Meh.
This one just didn’t do it for me as well as the others so far from the Dreamspun Desires imprint of Dreamspinner Press. I don’t think it was Flores’ writing style. It could be because he’s a man and the other were women. Or it could be because I didn’t particularly care for either of the protagonists.
I grabbed this one because of the Las Vegas setting and the cutie on the cover. I didn’t realize that he had that goofy look on his face (stupid small photos on hoopla) or I might’ve second guessed it.
When I compare this one to The Senator’s Secret, I was underwhelmed. Rather than a state senator, you have a national senator in Julian Canales, and instead of a hard working PhD candidate and active political volunteer, you have former frat boy who doesn’t really want to grow up, Cody Hayes.
“Since his groom wasn’t interested in playful morning banter, Cody took it upon himself to survey the body the State of Nevada had recently declared all his. No wonder he put a ring on it. Julian was smoking hot, even with his face shoved inside the porcelain god.” (7)
The story starts the night after Julian and Cody get married in a Las Vegas chapel after meeting the night before. The first third is flashing back to the night before where they got to know each other, the second third is their no-sex let’s see if we can live with each other as we get to know each other better and stick to our no-falling-in-love rule, and the final third is “uh oh we had sex again” and are falling in love with each other what do we do?”
Most of the book is based on the premise that both Julian and Cody want to get married but don’t want love. Both their mothers were not great at it and they saw what it did to them, and Cody had his heart broken previously. The idea is an interesting one, but for these two characters it just didn’t work for me.
I will say there were some humorous moments and some that were cringe-worthy (but still funny) like this one,
“Cody cradles his groin. ‘I think Bruce Boner has suffered enough torment for today.’
‘No, not that. I was talking about—wait. Bruce boner? That’s really what you call it?’
‘Only when he’s sleeping,’ he whispered, cradling his junk as if it were the most precious object in the world. ‘But when he’s awake, he grows four times his size and becomes the Incredible Bulk.'” (85)
The main reason this one was hilarious to me is that as part of the coronavirus stay-at-home I decided to re-watch all the MCU movies, so of course the fact some frat boy has named his penis after The Hulk was going to make me giggle.
And, because this is a romance novel we all know going into it there’s going to be a happily-ever-after or a happy-for-now ending. So that means Julian and Cody will both overcome their “no love requirement” for a successful relationship and fall madly in love.
”Being with you broke all the rules I ever made for my life. I became someone different, someone better, someone who can’t live without you. I want you to be my friend, Cody. I want you in my bed every damn day of my life. I want to grow old with you. I want to share my life with you because—’ He fell to one knee, slipping Cody’s wedding ring out of his pocket. ‘Because I love you, and I’m asking you to please, please, be my husband for now and for as long as we both shall live.'” (264)
And they do, and that part is really well written, but it felt very abrupt to me! I’m not sure if I’ve just gotten used to the other Dreamspun Desires books having epilogues that give me a bit more closure, but this one just sort of ended with me unsatisfied. I didn’t necessarily want more, but I did want a nice big bow to wrap up the story like the others had.
Recommendation: Like most of the MM Romances I’ve read, this was a fun read. It was quite as quick as the others, I think that’s Flores’ writing style though (and the story for me). I wasn’t the biggest fan of the protagonists, but I can see where some people would find them loveable. This is a little less lovey-dovey and a little cruder male humor than some of the others I read recently so take that into consideration.
Opening Line: “Cody Hayes had had some epic hangovers in his life.”
Closing Line: “And Cody knew that was the truth.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)
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