Book 877: Twice in a Lifetime (Sheltered Connections #1) – R.M. Neill

Another ARC, another gamble. After reading the blurb on this one with two characters with emotional baggage and growing together out of their traumatic pasts, I requested a copy.*

What I didn’t realize was that the entire book was going to take place in roughly a week, which is one of my biggest pet peeves. Forewarning, my response is going to sound a lot more negative than it is, but it’s because Neill has a lot of potential I think she just missed the mark by just a smidge on SO. MANY. THINGS. in this book. One reviewer on Goodreads went so far as to say, “DNF. The only interesting thigs in this book were the conversations Micha had with the dogs he groomed.” While I agree with this, I wouldn’t go quite that far, but it was  a definite miss for me.

Reading the book I had three major problems with it:

The BIGGEST issue by far was the stilted dialogue (see long quote below) and writing in general. Neill really could do with repeating the mantra “show don’t tell” over and over again until it becomes second nature. And if she doesn’t want to do that she should at the very least have two people read out the dialogue to each other because IT. WAS. BAD. I’ve read worse, 100x worse, but what should’ve been fun and easy banter (or emotional and tumultuous conversations) were stilted or painful. She either never found the voices of the characters or treated them as if they were robots: I speak, you speak. I describe something, you repeat it, we agree and move to the next planned conversation. Seriously, it was rough and almost enough to make me abandon the story completely.

‘You going to eat some with me, or did you eat already?’
‘I can eat with you. I left the clinic late so I’m actually pretty hungry.’
I take an extra plate down and we squeeze into my two seater table to dig in.
”So why were you at work so late? Everything okay?’
Travis shrugs. ‘Ya, its fine. The possible new vet showed up late for a tour, and we stayed back chatting.’
‘And? Is it a good or bad thing? Don’t leave me hanging, Trav.’
‘Eh, it’s probably a good thing. Jury’s still out.’
I fork some meatloaf in my mouth, and it melts on my tongue. I moan. It’s seriously like sex for your taste buds.
‘Mic, you need to stop moaning around food when you eat. That kind of shit can get you in trouble.’ He peers over his for at me. ‘So what’s going on? You’re not your usual sparking self. What happened?’
‘Damn, am I that easy to read?’
‘For the people close to you, yes. So, what had me brining comfort food over and an SOS call from my best friend?’
‘Well, I told you I was meeting with a possible adopter for Maggie, right?’
”Yes! That was tonight! OMG, she’s gone now and you’re sad. That’s it, right? Oh, sugar,’ Travis squeezes out of his space and tries to hug me, but I swat him away.
‘Would you sit down you big oaf! That’s not quite the whole problem.’ (Chapter  8)

The second issue I had was with the sex scenes. The first one was okay, it was supposed to be a quickie that led to them falling asleep in each other’s arms, but the next two were also quickies that really only took 1-2 paragraphs at most and that was frustrating (and NOT in a gratifying way). Aside from some logistics in one of the scenes, I mean theoretically it could work, they panned out the same each time and if you graphed them they wouldn’t even be an upside down “V”, they’d almost be a straight up down line because of how quickly they happened. I would rather Neill have faded to black or cut-to-curtains/open window than have the lack-luster scenes she did have.

The final issue, and most annoying by far for me, was the time frame of the book. I get it, romances are whirlwind and fast, but this one was over-the-top almost impossible to believe. Dominic has been mourning his wife, who died of cancer, for two years. He meets Micha, whose been morning the loss of his family and what he thought was his forever relationship, because homophobia. And yet when they meet, they’re sleeping together by day three (the most believable part) and then Dom is coming out to his wife’s family and they’re confessing love to each other by the end of the week. I mean WHOA, slow the ‘f down. Neill also seemed to have some issues with transitioning between time and the dual narrative as I wasn’t sure what was happening when some moments and there were definitely abrupt subject/time changes that happened in not great ways. This may just be a personal preference, so even though it was the biggest issue for me, it may be a whatever for most people.

All of this being said, it wasn’t a horrible book. The story premise was sound. Dominic and Micha were both believable characters and there were super sweet moments (the lunchbox . . . SWOON, the movie under the stars . . . SWOON) and there were hints of who future stories will be about which I always adore. But they weren’t enough to make up for the three issues above that really pulled me out of the story or even on some occasions prevented me from even being a part of the story. Completely honesty, I probably would’ve DNF’d if I didn’t read so fast.

Recommendation: It’s a pass for me. The idea and the characters were sound, but the execution left a lot to be desired. Neill seemed to struggle with dialogue, timing (both plot and dialogue), and the sex scenes were frustrating (and not in the gratifying way. The best thing Neill could do is to read all dialogue out loud, expand the timing of the story to provide some breathing room, and honestly, cut to curtains and write a relatively clean romance because the story might’ve been better without the sex scenes. I’m glad I didn’t take the time to seek out The Perfect Pass, which she mentions in the foreword as establishing some of these characters. If I had and it was written in a similar style, I might’ve abandoned reading this one before starting. I doubt I’ll seek out the next book in the series or other works by Neill, but never-say-never.

*I received a copy of Twice in a Lifetime via Gay Romance Reviews in return for my honest opinion. No goods or money were exchanged.

Opening Line: “The doorbell bongs as I enter the Screaming Bean, my best friend’s coffee shop and bakery.”

Closing Line: “Of course, it’s yes. How could I ever say no to you?” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional Quotes from Twice in a Lifetime
“Two years ago, I was homeless, jobless and wondering if life was even worth living. Now I have a place to call home, I own a business and I’m back to being my usual confident self. Mostly. Fuck you very much, to the people that were supposed to love me unconditionally and didn’t think I’d amount to anything. Look at me now bitches.” (Chapter 2)

“While I’d personally never been with a man, I had many friends in college that had. I had never waded into that scene because Jenny was my high school sweetheart, and I was in love. I knew Owen had been with men though, and while he also had girlfriends, he never gave himself a label. Sexual orientation in our crows was never a big deal. We viewed a partner as someone who had qualities we liked as well as being attracted to on a physical level. It was never anything more than that to us. We were a liberal crows and found no reason to ever make a big deal out of it.” (Chapter 7)