Pushing Reset

by K. Sterling

Brandon Leeds is a nerd. Growing up, he only had one friend and spent his teenage years building a software company that made him a millionaire in his early twenties. Despite his success and being what anyone would refer to as a hot nerd, Brandon found himself in a catastrophic marriage that resulted in him being a single father.

Jude Strickland is Brandon's only friend. He's also the exact opposite of Brandon. Musically gifted, charming, popular, easygoing, stylish and strikingly handsome, Jude could have any woman he wanted. Which was moot because Jude wasn't into women. At night, he was having more than his share of luck with men and was content living quietly with Brandon, helping him raise his young son, Noah.

A bad party, a few too many drinks, an argument and an insane offer turn their comfortable lives inside out and challenges everything they know about themselves and each other.

Genres: M M Romance, Friends To Lovers, Gay For You, Contemporary, Romance, Erotica, Family

152 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 15, 2015

About the author

Author of the popular Nannies of New York and Boys of Lake Cliff book series, K Sterling has self-published dozens of books. K. is known for fast-paced romantic thrillers and touching gay romcoms. There might be goosebumps and some gore but there’s always true love and lots of laughter.

Reviews

[Duck · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an okay GFY if you don't mind books that are mostly sex. Hot sex, but still mostly sex. The characters are likeable enough but I think they could've been developed more. They are friends since age four and yet we don't get much background. I wanted to know more about them as friends - it would have given their romantic relationship more depth and credibility.

This is one of those books that uses a kid to "strategically" move the story along.

I thought Jude's "conversation" with Emma was a little callous. It left me with a negative feeling and damaged the way I looked at Jude. Mental illness is never black and white and I didn't care for Jude's judgmental attitude towards Emma.

This is a fast read and would probably work as an inbetween low emotion lotsa sex distraction.

[Candice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really a fan of this one.

[Christelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brandon, quite a solitary guy, lost his wife and, with the help of Jude, his childhood friend, raises his son, Noah. And then, Brandon starts looking at Jude in a more than friendly way.

As it’s quite a short story, it’s fast-paced and lacks some development. However, I was surprised to enjoy it so much, may be because it made me laugh a lot seeing Brandon turning from a “monk” to a “sex machine” and Jude dealing with having his secret fantasy becoming true but needing to slow down Brandon’s enthusiasm. As for Noah, he was just cute.
I would have given a 3 stars because it was “over the top” sometimes, but went for a 4 stars because of the hot sex and the unexpected fun I had.

[Daphne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that I know exactly what I'm going to get with K Sterling's books. Pushing Reset delivered a sexy, low angst read with some romantic talk feels intermixed. Exactly what the doctor ordered.

[Ivana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stayed up till 2am reading this, I couldn't put it down.
The reviews have been mixed on this bad boy but I can't see why. This book was honestly one of the best I've read this year, if not ever in M/M Romance. It had everything I absolutely love...2 hot MC's that love and adore each other beyond words, incredible sex and I mean incredible, a funny cute child, low to no angst, more sex and a fantastic HEA. I am swooning today and so satisfied. This author has a new life long fan in me. I couldn't recommend this enough, I would have stayed up all morning with this one.

[Jenn C · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. I enjoyed this but not as much as this authors other works. I just didn't feel there was enough storey. Jude had been in love with Brandon since forever. Brandon is now a widower with a small child. Jude moves in and helps Brandon with raising his son. Once Brandon realizes he has feelings for Jude the storey just revolves around the sex. I understand Brandon is just now realizing who he is and enjoying sex but WOW. There was little interaction between the characters outside the bedroom. Don't get me wrong the sex was HOT, it just would have been interesting to see a little more, like when they went on their one date.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice light enjoyable read.

However, I felt as though I started in the middle of a novel and the story felt a bit rushed - almost like it was a sequel and I had missed the first half. Would have been stronger to have experienced more of the backstory rather than be told of it. Including the childhood, teenage and college years leading up to Brandon's loveless marriage would have added depth. The build up to Brandon's attraction and ultimate love for Jude would have enhanced the sweetness and angst and sweetness TO the angst.

