Review: 3.0-4.0 Too much former MCs in this book; messed w/ HEA of previous books to annoyance; SPOILERISH
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 22, 2014
I liked this story of Jude & Will (their portion of the story anyway), a gay-for-you couple whose attraction & romance came upon them out of left field, for 2 (formerly) straight guys. They were both likeable characters who showed vulnerability & definite denial for 'falling for a dude.' I liked them & their romance.What I didnt like was all of the baggage MCs from the 1st 2 books in the series brought to the table. Good grief. Apparently, there is no true HEA in this author's world. Dont get me wrong, I dont need sappy-overflowing-with-sugary-goodness in my books, but I do appreciate when couples who had their story remain fairly happy & stable in subsequent books WITH NEW MCs. I dont want to know that a former MC, namely Bo (from book 1 in the series), may have regrets & 2nd thoughts about his partner, Dylan, over Levi, Jude's more flamboyant older brother. WTH? I really loved the 1st book of Bo & Dylan & am disappointed w/ this book in that it ruined their story for me. Is the scenario realistic? Yeah, probably, but I dont really want to know that former MCs' HEAs might be in jeopardy in future books. I like conflict, sure, (ie) in the MCs, but dammit, once there is commitment, no disloyalties allowed. This just annoyed me. After everything Dylan & Bo went through, & the HEA I thought they had in their book, their part in book 3 was disppointing & annoying. I like Bo a lot less now. Whatever, right? I'll probably think twice in the future about this author's books. I like her writing well enough but I dont like plot devices that make me like books & characters LESS w/ subsequent books. And I felt this plot device was contrived & I felt manipulated as a reader. To clarify, some authors use the ENTIRE SERIES to develop the arc of their MCs romance/story. Josh Lanyon is a master of this formula. That's not what's happening here. Semantics? I'd say a necessary distinction.This would be a higher rating for Will & Jude, but probably a 3.0 for the rest. They should have taken more center stage in their own story. The sex scenes were pretty hot.I'll at least finish out this series because too much was left open-ended for me, but I will think twice about starting another series in the future w/ this author. Who knows what will happen to Jude & Will in future installments? Not waiting in anticipation so much as worried about their future.If you're going to commit to this series, definitely read the books in order.