Rating: 3.5 stars
Buy Links: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Silas just got out of a long-term relationship with a woman he’s been in since age 18, and now he is ready to explore his interest in men. When he picks up Oscar in a bar, Silas figures it will be just a one-night stand. But one night turns into two, and then even more. They are supposed to be keeping things casual, but when the guys realize that their kinks align, things get even more intense between them. Now Silas needs to figure out how to protect his heart, or hope that Oscar is falling along with him.
So that is a pretty short synopsis and that is because that is about all there is of a plot for this book. This one is pretty much as close to all sex as I have ever read in a romance with a HFN/HEA relationship, versus an erotica story. It is essentially a little over 100 pages of sex scenes strung together. Just to give you a feel, after the guys exchange a few words at the club before heading to Oscar’s for sex, we are over 30% of the way through the book before they have any conversation outside of a sex scene, and then you blink and they are back at it. We are three-quarters through the book before the guys interact with anyone else besides one another after the club. The entire story takes place in Oscar’s apartment and the only thing that really happens outside of them having sex, or talking about sex, is a brief scene with Oscar’s sister and a point where we learn that Silas is working on a big work project that is exhausting him. But other than that, it is pretty much all sex all the time.
As my regular readers know, I do enjoy lots of sex in my romance, so believe me when I tell you, this is a lot even for me. I think a lot of what you think about this story is going to depend on how well the sex works for you, because there is not much else to go on. I found the early scenes didn’t really grab my attention enough to make up for the lack of plot. As the guys start to explore kink, it was more my style and it was enough for me to find some enjoyment here, even without much going on plot-wise. And I did appreciate how Silas recognizes he jumps into the BDSM elements without talking to Oscar enough, and then has a clear discussion with Oscar about consent. But if you don’t connect with the sex, I don’t think there is going to be much here for you.
We are in Silas’ POV, so we get a little more of a sense of his personality through his narration. He is kind of spazzy and chatty and I found him entertaining. Oscar is much more stoic and serious, though he loosens up the more they are together. But it is virtually impossible to get to know him because we rarely even hear him speak outside of a sex scene. I don’t exaggerate when I say I’d be surprised if he says 200 words outside of sex over the course of the entire book. When Silas recognizes his love for Oscar and starts extolling all the wonderful things about him, I couldn’t help wishing we actually saw any of those things during the story.
So I probably sound like I am tearing this up, and I guess I will say that I was disappointed there isn’t more going on here. I liked Vivancos’ writing and the sexual chemistry between the guys worked well for me once they started exploring their kink. But unless you are really into the sex scenes, I just don’t think there is enough story here to really hold up or to make me believe in their happy ending.
