Off Limits

Legacy Mechanics #4

by Willow Dixon

Asa

For eight years I’ve lived in the shadow of my golden child stepbrother. Dex is everything our parents want in a son, and I’m the weirdo who can’t seem to get his life together.

After getting renovicted from my apartment, I’m forced to ask Dex for help. He agrees to let me stay with him while I find a new place, but neither of us is happy about it. Then I accidentally discover that my perfect stepbrother has an online side gig, and I learn how lucrative it can be.

Working together is supposed to be a way to make some extra cash, but it’s impossible to keep things in the business zone when I start to realize that maybe Dex is just as misunderstood and lonely as me.

Dex
The only downside to moving home after college is that I can’t avoid my stepbrother anymore. Asa is one of the most aggravating people I’ve ever met, and he’s spent the last eight years letting me know exactly what he thinks of me.

After agreeing to let him stay with me so he doesn’t end up homeless, he accidentally finds out about my online job. No one else knows my secret, but instead of using it against me, he suggests we work together as a solution to his money problems and my desire to get him out of my apartment as quickly as possible.

I already know this is going to be messy, but I’m not prepared for how difficult it is to keep our arrangement impersonal. And the more I learn about my closed-off stepbrother, the more I realize that maybe we aren’t so different after all.

Asa and Dex’s story is an opposites attract stepbrother romance between a jock and a nerd who can’t keep things in the business zone. You can expect dislike to friends to lovers, hurt/comfort, found family, online spicy times, reluctant roommates, some snark, lots of heat, and all the feels as these two men realize that sometimes the person you need is someone you shouldn’t want. It is book 4 in my Legacy Mechanics series but can be read as a standalone.

Genres: M M Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Romance, Forced Proximity, Contemporary, LGBT, Found Family

329 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 17, 2025

About the author

What can I say about myself? It’s kind of like being the new kid in school and being asked to tell everyone a bit about yourself. Anyone else forget everything they’ve ever liked, thought of, and even their name in those moments?

A few facts about me; I’m a veteran, I’m Canadian, and I love books! I’ve been writing my own stories since I was eight and wrote my first novel at sixteen. I’m the first to admit those attempts weren’t my best work, but they started me on a journey of creating stories that has led me to fulfilling my dream of becoming an author. I’ve written and published in several genres under different names, but MM is by far my favorite, and I’m so happy to be able to share my stories with people today.

I currently live on Canada’s east coast with my kiddo and my cats. I have a shoe collecting addiction, and I enjoy taking long walks, discussions with friends, and reading anything and everything I can get my hands on.

Reviews

[Christina Sturgill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: ♾️/5 🌟
Spice: 4/5 🌶️
Characters: Asa and Dex

Oh my god I loved this so much! Absolutely devoured it and didn't want it to end.

I finished this a few days ago and I still can't stop thinking about these two.
Asa has a pretty terrible family and is treated pretty bad, only useful when he's babysitting for them. He ends up getting evicted from his apartment for them to do renovations. When he runs out of options he calls his stepbrother, Dex. They have never been close and seemingly dislike one another. Dex reluctantly agrees to let Asa move in temporarily. Dex is camming to make a little extra money, but no one knows about it. When Asa catches him doing it one day the two of them decide to start doing it together for the extra money and at the fans request. What they don't expect is for feelings to get involved and for it to turn into more than just moments for the camera.
There is a bit more involved that helps drive their emotions, but I don't want to spoil anything.

I was obsessed with these two right from the start. Dex is levelheaded, logical, and perfectly stable. Asa is a bit insecure, lonely, and feeling a bit lost. They were perfect for one another. Opposites that pulled out the best in each other.

I can see this being one of those books I come back to over and over again for a comfort read.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ rounded up because I really enjoyed the couple.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I officially have a new favorite Willow Dixon book. Asa and Dex were absolute perfection. The chemistry was off the charts hot and the whole storyline really did it for me. I couldn’t put it down, step brothers, forced proximity, cramming and forbidden romance, I loved it all. I definitely recommend this one!

[Kati *☆･ﾟ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*** stars


There was nothing really special about this stepbrothers/hate-to-love/camming together romance but it was seriously hot so I stuck with it. *grinning

“Watch the screen while I do it,” he murmured in my ear. “I want you to see how hot you look when you give in to me.”

