Under Construction

by Juliet M. Dixon

Dennis Kim didn't become a rising star architect by playing it safe. His innovative sustainable design could revolutionize the industry—if he can just keep a crew long enough to build it.

Too bad the only person capable of bringing his vision to life is also the most infuriating man he's ever met.

Chris Rhodes is brilliant at his job, annoyingly good-looking, and seems to live for making Dennis's blood pressure spike. For someone who claims he's never worked with anyone so stuck-up and theoretical, Chris certainly spends a lot of time poking holes in Dennis's designs—and Dennis only seems to make mistakes when those dimples are watching.

When a trapped kitten and one perfectly landed punch change everything between them, Dennis discovers Chris's antagonism might be hiding something far more complicated.

As their professional rivalry evolves into dangerous attraction, Dennis finds himself falling for a man whose secrets could destroy everything he's built. But the harder he falls, the more Chris pulls away.

Some foundations aren't meant to last. And some secrets are better left buried.

A super steamy enemies-to-lovers gay-for-you romance

A perfectionist architect with a mean right hookA site manager who makes "safety inspections" sound dirtyWorkplace tension that definitely violates building codesAnd the kitten that changed everything

Genres: M M Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Contemporary, LGBT, Romance, Erotica, Workplace

512 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 20, 2025

Reviews

[mirra kushh · Rating 5 out of 5]

re reddit : I just finished last night, where they're both straight or at least thought they were until they become ridiculously, insanely, obsessed with each other. It's nuts how obsessed they get 😵‍💫 it's soooooo hot I couldn't believe it lol! Their break up is more a "trying to stop the world from pulling us apart" situation.

This book rewired my brain so much that I’m legit not sure I want to read another book that isn’t like it to the T! 😭 I loved Dennis and Chris so muchhhhh. And their chemistry was so electrifying…. It’s literally just letters on a page and I can see them so clearly! Felt like I was interrupting during some moments I swear 🤣🤣

tbr

[Hazel M Bear · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
The first few chapters were so infuriating, I just hated Chirs. But then it got better. Adorably so. And the spice was 🔥. It was just so good and kept getting better. The end wasn't as good in a way. I think I was reading to fast and didn't quite "get" what the plans were? And I wanted more time with them at the end and it felt a bit rushed. Still, only losing a half star for that because otherwise this was a great read.

[For the Weekend · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is underrated. I love that the sex is so intense, but I love the relationship development even more. It wasn't always smooth sailing for Chris and Dennis but these two deserve their very happy ending.

[Aquila T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t want this book to end! Every thing about this story checked off all my likes when it comes to reading romance and I’m not just talking about the love scenes that damn near melted my panties off. I loved their intimacy and their growth separately, but also together. Dennis and Chris are going to stick with me for quite awhile.

[Rhysluvr1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really well written but 3rd person writing always confuses me in romance books

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a daytime soap opera, somehow three books in one, but I couldn’t stop reading. Very rough start where I haaaated Chris, but then that “book” ends and we start the erotica/romance part and that was pretty damn good. I did skim a bit. Then we end with a third book which was a thriller! Very bizarre, but like I said, couldn’t stop reading lol.

[Lynchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vibes were great, could’ve been a 5* read for me if the ending hadn’t gotten a bit ridiculous.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remember the good old days when you'd happen upon an absolute gem of a "slash" fanfiction that's so perfect, so well written, exactly what you dream of finding after hours of searching? That's this book.

The writing style actually really reminds me of a lot of the best fanfics I've read, the ones where you're like, ooo yeah, this author should be published, but more than that this book covers a lot of my bases.

Let me break down what made it amazing for me:

1.) Well placed pet names.

I adore a good, well placed "baby". This book? An oasis of "baby". A veritable MECCA of pet names. The MCs both use them, one more than the other, but most importantly the author, who I'm convinced is plugged into my brain, uses the pet names to "show not tell" emotions/vulnerability/changes that the MCs are feeling. Ugh! So good.

2.) Spice

Along that same vein, the spice in this book is PLENTIFUL. However I'm a picky bitch, especially about spice and definitely about excessive spice. But this book, y'all. The author uses the sex scenes to show not tell as well. Did I sometimes wish they would just talk? Yes. However, it wasn't to the point of irritation like I've had in other books. Think similar tonThe Long Game and Heated Rivalry, the sex is plentiful, but it also tells the story, it's not like a break or an interlude it's APART of their relationship and the story of their growth. This is sex used to show the reader the characters developing in the relationship, in themselves, etc.

