This is a blog to document my MM Romance journey, and if it helps anyone out there discover some great books that they might not have read otherwise, well that's cool too.
My reviews are completely biased and my own opinion. That is to say that this is just for fun, and maybe we won't like the same things. And you know what? That's okay.
MM Romance has become my favourite genre and I have read a truly ridiculous amount of them, so I just wanted to share my thoughts. It will likely be heavily skewed towards the sports romance subgenre, because I just think it's neat.
I am open to discussions and questions and recommendations and whatever else you feel like, so drop me a message anytime!
❤️ GG
Review Index (by author or book title)
By Author:
Fitzpatrick, Taylor
Coming in First Place (2020, Book 1 of Between The Teeth)
Hall, Alexis
Boyfriend Material (2020, Book 1 of London Calling)
By Book Title:
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall (2020, Book 1 of London Calling)
Coming in First Place by Taylor Fitzpatrick (2020, Book 1 of Between the Teeth)
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“Are we really bad at this?” I asked. “We’ve been fake dating for three days and we’ve already fake broken up once.”
“Yes, but we fake resolved our difficulties and fake got back together, and I’m hoping it’s made us fake stronger.”
Part of a Series?: Yes | Book 1 of 3 in 'London Calling' series
Part of a Universe?: Not that I’m aware of.
Tropes
Fake Dating, Fake Relationship
Dislike to Friends to Lovers
Opposites Attract
Celebrity/Civilian (sorta)
Summary
Luc O’Donnell is an unwillingly chaotic man who works for an obscure non-profit and in need of some good publicity for his professional and personal life. Cue the respectable boyfriend that he’s desperately in need of but can’t seem to find.
Oliver Blackwood is a stuffy barrister with a saviour complex a mile wide in need of a date to a family function so that his family will finally leave him alone about his love life. Cue the adoring boyfriend that he’s been looking for but can’t seem to hold on to.
Through some meddling mutual friend matchmaking, Luc and Oliver come to the conclusion that maybe they can help each other get through a few annoying social obligations by pretending to be each other’s partners. A little forced proximity to get to know each other and make it believable turns into “maybe this could actually work” and inconvenient feelings. They were doomed from the start really.
** (Protagonist Spotlight, Review/Thoughts, Content Warnings, HEA Status, Spoiler Tags under the cut for spoilers)
Protagonists
Luc O’Donnell
I didn’t like that being the thing people told each other about me. But then again, what was the alternative? That’s Luc, his career’s in the toilet? That’s Luc, he’s not had a stable relationship in five years? That’s Luc, where did it all go wrong?
Quite simply, Luc is an adorably anxiety-riddled, self-deprecating, hot mess.
He is famous-adjacent in that he’s the only child of two rock stars from the 80s. So while he’s not famous for any accomplishments of his own, he still can’t quite lead a normal life away from the press because they seem to like writing about him and taking his picture anyway.
This life in the semi-spotlight has led to some trust issues, and he’s inherently suspicious of new people coming into his life. The trust issues sort of meld and go hand-in-hand with his abandonment/daddy issues because his famous father seemingly wants nothing to do with him. And you know what? That’s valid of Luc, because that’s pretty shit.
Now in his late twenties, he’s a reformed party boy who is just trying to make his way in the world without being splashed across the tabloids. He works a boring, but altruistic, job. He mostly spends time with his close group of friends and his reclusive mother. And he generally has poor taste in romantic partners.
Luc has poor impulse control in that he tends to blurt out things without much thought for a filter, landing him in some awkward situations. His defense mechanism is to be a bit of a prick and lash out at people. Oh, and he’s definitely a bit selfish and self-absorbed.
Having said that, he’s also very endearing. At least, I thought so. Luc can be a jerk, certainly, but he also cares a lot more than he lets on. He goes to bat for the people that matter in his life. He tries to be a good friend and partner in the best way he knows how. And most importantly, he grows as a person throughout the book. Aw.
Oliver Blackwood
Oliver was much as I remembered him: a cool, clean, modern-art piece of a man entitled Disapproval in Pinstripes. And handsome enough to annoy me.
Oliver is initially the classic uptight, affluent, and pretentious white-collar type. He’s a barrister (lawyer for non-Brits), vegetarian, and overall holier-than-thou sorta dude who looks down his nose at everyone who isn’t doing everything they can to be a better person for the world, the environment, society, etc.
In contrast to Luc, Oliver is just a well-adjusted person. He’s got his life together: stable career, a house, friends who have dinner parties. This guy knows how to adult. But just like Luc, he seems to be incapable of finding a partner who will stick around.
He is a bit of a control freak and a people-pleaser, meaning that he sometimes tries a little too hard. He claims not to force his ideals on to others, but gets judgey when they do something he deems to be unethical.
