Picking up where Idol Moves drops off with a massive cliffhanger, we find ourselves with Jason and Tae Hyun once more as their relationship evolves, Tae Hyun’s fame increases—along with scandal, and Jason’s responsibilities become even more of a burden.
After the mental hurdle I had to overcome with the second book being a continuation of the same story and not another couple within the same series, this one went by a little quicker. It’s funny, I usually gripe about how fast MM Romance (and the romance genre in general) are so unrealistically fast, that I’m now complaining about a story being spread over three novels. If I look at it objectively, however, Salvo did exactly what he said he was going to do. He basically wrote three seasons of a K-drama and I can’t fault him for that.
For me, the story could’ve ended after Idol Minds, and been a wonderful standalone novel, but there were definitely gems throughout the second and third novel and getting to see more of the minor characters develop over the longer story timeline definitely added to the overall story in this final book in the series.
Jason nodded, understanding how she felt. A year ago, he would’ve felt the same way. But his immersion in the K-pop universe had taught him that a lot of darkness often lurked beneath the glitz and glamor. (280)
The second and third books moved away from MM Romance and were more thriller and family saga/corporate scandal respectively, with a side of romance spread throughout. The third one worked better for me, I think because it was more intrigue than drama. Of course there were major moments of drama for both Tae Hyun—how dare you kiss him!—and Jason—WTF actually happened and F*CK YEAH Naomi, take names and kick ass—but they weren’t the over the top drama that it felt like Idol Moves had. All of this being said, the amount of details that Salvo probably left is unbelievable. The third novel could have been three separate books, if not four.
By far, my favorite part of this one was the wedding. We knew it was coming and we knew it would be either the biggest FU to all the haters or the most beautiful private ceremony ever; and it was. I won’t tell you which, but it was the perfect denouement of the series and the best happily ever after. For real though, I didn’t even care about some loose ends about the billions and the tour and their future. I was just left grinning like a total crazy person.
Recommendation: Definitely read if you’er a fan of K-dramas. If you’re solely a fan of MM Romance, maybe read the first one and if you’re super invested in Jason and Tae Hyun after that, then commit to reading the other two. They are a bit of a slog to get through, mostly because there is so much in them, but they are all well written and wrap up neatly which is all you can really ask for in a book/trilogy. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for more from Salvo in the future and cross my fingers he dips his toes into a traditional MM Romance series with different characters in each novel. I feel like he could really make one of those work.
Opening Line: “Jason braced himself against his father’s marble-topped mahogany desk, his finger tightening around its edge.”
Closing Line: “Hand in hand, heart to heart, bound by a love that had weathered storms and emerged stronger, brighter, and more radiant than ever before.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)
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When the publisher reached out to me with a copy of this, I went back and forth on whether to accept.* I was still making my way through the first in the series and it was a bit of a slog, but as I neared the end I found myself really enjoying that one and wanted to know what happened so I grabbed a digital copy of it—but for real go look at the physical copy . . . I mean those green edges are GORGEOUS!
This was one of those that almost didn’t happen. Not because of anything particular in the book, even though it does start off pretty slow.
The final book I completed in 2024. There might’ve been one more between this and the last one, I honestly can’t remember anymore.
“I wish I knew how to quit you.” I use that line from Brokeback Mountain somewhat facetiously but also as a WTAF draws me back to this book because I will 100% read it again, probably in less than 6 months.