“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.