Tropes: failed one night stand, opposites attract, found family
Feels: 3.5/5
Steam*: 3.5/5
Kinks: not particularly kinky, but steamy
Angst: low
HEA: yes
Pairing: MM
Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: murder, violence, criminal MC, conversion therapy, past rape of MC, poverty, sex work, religious trauma, homophobia, abusive parent, cult, ptsd, unsafe sex
3.5 stars
Angel is 23. He is very close to his twin brother Demon and he's part of a motorcycle club. He's lived in poverty and had to do sex work to survive. Things are better now but he's still pretty poor. He is a professional thief but I don't think they intend to steal for long, they want a couple big scores, but they aren't greedy. He also streams as a camboy and gamer to make extra cash. He meets Hollywood actor Tokyo at a club and goes home with him for a one night stand. The sex is so good they want repeats, and become fuck buddies.
Tokyo has an image to maintain. His father is a religious cult leader and he works in Hollywood as an actor. He started off as a child actor and is now getting big action movie roles. He's always been gay but his father has put him through conversion therapy multiple times and really messed with him. Tokyo can't trust anybody, yeah strict rules with his hookups and does ndas. What he has with Angel is something special and he finds himself going back for more and more willing to risk things to be with him.
This was a pretty good story. It was less focused on motorcycle club / Mafia life, which I don't know whether I liked or not, I'm undecided LOL. The characters were complex. There was a lot of plot going on. I like The supporting cast of background characters. Nia was a fresh addition, love a great female character. Angel and Tokyo had an intense connection and I liked the reluctant feelings sneaking in to their relationship. I have a thing where I don't like unequal relationships and power dynamics, so I actually love the micro trope of we're just hooking up and feelings creep in equally at the same time for both of them.
I'm curious about Angel's twin brother Demon, he sounds like a quirky character, I'd like to see his book.
There were some things that I didn't like, mostly mild annoyances:
- Why did the authors to have Tokyo name himself Tokyo? The character sounded like a white man to me, so him picking this name didn't sit well with me. It was like fetishism, appropriating a name to be edgy, a type of racism.
- After Tokyo and Angel hook up for the first time, why did the authors choose to have Tokyo be an ass and say that he had a line of people waiting to be next? It was so unnecessary. It later seemed out of character too and it served no purpose but to piss off the reader.
- There were a fair number of typos where the wrong word was used. Sometimes I knew what the right word was (e.g. seethed should have been sheathed) but other times I couldn't figure out what the author actually meant to say, I just knew that based on the meaning of the word there was no way it was the right word.
- I think the authors waited too long to have Tokyo find out deep things about Angel, like what he does for a living, his past, his role/family in the motorcycle club. It wasn't until after the 60% mark, which is too far along in the book for Tokyo to only know superficial things about Angel. Yeah, some of Angel's personality and values are conveyed via moments Angel and Tokyo had, but there's a lot more to be conveyed. Angel is a complex person who's been through a lot. It just makes their connection seem fragile and the feelings that they've developed so far seem inconsequential because Tokyo doesn't really know Angel as a person. And Angel hasn't trusted Tokyo enough to share.
Overall though it was a pleasant read. I've enjoyed a lot of books by these authors. They write really engaging stories. It just wasn't without imperfections.
Some notable moments:
Cackle. I love how legit ashamed Angel is of hooking up with Tokyo, way to take Tokyo's ego down a peg. ""You really do know him," Demon said, a frown forming on his lips. "How?" "The, uh." I rubbed the back of my neck. "You know, he's the guy. The one I hooked up with." "Shit, this pretty boy?" "I know." I sighed."
"“Were you dreaming about me?” I asked. “Sure did.” Angel’s answer made me stop in my tracks. I’d expected him to say no or make fun of me for even suggesting it. “Really?” “Yeah, you were being fucked by the easter bunny. You know, I think you could pull off blue skin, you know, like a smurf.” My mouth opened and closed. “You had a dream about me.” “That’s what you want to focus on, not that you were being mounted by a giant pink bunny?”"
""Sorry about that," I said sheepishly. "Which part? The one where you went completely off script and basically said yeet to all of my careful plans or making out with your boyfriend like a horny teenager?" She glanced our way for a single second before she was focused back on her screens. “I’m only mildly upset and kind of proud of you, for one.”"
*FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink.
**Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers.