Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Top Secret

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Top Secret by Elle Kennedy, Sarina Bowen

6 reviews

levilore_'s review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked the concept of this book and did enjoy the characters a lot. The different backgrounds of Keaton and Luke were a cool dynamic and Keaton

realizing that he was just gay was something I didn't expect.

I thought they had a good relationship dynamic that kept me interested.

Content Warnings

friends2lovers's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

After finishing The Understatement of the Year, I was in kind of an audiobook slump, but I guess the cure was more Sarina Bowen and this narrator duo (Teddy Hamilton and Christian Fox).

This didn't go in the story direction I was expecting. Based on the blurb, I thought it'd be similar to Just a Bit Obsessed by Alessandra Hazard, but in Top Secret they (Luke, Keaton, and Keaton's girlfriend Annika) never actually get around to having a threesome. Instead, the initial set-up of Top Secret is more like a steamy You've Got Mail—Keaton and Luke chat and sext anonymously via a hookup app before finding out they know each other in real life. I loved the anticipation leading up to that big reveal moment. And afterwards, the story and characters continued to entertain, delight, and surprise me.

The only aspect of this I felt iffy about is that for the first 40% of the book Keaton is essentially cheating on his girlfriend with Luke. But Keaton doesn't really acknowledge it as cheating until it's been going on for weeks and even then it's just a realization made in passing in his inner monologue. A part of me wishes the cheating had been more directly addressed, but at the same time I think it was a good choice for the authors to sidestep it, because otherwise the cheating would steal too much focus. Adding guilt and betrayal on top of everything else the characters are dealing with would over-complicate the story.

MM contemporary romance, new adult, college, frat bros, roommates, opponents/rivals, class difference, secret relationship, gay awakening, You've Got Mail trope, 1st person dual POV, audiobook on Audible

Content Warnings