Can’t Refuse Him

by B.J. Twigg

Oscar, a janitor cursed to be aroused by trash, meets Eddy, a Grouch (bin-spirit) who was murdered and discarded in the 1970s. Between curse-breaking intimacy, ghostly hauntings, and trash-bin makeouts, they discover redemption, grief, and the monster boyfriend of your dreams.

Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy, M M Romance, LGBT, Paranormal Romance, Queer

168 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 28, 2025

Reviews

[Chelsea]

The MC is cursed to be sexually attracted to trash.
Do I need to say more?
Not really, but you bet I'm going to.

I am unsure if I will ever recover from this........


I thought this would be silly tehe, but it was traumatic tehe as fuck.
Of course, I knew it's about trash/a bin ghost..........
But holy hell I wasn't prepared for the shit show of words throughout the 168 pages.
I just wasn't ready for the amount of disgustingness.


I HAVE TO MENTION THERE IS A CONDOM......... FILLED WITH BIN JUICE.............. FROZEN........... FOR......... well, use your imagination...........
I WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.



Not only is this book incredibly unique, it's also.... ✨fucking dreadful✨

Terrible writing, messy plot lines that didn't make sense, felt like... any old idea that came to mind at the time of writing, just add it in.
Explain it to the reader though? NAY NAY.
Why did he become a trash monster? (was explained but did I understand it? no)
Why did the ex bf curse him? (was explained but did I understand it? no)
Why did ghost become solid? (was explained but did I understand it? no)
Was the plot solved by ✨the power of love✨? kinda. ick.


Unlikeable MC's that had no romantic connection at all.
We just got one fuck ass POV from gross sexually attracted to trash man telling us about fucking coffee cups and using mayonnaise as lube to fuck a sandwich.
Then we get the most unnecessarily crass, disgusting and TRAUMATIC AF POV from Mr ghost showing how he liked to be fucked before he dies. Then POOF. ✨inlove✨



The final shitty-bin juice infested-putrid-mold covered- maggot ridden rotten cherry on top........
This book just needed a hardcore fucking edit.
Spelling mistakes, missing or incorrect punctuation, changes in tense, odd sentence structures, the whole shebang.





"I could’ve melted. Or cummed. Or both."

What in the lazy fuck slop writing even was that.


How does this book have so many mid range reviews?
I'm confused.



Bless you Lore my angel for this unhinged choice. ILYSM heheheheheh 💖💖💖


Preread thoughts:
Buddy reading with my girl Lore 🥹🥹🥹
We have instant regrets, but at least we are suffering together.

[Brooke]

⭐️ 2 stars ⭐️

“You’re looking at me like I’m the filthiest thing you’ve ever seen.”

The most unsexy romance I’ve ever read.
And I shouldn’t be all that surprised, when the book revolves around trash and a bin-ghost and a janitor cursed to be turned on by garbage. And I hate that I’m the outlier here, because I wanted to enjoy this and have some laughs. But this was painful.
Plus, their name’s were Oscar and ‘The Grouch’. That’s a little too on the nose even for me.

Some people hate their jobs; my job turns me on.

What this book needed was to pick a lane. It was trying to be funny, got too dark too fast, the romance was super insta-love, and they tried to make bin-juice sexy.
I would’ve preferred just a wacky rom-com, making even Eddie’s backstory funny, instead of taking such a dark turn. Trying to cram so many things into a little more than 150 pages just makes everything feel rushed and unsatisfying.

I guess trash is what I deserved to become.

I get why the author chose this storyline for Eddie, and it fits with the trash premise of the book. And, sure, the meaning behind it is meant to be positive — acceptance, forgiveness, second chances. But it just felt so out of place with the initial fun vibe of the beginning.
So by the halfway mark I was already pretty disappointed. And unexpectedly sad. But then it gets worse.

Behind a dumpster, we finally make love for the first time

The fluorescent lights above us buzz like they know what is coming. And what is coming would be us both.

He doesn’t respond. Instead, he tugs the zip lower, exposing a flash of the base of his penis amongst a tuft of hair and then—FLAWP. His dick pops out in slow motion. Like it had RSVP’d for this moment weeks ago.

The sound effects. I can’t.
Like I said, the least sexy thing ever. It wasn’t romantic, it wasn’t hot, it wasn’t even funny anymore.
I was hoping for a fun time, a wild premise and hopefully a cute romance. Unfortunately, Can’t Refuse Him was just cringey.

“It’s been a long time since I've felt this.” I speak.
“Don’t you mean Bin a long time?”

I also officially hate puns now.

