The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
albloomy's review
4.0
4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I love the smarty pants romance world and seeing some side characters get their story was adorable. Dr Ken Miles and Stephen are cute and dealing with their own issues separately and together. Yes there is a third act breakup but it was understandable and made sense that they needed to work though the issues to get back together.
I love the smarty pants romance world and seeing some side characters get their story was adorable. Dr Ken Miles and Stephen are cute and dealing with their own issues separately and together. Yes there is a third act breakup but it was understandable and made sense that they needed to work though the issues to get back together.
katekate_reads_'s review against another edition
5.0
I loved Sticking to the Script! You could read this book as a stand-alone without any other history or information and it would be a great read - probably 4 stars for me. But the way it fits into the greater universe (Pennyverse) so seamlessly really made it such a fuller experience!!
Penny Reid wrote the Knitting in the City and Winston Brothers books which I LOVED! And now a number of authors are writing books into this same world. I was excited and interested about the concept but not really sure what to expect. I think each book will really be entirely it’s own experience - and this one was a huge win!!!
If you’ve read the Knitting in the City series - you will already know both of the main characters in this book, Steven Thompson and Dr Ken Miles. It was so interesting to see the way the timeline overlapped with Knitting books and sometimes even seeing the same scene from a different character’s perspective.
Stella Weaver also did a great job of helping to see a character differently after learning more about their internal conflicts. This book covered a number of serious issues without feeling bogged down - handling them with appropriate gravity but still overall having a sense of humor. I am really impressed and look forward to reading more from Weaver!
CW: sexual assault, stalking, difficult family dynamics
Thank you so much to Smarty Pants Romance, Penny Reid, Stella Weaver and Social Butterfly PR for the opportunity to read an advance copy. Available 10/15!
Penny Reid wrote the Knitting in the City and Winston Brothers books which I LOVED! And now a number of authors are writing books into this same world. I was excited and interested about the concept but not really sure what to expect. I think each book will really be entirely it’s own experience - and this one was a huge win!!!
If you’ve read the Knitting in the City series - you will already know both of the main characters in this book, Steven Thompson and Dr Ken Miles. It was so interesting to see the way the timeline overlapped with Knitting books and sometimes even seeing the same scene from a different character’s perspective.
Stella Weaver also did a great job of helping to see a character differently after learning more about their internal conflicts. This book covered a number of serious issues without feeling bogged down - handling them with appropriate gravity but still overall having a sense of humor. I am really impressed and look forward to reading more from Weaver!
CW: sexual assault, stalking, difficult family dynamics
Thank you so much to Smarty Pants Romance, Penny Reid, Stella Weaver and Social Butterfly PR for the opportunity to read an advance copy. Available 10/15!
angie_stl's review
Steven and Dr Ken Miles!!
I hadn't realized who the main characters of this book were until someone mentioned it on Facebook, and within an hour I owned and had starred reading it!! Steven has been a favorite character since my first Penny-verse book, and Stella has made him that much better! DKM, or Ken, was a bit unknown, but he is also molded and fleshed out, into an amazing character that you could imagine meeting. This may not be the book for everyone, but if you like m/m and have even the tiniest knowledge of KitC, you NEED this book!! Even if you don't know the Penny-verse, its an amazing read!!
I hadn't realized who the main characters of this book were until someone mentioned it on Facebook, and within an hour I owned and had starred reading it!! Steven has been a favorite character since my first Penny-verse book, and Stella has made him that much better! DKM, or Ken, was a bit unknown, but he is also molded and fleshed out, into an amazing character that you could imagine meeting. This may not be the book for everyone, but if you like m/m and have even the tiniest knowledge of KitC, you NEED this book!! Even if you don't know the Penny-verse, its an amazing read!!
vmars314's review against another edition
4.0
I loved all of the Knitting in the City books and was so glad to read this spin off about Steven getting his happy ending.
ginnikin's review against another edition
too much exposition, too much tell, not enough show
iggyebab's review against another edition
4.0
I have been so curious about Dr. Ken Miles. He has come off as such a douche in previous books and I was very curious about how one might redeem him.
DKM is really just not who you expect him to be. I loved that there is so much more to him. I love that he is so unsure and uneasy. DKM needs someone to see past this shell he's built.
Steven is so much fun. He is smart and savvy and has a mother fucking white couch. Steven is a part of Cipher Systems, friend of Janie's and he is really tired of Quinn's OTT surliness toward the world because of Janie's difficult pregnancy.
