Clay

Men of Magnolia Grove #1

by D. Alex

First Time Gay MM Romance

What happens when a knight in shining jeans saves his prince charming? Chaos, confusion, and coffee dates.

I love coffee and watching reruns in my just-right-for-me sized apartment.
I loved my ex-boyfriend until he went off the deep end and started to stalk me.
When things turned sour, an unlikely savior came stumbling into the hallway.
His name was Dax. I’d been searching for a way to talk to him.
Having him rescue me from my ex was never the plan. But neither was falling in love with him.

If you love: next door neighbor romances, Schitt's Creek references, adorable grannies, hot sex scenes, jealous exes, low angst, and happy endings without cliffhangers, then you'll love this book!

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Contemporary, LGBT

133 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 30, 2021

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute

Clay & Dax
Rating: 2.8 ⭐

This was a cute GFY novella, where two neighbors who've been crushing on each other for a few months finally get together. They exchanged pleasantries at the mailbox but both were curious about each other. During an altercation with Clays ex, Dax steps in to help and after these two finally get a chance to talk. There's a shared love of Schitts Creek and references galore in here. Dax has never been with a man but found actors on TV to be attractive, a fantasy thought process, so being attracted to Clay was new for him. There are a few misunderstandings, mainly because Dax gets embarrassed and thinks he's not good enough for Clay. Overall, it was cute but they dragged out the ex mess only for him to just disappear at the court date which was a weird choice.

Verse: One Verse; One Top
HEA: Yes
POV: Dual
Breakup: Yes

[ML · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was odd. The plot was even more odd. It had promise but fizzled. I got all the Schitt’s Creek references but it didn’t help the plot.

Went from zero to 60 then zero again. The end was a head scratcher too. Not sure if I’ll continue on to the next book in the series 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

[Kelli D · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

Meh, felt like a first draft or a rough idea of what the author wanted to write about. The flow was weird with stuff happening but not enough. The timeline was hard to follow and I didn't feel any connection to either MC or b/w them. Lastly, one Schitts Creek reference is cute, two is yeah ok, three is this again, twelve is this is ridiculous and needs to stop.

[AlitaConejita]

I’ve never watched Schitz creek and I don’t know who David and Patrick are. Was this a fanfic thing? One of those “if these characters existed in a different world” type thing? Either way, I feel like the author used the David and Patrick references to shortcut developing the MCs in this book. I didn’t really develop a connection/understanding of them.

It’s a fluff book and there is an HEA - yay.

Outside of that - it could have been more polished. I don’t know why Clay’s parents were brought up that single time and nothing further came out of that. I expected some sort of closure with the stalker ex-bf that I didn’t get. And honestly, I just thought Clay must have some bad judgement in who he dates to go from Jason the stalker to asking a down-on-his luck/nowhere-to-live guy to move in together within like 2 weeks (a month?) Of them beginning to interact.

[wordsandblankspaces · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

First book I have read by these authors. It was a cute little read overall. I didn't like every decision made by the main characters but for a short romance they probably made sense. *SPOILER* I didn't really like how long the Jason plot was dragged out only to end with him not showing up in court and that was the end of that. I understand that this was a major plot line in the story so it seems weird that it was drama, drama, drama with him and then poof, he's gone. I will still read more of their books!

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read somewhere that this is actually a collaboration of two known mm authors, but I can't recall who. A very cute story, two sweet young men, I love 'gay for you' so I knew I'd enjoy this. Dex was struggling money-wise as well as coming to terms with his sexuality, so we can forgive him his stumbling and panicked reaction when it all becomes overwhelming.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely adorable and fun read!

I’m kind of obsessed with Schitt’s Creek so I totally love the references in the story and how they (the MC’s) both are fans too! I was cheering for them from the beginning and the author did not disappoint!!

[Amélie · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I love my books when they are low angst, no conflict and very sweet.
But I just didn't click with this one. It felt kind of pointless. Too bad because I would have liked to try the rest of the series out.

[Carole Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked Clay. But GFY hero was just milk toast for me, like able but kind of boring. Story also had a flow problem for me. However, I would be willing to try another book by this author.

[Brice Dohnt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clay : By D Alex

I enjoyed reading this story loved the characters and the interaction between the family and friends. Thanks for the joy it gave me reading it.

[Nancy Nees · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a beautiful love story

[Gabriel Enrique · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok for a short read.

[Christina Griner · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 🌟's. It's a cute story. Quick read and likeable characters.

[Jozey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains: stalking ex, neighbor, knight in armor, first time with a men, poor musician, financial problem.