And a sub point: there is SO MUCH PREP. Every couple of minutes I'd think of that TikTok creator who made a video about how there needs to be more rimming in MM romance and giggle cause this book understood the assignment. And it's honestly not about reading sex scenes, it's about how much love and adoration these MCs have for each other. It makes it more real. I'd go into more detail but just know, this book is kinky and fabulous and GOOD.

3.) Dennis

I'll stop after this because I can talk about this book till I'm blue in the face. Dennis coming into his own, feeling empowered about what he wants, finding who HE is through his relationship with Chris and the relentless way Chris (who is a little unhinged and a lot lovely and tender) loves him? Ugh!! This author slayed me with that.

(Sidebar: Because I'm not Japanese or Korean but was raised in a place with a high population of both, I won't speak to the authenticity of Dennis' family experience, however from what I heard from my friends who were, I felt it was pretty solid.)

Every single time Dennis relinquished a little more of himself to Chris and Chris took such sweet care of his vulnerability? My heart ached. It's rare a book hits all these spots with abundance. This book is 500 pages. I was so happy.

In conclusion:

This was a love story, it unfolded so beautifully. Relationship angst that I was expecting was not there. It was about two men just finding a connection, falling in love, dealing with a couple issues they didn't sort because they were too buys falling in love, and a happy ending.

There is a third act break up but not a bad one and not stupid. The whole thing with Chris is a little dramatic but ultimately still loved it because it gave Dennis space to be the one making the first moves and being the caretaker and I really appreciated the purpose of that and the continued development of their relationship.

Read. This. Book. I left it in my Kindle library for like a month, saw a review here, immediately read it and lived my best life for two days straight.

[Val MM · Rating 1 out of 5]

What- and I cannot emphasize this enough- the f*ck did I just read? This was such a normal story for 60% and then just goes batshit crazy. Private investigators, kidnapping, corporate espionage, murder, oh and someone comes back from the dead….. Please save yourself the headache that comes from this one.

[Lyn Solomon-Linville · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book put my patience to the test. I almost DNF'd but hung in there because the MCs were interesting. And then like the sun after the storm it lit up the story and became really good. The plot became brilliant, the plan coming together, the results were very gratifying and the epilogue very good. I loved the relationship between Dennis and Chris especially as the book simmered down. The found family very gratifying.

[Reading_mania · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Daje1968]

I might come back to it, but I am just not feeling the writing style at the moment. I generally enjoy 3rd person POV, it usually feels a bit more sophisticated, but this reads like chick lit (are we still allowed to call it that?) I realize this is the pot calling the kettle black because all I read is trashy mm romance, but I just don’t have an appreciation for super simplistic writing.

It’s getting some good reviews so maybe I will give it another chance, but I just want to leave a note so I remember why I walked away at 7%.

[Lu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this -- for the most part. The writing was really well done and the spicy scenes were truly some of my favorite that I've read.

Starting out, Chris was an unyielding ass to Dennis for no reason, to the point of excess. I nearly lost interest in him as a character with how frustrated I was becoming with his constant uncalled for gibes. Once their relationship really starts to develop, though, it was done beautifully. Their connection felt multidimensional and progressed naturally, although I found myself frustrated again at both of their unwillingness to open up to one another. Literally and metaphorically.

And that brings me to one of my main issues with this book. It was SO long, and I felt like the entire middle portion was just sex scene after sex scene inching toward the day Dennis might finally be able to let Chris *in* (if you get what I'm saying). For me, personally, the story could have done with a little more plot development during that portion instead. Especially since I also felt like the climax and conclusion came very swiftly, a bit messily, and rather confusing. A lot is thrown at you in the final 50 or so pages that felt very jumbled to me and made the resolution a little less satisfying.

However, overall, I thought this was a fun book. Good writing, good banter, good characters, good sex, and mostly good plot, but the other aspects help make up for it.

[Tris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars ⭐️

I was only 29% through in this book and I didn’t want to continue. Not because it was bad, but because it was already so good - what else could the author add in the next 70% that could continue this crazy goodness.

Admittedly the writing style threw me off in the first couple of chapters but I got used to the flow. The tensions between the Dennis and Chris were off the charts - wish there was a bit more tension before it went further.

