And this is what I get when I don’t read the blurb on the back cover—a much kinker romance than I was expecting ¯_(ツ)_/¯. I figured out who the protagonists would be pretty quickly in book one, Trust with a Chaser, but I 100% missed it’d be this kinky if there were any hints!
I do love that Albert likes to spice things up every now and then and that it doesn’t change her character-driven slow-burn romances, so really even if it just pushes me outside of my normal comfort zones I’m here for it.
Tender with a Twist finds us returning to Rainbow Cove, a small town on the Oregon coast trying to find a way to renew tourism interest and at the forefront is the local pub purchased by Mason (Trust with a Chaser), Logan (Tender with a Twist), and Adam (Hope on the Rocks) two of which grew up in the area and the third a friend from culinary school. This doesn’t include the novella/random side story Lumber Jacked, which features John, a connection to Curtis, we meet in this book.
I adored Mason and Nash’s story in book one and was looking forward to finishing the series out quickly (why not right!?), but as I said at the top I wasn’t quite prepared for how kinky this one got! Looking back you can sort of see it coming with how “crazy” the woodcarver Curtis is and the hints about a leather night toward the end of the first book, but still caught me a little off guard.
. . . that’s the age we were getting to be now, somewhere between forty and death. (8)
I feel like I’m rapidly approaching the December part of the May-December romance and I’m not mad at it, just more like damn I’m not the hot young thing (even if I call Tim my Mr. December, he’s four-ish years older than me) in these novels any more 😀
This is very much a second chance romance in the vein of a lost lover and finding a new passion. Albert did a great job of writing Curtis’s warring feelings of mourning his deceased husband and slowly finding joy and coming to depend on Logan, a young whippersnapper with money from the city. And it wasn’t all just give on Curtis’s part, he taught Logan to learn how to be himself and truly come into his Dom abilities from how he dressed and spoke to how they interacted in the bedroom.
Life’s too damn short to not go all in on who you are. (85)
I appreciated the low angst of this novel with the main crises being internal struggles and one point where Logan has to finally stand up and declare that he’s an adult to his parents and tell them to butt out (he’s 27).
Albert continues to write novels that oscillate between super sweet, hot as hell, and swoonworthy-OMG-yes:
‘You go on now, and you think on that.’ She pointed at the door again. ‘You can’t catch lightning twice.’
But I did. I thought hard as I walked slowly to the truck. No. Not lightning. Sunbeams. I’d held two suns between my hands, the first fiery and giant and awe-inspiring, almost too much to hold onto, the second bright and cheerful and warm, exactly what I’d needed in this dreary winter of my life. And in my grief, I’d forgotten one vital detail—spring always follows winter. New growth. New chances. And Logan had the potential to be my life’s spring, if only I’d let him. (252)
So much of this comes from her ability to find the balance between the humor, the hot and heavy sex scenes, and the super touchy-feely romantic moments that if they were off by even a little would be disgustingly sweet.
Recommendation: I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It was a lot kinkier than expected, which isn’t a bad thing, but it wasn’t what I was geared up for after the first book. Logan and Curtis were both great protagonists and I was so glad to see the older character really having to grow, whereas I think so many May-December romances force the younger character to mature faster and catch up to the older character and this one had a really nice balance of give and take when it came to growth for the two protagonists.
Opening Line: “The crazy woodcarver was shirtless.”
Closing Line: “We were going to build a life together, log by log, bolt by bolt, meal by meal, season by season. And I couldn’t wait.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)
Additional Quotes from Tender with a Twist
“Pessimism seemed to be my default now, the tattered blanket I wrapped myself in when the world met my low expectations.” (31)
“‘Can’t go getting dependent. Soft. I don’t want to start needing something only to have it ripped away,’ I admitted. I’d never said that aloud to another soul before, and admitting the fear had me feeling like the air temperature dropped twenty degrees.” (124)
“For all that I loved kink, I loved that we could be vanilla sometimes, too, enjoy each other’s company that way.” (172)
“He was everything I hadn’t let myself acknowledge missing, let alone needing, but I did. Tightly locked, hidden places inside my soul soaked in his attention, barren soil that had stopped even waiting for rain. I might not know what to do with the emotions rolling around in my chest, but all I knew was that I was no longer strong enough to shove Logan away.” (198)
“Oh, I did not like the sound of this.
‘We can talk now.’
‘No. You need rest. And your parents—’
‘Can damn well wait.’
‘They mean well. They love you.’ His eyes were heavy and sad.
‘They told you to stay away from me, didn’t they?’
‘They’re right,’ he whispered. ‘I should. But we can talk—’
‘Right now. Curtis, are you seriously breaking up with me just because I got hurt and that scared you?’ He took forever to answer.
‘I’m not sure there’s really anything to break up.”
And with that, my heart shattered, and I dropped his hand. He had another think coming if he thought I was letting him get away with this.” (231)
“‘Yes. I’m yours. Your sub. Your man.’ Curtis’s eyes finally fluttered shut, but not before I saw the emotion shining there. My man. It felt like I’d waited forever for him to see himself that way. I wanted that so badly, wanted to believe that he was mine, really mine. My heart. My soul. My man.” (267)