I received a copy of this book from Gay Romance Reviews, and this is my honest review.

CW and NSFW info (spoilers):
- Murder/violence
- Toxic/abusive relationships (not between MCs)
- Trauma & grief
- Death
- Mild body horror
- Use of f slur
- Food fucking (not on page)
- Sex w/ OP (after MCs become intimate)
- Top/bottom (two scenes)

[Lore]

"You'll love it or you'll hate it" kind of book

First buddy read with my girl Chelsea, and unfortunately for her, I drove us straight into this bin-juice mess of a book.

I will give the author credit where credit is due: the creativity behind the paranormal premise is unmatched. This is not a cookie-cutter paranormal romance.

The story tackles some pretty heavy themes and, if you look past the first layer of what the actual fuck is happening, there’s a genuinely beautiful message about acceptance and being loved for who you are.

But I need to emphasize the “trying.”

Because this book had an identity crisis.

We went from completely unhinged nonsense to suddenly SERIOUS DARK THEMES™ at record speed. There was barely any build-up. So it often felt like the author had an idea, went “wait, what if…”, wrote it down immediately, and then moved on to the next one. And somehow all of this happened in 160 pages.

I also think this story desperately needed another round of editing. The grammar and punctuation were distracting enough that I occasionally wanted to scratch my eyes out. Which, considering the things happening in this book, says a lot.

Anyway, Chelsea if you read this, please don't make me choose our next buddy read. Look what I made us do...

[Heather]

This was so strange, but in a fun, slightly gross way. If I never read the words “ bin juice” again, I’ll live happily 😆

Funny, sweet, and some unexpected themes that also make it very emotional. The author has the balance perfect, and the story is really enjoyable.


………………………………………………………….
I received an ARC from GRR, and this is my honest review.

[anita]

I received a copy of this book from GRR, and this is my honest review.

I didn’t think I would enjoy this as much as I did!

Can't Refuse Him follows the story of two boys who were cursed, and together they search for a way to break it—only to find themselves falling in love. Along the way they’re forced to deal with their own messy past, and it turns into this really sweet, emotional journey about learning to trust, forgive, and choose each other despite everything that once held them back.

I'm super excited for the next installment in the series 👻

[Анастасія ꒰⁠⑅⁠ᵕ⁠༚⁠ᵕ⁠꒱⁠˖⁠♡]

прокляття на фетиш сміття? гидкувато було. якби без цього, я би поставила 4.

[Alyssa]

This book was ridiculous, unhinged, chaotic and absolutely HILARIOUS. When I first read the concept of this book my face was basically 🤔 but honestly, I should have known that if anyone was going to write a book about a man falling in love with trash and make it good, it would be B.J. Twigg. It doesn’t surprise me, knowing the author, that this book was sweet, funny, heartwarming and so strangely beautiful.

The way this book is SO funny but the humor is woven into such a deep, traumatic backstory is actually incredible. The banter was top notch, the emotions are real and raw, and the connection that forms between these two is so special.

This could have easily been just a funny, silly little novella, but B.J. Twigg made it so much more than that.

Thank you so much to the author for letting me read an early copy of this book.

[Regina Sage]

A delightful and moving read.

BJ Twigg is so incredibly witty, I found myself cracking up constantly. That didn't, however, detract from the deeply emotional substance of this story.

Definitely recommend.

[danie]

This was absolutely incredible. I already knew I was going to love this one going in. It's the perfect amount of "wtf" by an author I already know I adore and love their writing style, so I knew it was going to be fantastic.

What I wasn't expecting was how fucking raw this book was. Like yes, Ben made it diabolical, it's literally about a sentient trash ghost and a cursed janitor who's forced to get aroused by trash. But the underlying story of just wanting, needing, to be accepted and loved for who you are and that you aren't trash- no one is trash, was so well done. Eddy's story is one a lot of queer people deal with in real life, it's one that isn't uncommon unfortunately. Ben wrote this in such a beautiful and telling way told told Eddy's story- all while making it absolutely hilarious and fun to read.

I will never stop loving the phrase, "janitor boy" now or look at a turkey and cranberry sandwich the same way. 😂

Highly, highly recommend this one for not only the depraved trash spice, but everything else as well.

[Amanda]

I'm having a little bit of a hard time with my rating/review of this one.

I think Twigg has a unique voice that I really enjoyed. It's clever, witty, and completely original. I genuinely don't think anyone else could have wrote this story. I fell in love with Eddy. He's been through so much, there's so much growth, in very few pages he's such a strong character and presence.

