Candy Hearts (So Over the Holidays, #2)

by Erin McLellan

• ISBN10: 1732173494
• ISBN13: 9781732173491
• Publish Date: 24 February 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Erin McLellan
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 254
• Language: English

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

There’s not a holiday in sight, but I’m gobbling these up before my KU trial expires, but really, I need not, I’ll just turn around and buy them whenever I need a treat.

William. Benji! The lingerie. Maybe the grand gesture at the end felt a little bit forced but I don’t care, the rest of the book earned it, especially with the crappy, cozy lake house of my dreams.

CAWPILE 8.36

[Sarah Says]

The story opens with Benji heading off for a party weekend that his sister roped him into out of town.  Benji gets all the way out to the lake house his sister told him it was being held at, only to find out no one else is there other then the attractive but standoffish home owner. We quickly find out the William (the home owner) had told the quests that the power was out and the party had to be pushed back a day - Benji never got this message. Awkward introductions out of the way, boisterous Benji is a crack up as he maneuvers around sour socks William. Soon Benji starts to wear off on William and sexy high jinks proceed. I mean what else are two queer men who are physically attracted to each other supported to do in a house without any electricity, hmmm.

Benji's been hurt many a time and now tries to remain closed off from romantic connections. William has been out of the dating seen for quite awhile, focusing on building his carrier. All the sexy high jinks give Benji and William a feeling of instant connection and they open up to each other through a series of deep and meaningful conversations. By the end of the party weekend they both realise that there may be more that's worth exploring other than erroneous zones and how to make each other moan. 

All in all Candy Hearts is a super cute, cheeky and fun happily-ever-after queer read, that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I recommend this book to anyone who's after a super cute romantic pick-me up type read - as long as you man handle of whole bunch of man on man action.

[llamareads]

I absolutely adored the first book in this series, Stocker Stuffers, so I was so excited to see the next book would be Valentine’s Day themed. Like the first, this is a mix of absolute hilarity, kinky sex, and all the feels. It’s also got a bit of the fake relationship trope plus the grumpy/sunshine thing I adore.

“Benji was over it. Over the dating scene. Over unsatisfying sex. Over the romantic-industrial complex called Valentine’s Day.
Well, actually, he wasn’t over it at all, but he was trying to be. He was trying very hard.”

William’s the older, buttoned-up type, the kind of person who’s so married to his job that he regularly sleeps at his office – and even his home office. After years spent building up his businesses, he’s had the lightbulb moment that if wants commitment from someone, he needs to devote more time to dating and less to work. He’s even come up with a checklist of his perfect date (must love NPR, nonfiction, and be successful). Benji is… well, none of those things. He’s a young, muscle-y mechanic, gregarious and full of sunshine and exactly the opposite of William – Benji thinks, when he meets him, that he “was either a still-water-runs-deep guy or boring as fuck.” They have immediate chemistry, and before long they’re using the excuse of “fake valentines” to have kinky, electricity-free no-strings sex.

“We can focus on the fun and leave the heavy stuff at the door. No room for heavy when there’s no electricity. That’s a rule I just made up.”

There’s a lot of fun kinky stuff in the book, from toys to lingerie to new sex positions that I had no idea about. I loved that a large part of Benji’s story wasn’t that he was uncomfortable with wearing sexy lingerie, but more that he felt uncomfortable being vulnerable enough to share that with a partner. Benji was too used to trying to be whatever his current boyfriend wants him to be and so he’s not quite able to be vocal about what he wants and needs.

“Need versus want. It was the difference between kindness and niceness, between acting from the heart or reacting through his insecurity.”

One of the things I really loved about this book that I think wasn’t as emphasized in the first was the wonderfully supportive (and wonderfully gay) group of friends and families. Along with the main characters (William’s pan and Benji’s gay) pretty much everyone is bi, pan or gay, and there’s absolutely no angst around it. And overall, while it’s got the traditional bleak moment (and an absolutely adorable grand gesture) it’s relatively low angst in general. There is, however, some seriously romantic soul-bearing.

Overall, this is my new favorite Valentine’s Day romance, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for some funny, kinky feels. I will definitely be looking forward to the next book in the series!

I received this book for free from A Novel Take PR in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.