherwise happy marriage to go have sex with guys if everything was so wonderful with his wife. Just sayin’.

Grade: C-

August Ice by Dev Bentham

August 12, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: The author offered me a review copy.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) It takes a special kind of person to work in Antarctica. Max Conway, an ex-Navy Seal, loves working at the bottom of the world. Like any other diver, he’s tough and hard drinking. Half the year he’s stuck in the States traveling the commercial dive circuit and hitting gay bars every night. The other six months he’s lead safety diver at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, reveling in the cold blue Antarctic Sea. The only drawback to life way down under is that Max feels like he has to tuck his libido into storage while he’s on station, stashing all those free condoms for use back up north.That is until Andre Dubois, a gorgeous French scientist, shakes up his world. Not only is Andre out and proud, he’s sober as the day is long. And the days are long during an Antarctic summer. Max must choose between his comfortable inebriated closet and a life in the sun with Andre.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I enjoy this author’s voice and loved the idea of the setting. I also love broken/tortured heroes so I was pretty happy to dive in to this book (pardon the pun). The descriptions of Antarctica and life at McMurdo Station were interesting and felt authentic. I’d love to visit Antarctica (well, except for the cold) – I guess reading about it will have to do for now.The story is told from Max’s deep third person POV so unfortunately we get very little of Andre. What he doesn’t reveal in conversation remains unknown. The book is about 110 pages and I felt it was a little short for the story packed into it.

The author does a great job of showing the reader how screwed up Max is – Andre describes him as a “beautiful wreck”, that it was difficult to see Andre’s attraction and willingness to put him with him and stick with him throughout. Max is an alcoholic and in deep denial about it and he’s also a closet case, so the latter certainly feeds into the former. A former Navy SEAL, he was active when “don’t ask, don’t tell” was in force and he believes he will get no acceptance from other divers if he comes out. The book in fact reinforces that belief somewhat, because when he does come out, his fellow Antarctic divers (with the exception of his boss) remain the homophobic bigots he knew them to be.

There is Max’s alcoholism to be dealt with – and it takes a lot of the book for him to realise it’s a problem and then a lot more for him to be willing to do something about it. The resolution is a few paragraphs which felt unbalanced and made me question its reality – I was so convinced by Max’s early behaviour it was difficult to imagine it changing and I didn’t see enough of that change in the book to completely buy it.

Then there was Max’s coming out. Given how much of a problem this had been for Max and for how long, it seemed a little too easy for him to suddenly be willing to share a tent with Andre on the ice with everyone knowing they were lovers. There was no resolution to his coming out story really – the book ended with him in the midst of it at work and again, I wondered whether the flack from this would fracture his relationship with Andre and drive him back to the bottle.

I didn’t have a lot of confidence in his relationship with Andre because I didn’t see much of them being strong and healthy together and, like I said, I saw so little of Andre because we only had Max’s POV.

All this sounds like I didn’t like the book. But I did. The beauty of Antarctica, the wonder and freedom Max experiences when he dives under the ice, the sympatico he feels when diving with Andre – they were all wonderful. The writing was spare and lovely and I definitely got the spark between the couple. There were some steamy sex scenes which left me in no doubt of their physical connection. It was just that there wasn’t quite enough of the good stuff to balance out the set-up and that left it being somewhat of an uneven reading experience. I would have loved another 50 pages from Andre’s POV.

Grade: B-