**********
Legacy Mechanics Series

Book 1 - Flipping the Script
Book 2 - It's Complicated
Book 3 - In Plain Sight
Book 4 - Off Limits - 3.5 stars

[Julia (bookish.jka) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We locked eyes for a moment, and my stomach swooped as a weird sensation hit me in the chest. It was kind of like being startled, only it felt good. Dex’s eyes were dark with lust, the usual mix of subdued brown and green of his hazel eyes replaced with bright green and a goldish brown that I’d only ever seen once. They were the same color as they’d been the night we hooked up four years ago."

Off Limits is book 4 in the Legacy Mechanics series by Willow Dixon, and I am enjoying this easy-read series of linked standalones so far. This is Dex and Asa's story and given enemies to lovers and step-brothers are my kryptonite, I was really looking forward to this one!

What To Expect:

❣️MM romance
❣️Step-brothers
❣️Opposites attract
❣️Forced proximity
❣️Found family
❣️Hurt/comfort
❣️All the steam
❣️MH Rep
❣️HEA

Always love this trope!

Looking forward to Willow's Silvercrest U series coming soon too.

[martina (the life of a chaotic reader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

this author probably got a new microwave because these reheated nachos tasted slightly better. still not fresh tho.
but she’s getting a new oven and baking a dark college romance series. i’m sat for that.

(yes i’m hungry right now)

[Monikat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Erotic, sexy step brothers to camboys, enemies to lovers to in love. Wholesome with all the feels.
The intimacy was a thing of beauty.
Loved it!🔥🔥🔥

*Strong For The Fans vibes, good times.

...and Brodie is on the cover 😉

[Jane aka Coughy019 (Safety info included) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tropes: step brothers, forced proximity, roommates, camboying
Feels: 2/5
Steam*: 3/5
Kinks: voyeurism, exhibitionism, piercings
Angst: low
HEA: yes
Pairing: MM
Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: neglectful/abusive parents, eating disorder, socialization problems
Cheating between MCs: No
Any cheating: Their parents cheated on their spouses. But neither MC is a cheater
Other person drama: they had a random anger fueled hookup four years ago, and then Dex went off to college and they didn't really see each other much during those years. Dex is bi and hid his sexuality for a while at a Christian college, so he was mostly with women, and only did HJ/BJs with men. Asa is gay but leans aromantic/demi so he has only occasional HJ/BJ hook ups in the 4 years. Once they get together in the present, neither have thoughts of anyone else.

4 stars

Asa is 22. Dex is 23. They have been step brothers since they were 14 and 15 respectively. Their parents cheated on their partners with each other and got married and have had a bunch of kids. Neither of them have good parent figures amongst any of the parents and stepparents. Some of them are neglectful and verbally abusive.

They disliked each other growing up, but ended up having an angry hookup that was Asa's first time 4 years ago, and then they were nothing to each other as Dex went to college out of town. Now he's back to go to postgraduate school in town. Asa ends up renovicted and unable to afford another place. He asks Dex if he can stay with him until he can find a place. While staying there, Asa finds out that Dex is working as a camboy solo. Asa could really use the money, so he approaches Dex about collaborating, and they are really able to rake in the money together. They both are really hot for each other and as soon as they have an excuse to touch, they are really focused on each other and don't pay a lot of attention to the cameras.

There were a bunch of things that I liked about this book, but there were also a bunch of things that I didn't.

Things I liked:
- I liked the sexual tension between them, how attracted they were to each other, how different they felt about each other than anyone else. How much they enjoyed each other to such an extent that they were preoccupied and distracted by each other.
- I liked that the book mentioned some practicalities about doing cam work, like the legal process to prove you're above the age of consent. It was nice to have some realism.
- I liked when the characters slapped down the idea of misogyny and trashing women. Sometimes mm books villainize women, so that was refreshing.
- I liked that there was a progression of their feelings, that it wasn't just instalove.
- I liked Asa. I like a prickly character with hints of vulnerability like him.