Oooh boy, though, the sex was indeed hot. Found myself immediately rereading some passages. *fans self - hmm, what was that again?*

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this story. I enjoyed the chemistry between the main characters. I thought it was funny how Brandon went from being asexual to a hormone crazed teenager within 24 hours. If you want a quick read, I would recommend this story.

[Renée · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many things outside the realm of possibility, and dare I say it.....too much sex.

[Pebbles1374 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Cat LeFey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forgot that Sterling's writing style could use more pronouns, it's not bad though. Will get your rocks off. This is mostly erotica, it's like 60% sex but also a few feels. Wierd pacing, but smut gets a pass, no one expects a NYT Bestseller, here. A little insensitive when it comes to mental illness, but I already knew that about this author going in. It's not malicious, just a product of priviledge.

[Denise GremoryKohta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

This was truly a wonderful read. So much deeper and insightful than I expected. I love how the author explained things without it being obvious. Definitely not your average friends to lovers. This is a perfect example of why I love friends to lovers. Especially best friends.

[Ruther Cabral · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

The sex scenes are really, REALLY hot, but everything else is a bit meh. Good thing the novel's mostly about the sex scenes, but it did feel a bit claustrophobic at times as there aren't really any major secondary characters.

[M L R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute

I love this author! Seriously, she deserves recognition for all the various couples she creates that just seem so real, the amazing covers and happiest epilogues ever. Great best friends to lovers story with no drama or angst. Great couple and sweet family.

[Silkeeeeeereads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 STARS

Cute story about the straight best friend and the gay friend that is in love with him. There is far too much sex in here. It’s not balanced because of it. It’s not that I dislike sex. Love it, actually. It’s just very unbalanced in this book. JMHO

[Kristin Grella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book by K. Sterling!

This was another great book by K. Sterling. Friends to lovers are some of my favorite books and this one didn't disappoint. I absolutely loved Brandon and Jude and I didn't want their story to end. Loved it!!

[Guilherme William · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehhh Noah was cute but there was way too much sex and not enough character development

[Jenny Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bah! I've had this in my TBR forever it seems and I just got around to reading it...
So, what to say about it.... First... LOTS of sex... lots and lots and lots of it lol,

Brandon is cripplingly shy, he's made a fortune at a young age and is content just living his life with his son Noah and best friend Jude. He was married for a while, but never felt a connection with her or anything sexual with anyone at all really. Sex was unsatisfying to the point of it making him sick and even with himself wasn't anything to get excited about. He was okay with that, or content at least.

Jude had been in love with Brandon since forever! They'd grown up together quite literally, always being best friends. When Brandon's wife dies, he moves in and takes care of Noah while Brandon grieves. I think he grieved that he wasn't able to save her more so than anything else. He wasn't happy with her and she wasn't happy either, but she was never happy and thats something that bothered me in the beginning. She was obviously mentally ill, like severe depression or something of that nature. It didn't get into too much detail about her other than she was just so unhappy and withdrawn all the time but I really hated the animosity towards her and the way she'd died. She obviously needed help and it was sad she was so unhappy for so long that she eventually killed herself. Especially with a small child. I felt like they could have been more compassionate or caring of her because she was a daughter, mother and sister too.... Although, Jude did have a talk with her in the epilogue and apologized for hating her and thanked her for bringing him Noah and Brandon, I still hated how it was perceived in the beginning. Mental health is a serious issue and everyone deserves help....BUT, it would have changed the course of the story so I understand, and alls well that ended well and I understood thats where the story needed to go.... I just hated it at the time of reading it.

