Rhianne Aile

I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler free way. If you feel anything in my review is a spoiler and is not already hidden in spoiler brackets please let me know. Thank you.
When David suffers a severe migraine and calls Trace to help him out by bringing him some meds. Trace decides to be a good friend and stick around till he is back on his feet, but just as it seems that David is starting to recover, he slips and falls in the shower and seriously hurts his shoulder. So Trace once again steps up to be a friend and temporarily stays with David till he recovers. David and Trace are finding themselves slowly attracted to one another. David is gay but has always considered Trace just a friend, till now. Trace is straight and as far as he knows, so is David, but he's starting to find David attractive too.
I did find this book entertaining. It had some fun, steamy scenes. But the storyline was really lacking in my opinion. Everything was dragged out so much. And I'm all for a little build up and angst in a love story, but this was a bit extreme. Some of it I found REALLY hard to believe. The build up of the relationship just felt very forced and cause I had so many issues with it, I couldn't give it more then a 3 star.
How I choose my rating:
1* Did not finish, or hated it but forced myself to finish.
2** Didn't really like it. Didn't hate it but not sure why I finished it other then for some closure.
3*** I liked it. I had some issues with it, but as a whole it was good. I probably won't reread again ever, but there is a chance I might finish the series. (If part of one) But if not it's not a huge loss.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this again, and I will finish the series. (If part of one) I would recommend to those I know hold interest in this books content.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will definitely be rereading this and probably more than once. I will finish the series and reread it multiple times. (If part of one) I will recommend this book to EVERYONE!!!!… (mer)

Three stars is a fairly poor rating for me, and I feel bad about giving this one this since many people like it. But, I didn't really care for it. I REALLY struggled to keep my attention on it. Lots of times I had to flip back a few pages to reread as I found my eyes passing over words while my mind was elsewhere. Like analyzing why I didn't connect with these characters.

I can't help comparing this to [b:Promises|7493186|Promises (Coda Books, #1)|Marie Sexton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1262658310s/7493186.jpg|9639749], which is another GFY that is a favorite of mine that I just reread. The first thing this comparison leads me to think is that part of the issue is the lack of setting. Promises has a very clear setting: small town in a moderate state. That means small local minds, but decent legal protections. Here? I finish this book with questions. How big is this city they're living in? It's obviously not that small if it can support two newspapers, but there's a difference between having a gay revelation in a blue state and a red state.


Second, Promises deals with both sides of the going-gay coin: 1. the personal, internal battle, and 2. the external consequences. This one really only addresses #1. Coming out in the epilogue? Will that affect their careers? It was hinted early on that someone (the boss? a coworker?) would have a cow about it. Is the job at the newspaper going to be downsized after this revelation? What about families? Family background matters even if you aren't close to them anymore (or if they are deceased), because your ingrained morality about it largely comes from there. Sure, when you're 40, family doesn't matter the same way as it does when you're 15 or 20. But it still matters.

Finally, Promises opens with us getting to see the friendship grow between the two characters. I think this gives the reader a solid foundation for the chemistry. Here, it felt very inconsistent. At the start of the story, they're best friends, supposedly. But he hadn't met the other's cat? Didn't know about poker night? Didn't know he was GAY? I mean, in order to not know that, you have to have either lied about, or never discussed, your personal/dating lives AT ALL.… (mer)