Things I didn't like:
- I'm not a fan of when characters hook up and then years pass and then they get together. It's like their connection wasn't special enough for them to be together the first time. It's just not a vibe I enjoy. Btw, you can't even call this book a second chance romance, in my opinion because it was just a one time thing and you never even saw or heard much about that hook up, so it didn't even feel real.
- I didn't like that we didn't see a flashback or a moment at the beginning of their hookup four years ago. You never saw the POV of the characters and how they were feeling four years ago. So you couldn't feel that connection to the characters as they were back then, and you couldn't see any specialness to the feelings that they had for each other back then. It made what happened back then insignificant to their journey, an event, with no emotion. And maybe that was deliberate so that it didn't come off as an angsty break up or whatever that hurt the characters, but it just didn't give you a connection. It was empty.
- I thought it was a little much how Asa and Dex both said they never had sex with other guys. That they only did hand and mouth stuff with other guys. I'm a person who is in the camp that sex is sex in whatever form it is, so I hate when people say oh that didn't count as sex.
- There was a weird preoccupation with firsts. Besides the anal sex first that they shared, it was weird that Asa had never kissed anyone until he kissed Dex at 22, it just seemed weird that he wouldn't have kissed any of his hookups, like they wanted to just give another first to Dex. And it was weird that both Asa and Dex had never been on a date before, and they talked about having their first date together at 22/23. Asa I can kind of understand because he was on the ace spectrum and had very few hookups, he didn't people well. But Dex? He didn't take one of the women he was with on so much as a coffee date?! In trying to make what they have special, they made it seem like Dex treated his past partners like s***! LOL
- This book was slow burn when it came to emotions. The boys were really slow at recognizing that this was more than just sex. And they were really awkward about trying to bridge going from colleagues in the cam business to dating. And I guess it was realistic to some extent, and in character given who they were. But personally I like to see more feelings in a romance novel, and they only started to even consider feelings at the 75% mark. I feel like we missed out on a bunch of opportunities for affection!


Some notable moments:

I love that Asa is the type of person to do this. "“No, I didn’t keep crawling like a dumbass. I got up and followed him downstairs, only by the time I found him, he was standing there with a fire extinguisher in one hand and an apple in the other. The bastard put out the fire and had time to grab a snack before I’d even gotten my ass downstairs.”"

"I had no idea who moved first, but one second I was sitting on the couch, and the next I was on his lap, my legs on either side of his thighs as I straddled him. Dex’s hands gripped my waist and pulled me closer, and our chests pressed together. His body was warm and solid against mine. An embarrassingly loud moan escaped my lips as our mouths crashed together in a bruising kiss."

There was so much potential for emotion! I wish we'd gotten to experience more of it, I felt like the author didn't dive into the emotion of it. "The look in my eyes wasn’t just lust and desire. There was also affection, hunger, and what I could only describe as possession. I wasn’t looking at him like a fuck buddy or even a cam partner. That was how you looked at someone who was yours. Someone you didn’t just want, but someone you needed. This was bad."

"The silence between us stretched. “I have a confession.” “What is it?” I asked when he didn’t elaborate. “I haven’t really been looking all that hard for a place to live,” he mumbled, his eyes on his ring. “That’s good because I low-key don’t want you to move out.”"


*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.

[Lauralee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dex and Asa are stepbrothers who don’t really like each other. When Asa gets evicted from his apartment, Dex is the only person he can turn to, as much as he doesn’t want to. They go from seeing each other a few times a year to living in each others pockets, so it’s no surprise that Asa happens to catch Dex camming in his free time. That slowly turns into them camming together and that turns into feelings.

Oh my god. I LOVED this book. It is officially my favorite in the series. Asa and Dex were true opposites and I absolutely loved their story. The hurt comfort vibes were so good and no third act breakup. Not to mention it may be the spiciest one in the series. I am a huge fan.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

stepbrothers, forced proximity, a need for money, and webcam can make a delightful story about finding your person

[Amberly Hays · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forced proximity, cam boys and step brothers is a recipe for a smoking hot book! I loved Asa, his struggles would tear a weaker person apart but he persevered. Dex was Asa’s opposite in every way but somehow they were perfect for each other. This book had me in a chokehold and I loved every minute! I definitely recommend!!

[reverie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐ rounded up. simple, sweet, sexy, and easily knocked back in a day 🤷‍♀️

[Sjoukje · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the last book of the series I think, and I’m sad it’s ending. This book was good, just like the others. It did have some strange plot points though.
Asa gets evicted and has just one last option he tells the reader in his point of view: calling his horrible dad. Dad refuses to help him out, so he calls his stepbrother instead of living in his car, so we read in his stepbrother’s pov. Apparently dad wasn’t the last option. That’s ok of course but a bit weird. Also very weird is that they really dislike each other (for good reasons), but also have has sex together when they were young. At some point we get some more insight into that story, but not really. I could have used a nice prologue with the whole story.
And parents are almost always awful people in Willow Dixon’s world. That’s ok, but I do wonder about her own upbringing 😬
Anyway. Dex is wonderful and I really loved seeing how Asa slowly shifted from disliking him to loving him. This book reminded me of Stepbrother dearest, which I loved.

Will probably reread more than once. And also recommend.

