10/10. No notes. Perfection

Listen, this book was … different. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it.

This was so good! The writing was great, the story was interesting, the characters were likable, and the spice was

I really enjoyed this! I loved the concept of a younger Daddy and older boy.

Matt was just so gosh darn sweet, and London was perfect for him. Bless London for jumping into being the Daddy that Matteo needed.

This series also has a great “found family” vibe. I love reading books like that! It makes the side characters feel less like throwaways. The series does a great job of having a fair number of likable and diverse side characters (of which most have their own books in the series) but not making it feel like there are too many characters to keep track of.

Martin and Keegan, the two MCs, were likable and went well together as a couple. Martin, bless his heart, was stuck in a rough and dangerous situation due to being in hiding from his ex and the ex's henchmen. Keegan was ever the protector, and he felt those instincts very strongly from the first time he saw Martin. I do certainly love a protective MC, and Martin definitely needed Keegan's help.

I will say I was confused at the beginning because it seemed like Mark was going to be the second MC along with Martin, yet I know Mark is a MC in book 1. As well, once Martin and Keegan met and Martin was sheltering at Keegan's apartment, it felt like there was a missed opportunity to show more of them growing their connection. I didn't think they'd be able to grow closer whilst Martin was on pain medicine and such, but then by the time Martin left Keegan's place it seemed like they had bonded and Martin trusted Keegan (more than you'd expect an an abuse/stalking survivor to trust someone so quickly). So I feel that the reader missed out on seeing the growth of that trust.

If I had seen an outline of the plot points of this book, I'd say that the author came up with a really good premise; so I can say is the story, as a whole, was interesting. Where it fell flat to me had to do with the writing style. To me, the dialogue and narrative felt a bit wooden, and sometimes the way things were worded confused me and took me out of the story. Admittedly, this is subjective, so I won't say the book isn't worth reading just because of my opinion. But rather, this is just an explanation.

I received an ARC of this book, and this is my honest review.

I’m calling this 4.55 stars ⭐️

The concept of this book was so neat! Roman was just so darn lovable, and so was Matt (but obvs Matt wasn’t as cute as Roman, because …

How was this book so freaking adorable? Absolute perfection.