That's right people, this book runs concurrently with other books in this series. Janie is pregnant. Quinn is overly pissy. Dan and Kat are all kinds of shifty toward one another. And Elizabeth and Nico are not fans of DKM.
However, Steven shows us a whole different side of DKM that I have to admit, I am a fan of. He does not know how to be himself because he is afraid he will not be accepted. DKM is bisexual but no one knows that . His family did not react well to this information so he has not explored this side of himself.
I loved that Steven has no idea they are dating while DKM thinks things are going pretty well. Until Steven tells him that they can't just be friends and that he has a stalker and he should stay away. Then things take a hot turn.
Of course, there is some drama and some things have to be dealt with in order for the HEA to occur.
I am so happy that I fell for DKM. I really expected to find this book meh. The first in this series was very disappointing to me and I am so happy this book worked!
DKM is really just not who you expect him to be. I loved that there is so much more to him. I love that he is so unsure and uneasy. DKM needs someone to see past this shell he's built.
Steven is so much fun. He is smart and savvy and has a mother fucking white couch. Steven is a part of Cipher Systems, friend of Janie's and he is really tired of Quinn's OTT surliness toward the world because of Janie's difficult pregnancy.
That's right people, this book runs concurrently with other books in this series. Janie is pregnant. Quinn is overly pissy. Dan and Kat are all kinds of shifty toward one another. And Elizabeth and Nico are not fans of DKM.
However, Steven shows us a whole different side of DKM that I have to admit, I am a fan of. He does not know how to be himself because he is afraid he will not be accepted. DKM is bisexual but no one knows that . His family did not react well to this information so he has not explored this side of himself.
I loved that Steven has no idea they are dating while DKM thinks things are going pretty well. Until Steven tells him that they can't just be friends and that he has a stalker and he should stay away. Then things take a hot turn.
Of course, there is some drama and some things have to be dealt with in order for the HEA to occur.
I am so happy that I fell for DKM. I really expected to find this book meh. The first in this series was very disappointing to me and I am so happy this book worked!
phoenixinthecity's review against another edition
3.0
This is the story of Steven, Janie's work husband in Neanderthal Meets Human and Dr. Ken Miles, who saved Elizabeth from Nico's stalker in Friends With Benefits. The KITC crew do appear and this story unfolds in the same timeline as Marriage of Inconvenience - Dr. Ken is the guy that Steven was secretly seeing when Kat asked him to marry her. Much of the conflict in this book has to do with secrets/lack of communication: Ken isn't always explicit about his bisexuality, and Steven keeps his stalker a secret from everyone who could help him and affect their relationship with each other and their friends and family.
TW/CW for bi erasure, assault, stalking, harassment.
TW/CW for bi erasure, assault, stalking, harassment.
sitathereader's review against another edition
5.0
Full disclosure – I have a history with this story and the super gorgeous author who wrote it. In 2016 I did my first NaNoWrimo (and won, woohoo!), there was a small support group of participants (established authors, aspiring authors, and hobby wordsmiths like me) of this crazy challenge who came from the Penny Reid Readers Group on Facebook. And for a month we slogged away and wrote the words, including Stella Weaver. I sort of knew who she was from the reader group, and she was always supportive, and just generally lovely. But she didn’t share much on what she was working on, past it was a Penny Reid fanfiction. And then she shared a couple of chapters of her WIP and I was completely captured by her words.
In early 2017 she released her complete fanfiction to the world. And people, it was brilliant. It was one of my favourite reads for the whole yeah. I even messaged her, annoyed her with my gushing, and forced friendship on her. This was fanfiction and I was totally enthralled. I rec’d that fanfiction like it was nobody’s business.*
Fast forward two and a half years (including mentions in Penny Reid’s ‘Marriage of Inconvenience’ that turned Steven and Ken from fanfiction into canon) and we’re here. I looked up the original message I sent Stella and I am having those exact same feelings all over again and more because, here’s a secret, this version is even better!
This woman can write, it’s expressive, fluid, joyful, funny, soulful, authentic, poignant and brilliant.
For those Penny Reid fans out there, and I know there’s a lot of you, this book perfectly slots into the Knitting in the City universe. And on its own, it's just a brilliant little gem of a book.
I don’t think anyone who knows this series would have paired Steven Thompson and Dr. Ken Miles (DKM). But it works. Stella took two established characters, and made them her own while being totally respectful and authentic to the source material.Getting to know both men is a joy. They’re likeable characters from the start, both wanting the same thing, and realizing they can get that with each other. Granted, one took a little longer to figure it out than the other.
