Romance, especially MM romance that steps outside the accepted norm of two physically beautiful caucasian men is pretty rare. To find men of color, or men that aren’t traditionally handsome takes some looking, and often are written as one-offs by authors who typically write the norm. Their ardent fans will gush over this provocative approach to romance with an atypical love interest. This is 100% that book.
What didn’t help me is narration by Joel Leslie. When I first started really listening to audio books, Leslie seemed a cut about the rest, crisp diction and engaging delivery. But then the vocal antics became so prevalent that I began to avoid book he narrated. I would feel silly about that decision, and go head and listen to another, only to realize that I do not enjoy his style. I did not love him anymore here.
The story itself presents an outsiders view of the subject of appearance. The struggle for people – both women and men, to live up to societal expectations for appearance is very real. This book takes this authors standard simpering approach she seems to everything. I suffered though To The Moon and Back, the one with the baby. She creates a character with an issue, In this case a bigger guy whose been dumped for being fat. He encounters a guy with too my positive energy that initially creates a sense of being worthy, only to have some crisis through the big guy off track. There is very little about this book that rings true. Granted, how true is formula romance? Well, tbh, I have read some hat has done a really good job with an awkward topic. This book follows the same path as so many book, the only difference being one of the MCs is a big buy who loses some weight. There were times I thought it felt a bit insulting.
I will be up front and admit I do not connect with this author and based on the titles I’ve read, she isn’t one I would recommend, including this book.