Length: 50,000 word approx.
Cover Design: Natasha Snow
Underdogs Series
Blurb
---Years of loving in secret. Now the secret’s out.---
Mage. Reasonable. Mature. In love with his best friend’s little brother.
Dawn. Painfully shy. Crazy talented. An anxious cinnamon roll in need of protection.
Mage has always been Dawn’s hero. He’s been there for him when Dawn was bullied, when Dawn came out, and when he joined The Underdogs. He’s also been Dawn’s first and only love—painfully unrequited, since Mage is straight. But that’s only for the better, because they’re bandmates, and Dawn’s brother is Mage’s best friend.
It would all be too intense, too complicated, too real.
But then one drunken kiss proves Mage might not be as straight as he seemed, and their whole world turns upside down. Even though Dawn craves Mage’s love so much his heart could burst, his shyness stands in the way of any future they could share.
While they have to keep their budding relationship under wraps and they prepare to sign a major record deal, Dawn’s anxiety gets out of control. Mage will have to choose between the success he’s always craved and the love of his life.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
Themes: rock band, bandmates romance, older brother’s best friend, coming out, bisexuality, first love, anxiety, compromise, music, secret love
Genre: Contemporary M/M Rocker Romance
Heat level: sweet, explicit scenes
Length: ~50,000 words (Can be read as standalone, HEA)
3 Stars!
Dawn is fairly young and unbelievably shy. He suffers from some pretty serious anxiety yet doesn’t quite realize he needs help. He has become fairly dependent on his best friend and bandmate Mage to help ease his distress on a regular basis for the past 12 years and it’s becoming harder and harder to hide how he really feels for the man. Unfortunately, Mage is straight and the last thing Dawn wants to do is confess his feelings and jeopardize their friendship and the fate of the band.
Mage has always felt protective of Dawn and would do almost anything to make him happy. But what would happen to their friendship if he finally acted on his feelings for the younger man? Mage isn’t sure if it’s better to keep things the same or to move forward and stop pretending.
First, let me say I love K.A. Merikan. However, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s their darker stories that resonate with me as opposed to their more contemporary Romances. You. Forever. Always. was sweet, almost too sweet and for me, that just didn’t really work. Now, I will admit I haven’t read the previous two books in this series so I was a little behind on the whole backstory of the band and the characters. I might have been more invested in them had I gotten familiarized with everyone in the previous stories (neither were specifically about Mage and Dawn).
This book was kind of a slow burn, this is a friends to lovers story. While there are some obstacles the men face, for Dawn it’s his anxiety and social issues and for Mage, it’s his family, it’s not overflowing with angst. There isn’t much grit which left me a little disappointed and I wasn’t fully glued to the story. I wanted more I think.
Overall, this isn’t my favorite book by these authors but that’s on me. If you’re looking for sweet this one might just be the ticket.
***Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by the author/publisher for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.***
3.5 stars
Let me start this review by stating that I am a huge KA Merikan fan. I love how they are not afraid to go "all in" on taboo topics and themes. Their characters tend to be gritty, intense and full of drama. I understand their Underdogs series is meant to be kinder and gentler, but the previous books still had elements of their usual intensity and kink. Unfortunately, I found You, Forever, Always to be too vanilla.
Mage and Dawn, the MCs, were integral to the previous two books and a reader could see their love story building since Dusk and Lolly's book. Unfortunately, I found Dawn's shyness hard to relate to and Mage's challenges just not substantive enough. I'm used to gritty, intense scenes in KA Merikan books and this is the story of a virgin falling in love with his best friend who would wait for him forever - the drama of the book was predictable and quickly resolved.
I just could not sink my teeth into this one and it could just be my expectations of the authors.
*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***
K.A. Merikan are a team of writers who try not to suck at adulting, with some success. Always eager to explore the murky waters of the weird and wonderful, K.A. Merikan don’t follow fixed formulas and want each of their books to be a surprise for those who choose to hop on for the ride.
K.A. Merikan have a few sweeter M/M romances as well, but they specialize in the dark, dirty, and dangerous side of M/M, full of bikers, bad boys, mafiosi, and scorching hot romance.
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