Rating: 3.7 / 5
I went into Switch expecting a dark, emotionally intense MM romance, and that’s exactly what it is - sometimes to its benefit, sometimes to its detriment. This book is messy, chaotic, hot, heartbreaking, and occasionally frustrating, but never boring. It’s the kind of story you inhale in one sitting because the characters feel like they’re on the edge of unraveling, and you want to see where they land.
What I Loved
The chemistry is unreal
Fallon and PJ spark off each other immediately. The alley scene happens early and honestly? It’s one of the most intense, unapologetically erotic scenes I’ve read in a while. The author writes heat extremely well - the physicality, the emotional hunger, the loss of control. If you read romance for tension and desire, this book delivers.
The characters feel raw and real
Fallon is grieving, guilty, lonely, and living like a ghost. PJ is a disaster with a knife, a soft heart, a sharp mouth, and way more trauma than he wants to admit. Their voices are distinct and genuine, and you can feel the pain bleeding through the page.
It’s fast, addictive, and immersive
From page one, you’re thrown directly into Fallon’s grief and PJ’s chaos. The writing is sensory and emotional in a way that keeps you locked in. I never wanted to put it down, even when I was annoyed with the characters.
What Didn’t Work For Me
The pacing is too fast
This book hits the gas hard and never slows down. We go from grief to BDSM club breakdown to blind date to public sexual meltdown to “come home with me” in what feels like minutes. There’s not much space to breathe or process.
Some readers will love that intensity, but for me, a little emotional breathing room would’ve made the story land harder.
It leans heavily into melodrama
The internal monologues (especially Fallon’s) can get repetitive and overly dramatic. He circles the same thoughts being guilt, confusion, longing-again and again. None of the emotions are subtle; everything is dialed up to 110.
It fits the vibe, but sometimes it edges into overkill.
Tone whiplash is real
The transitions between grief, humor, sexual heat, danger, and vulnerability can be abrupt. Sometimes it feels like two books smashed together - a dark erotic romance and a trauma-heavy emotional story and the stitching shows.
Some stylistic repetition
Certain phrases and emotional beats show up a lot. Some sentences could’ve been cleaner, tighter, or less dramatic. Not a dealbreaker, but noticeable.
The Writing Style
The writing is:
• emotional
• intense
• sensory
• character-driven
• very, very horny
But it’s also:
• occasionally overwritten
• repetitive
• inconsistent in tone
• blunt rather than subtle
It’s not “literary,” but it is compelling. It reads like high-quality fanfic mixed with dark romance intensity - and I mean that as both a compliment and a critique.
Final Thoughts
Switch is addictive, emotional, and scorching hot. It’s not a gentle romance, and it’s not trying to be. It’s messy in all the ways its characters are messy, and that’s part of its appeal. I genuinely enjoyed the ride, even when I was mentally shouting at Fallon and PJ to slow down for five seconds.
If you love morally gray characters, age gap tension, kink with emotional weight, and romances that hit like a punch to the chest, you’ll be obsessed with this.
If you need subtlety, slower pacing, or careful emotional development… this one might test your patience.
Either way, it makes you feel something - and that’s worth a lot.
-I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.