[SaintDelicate _Edits · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is how it's done, full review coming soon.

[Sofi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew I was going to like this one! Asa has been my favorite since the first book. So many things about him attracted me, and that was based on small moments where he appeared in the previous books. But now, reading his story, it makes me love him even more. I like his shy, insecure, knowledgeable personality and his “I don't care about the opinion of others” behavior, his love for books and random facts about everything. I just feel that he is precious!

We didn’t know anything about Dex more than Asa “hate” for him, so I didn’t know what to expect, but I like him. At first, he seemed like someone who was going to be all serious and uptight, so I wasn't expecting for the camming situation to start because of him. I loved his protectiveness, care, and support for Asa.

I love the stepbrother's trope. The camming together. The intimacy they share more and more each time. I love this book, and it was a great ending for this series (I'm assuming it's the last book)

“I use to love pissing him off, now I love making him smile”

[HopeIt’sRomance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Considering For The Fans is my Roman Empire of MM, it shouldn’t be surprising that I👏loved👏this👏!! The plot was completely different but oh, did it work for meeee! I love that it was EXTRA off-limits since they shared half-siblings. I also now have a new set of parents to shake my fist at.
The spice was spicing (duh, they’re camming) together) but some of my favorite moments were when they were just awkwardly chilling on the couch, trying to get to know each other and wondering what to do with their limbs 😂 The slow progression of emotional intimacy was lovely to watch, and it really felt like they were destined to come back to each other after the one night they shared (and promptly skedaddled from) four years ago. I LOVE THEM that is all.

[Alix · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've really enjoyed this series and am sad that this, the fourth book, is also the last.

This is the story of Asa and Dex who are stepbrothers, but also opposites in many ways and as a result, they do not care for one another at all. So what do we have? Why yes...so many of my fave tropes - stepbrothers/forbidden, enemies to lovers, nerd vs jock, and the piece de resistance (for me): camboys!! So this is a book that I just gobbled right up! The MCs were fun to get to know and the spice was hot! I already look forward to a complete read through of the series again!

I received a complimentary copy and am leaving this review voluntarily

[Rebecca Morin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was scared going into this book because I was not a fan of the last book at all and almost didn’t read this book because of it. This series in general has just not been one of my favorites. I didn’t connect with it as well as I did with her other series, but this book was by far my absolute favorite. I was always curious about asa when we saw him and all the other books because he was always so mysterious in them and we didn’t know anything about him so it was nice to really get in his head and find out more but 100% my favorite book out of this series

[Lea Branov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok so I know I said the last book in this series was my favourite but after reading this one it’s definitely my favourite 😅. I loved Dax and Asa and the way their relationship developed so much. Every trope in this book hit so well for me. The somewhat enemies to lovers, the roomates/forced proximity, the stepbrothers thing. It was all just so good! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again but I’m convinced Willow Dixon can do no wrong when it comes to writing books. I’m very excited to see what’s coming next!

[Boys From The Bookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enemies to lovers. Stepbrothers. Camboys. Sign me up!
I loved Asa and Dex’s story. It was sweet, sexy and I couldn’t put it down.
Willow Dixon is definitely a favourite author of mine and I think it’s impossible for me to not love anything she’s written.

The story is fairly low angst, but there is some issues with the MCs parents throughout. It’s definitely worth the read. I’m looking forward to more from this series.

[Crisana · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 After DNF-ing the previous book, I actually enjoyed this one quite a lot. The camming was done quite well and I laughed quite a few times when Dex was reading and replying to the viewers comments.
I also enjoyed that camming was just what brought them together, no big deal done about it and everything that happened felt positive towards sex work.
I liked Dex but Asa was my favourite and I loved how he blossomed from feeling unloved and unwanted to the confident person he became.

[K T · Rating 2 out of 5]

not a huge fan

This was just okay. I really had to push myself to finish it even though SB & spicy creators is a favorite pairing of mine. I didn’t care for it here. I felt bored most of the book. The spice was kind of bland. They were on camera but it felt like reading a silent scene. I kept screaming in my head “say something!” I was waiting and waiting for even the smallest bit of spicy talk during those scenes but alas it never came. There was one small bit that was a little exciting where they were FaceTiming so asa could see Dex’s view. Romance-wise I just didn’t really feel the love blossoming. Not a single giddy love feeling, just acceptance because the author said they were. Bad mothers is a recurring theme in this series. Dex standing up to his father was the next bit of excitement but by then I was so bored with the story that I didn’t really care. Anyway, I’ll check out the next dark romance series. I really enjoy some other series by this author. One where they all live in a house together and another where they work as midnight ballerinas so if this wasn’t for you, give those a try!