But beware, Ken Miles will slay you with his words. He’s always dropping little one-liners that just melt your heart. The other facets of Ken that Stella has created have given us such a rich and wonderful character – from the stiff not-Nico from Penny’s 'Friends without Benefits' – that’s he slotted himself as one of all time favourites. His whole family is a lot of fun to read too.
And this book is so smart. I’m in awe that Stella could weave factoids, trivia, science, popular culture altogether and not just sort have a messy pile of stuff that could overwhelm her readers. And she also includes drama, jokes, Wally the dog who seems to belong to everyone at Cipher, characters from other Cipher books, romance, a grumpy boss, and chemistry you can almost touch. It’s a lot to piece together but everything is handled with the same precision and skill as a surgeon with a scalpel.
I’m excited for what this new, indie-press ‘Smartypants Romance’ will give us. There are 11 other Penny Reid ‘canon’ books releasing with Stella’s over two months, by a variety of debut and established authors. And if Stella is the standard, I’m going to be lost in those books for a little while.
I cannot wait for more.
* the fanfiction on Wattpad is no longer available. You don’t need it. Trust me.
In early 2017 she released her complete fanfiction to the world. And people, it was brilliant. It was one of my favourite reads for the whole yeah. I even messaged her, annoyed her with my gushing, and forced friendship on her. This was fanfiction and I was totally enthralled. I rec’d that fanfiction like it was nobody’s business.*
Fast forward two and a half years (including mentions in Penny Reid’s ‘Marriage of Inconvenience’ that turned Steven and Ken from fanfiction into canon) and we’re here. I looked up the original message I sent Stella and I am having those exact same feelings all over again and more because, here’s a secret, this version is even better!
This woman can write, it’s expressive, fluid, joyful, funny, soulful, authentic, poignant and brilliant.
For those Penny Reid fans out there, and I know there’s a lot of you, this book perfectly slots into the Knitting in the City universe. And on its own, it's just a brilliant little gem of a book.
I don’t think anyone who knows this series would have paired Steven Thompson and Dr. Ken Miles (DKM). But it works. Stella took two established characters, and made them her own while being totally respectful and authentic to the source material.Getting to know both men is a joy. They’re likeable characters from the start, both wanting the same thing, and realizing they can get that with each other. Granted, one took a little longer to figure it out than the other.
But beware, Ken Miles will slay you with his words. He’s always dropping little one-liners that just melt your heart. The other facets of Ken that Stella has created have given us such a rich and wonderful character – from the stiff not-Nico from Penny’s 'Friends without Benefits' – that’s he slotted himself as one of all time favourites. His whole family is a lot of fun to read too.
And this book is so smart. I’m in awe that Stella could weave factoids, trivia, science, popular culture altogether and not just sort have a messy pile of stuff that could overwhelm her readers. And she also includes drama, jokes, Wally the dog who seems to belong to everyone at Cipher, characters from other Cipher books, romance, a grumpy boss, and chemistry you can almost touch. It’s a lot to piece together but everything is handled with the same precision and skill as a surgeon with a scalpel.
I’m excited for what this new, indie-press ‘Smartypants Romance’ will give us. There are 11 other Penny Reid ‘canon’ books releasing with Stella’s over two months, by a variety of debut and established authors. And if Stella is the standard, I’m going to be lost in those books for a little while.
I cannot wait for more.
* the fanfiction on Wattpad is no longer available. You don’t need it. Trust me.
lianareadsblog's review against another edition
4.0
A lovely M/M story with two great characters.
I enjoyed the writing first of all. It’s fresh and keeps you engaged from the first page to the last.
As for the characters, they seemed a perfect match together and their banter and moments were very enjoyable.
It’s my first book by the author and honestly I can’t thank Penny enough for bringing us new to us authors that I’ll definitely be reading more in the future.
I enjoyed the writing first of all. It’s fresh and keeps you engaged from the first page to the last.
As for the characters, they seemed a perfect match together and their banter and moments were very enjoyable.
It’s my first book by the author and honestly I can’t thank Penny enough for bringing us new to us authors that I’ll definitely be reading more in the future.
apagetoturn's review against another edition
4.0
Blindly, I started this book before reading the blurb - not realizing that this was going to be an M/M Romance. Technically a genre I stray away from, always. But because I signed up for a review copy, I made myself finish it anyways and I'm kind of glad I did. I have to admit, I actually enjoyed this story a lot. It won't convert me into reading more MM romance, but I did like Steven and Dr Ken Miles (DKM). I was surprised how much I enjoyed this rather conventional slow burn male romance.