Under the polish and private school attitude, Oliver is actually very sweet and thoughtful. He has more patience and understanding than a lot of people would have when dealing with someone as turbulent as Hurricane Luc. He’s a nervous texter, who digs himself into a bigger hole with every word typed, and prone to panic rambling. Most of the time he’s just trying to do the right thing, even if that means his choices are unpopular. Also, he has a surprisingly well-timed and sarcastic sense of humour.
Review/Thoughts (spoilers ahead)
This book reads like a romantic comedy put to page, so I wasn’t surprised to learn that they’re planning on turning it into a show/movie? (I'm not really clear on which it will be, but I’m greatly looking forward to it either way). It definitely has a Pride & Prejudice vibe to it in that if the characters could just get out of their own way they would probably be a lot happier.
It has got the whole meet-cute setup: they both need a boyfriend for future events so they don’t look pathetic, so why not date each other? It has the back-and-forth of will-they won’t-they figure out that they stopped “fake dating” like 100 pages ago. It has the whole temporary breakup (because feelings are scary), twice, that makes you briefly wonder if this might not have a happy ending after all. And then, of course, it has the grand romantic declaration (à la Bridget Jones Diary) where the protagonist shows up at their love interest’s door to demand a second chance. Or in this case, a go at the real thing.
Some people have called this a rivals/enemies to lovers, but I don’t feel like they’re quite at that level of hate at the beginning of the book. Dislike, sure, but hate? I don’t see it. Luc had a bad initial impression of Oliver (mostly because he was drunk), and then held onto this opinion of Oliver without ever seeking to see if it could be changed. Though I did actually snort a very ugly laugh reading:
I’d met Oliver Blackwood exactly twice. The first time, we’d been the only two gay men at one of Bridget’s work parties. Someone had come up to us and asked if we were a couple, and Oliver had looked utterly disgusted, and replied, “No, this is just another homosexual I’m standing next to.”
The spice mainly comes from the dialogue and banter and yearning, so if you’re expecting to find anything explicit you will be disappointed. There is exactly one non-explicit smut scene, and then it’s all fade-to-black, closed-door intimacy scenes. I gave it a 2 out of 5 for spice simply because I love banter as flirting and I enjoyed the sexual tension between these two fools. And that one scene was still hot. Like, finally. Luc’s been trying to get in this man’s pants for ages.
What I loved most about this book was the humour. Alexis Hall gives great banter. Luc is a funny narrator, whether he means to be or not sometimes. His sense of humour is a little dry (in that British way), occasionally mean-spirited, and (as said before) often self-deprecating. I’ve read that some people found him annoying, but I just found his dedication to putting himself into awkward situations charming. Then again, it might just be because I love broken characters the most. Sue me.
Also, the dick pics. Fucking hilarious.
Luc telling Oliver’s family to go fuck themselves? Gold.
I love how they both made a point of standing up for each other to their respective shitty families (Odile excluded, ofc). Like “yeah, we’re fake dating, but you can’t talk to my man like that.” I wanted to pump my fist in the air in celebration, because toxic people should really be put in their place more often. Gotta love a supportive partner, and these two are all in for their man.
Shout out to the supporting cast of characters, because I found them all to be enjoyable in their individual ways. Priya and Alex Twaddle in particular, and in complete opposite ways.
Naturally, there are some problematic aspects to the book, as there are in pretty much any novel. The whole idea of Luc needing to check this “right type of gay” box for his boss and their donors is sorta insane. He does threaten litigation, but like... what the actual fuck? He’s definitely offended, but there’s not much push back. You could argue he keeps mostly quiet because he wants to keep his job and seems to be under the impression that no one else will hire him, but I’m sure there would be something out there for him, where he didn’t have to deal with homophobic fuckwits. And I know this is mainly used as a plot device to make him desperate enough to take on this crazy scheme of fake dating to retain his job, but it’s definitely a stretch. Having said that, this is fiction and a romance and we’re not really here for realism, are we?
I feel that I’ve rambled long enough. So simply put, if you’re looking for a fluffy, funny, romantic comedy that will give you a smile, I think this is the book for you. It’s a great comfort read, and (while the whole situation is not the most plausible) it’s just fun, alright? Hopefully, you will fall in love with Luc and Oliver, and all their flaws, the way I did.
Happy Reading!
❤️ GG
Note that this book could be read as a standalone as it ties up the story nicely, but there are two sequels that are definitely worth exploring (reviews to come eventually on those).
Other Spoiler-y Things
Happy Ending?: Yes
Content Warnings:
Abandonment (by a parent)
Dysfunctional Family/Difficult Family Relationships
Part of a Series?: Yes | Book 1 of 3 in 'Between The Teeth' series
Part of a Universe?: Yes | Part of the 'You Could Make A Life' universe.