Unfortunately, I really didnt feel the same way with Oscar. I just didnt really understand him besides his curse and the romance ended up not quite clicking with me because of it.

Will I still read book 2 in the series? Absolutely.

[☆ Allanah • Cosmic's Library ☆]

“For the first time in five years, someone finally said they might understand it. Might even fix it. Even if that someone is a bin-haunting, smirking chaos spirit who thinks I am handsome.”

Took me a few days to process my thoughts about this book! it’s so well written and was absolutely not what i was expecting in the best and most shattering ways.

Here i was innocently chuckling my way through the first half of this book... THEN BAM, the heartbreak hits and I realised why everyone told me to have tissues on hand. Eddy Will hold a special place in my heart from here on out.

Also our poor little Oscar and his curse. Bless him. he had me laughing out loud on multiple occasions and the connection between him and eddy was just so perfect, I could read about them forever!

[bookish.dude]

This book was a good time. It had funny parts, emotional parts and spicy scenes that all combined to make a really fun read. Oscar and Eddy's story had some good lessons in it too. Especially learning how to value yourself and not let anyone else deminish you or throw you aside. On top of that the plot also had self discovery and talked about types of abuse people can go through. On the lighter side, you get silly parts and jokes as well as some good spice. It kept me entertained and turning the pages and I'm interested in reading the next book in this series.

[Leo]

this was super weird, really good and very emotional. I love weird romances that takes something I would never consider in a romance, make it work and make it a story with deep meaningfully moments as well. One is attracted to trash, one is Trash, both a cursed and they work toghrer to break it. The ending chapters was so tense and painful to read as I was afraid I knew where it was going, but I kept reading and I was very glad I did.

[Andrew Smith-Mebust]

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I haven’t cried like this over a book since 2025s CHASING RIDDICK.

It’s novella length so can be read in one sitting. It made me laugh out loud, it’s got humor and heart. It will break you but then put you back together.

This book healed something in me I didn’t know needed healing 😭💖

No one is trash and we all deserve to be loved 💚🚮🗑️💚

[✶]

This book is trashy in a literal and chaotic in the BEST way possible. I thought this was gonna be a silly little story about a man falling in love with a trash ghost and while it is exactly that, it’s also incredibly emotional and deep!? The MCs are so layered and in a short amount of time we learn quite a lot about them. There’s themes of self hatred as well as self acceptance and I loved seeing that character development. And the balance between emotional/serious and silly fun is perfect, it was a delight reading this book.
Thank you to the author for an ARC copy! 🫶

[Jessie (thatchickwithabook)]

3.5 stars.

I thought Can’t Refuse Him was really well-written, but unfortunately it contained my biggest hate in a romance book: on page (or even off page) sex with someone other than the other MMC. I couldn’t really get past that, even if it is after Oscar thinks Eddy has passed on. I also found the first half - Oscar’s backstory, Eddie’s backstory, them meeting for the first time to try to break their curses - to be much better than the second half where the romance (which didn’t feel like enough) happens.

This might just be a me thing though, as the other reviews are amazing, but for me, I just didn’t enjoy the romance all that much. However, the storyline is really good.

Thank you GRR for the ARC. This review is honest and voluntary.

[Brendan Arnold]

Can’t refuse him was described as a trashy, paranormal MM romance. Funny, witty and full of heart.

We meet Oscar, a janitor who is cursed to be turned on by trash, who meets Eddy, the bin spirit. Yes, the premise is trashy, fabulous and cheeky. But Ben’s raw talent and penmanship shines through straight away.

Ben writes with such heart and soul that the outrageously cheeky and trashy side of the story was easily forgotten as I became swept up in the moving and devastating story of these two characters.

After I finished crying over a bin spirit, I began to feel for characters that I had no idea I could ever possibly feel for. Ben has crafted such an amazing tale with Can’t Refuse Him. I am truly excited to see what he does next.

[Katrina (at)FlirtingWithFiction]

I found this little novella after someone else posted about it on bookstagram, and I just had to give it a shot. The premise was too weird, and strangely hot, to ignore.

Let me just say, this book has NO RIGHT being as hot as it is. Seriously. 🤣 I was both grossed out and kinda into it in the best way. But aside from the silliness of the plot, this is a surprisingly tender and sentimental story about self-love and second chances.

I liked this a lot! If you’re into paranormal, MM romances with a little bit of body horror and a little bit of weird, you’ll love this. I can’t wait for the next in the series.

4.5 stars rounded to 5.

