Book 970: Heartthrob (Honeywood #1) – Noah Steele

OMG, ya’ll this is an author to keep an eye on. That’s not something I usually say when it comes to a self-published author I come across via Gay Romance Reviews.*

More often than not I’m complaining about the quality of either the story, the writing, or the editing (or all three or some combination), and don’t get me wrong there were a few issues with this one but Steele can definitely write and I’m already looking at his back catalog to see what I want to read next.

I honestly can’t remember why I decided to request this one. Sure the cover model is freakin’ hot, but there must’ve been something in the blurb that grabbed me, maybe the first love maybe the bisexual awakening, or maybe the college campus setting. Who knows, but I’m glad I took the chance.

‘It’s hot how into each other you are,’ he said, watching Clark and Gage have their own conversation as they rose from the grass and made their way over to us. ‘The way he looks at you is like some romance novel hero shit. Just in case you thought Clark might not feel the way you do. Which you did. Because I know you.’ (Chapter 17)

Heartthrob is the story of Leo and Clark. It’s a whirlwind romance of 3-weeks that goes from nice to meet you to I love you WAY too fast. I won’t go into my issues with that because I’ve covered that over and over again. Leo is the shy virgin poetry major with an outgoing cocky roommate that is going to get him laid; and Clark is the legacy, with rich parents, who is striving for independence as a photography major.

What really got me was Steele’s writing. It was so incredibly beautiful and poetic, and I’m not just talking about the actual poems. There were so many lyrical passages that you can luxuriate in that I took my time reading the book because the sentences were so well formed and balanced and the descriptions were superb. Steele did a decent job of balancing the crassness of male college students with the wistfulness of first love so sure there were quite a few mentions of balls and dick deep, but there were also incredibly stunning passages that made me hold my breath. The one description I had an issue with was that Steele revisited people chewing on straws three times and they all had the exact same description (the thin flat line). Either change it up or cut it. It stood out to me and I rolled my eyes the third time I saw it.

Then there was this passage and I felt so called out:

‘For most people, I’d say yes.’ he said. ‘But you? You’re Leo Yoshida. The guy who sniffles under the covers while reading BL Webtoons on your phone. The guy who spent hours staring at the ceiling in bed after that one epic line in WandaVision about love. Prince of Saps. King, even.’ (Chapter 9)

But I will say it’s been a while since I read any on my phone, I’m mostly sticking to completed stories in the library 😀

There were two issues with the novel. The first was the in medias res which was a little too abrupt for me. I had to read the first chapter twice because I had no idea who was who or what in the world was going on. There were a couple of other spots in the book that were a little confusing timing-wise and character-wise, like why introduce the potential drama with the parents and then the coming out via text video but then not have any follow-up, not even an acknowledgment they were cool with his bisexuality and major in the epilogue? Just a missed opportunity and a storyline left open.

The second was the bait-and-switch with a verse character which is one of my BIGGEST pet peeves when it comes to MM romance.

My heart beat faster the harder I got thinking about being balls-deep inside him, but I wanted to feel him inside me, too. (Chapter 14)

After reading that line I held out until the Epilogue and halfway through it that Clark would actually be a verse character, but NOPE nothing. Don’t talk the talk unless you’re going to walk the walk. Don’t get me wrong the sex scenes were done and Steele struck a great balance between intense and erotic with sensitive and sensual, but I was very disappointed that even with the unnecessary epilogue he never followed through on the tease.

Recommendation: 100% read if you like sensual low-drama romances. There were a couple of issues, but the writing more than made up for them. This was one of those books that you will want to luxuriate in as you read. Steele’s writing is poetic and you can easily get lost in it. I hope this one isn’t an outlier, because if it is you will hear about it from me.

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

Opening Line: “We’re gonna get you dicked down at this party tonight.”

Closing Line: “Everything we need is right here.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)