It has been nearly three years since GRiD—a fictional idol group from Seoul—last saw the limelight before serving their mandatory military service. Now, they are making a comeback.
As the lead dancer, Minjae wants to make sure that everything is perfect, down to the tiniest details. Including and especially the all-important fanservice. The problem? Minjae hates fanservice. Especially the part where people expect Minjae and his bandmate Do-hyun to act as lovers. Unfortunately, Minjae has a secret—he once fell for Do-hyun in real life. Swearing not to make the same mistake ever again, he decides to ignore his feelings for the time being.
What if the chemistry the two clearly have on stage starts to leak into real life as well?
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Blinding Lights is a wonderful twist on the fake dating trope, paired with a healthy dose of friends to lovers slowburn and mystery. While it’s book one in the On Stage trilogy, it can be read as a standalone.
Namiar Topit writes daring queer romance, characters who are flawed, messy, and devastatingly human — the kind of people who want too much and keep craving for it anyway.
When not writing, they're lost in music, reading stories that break their heart in the most delicious of ways, or plotting their next set of beautiful disasters.
I love a good slow-burn and there aren't enough great BL books featuring characters I love as much as I loved Minjae and Do-hyun. Especially ones that are NOT fan fiction. I really enjoyed that aspect-- that the characters were completely unique.
I don't usually read romance but I had to check out a friend's book! I enjoyed it a lot, and it was a spicy little read for the Christmas period. :D I loved Min's POV the most, he immediately bought me with his shier demeanor, hesitance, and insecurities. Do seemed more fun from his perspective than his own which was an interesting contrast. I did manage to get to like him by the end, though (I never was too into possessive guys but he showed some other colors too). I think they were a good couple and they will bring out the best (and sometimes the idiot!) of each other. I also enjoyed the little glimpses into the k-pop idol life. The drama was also just enough at the end to give tension, and I liked the resolution a lot.
Apart from them, Joonie was definitely a fave and honestly, I'm pretty interested in the other books now too!