Book safety, content warnings, and tropes & tags down below.

Benji wanted Leo to look at him like he was worth something. Like he was wanted, needed even. But Benji didn’t know how to make people look at him with anything but pity, misery, or disbelief.

This book was very charming and quite sweet. Benji was a walking disaster and totally OTT, but also very endearing. I do enjoy characters like that a lot. The book was also surprisingly low angst considering the main trope is ‘best friend’s dad’. To say that Benji has an awesome best friend is the understatement of the year.

He felt like he had the words, I kissed your dad, and I liked it, printed on his forehead.

I don’t really have a lot of thoughts as it was all pretty straight forward. Benji made me tear up a couple of times because he had totally lost faith in himself and didn’t believe anyone could or ever would love him, which of course got me right in the feels. I didn’t really connect much with the other MC, Leo, which was unfortunate, but I didn’t have any issues with him either. It was all very uncomplicated, even though they both experienced some bouts of insecurity in themselves and the relationship. It was cute, fairly hot, and an easy and quick read.

Benji was his goddammit, and he kissed him like forever was a foregone conclusion.

3.75 stars

⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Age gap
Best friend’s dad
Forced proximity
Roommates
Friends to lovers
Virgin MC
Single dad
Clumsy and accident prone MC

⚠️⚠️ Content warning ⚠️⚠️
Mentions of homophobic parent
Mentions of being disowned
Explicit sexual content
Homelessness
Financial insecurity

⚠️⚠️⚠️ Book safety ⚠️⚠️⚠️
Cheating: No
OM/OW drama: No
Third-act breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, dual POV
Genre: Contemporary romance, M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Versatile
MCs age: 25 and *not specified.

*as far as I could tell.

“Apparently, the fastest way to make me emotional is to be nice to me.”

“Consent is a two-way street, love. It’s okay for anyone to ask, at any time.”

It still stung, though, to know that he was the one carrying torches for someone who wouldn’t light a match for him.

This quote makes the book sound way angstier than it is, so it’s not a great representation out of context. I just thought it was a lovely (and sad) quote.