Tropes
Sports Romance, Hockey Romance
Enemies/Rivals to Lovers, Enemies/Rivals-With-Benefits
Grumpy/Sunshine, Golden Retriever/Black Cat
Opposites Attract
Forbidden Romance/Secret Romance
Oblivious To Love
Summary
This is the first part of David Chapman's story in which he finds himself constantly coming in second place to his rival, Jake Lourdes. Jake is everything that David is not, and David hates him for it. He thinks that Jake has it easy, and that everyone is blind to all of Jake's many, many faults.
So what's a guy to do except want to kiss his stupid face off?
** (Protagonist Spotlight, Review/Thoughts, Content Warnings, HEA Status, Spoiler Tags under the cut for spoilers)
Protagonists
David Chapman
So, I actually think another character in this universe (Robbie Lombardi) describes David the best in Taylor's AO3 series Always In Tandem as "a robot made by Hockey Canada to like, breathe hockey, and then power down whenever nothing hockey related was happening".
David is the main protagonist and the story is from his point of view. He is all about hockey and work, and since he's a professional hockey player they're basically the same thing. He doesn't make room in his life for anything else. He's a creature of habit and completely dedicated to being the best player that he can be. And that means constantly pushing himself working out, eating only healthy things, and not wasting his time socializing. Fun, right?
He's very much socially isolated in that he doesn't go out of his way to make friends and he isn't close with his family. It's just David against the world.
I won't lie, David is kind of a frustrating protagonist. I say this very fondly though, because he has a special place in my heart. His POV is a little stiff, a little bitter, and very lonely. He doesn't understand people and communication is a constant struggle for him. But he tries, sort of. He's doing his best, okay?
Jake Lourdes
Jake is David's rival in the story; competitively, professionally, and in all the ways that David wants to best him in his head.
Jake is essentially the complete opposite of David. He's a bit of a social butterfly, well-liked, and can seemingly get along with just about everyone. He has a lot of friends and he's very close with his family. Outwardly David sees him as overly confident, fake, and a bully on the ice.
The more David gets to know Jake, the more we do too. You find that Jake is kind of insecure (at least around David) and that his kindness is actually sincere, not a put on people-pleasing front like David first thinks. He is still a bully on the ice though, but some guys just have a more aggressive style of play.
Jake is a big softie off the ice, and (through a lot of patience) he softens David's hard edges too.
Review (spoilers ahead)
I have reread this book a few times, and it remains one of my favourites. It's why I picked it as the first book for this silly little review blog.
I have read most of Taylor's published work at this point, and the thing that I love most about her writing is how it seems to change with her characters. She has an amazing talent of absolutely nailing the correct tone for whichever character she's writing, and her writing sort of changes to compliment their personality.
In this case it means that, as mentioned above, David can be a bit aggravating. I don't want to say he's an unreliable narrator, even if he is sometimes, but his view of the world is very black and white. I believe she later reveals that he's neurodivergent, and then his choices and general way of interacting with the world make a lot more sense.
He is one of the most reluctant protagonists I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Most of the time I can't decide if I want to shake him or hug him. He would absolutely hate it if I hugged him though.
The romance is gradual and slow-burn-ish. It starts off as a supposed one-night stand, then sort of morphs into rivals-with-benefits when it's convenient, and then eventually Jake just sort of presses his existence onto David enough that he stops noticing how much time they're spending together or that they're already essentially in a relationship.
In terms of spice, it's got some but I've read spicier. There are explicit scenes in the book, but there are also a lot of closed door/fade-to-black moments.
For most of the book, David is struggling. It's a classic mix of internalized homophobia and working in an industry of toxic masculinity. He doesn't want his relationship with Jake to be public or for it to affect either of their careers. He is perfectly fine living in their secret romance, and convincing himself that they're not in a relationship to begin with.
The weekend that David spends in Detroit with Jake's family is one of the most painful things to read, because it is so fucking awkward. But that is classic Chaps. He is uncomfortable. Jake is uncomfortable. Jake's family is uncomfortable. I wanted to hide reading it, but I also found it weirdly relatable as someone who isn't always the best in social interactions and also likes to hide in the bathroom.
David is kind of cruel to Jake at times, but I like to think that's just in moments of panic when he's feeling especially seen and vulnerable. It's not an excuse for his behaviour, but I can understand it. Overall, when they're vibing, they just kind of make sense. David needs someone to help him unclench and have fun once and awhile, and Jake needs someone to show him what responsibility looks like.
The book ends on a high note, so this one is HEA approved. David and Jake are settling into the idea of being in a relationship, and they're both hopeful that things are going to work out.
Happy Reading!
❤️ GG
Note that this book could be read as a standalone, because there is an ending, but I highly recommend the two sequels.
Other Spoiler-y Things
Happy Ending?: Yes
Content Warnings:
Dysfunctional Family/Difficult Family Relationships