Other than that, Brandon starts having feelings for Jude that go beyond friendship and starts seeing him in a whole new light, it was entertaining to watch him go from this insecure, shy, not so confident person to a raging sex machine in the span of a month or two lol Jude really brought him out of his shell and was patient and a good teacher! After Brandon had this sexual awakening, he couldn't get enough of Jude and I could understand where Jude was coming from, he was scared Brandon was just, I don't wanna say "using", cuz thats not it but..... just like, learning and having fun with him.... and Brandon thought Jude would get bored with him and miss not sleeping around like he was used to... But what he didn't know was that Jude has been in love with him forever, the whole reason he slept around and never got attached was because he had it all at home with Noah and Brandon, just not sex and he was okay with that. I mean it hurt sure, but.... he was willing to take anything Brandon could give him and live with it because he loved him.
Luckily, he didn't have to do that forever and they got together. I loved how Jude was with Noah, I love how supportive everyone was that mattered, especially Noah, he loved Jude and was happy to have him go from "Uncle Jude" to another Dad.
The whole story was just really cute with loads of sex thrown in lol I really enjoyed it because, why wouldnt I? It was a very sweet GFY, friends to lovers, HEA.... It just doesn't get better than that....

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally speaking, I liked the story. Best friends fall in love. Gay for you. Gay couple with a kid. These are tropes I can get behind & am even known to seek out.

The biggest downside for me was the sex. OMG at the sex. SO. MUCH. SEX. Seriously, it's amazing to me that the MCs were able to walk.

I'm not a prude. I like sex in my books. And I want detail. If you're gonna give me sex, you better tell me where everyone's appendages are & what they're doing. But damn. I think this is probably the first time I've ever said this, but maaaaaaybe there was too much sex in this book??

Another issue for me was the lack of character development. (This would normally be the top issue for me in a book, but man, there was so much sex.) To me, there were some real missed opportunities to dig deeper regarding Jude & Brandon's lifelong friendship, Brandon & Emma's relationship & the aftermath, and even Brandon's relationship with his parents.

I also have to mention that I didn't feel like I ever got *why* Jude has been in love with Brandon for years. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with Brandon or that he wasn't deserving of Jude's love or devotion. It's just that we're told Jude is in love & are expected to simply accept it with little to no explanation as to why/how Jude came to be so very in love with his best friend.

I also would have liked a little more exploration into Brandon's feelings regarding being attracted to a man. This was touched on some, but I would have liked more. Regardless of his lack of experience with relationships & sex, being suddenly attracted to a person of the same sex in your 30s is, I think, worthy of some introspection.

I would have loved a little more Noah. He was a cute kid who clearly wanted Jude to be his other dad even before Brandon & Jude got together, so I would have liked to have seen a bit more of him on the page.

Basically, about half of those sex scenes could have been cut out to make way for some character development.

After writing this, I guess maybe I didn't enjoy the book as much as I thought? Although there was nothing bad enough to make me DNF, I did skim large swaths of scenes (mostly the seemingly unending sex scenes), which is rare for me. And in thinking back about things I enjoyed to include in this review, I'm coming up...well, not empty, but with fewer positives than the wish list of sorts that I've listed above.

Im sticking with 3 stars, but I don't think I'll be revisiting this one.

[Antisocial Recluse · Rating 4 out of 5]

The usual fine job

K. Sterling writes very good love stories. It's an often used trope, the best friends to lovers, GFY, and a kid thrown into the mix. Brandon is a withdrawn, socially awkward man. He was married to a woman, who obviously had a severe depression problem. Jude was his best friend since they were very young and he knew he was gay early on. Jude lives with Brandon and helps him raise Noah, Brandon's son. Brandon has always thought he was asexual. Jude is a playboy type.

There was not quite enough character building for me. It was also a very predictable storyline. Jude's family is mentioned but never appears in the story. Brandon's parents are in the story eventually and the father is shown as homophobic. However, there is not really any other background on why Brandon's personality might have become so detached emotionally. Eventually though, he realizes he is developing an interest in Jude beyond friendship.