But alas, kudos to the author for pulling it off for as long as she did; as with all long books, it is understandably hard to keep up the 5 star pace and unfortunately I felt the situation at the end was too forced and some parts too fantastical (like seriously - a kidnapping??).

A very enjoyable read which was damn hot for like 50-60% of the book. I would probably reread this again someday and I look forward to other books by Dixon.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost DNF’d this book at 65%. It just felt so slow and I was so frustrated with the lack of communication between Dennis and Chris. I usually feel like books end too soon so I thought I would love a longer book, but the middle was just repetitive. I felt like I had too much time invested at that point to not finish it though. It got interesting again at the end, but it also felt incongruous with the earlier chapters. Just not my thing. This is the first book I’ve read that has a table of contents for the spicy scenes and I thought that was weird too.

[❇️Bora❇️]

DNF @ I don't remeber the percent

It's so bad.

I couldn't vibe with the writing at all. The construction guy also put me off so much in the beginning, so unnecessarily rude and unprofessional from the get-go. Like I get we have to create drama to build up the enemies to lovers theme, but can't this be done more organically?

Despite holding out till we started getting some character and relationship development, I still wasn't interested in reading further so just dropping this now. Unfortunate cos everyone on reddit was hyping this up excessively.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

What good but bizarre read. Had a lot of the energy I like where attraction is just based on the need to be close to the essence of a person rather than labels and predefined dynamics. I know that there was a thread of plot running through the first part of the book to set up for the last quarter. however it just felt like a completely different book the pacing was different and the writing style changed. It really added nothing to the book for me.

[NikNak · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

I need to stop. This book is physically paining me to read. Reads like a budget soap opera without any sort of substance . I’m only 30% and I’m already so frustrated with the minimal effort this author has put into describing any sort of realistic construction site … “safety violations , protocols and sustainability” ..if you keep using the same generic terms over and over ..maybe the readers won’t notice that you have 0 clues as to what either of these terms actually mean.

😪

[Cau_lly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first few chapters were grating cause where do you get off talking to your boss that way but it was a good read.
The smut was done in a way that seemed like a conversation on its own and added to the plot.
Usually third act break ups annoy me cause most of them are just unnecessary and authors just use them for unneeded drama but this one was properly executed.

[t e a g a n · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, wasn’t a great lover of this one. It was okay and the storyline and relationship development and writing style were all intriguing but in the end I just need a little more from them. It was fun and sweet and obnoxious and eye rollingly romantic at times but I probably wouldn’t read again as it took a lot of effort to get through it. I kept waiting for it to end.

[Calen · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a gay man this is some of the hottest erotica I've ever read. Didn't care for the rest of it but the sex is hot, the dialogues are hot, the prep is hot, even having the pain in there is hot. Great job!

[Taylor]

This book is f*cking terrible. The characterizations are inconsistent, like change between paragraphs inconsistent. It's written in 3rd person from Dennis's POV but sometimes we were totally in Chris' head. I should have stopped reading when Chris pulled out the ukulele but I didn't.

[Moon]

was this written by a fucking toddler?

13% in and they’re already making googley eyes??

childish ass dialogue and juvenile writing. who the hell types “Fucktard” and genuinely uses “Heh.” in a book?

[c]

dnf @ 50% (tho i did skim to the end) - so i'm actually enjoying the story a lot so far and i love dennis & chris's relationship, but things are about to get real angsty and i just caaan't. i've become such an angst wimp, lol 😔

[McKenna Debus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was such a rollercoaster. Was I reading a fanfic, soap opera, or beautiful queer romance? Even the story didn't know. It started bad and ended terribly but the middle 50% was fantastic with its lack of plot and Princess pet names. But seriously, the ending was so bonkers.

[k zink · Rating 3 out of 5]

the pacing of this is SOOOO funny, the middle dragged like crazy & was mad repetitive & then the last quarter was crammed with drama & action to pretend that there was some kind of plot. i was charmed by the dynamic between the leads but this was so so messy lol

[GIR_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so romantic and beautiful and sweet!! I didn't even realized I had finished over 500 pages in two days. I'm now going to devour everything I can find from Juliet M. Dixon.

[Holly]

dnf. both characters were awful. not reading this author again.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[heyzua · Rating 3 out of 5]

wtf just happened ??