I didn’t check the copyright date but this is about a closeted -mostly to himself- American falling for a Russian guy who winds up needing a place to stay. I started out being frustrated at the denial, but it wound up making sense.
For the most part, I liked the story. Both characters are quite likable. The most culturally discordant note was when Derrick (sp? …audio) held up paid vacations as something very American, when the US is known worldwide as having one of the lousiest vacation and leave policies in the modern world. The biggest structural flaw was the timing of the last couple chapters. The authors seemed to forget Maxim had a 6 month visa and never mentioned dealing with it. As a minor quibble, I would have thought Maxim would pop out more Russian in the heat of the moment, despite being otherwise proficient in English.
I rather liked these guys for each other. It’s possible the younger Maxim was the bigger catch as he encouraged Derrick to make better choices. The authors established pretty well that the relationship was not about a sugar daddy, which was good. (Not that it’s a bad choice if that’s your thing, but it wasn’t the right choice here and establishing that was important to the story.)
Audio. I thought it was pretty good. Maxim was read with “Russian accented English”. Derrick’s voice was described as low but his voice narrator was more midrange and not particularly resonant. This didn’t affect my enjoyment but I did think about it enough to mention it in case other readers find either of those things (accent, off pitch) grating. I want to say the small bits of Russian were pronounced well but I speak only small amounts of English accented Russian, so I might not be the best judge. Again, it didn’t bother me.
My review sounds more negative than I mean for it to be. It was mostly good. A slightly steamy (3/5 for heat) explicit on page m/m romance. (It comes close to pushing consent boundaries a couple times but winds up being ok there, I think.) I liked the lain couple, I liked their friends, I think they’ll be happy. If you’re looking for a low trauma story, pick this one up.
это хорошо.