I came across this while perusing NetGalley looking for new MM Romance authors to expand my repertoire and diversity reading.*
Not going to lie though, I mostly chose this one because of the illustrated cover’s whimsical balloon and because I thought the author was a man! I’ve only read a few MM Romances by men, but when I finished the novel I found out Jayce was a woman, which didn’t affect my opinions but was like DAMN.
I did love the quote in her bio though,
Jayce writes about people a bit like her, Black and queer and striving to find the good in a world fixated on the bad. She prefers her angst low and her characters hot—a term encompassing all shapes, sizes, and complexions.
I’m here for it and hope she continues to write! (This isn’t her first novel, just the first I discovered.)
If You Love Something is the story of DeShawn and Malik. It’s their second chance at love after believing to have gotten divorced seven years prior. DeShawn’s grandmother is the puppeteer and she was a great character and every scene with her in it shone brighter than the rest.
Ellis did a great job of writing DeShawn and Malik as hopeful, yet guardedly cautious when it came to the other. They didn’t divorce because of irreconcilable differences, but because Malik was closeted and DeShawn’s star was rising rapidly in the cooking world and it nearly destroyed them individually because they only agreed to it to keep the other one happy/safe/successful.
Well a lot happens in seven years and DeShawn is even more famous, Malik is now out to his family, and grandma lets them know they’re not actually divorced due to a technicality and they’re going to have to play house to fend off her fool of a son, Robert, who wants her money and property to pay off gambling debts.
They move in and after walking on eggshells start to reach their stride. I loved the dogs forcing them to figure out their shit faster than they would have. And they slowly fall into a routine and back in love with each other. The sex scenes were slow, well-paced, and incredibly sensual. There was one that was heavier and hotter than the others, but boy did Ellis time that one perfectly in the work.
Overall, I felt Ellis wasn’t lying when she said she liked her romance’s low-angst. The main crisis was Robert suing Malik for the inheritance and DeShawn figuring out how to quit being a fool and give Malik the support and love he deserves. Other than that they fall back in love, renew their vows before grandma passes and live HEA.
I don’t have any complaints about the story or Ellis, but If I do have one about the publisher’s ARC copy uploaded to NetGalley. I’m used to the ARCs being a little further along in the process when it comes to editing and proofreading, but this one had SO MANY ERRORS. I truly hope there were a couple more rounds of proofreading before it got published because, I’m honestly not sure it’d even been through the proofreading process once, let alone for final publication.
Recommendation: I thoroughly enjoyed this one! Ellis did a great job of writing a low-angst steamy romance with characters I don’t usually read in a distinct voice. She really excelled with all the minor characters (Sheila and Maribel, in addition to grandma stand out) and that always makes a novel better for me.
*I received a copy of If You Love Something via NetGalley in return for my honest opinion. No goods or money were exchanged.
Opening Line: “The faint strains of a familiar tune wafting in from the front of the restaurant made me pause my usual hurried pace at my office.”
Closing Line: “I huffed. Would you look at that? Grandma was right.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)