Charles

by Con Riley

[lessthelonely]

4.25/5 stars.

Well, I love it when I hit the bullseye and find books that I think: Oh, this one is going to fuck me up, isn't it? and I'm right. That's what happened with this book, which I grabbed from another user from Goodreads that I found out seemed to have very similar tastes to mine, which led me to follow said user and add every single book that's regarded highly to my TBR.

Charles is the first book in the Learning to Love series by Con Riley and it is the absolute epitome of everything I expect from a romance book. I want the meet-cute, I want the pining, I want to look forward to every single interaction and every single kiss and even though this book threw me for a loop with an unusual first kiss - it came out of nowhere -, I kept reading and I'm glad I did. 

This is one of those very rare romance books that manages to have no plot at all outside of the romance and you'd think that would be a reason for me to, you know, not like it? I mean, I can be as invested in a plot as I am in a romance, but when you have a book that's so well-executed like this one, I don't even notice the pages passing me by. Truly great stuff.

This book has no palpable characters outside of Charles and Hugo - I'd say that Sol (who I know will be the protagonist of book 2) and Charles are the more developed ones, even if between them both, there were only a few scenes. So the main spotlights here are the main couple, which is great. Because they're delightful.

Charles is described as your typical playboy (though with a lot more humor than usual) and he sure acts that way in the beginning, but from Chapter 1 you'll be rooting for him and his wishes because the author immediately tells you about what he wants to do and why. The thing is, it didn't feel forced at all - you'd think you'd only get that kind of insight in the middle of the book, but no! And it still worked.

As for Hugo... Oh, God. I didn't know this book was going to be about a priest. OK, almost priest, but for someone who doesn't support Christianity in any way and who identifies as an atheist every single day of his life, I must admit I usually get highly invested in gay romance plots that revolve a little bit around religion or solely on religion. One example of that is Autoboyography by Christina Lauren which had me bawling my eyes out and insanely invested. Don't read that book though, it's a tad disappointing.

This is that kind of heartfelt that doesn't feel forced - you feel for the characters because, by the time something heartbreaking happens, you're already really keen on these characters. This is something that a book that was by an author that was lauded as a Goddess of Angst (Sometimes There's Stars by Suki Fleet) missed entirely. Angst is about internal strife, so if you can't nail down a good and compelling internal conflict, you can't write good angst out of it. That book I just mentioned devised angst from outside forces and plot: bicycle accidents and stuff.

I like being caught up in the feeling of the main characters - I want to hear their reasoning when they're being complimented or when they're thinking about complimenting the person they like. That's what makes a romance so easy to fall in love with, and that's probably why I read this book in three days, which has been my average time for finishing books lately.

Either way, this is a delight of a book. Please read it!