Hotter Than Ever, Elle Kennedy

This book wasn't for me. I'm near the target demo. I'm in sight of the target demo. This author was one of the authors of "Him" and "Us," two of my very favorite romance novels. I can tell why this novel was great for what it is. It just wasn't for me.

So: Claire is jilted at the altar by her cartoonishly uptight husband, who proceeds to go on the honeymoon without her. His brother Dylan, whom Claire has never liked, takes her home with him for a few days so she can get a break from all the sympathy. Dylan, who is a SEAL, is shockingly hot; so his his "roommate," Aidan, who is in Navy intelligence. Claire, who is also stunningly gorgeous -- even without makeup!! -- realizes the two guys are actually together, but they tell her they bring home women all the time, because they're bi and can't live without pussy. (They say so.)

Guess what happens?

You know what happens.

If what you want is a lot of very explicit sex scenes, including m/m, threesomes, dirty talk, and a lot of the word "sexy juices" then this book is for you. There isn't a ton of plot; Claire isn't sure she's a threesome kind of girl, but it turns out she is. Her parents disapprove. Her cartoonishly evil ex tries to ruin things. Love triumphs.

For me, there wasn't enough character (all three of them are mostly described as "sexy"; we know Aidan has secret sadness but he immediately tells Claire what it is; Dylan turns out not to be a bad guy after all) and there was no angst or pining, two things I require in romance. I'm a lot more interested in the build up to the fucking than the actual fucking itself. I want complicated feelings and misery. (Misery is pretty key for me.) This is a straightforward story about threesomes and the beautiful, sexy people who have them. So close, but not quite what I wanted.

But if you haven't read Him or Us by Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen, for god's sake go do it. M/M hockey romance that is flat-out amazing.

Grade: C
#68 in 2016

Us, Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

!!!!!!

This is a sequel to Him, a book I love in spite of it being a) about hockey players b) written in the present tense d) written in the first person and c) switching POV every chapter or so. Those three things should have knocked it off my to-read but someone gifted it to me, and I was on vacation with no internet, so I read it, and I loved it. And now the sequel is out, and it is EVEN! BETTER!

I mean, it seems like it was designed just for me. First, it's about two guys trying to figure out how to be in love and live their lives and communicate about stuff like money and job stress. I will read that story every time -- I always wish romance novels would go on a few months after the happily ever after. And THEN there are major plots about the stress of coming out, about a famous person dating a not-famous person, AND someone gets terribly sick and needs to go to the hospital and be looked after. This book was coming after every trope I, personally, love.

Other things I love: Jaime's family, Wes's team, Jaime's hockey players, Jaime's repeated reminders to everyone that he's bisexual, not gay. And the sex is hot. Just a delight from start to finish -- I was supposed to go shopping and instead I sat in a Chipotle for an hour and finished the book.

Grade: A

#20 in 2016