Books

Book 1,056: Idol Lives (Idol Romance #3) – K.T. Salvo

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.)

ARC, Books

Book 950: Kaleidoscope – Cecily Wong

When someone from the publisher reached out about Kaleidoscope, this line caught me: “This book is heart-wrenching and hopeful and the characters truly shine on the page. It’s one of those books where I wish I could read it again for the first time all over again. And I’m so happy that you get to.”

And I downloaded a copy almost immediately, but of course sat on it for a few months, allowing me to forget about the blurb and the subject and go into this completely blind.*  This approach, if you’ve followed me for a while, sometimes works for me and sometimes it doesn’t. This time it sort of worked mostly because the intro was a little abrupt and different from the rest of the story, but that’s on me, not the author.

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Book 837: Fifty Words for Rain – Asha Lemmie

I feel hollow after finishing this book—I’m not sure emotionally drained is the right word because I feel like I have so many emotions going on that they’ve just forced each other out and there’s just nothing.  And when you take in that this is a debut novel, damn.

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it’s been on my radar since the publisher reached out last year when it was first published but I didn’t get to it until the paperback was recently released.* I really should’ve prioritized it from back then because I feel like Dutton never steers me wrong looking at the books I’ve read from them.

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Books

Book 632: My Brother’s Husband, Volume 2 – Gengoroh Tagame

My Brother’s Husband, Volume 2, if possible, is even more perfect than Volume 1. We pick up with the story where Yatchi is continuing to digest what it must be like for LGBTQ+ individuals to come out and not be accepted. He’s internalizing everything and applying it to his own relationship with his daughter.

As Yatchi is doing he comes to the realization that he may not have fully accepted his twin’s sexuality. He finally acknowledges that they grew apart and that it wasn’t Ryoji’s growing distant and physically moving to Canada, but that he became distant with his twin as soon as he came out.

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Books

Book 631: My Brother’s Husband, Volume 1 – Gengoroh Tagame

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this one with my only previous interaction with Gengoroh Tagame being through the book Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It. Was this going to be a super hot and heavy x-rated story? Was it going to be all about bulges and beefcakes? I mean look at the cover Yaichi and Mike are stacked.

I would’ve read it either way after some of the other super intense definitely x-rated manga I’ve read over the past few years. I was pleasantly surprised that this story is designed less for the erotica fans of Gengoroh Tagame, than for the general population that might like manga but might not understand LGBTQ+ individuals or even be homophobic (which I would’ve known if I read the blurb).

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