cleo_reads's review
4.0
I’ve read 5 of the 8 stories - all of the queer ones plus a het m/f. My favorites by far are Starlet Struck by Tamsen Parker (f/f) and Love your Love by Ainsley Booth (f/f/f poly).
Love your Love is the first fff poly romance that I’ve read and it sets a high standard.
Love your Love is the first fff poly romance that I’ve read and it sets a high standard.
briarsreviews's review
5.0
This final collection in the Rogue series has proven to be another lovely addition!
This LGBTQ+ book is full of sweet (and sometimes sexy!) stories. F/F, M/M, poly and more, with each having a different focus. Some of the stories center around politics, Hollywood and even just good, old-fashioned relationships.
I can't get enough of these short stories, because they are so easy to slip into. They aren't difficult to follow, they make me smile, and I just love these authors. Since every story is different, you get a really good mix of romance and erotica.
I focused on three stories from the collection, but all of them were marvelous.
Hudson Lin's Ipso Facto ILU follows Jonny and Brandon, who are OMG levels of cuteness. Brandon is a political science PhD candidate and Jonny is a famous podcaster. Following their super sweet love story was such a treat! Brandon's shyness and adorable nature made me love this couple oh so much! Throw in some funny lines about Zest body soap and Canadian references and you've got me totally engaged in this story. Honestly, it felt like a fan girl's heaven. This story was definitely a 5 out of 5 stars for me!
Ainsley Booth's Love Your Love was a lovely poly romance which following Win and Penny (and Tanya, you can't forget about Tanya). Cute crushes, spooning and fun quotes about beaming and blooming flowers fill this little story up. I like Ainsley's way with words - it somehow felt so elegant yet so natural! This story moved very quickly and felt a little shorter to me, but it was still super sweet. 5 out of 5 stars!
And to top it off, Tamsen Parker's Starlet Struck shed some light on causes AND included some super sexy F/F romance. Archer and Hadley make one wild pair - an activist and a Hollywood actress. The characters bring up causes dear to their heart, like the Rivera House which helps homeless LGBTQ teens, and I have to say that made me respect this book even more! At the end, we get the hottest ending that will rock most erotica fan's socks off. The tension that built up to that part made it even better than I expected! Five out of five stars!
Overall, this is a great anthology for romance and erotica lovers. It's definitely an R rated book, but it's worth the read if you love some sexy scenes.
Five out of five stars.
Thank you to Tamsen Parker for providing me a copy of this book to review.
This LGBTQ+ book is full of sweet (and sometimes sexy!) stories. F/F, M/M, poly and more, with each having a different focus. Some of the stories center around politics, Hollywood and even just good, old-fashioned relationships.
I can't get enough of these short stories, because they are so easy to slip into. They aren't difficult to follow, they make me smile, and I just love these authors. Since every story is different, you get a really good mix of romance and erotica.
I focused on three stories from the collection, but all of them were marvelous.
Hudson Lin's Ipso Facto ILU follows Jonny and Brandon, who are OMG levels of cuteness. Brandon is a political science PhD candidate and Jonny is a famous podcaster. Following their super sweet love story was such a treat! Brandon's shyness and adorable nature made me love this couple oh so much! Throw in some funny lines about Zest body soap and Canadian references and you've got me totally engaged in this story. Honestly, it felt like a fan girl's heaven. This story was definitely a 5 out of 5 stars for me!
Ainsley Booth's Love Your Love was a lovely poly romance which following Win and Penny (and Tanya, you can't forget about Tanya). Cute crushes, spooning and fun quotes about beaming and blooming flowers fill this little story up. I like Ainsley's way with words - it somehow felt so elegant yet so natural! This story moved very quickly and felt a little shorter to me, but it was still super sweet. 5 out of 5 stars!
And to top it off, Tamsen Parker's Starlet Struck shed some light on causes AND included some super sexy F/F romance. Archer and Hadley make one wild pair - an activist and a Hollywood actress. The characters bring up causes dear to their heart, like the Rivera House which helps homeless LGBTQ teens, and I have to say that made me respect this book even more! At the end, we get the hottest ending that will rock most erotica fan's socks off. The tension that built up to that part made it even better than I expected! Five out of five stars!
Overall, this is a great anthology for romance and erotica lovers. It's definitely an R rated book, but it's worth the read if you love some sexy scenes.
Five out of five stars.
Thank you to Tamsen Parker for providing me a copy of this book to review.
circe813's review
Felt like I was being dropped in to a story that had been happening for a while.
beckymmoe's review
5.0
Reviewed on my blog, Becky on Books, on 5/7/19.