[Bek ✨]

chaotic goodness

I stumbled upon this wild novella thanks to the Bookstagram gods, and let me tell you, its premise was so bizarre and steamy that I couldn’t resist diving in! Seriously, this book should come with a warning for being way too hot for its own good. I found myself both totally grossed out and uncomfortably intrigued; in the best way possible!

Beyond the utterly unhinged plot, this story oozes tender moments about self-love and second chances.

I was cackling at the ridiculousness while simultaneously getting smacked with some serious feels! The banter is top tier, the emotions hit hard, and the connection between the characters? Chef’s kiss!

Eddy is now officially lodged in my heart forever, and poor Oscar and his curse had me laughing until I cried. This chaotic masterpiece is a must read for anyone who loves hilarious heartbreak with a happy ending!

[riya.reads]

3 ⭐️
This was a heartbreaking but ultimately heartwarming and sweet story overall. The book needs a lot of editing and corrections in writing. There are a few scene and timing discrepancies and the length can be longer to address some of the relationship development that is told to the readers but not shown which I would’ve liked because without that the relationship feels rushed. I do like the book but needs improvement which is why this is a 3 star and not higher. It has a lot of whimsy and I liked the world. Also like the premise of the next book in the series so would definitely want to read that

[Henna]

I laughed and cried - maybe gagged a bit - all because of some trash. Oscar and Eddy were amazing, and Eddy's backstory broke my heart. I was not expecting this story to be this deep and lovely.
And yes, I will read next book about a vampire and an accountant. Hopefully with less bin juice.

[angie_bookrecs]

Trash kink? Check.
Ghost boyfriend? Check.
Existential crisis in a garbage bin? Double check.

Benjamin Twigg really said, "Let’s get people horny, horrified, and healed in 120 pages". And he did.

Chapter titles? Camp perfection. Chapter 8? Emotional curb-stomp. By the time Eddy’s trauma unfolded, I was clutching my chest like, “Sir…this is a Wendy’s.”

Then—BOOM...curses broken, love found. They were happy. I was happy. We were all happy!
And just like that, Eddy fucking disappears.

The whiplash had me one breath away from therapy (I'm not dramatic, you're dramatic).
But when the King of the Rot brought our boy back? Oh, I ascended.

It’s gross. It’s gorgeous. It’s the queer paranormal rom-com we didn’t know we needed.

[Nick Vallina (MisterGhostReads)]

Oscar, cursed by a witchy ex to get turned on by garbage meets a bin-spirit named Eddy who was murdered in the 1970s.

Y'all. This book is batshit (complimentary). Highly recommend. Maybe teared up a little too.

[Pixie]

This book was utterly ridiculous in some of the best ways. The underlying theme of how a person sees value in others and in themselves is told in such a humorous and deep ways. Parts of the story are really intense, especially when we learn more about the Grouch, Eddy, and how he came to be what he is in present day. A story about curses, forgiveness, self-acceptance, and love. If you just need something that makes you shake your head but still has depth, this is your story.

[India]

Hey, so...I didn't like that.

An extra star for the creativity. I forced myself to speed read this because I needed it to be done and over.

[end]

this is a cute, campy, trash filled read.

“you just need someone who sees you. really sees you. and sometimes, miraculously, that someone crawls out of a bin.”

[Magne Einar]

Have you ever dreamed of meeting a main character who, thanks to a curse, gets turned on whenever he sees trash? 😏
And it gets even better when he meets an actual trash ghost? 🤣

No? Yes? Doesn’t matter – now’s your chance!

This book is such a light and hilarious read. I swear I laughed so many times, especially during the first chapters – the humor was exactly my vibe. It was such a refreshing change from what I usually read, and honestly, the perfect pick if you just want to switch off and have a good laugh.

[Belinda Zamora]

Unexpectedly wonderful

This was a sweet, silly little story filled with great banter, and a traumatic backstory that's actually dealt with very well.

[Tanya]

He is cursed to be aroused by trash and he is about to meet a spirit of the bin. It seems they are destined to become more than either expected as they get to know each other. See how they get on

[meevreads]

Can't Refuse Him had me in a constant state of "wtf am I reading and why can't I stop?"

This book took me completely by surprise! I expected a silly, borderline gross, story, but what I did not expect was the heartbreaking twist that B.J. Twigg hit us with.

I absolutely enjoyed it and gobbled it up in no time! I liked both characters and the completely unique way in which they were bonded. It was funny and sweet with some spice; a great balance of silly with a surprising emotional depth.

Definitely check this one out of you would be into some freaky paranormal romance with a lot of heart!

Thank you to Gay Romance Reviews for the eARC!