When they get going, there are A LOT of sex scenes. Many are Gay 101, as Brandon explores his sexuality and Jude is a willing teacher! There is even a point where Jude has to beg Brandon to let him rest. Then there is the whole coming out issue but there's very little drama. So it's a low-key story, as are most of Ms. Sterling's stories. But they're a nice break after angst-feats. They are solidly written and well edited.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my, this was very jizzy. Waaayyyy too much jizz. Started out well with interesting story about painfully shy, almost asexual Brandon who, along with his son, lives with his best friend after the death of Brandon's wife. Good backstory, good secondary characters and good action. Then BOOM, Brandon turns into a sex manaic! Now I love K Sterling. Have really enjoyed her books because she is quite the storyteller. But I needed more story. Page after page of jizz so much that I skipped a bit. So why 4 stars. Cause I liked the bit of story I got and loved Jude. That scene at about 83% with the parents at dinner - hysterical. And the end - made me cry. But enough with the jizz. K sterling, you don't need it. Just craft your tales and keep giving your readers these memorable characters.

[Carolyn Elias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jude & Brandon are hot!

This is a story of great love and exploration of a man's exploration of his sexuality with his best friend! Brandon's wife dies leaving him with his son, Noah. Jude is his best friend who moves in to help Brandon with Noah, he has loved Brandon since they were children and always wished that Brandon was gay. Jude was so devoted to Brandon that he just wanted to help and be near him! Suddenly Brandon discovers his sexuality (he thought that he was asexual) and his desire for Jude. Great story, lots of hot sex as Jude teaches Brandon all the different ways they could be together!

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

At 11%, I was willing to look past what felt like a hard-to-accept insta-love which bloomed between MCs... until I found parts of their first intimate scene together calling into question my own (limited) understanding of male physiology, including refractory periods. The scene in the train on the way to the football game also felt unlikely, given the characters' personalities developed up to that point. It would have taken a far more dominant MC experienced at reaching body language to chose such brazen moves in public.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first book by K Sterling and I enjoyed it immensely. It’s a friends-to-lovers, gay-for-you story and I usually enjoy both. Likeable characters, little angst once they get around to being honest with each other and hot sex. Secondary characters like Noah, Mrs Kelly and Brandon’s mum are a nice complement to main characters. Definitely recommend it for a light, romantic and sometimes funny read. A big plus for me is that it is a full-length novel.

[Shirley Manus · Rating 4 out of 5]

deLovely book.

A sweet gay for you story about two best friends-Brandon and Jude who are raising Brandon's son Noah together. It's a sexy story but to me Noah really makes the book. Noah wants his father to be happy and when he finds Brandon and Jude together in a compromising position he's pleased about it. I think children can add a lot to any book because they are so accepting of any love. Great book. Thanks.

[Lovebunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this was just fantastic in my opinion. I loved every page of this book. I liked reading about all of their feelings and reactions to everything that happened. I know that some people thought there was too much sex on page, I disagree. I think that if someone just discovered sex in a good way that they would probably be just a crazy for it. I really liked the whole dynamic between these two, but Jude stole my heart in this.

I would love to read another book by this author.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

Asexual to nymphomaniac! When Brandon decides that he is gay holly shit! He wore his friend Jude out! Story is about two friends from childhood becoming lovers. Throw a kid into the mix and the story keeps moving. I do wish there would have been more story, and not quite so much sexy times. This is an okay book for me.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was Fantastic!

If you want to read a love story that takes over 20 years to reach fruition, you will want to pit this at the top of your list!

K. Sterling has invited us into a wonderful home filled with a devoted couple, a superb housekeeper and a little boy who hold his 'family' together.

I'm looking forward to many more by K. Sterling!!!

[Al *the semi serial series skipper* · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. The problem I had with it was that although both main characters had been friends since they were toddlers we didn't really get to see them act that way. There wasn't a lot of interaction between them apart from when they had sex, which they did all the time. Poor character development , I couldn't connect with anyone.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning of the story started out really sad .
But damn the rest with Brandon figuring out his sexuality and de sex scenes they were hot!

It was a bit predictable though Best friends to Lovers
but I enjoyed reading this story.