Rating: 4 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel

 

When Tyler was ten years old, his father returned from a business trip with a new wife and her ten-year-old son. Tyler thought life was over, but his stepbrother, Garrett, became his best friend. As the boys grew up, they were incredibly close and Tyler never realized that Garrett was hiding feelings for him.

Garrett never wanted to keep secrets from Tyler, and when Tyler sees Garrett’s secret live and in color, that’s just the beginning. Something sparks in Tyler and he wants to be the one with Garrett and explore his new curiosity. But not everyone will accept their relationship and, now that Garrett might have everything he’s ever wanted, his first priority will be to protect Tyler.

If you like stepbrother stories and coming out stories and teenage drama, then Strictly Curious would be the book for you. The book opens when Tyler is ten years old and his father arrives home with a new wife and her son, and his father expects Tyler to just be on board with the entire situation. I didn’t want to get stuck here, but I did a little bit as I really needed more information as to how his father thought this was going to work. Tyler’s father is not a well-developed character and, while his new wife (Garrett’s mother) treated Tyler well, the set up was a bit of a stretch for me.

The boys bond quickly though and become the closest of friends growing up. Garrett is bisexual and is in love with Tyler, but Tyler is pretty much oblivious to everything until he’s confronted in a way that he can’t overlook. Then, Tyler wants to explore everything with Garrett. Garrett can’t believe he can have everything he’s always wanted, but he doesn’t want to push Tyler out of his comfort zone and wants to take it slow—though Tyler has other plans.

What happens next is a heated exploration between Tyler and Garrett. Once they get a taste of each other, they crave more, but they also want to explore their changing relationship because they both can see themselves being together forever. However, there is drama. The author hits the drama for just graduated high school students fairly well, as there is jealousy, backstabbing, and retaliation, and then the guys have to navigate telling their parents about their relationship.

This is the first book I have read from this author and I would be interested in checking out more of their work, especially if the MCs were a little older, but Simply Curious does hits the notes for young, heated love with complications.