Heat Factor: So much making out. (Ah, the high school nostalgia)
Character Chemistry: Sweetness overload. These boys are so kind.
Plot: Charlie kissed Nick and now he thinks their friendship is over, but Nick is realizing that those feelings he’s been having mean something, so now it’s time to navigate a secret relationship
Overall: My high school first love nostalgia trip continues but with much sweeter and more nurturing kids.
Heat Factor: He basically rapes her in Chapter 1, and then they very gently make love once or twice toward the end.
Character Chemistry: Some Old Skool Dynamics, for sure.
Plot: When Carly gets pregnant, she and Hank get Insurance Married.
Overall: I read this book fully expecting it to be cringe and ended up getting swept away. But now that I’m actually thinking about it, there was indeed a lot of cringe.
This isn’t the first book in a (great) series, but it’s the first that involves a pro athlete. Ethan and Fiona have known each other since college, and they still float around each other because Ethan’s best friend married Fiona’s sister. Oh, also, Ethan is a virgin who has secretly been pining for Fiona since college. He wants forever, she wants to get the promotion at her job that is in a completely different state to his. There’s plenty of angst in this book, and the third act is a doozy (involving non-consensual release of nude photographs by a third party, be advised), but Callihan is really good at digging into those feelings and creating complex situations for characters who want to be together but don’t necessarily know how to navigate their own messy feelings to take care of their partner’s also messy feelings.
Isaiah is a widower and single dad trying to get things right. When Isaiah takes his son to meet his idol, out and proud Russian danseur Victor, sparks fly, and they have a one-night stand, but it’s supposed to be nothing more. Then Victor’s request for asylum is denied, and his life will be in jeopardy if he goes back to Russia after his gay rights advocacy in the US, so Isaiah proposes a marriage of convenience to keep Victor in the US legally. If you can suspend your disbelief about the green card marriage, this is an engaging marriage of convenience story featuring two gay men with very different outlooks on how they want to live their lives but who are more and more drawn to each other the longer they’re married.
Best friends to lovers bi-awakening, but make it football? After an awkward breakup, Kelly finally decides that it’s time for him to buckle down and get over the unrequited crush on his best friend so he can have a life. Blue is not a fan of his best friend avoiding him, and when he walks in on Kelly about to get some, he starts having some thoughts, which he acts on after a night of drunken jealousy. When Blue’s knee injury creates an excuse for him to recuperate at Kelly’s house, the two men really enjoy playing house (among other things *wink*), but Blue doesn’t want to change his life plan—marry a woman, kids, etc—and Kelly doesn’t need to be someone else’s problem. This is the first in a duology and ends with a secret-relationship HFN, but it’s playfully angsty with relatively low-stakes drama and lots of supportive friends.
Okay, so the premise for this one was what hooked me. Garrett realized he was bi when he met his brother’s best friend, Warner, as a teen. He’s had a crush forever but never acted on it, and Warner is basically part of the family. After his brother’s career ends with an injury, Garrett graduates and gets drafted not only to fill his brother’s shoes, but also onto the same team as Warner. Even better, they’re both bi, but only Garrett’s brother/Warner’s best friend knows, and he’s being a good human and not sharing. So if dancing around each other to we definitely shouldn’t be hooking up to secret relationship is your jam, this one’s for you.
The title might make you think of a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but this book definitely has some Cinderella vibes, at least at the beginning. Ronan has a drunken one-night-stand with Nova on the anniversary of his finacee’s death and his career-ending injury. He calls her by his fiancee’s name, and she disappears into the night, and the way he feels about that night is what he needs to turn his life around. Nova meets him again when she moves home to take care of her younger sister after their mother’s death, but the football coach who can do no wrong in the small town’s eyes doesn’t even remember her. Antagonism leads to grudging respect leads to fake dating leads to real feelings. You know the drill. Bonus points for extremely entertaining small town worldbuilding.
This book is a really fun read. Books often feature protagonists who banter, but often the banter doesn’t click with me—in this case, it was super fun to read and a fun component of the relationship dynamic between these estranged best friends who become lovers as adults when Briyana is forced to move home after a series of unfortunate events. Meanwhile, Lance is living the good life as the local football team’s hometown sweetheart. When their rekindled friendship becomes a no-holds-barred relationship, Lance starts thinking of happily ever afters, but Briyana is still holding on to her career dreams—that will take her right back out of state. Bonus points for sneaker enthusiasts.
Heat Factor: The whole middle of the book is pretty much sex.
Character Chemistry: feelings are annoying
Plot: The new White House Press Secretary worked with the president once many years ago. This time he’s not about to let her get away.
Overall: I was put off by the way the president was initially represented (it’s single POV from Clover), and that kind of snowballed with other things as I continued to read
The Smut Report 