Musings on Romance

Tag: contemporary (Page 83 of 122)

Helping Hand by Jay Northcote

Helping HandWhy I read it:  I saw some positive reviews from trusted Goodreads friends, so I bought it.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads)  Jez Fielding and James MacKenzie—Big Mac to his mates—are in their second year at uni. After partying too hard last year, they make a pact to rein themselves in. While their housemates are out drinking every weekend, Jez and Mac stay in to save cash and focus on their studies.

When Jez suggests watching some porn together, he isn’t expecting Mac to agree to it. One thing leads to another, and soon their arrangement becomes hands-on rather than hands-off. But falling for your straight friend can only end badly, unless there’s a chance he might feel the same.

What worked for me (and what didn’t):  Jez and Mac live (with others) in a share house while they study at university in Plymouth (in the UK). Mac has to stay in because he’s falling woefully behind in his classes and Jez has to stay in because in the first year of uni he went a bit overboard with the partying and ran up a massive overdraft. His wealthy parents are teaching him a lesson by requiring him to work off the debt himself which means he has little spare money for going out. As a result, Mac and Jez are regularly home on Friday and Saturday nights when the rest of their housemates are out.
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Tempting the Player by Kat Latham

Tempting the Player LathamWhy I read it:  After reading and enjoying Knowing the Score recently, I bought the rest of the books in the series. I mistakenly thought this was the second book but it’s the third. It works as a stand-alone and does not spoil the second book but my sense of order was nevertheless offended by my error!

What it’s about: (from Goodreads)  Libby Hart and Matt Ogden are perfect for each other—as friends. They’ve known each other for ages. They act as each other’s plus-ones. They even share custody of a dog. And if there’s always been a little spark between them, so what? It’s never been worth jeopardizing their friendship.

Professional rugby player Matt is fighting for a starter position with the London Legends—and that’s not the only thing he’s fighting. A crippling fear of flying means he’s struggling to get his career off the ground. He has no time for a relationship, even if Libby does make him ache. As an airline pilot, Libby’s looking for a stay-at-home husband so she can have a family without sacrificing her high-flying career. Matt’s certainly not that man.

But just because they don’t have a future together doesn’t mean they can’t have a right now. When Matt asks Libby for help overcoming his fear, they agree to take a vacation from their platonic relationship—whenever they fly together, they can have sex. It’s the perfect way to resolve all that built-up tension. As long as they can avoid getting a little too comfortable…

What worked for me (and what didn’t):  I do enjoy a friends to lovers story and, as I mentioned in my review of Knowing the Score, I like the author’s writing style and voice. All of those things worked for me here and I did enjoy the book.  But there were some things which didn’t work for me so the experience wasn’t quite as successful with this one. Not, I might add, in any way that would make me cautious about reading more from this author however.
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July Round Up

Monthly Mini Review

Yours All AlongYours All Along by Roni Loren – B-  This novella is a kind of prequel to Call On Me which I reviewed for Dear Author this month. I read it in the wrong order but it doesn’t really matter. The only thing Call On Me “spoils” is that they are happily together and romance readers already know that’s how it’s going to end so it’s no big deal.  Actually, it was probably beneficial that I’d read Call On Me first because I knew Devon and Hunter were still very happy together many years later and that helped give me a sense that they were very much right at the end of Yours All Along.

The novella is set in 2007 and flashes back to 2003 when both men were in college and roomed in a frat house together. Devon, openly gay, became close friends with Hunter, who comes from a wealthy controlling family with high expectations. His State Senator father is a homophobic bigot and expects certain behaviours from Hunter – and they definitely don’t include being gay. Hunter had previously identified as straight but over time, his attraction for Devon develops. I suppose it is a version of an Out for You story but it felt authentic to me. When Devon and Hunter met they were just 20 so it seemed not unbelievable to me that Hunter may not have previously realised his same sex attraction. This is particularly so because it was only when he came to California for college that he felt any sense of freedom to be himself at all. Continue reading

Review at AudioGals

I’m over at AudioGals with a review of Life After Perfect by Nancy Naigle, narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal. I wavered between bored and annoyed, and the narration didn’t help. However, there were occasional pockets of emotional resonance.

Life After Perfect audio

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