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asa’s turn! I’ve been looking forward to Asa’s story for a while. He’s always felt a bit mysterious and I’ve been curious to learn more about it. And now it’s time! Asa isn’t afraid to be who he is. He won’t apologize for it. He isn’t a big people person and he keeps to himself for the most part. But if anyone can get on his nerves, it’s his stepbrother. While Asa’s mother basically tells him she doesn’t like him but has no problem using him when she needs something, his stepbrother is like the golden child of the family. Though Asa will soon realize that Dex doesn’t have it that much easier than him. When Asa realizes he is about to be homeless, he calls Dex as his last resort. Surprisingly, to Asa, Dex lets him move in and they become roommates. Being in one another’s space is pretty new to them. They haven’t been that way in a long time. They’ve barely seen one another in the last four years alone. But living together becomes a bit easier than expected. But things take an interesting turn when Asa learns Dax cams for money. And then soon the two of them think it’s a good idea to do it together. Extra cash for the two of them has to be a good thing right? What could go wrong? Turns out keeping things professional is pretty challenging when old feelings stir and they realize that maybe they never actually disliked one another but it was a lot more. And when they actually give themselves a chance to talk, they’ll discover they have a lot more in common. But are either of them brave enough to tell the other how he feels? I really loved Asa and Dex’s story! I liked that they lowered their walls and actually got to be real with one another bit by bit. The chemistry between them was great and it only became stronger as they realized how much they had in common or have faced similar issues. Just a really sweet story as you watched these two figure out what they mean to one another. This has just been a really great series!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Marjolein (Dutchromancereader) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one wasn’t for me. If you write a book with the exact same blurb as For the Fans by Nyla K, comparison is unavoidable. It doesn’t live up to that expectation at all. There are a number of reasons why it lacked for me:
- the connection between these characters was pretty bland. I didn’t feel it. No real tension, pining, gut wrenching longing, it was all a little clinical.
- the writing style felt immature to me. A little too simple without the quality of a really good book
- it is a low angst story but too low in my opinion. There are a lot of opportunities in the plot do dive in more so it could be more emotional but they were not used. In the end it left me unsatisfied
- the spice is plenty but I didn’t feel it at all. They were acting like they were doing a chore and I missed the emotion, the dirty talk, the real connection. I was bored most of the time. I like spice but not for the
sake of it.
- the plot is very thin which made the book boring and I struggled to finish it

The guys were cute but I was left dissapointed

[Jaseryx · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was slightly repetitive and extremely telly. I hate when an author states repeatedly that the character doesn't know why, or for some reason, they feel opposite of what they would usually feel, without establishing at all what they would usually feel. Even tho this has all the tropes and premise and heat I usually enjoy, and the writing is technically grammatical, it's just really so extremely telly and someone needs to tell her that's it's okay to have numerous short sentences instead of tacking all the extra information into one sentence. This is a C-grade For the Fans.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love this series and this book was no different. I just wanted to hug Asa for 90% of this book that sweet sweet man. Dex and Asa misunderstood eachother as teenagers and the misunderstanding grew into anger towards one another when it should have been their parents. All their parents are awful and I'm so glad they have eachother and their little siblings. That whole babysitting scene was beyond adorable 😍.

I can't wait for the next book in the series.

[Sam 🤘🏼 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was definitely my favorite of the series! I have been waiting to get my hands on Asa’s story since book 1 lol. And I looooove the stepbrother trope as well as camming…and the forced proximity was just the cherry on top! The spice in this was top-notch, but it also had real substance in the character development and plot line. It was overall perfect!!

[li (stupid canadian wolf bird fanatic) · Rating 5 out of 5]

man i loved this one. I was so worried when the third book wasn't great but DAMN was this everything and more. I love love LOVE Asa and Dex. loved their sweet sweet love. I was rooting SO HARD for them. my only wish was that we could have gotten more of them actually being together - telling the cam followers, interacting with friends and family.

[Leilani Noack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Asa and Dexs story. I was curious about Asa from the beginning and now I got it. These books never disappoint at all. I felt so bad for Asa and that his family could do him so dirty like that. One of my favorite series.

[Welshbookaholic · Rating 4 out of 5]

UGHHH ASA

Damn these two were so cute (and hot). I love this story. I’m not usually one for cam things but it was done v well.

HATE all parents tbh they suck.

Again, Willow pls I need MORE