Still working my way through this one, but I'm loving it so far! I'll add more as I finish more stories :)
For Love and Country by [a:Tracey Livesay|7789871|Tracey Livesay|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1391287954p2/7789871.jpg]
Loved this one! In addition to it being an awesome romance, I love that it gives us a glimpse into the "other side" and what they might be thinking...as well as hope that there is an end in sight and people who will stand up for love and country over everything else...
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A
Ipso Facto ILU by [a:Hudson Lin|17681173|Hudson Lin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1519563435p2/17681173.jpg]
My fangirl heart (who lives in an area very similar in climate to Toronto) had so much fun with this one! Brandon gets to live everyone who's ever had a celebrity crush's ultimate dream--plus podcasts! And an Instagram-famous dog!
I really liked Lin's story in the other Rogue series book I read ([b:Rogue Nights|42420719|Rogue Nights (Rogue, #6)|Talia Hibbert|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1540288309s/42420719.jpg|66125508]); I obviously need to look up more and add them to my TBR!
Rating: 4 stars / A-
A Little Rebellion by [a:KD Fisher|18177834|KD Fisher|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1530874922p2/18177834.jpg]
(reading right now! review coming soon...)
Rating:
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Still working my way through this one, but I'm loving it so far! I'll add more as I finish more stories :)
For Love and Country by [a:Tracey Livesay|7789871|Tracey Livesay|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1391287954p2/7789871.jpg]
Loved this one! In addition to it being an awesome romance, I love that it gives us a glimpse into the "other side" and what they might be thinking...as well as hope that there is an end in sight and people who will stand up for love and country over everything else...
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A
Ipso Facto ILU by [a:Hudson Lin|17681173|Hudson Lin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1519563435p2/17681173.jpg]
My fangirl heart (who lives in an area very similar in climate to Toronto) had so much fun with this one! Brandon gets to live everyone who's ever had a celebrity crush's ultimate dream--plus podcasts! And an Instagram-famous dog!
I really liked Lin's story in the other Rogue series book I read ([b:Rogue Nights|42420719|Rogue Nights (Rogue, #6)|Talia Hibbert|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1540288309s/42420719.jpg|66125508]); I obviously need to look up more and add them to my TBR!
Rating: 4 stars / A-
A Little Rebellion by [a:KD Fisher|18177834|KD Fisher|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1530874922p2/18177834.jpg]
(reading right now! review coming soon...)
Rating:
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
sirsangel's review
3.0
Too many of these stories ended quite abruptly. Not cliffhangers, just abrupt endings.
menshevixen's review
5.0
A great ending for a fun, inclusive series. I especially enjoyed Hudson Lin's "Ipso Facto ILU," Tamsen Parker's "Starlet Struck," and Chace Verity's "The Blundering Billionaire."
solly's review
4.0
I haven't read an anthology in so long, but this one was overall a lovely read. It also made me read allocishet m/f romance, which I hadn't done in uuuh maybe a few years, so that's nice.
I loved most of the stories, even if I had minor troubles with some of them. I really liked how the activism and politic aspect played out in the anthology as a whole. Knowing myself, I'm not surprised that my fave stories are a few of the queer ones, though.
Okay so I'm going to leave little reviews for each of the stories:
For Love and Country by Tracey Livesay
Unfortunately, the first one is probably on of the stories I liked the least. I don't think it has much to do with the actual story. "It's not you, it's me, you know" and all that. This was very focused on american politics and though I follow most of it, in the end I'm still a French person who doesn't always get how the american stuff works. So lots of technical politic talk that didn't sound like what I'm used to in my country, and I didn't like Ethan much. And I have a weird feeling about a Democrat (which I grossly picture as The Left Party) girl falling for a Republican? I mean it must be more nuanced than what I picture but, yeah, this put me off a little bit. But I liked Zora a lot <3
Ipso Facto ILU by Hudson Lin
Probably one of my favourite stories. Super cute m/m romance, both Brandon and Jonny are excellent, nerdy characters, both relatable in different ways. Cute and soft and I loved it. I also really liked that this one had an epilogue because I often feel like I need one at the end of romance short stories.
A Little Rebellion by KD Fisher
Definitely super high on the list of my fave stories of this anthology! It's f/f and the two MCs are teachers and let me tell you it had everything I didn't know I needed. Cute dogs, queerness everywhere, wanting to help children and fighting against too-harsh rules in education. It was perfect for my queer wannabe-teacher heart. I'd give a thankful hug to that story if I could.
The Blundering Billionaire by Chace Verity
This was so cute!!! One of my faves too. I'm always a little wary of billionaire romance because uuuuh I have a hard time sympathizing with extremely rich people, but this was so well done. Jay is the cutest man, and he doesn't understand shit about how the world works for people who aren't rich but then he tries so hard. Also he's very far from following the gender roles crap and I loved the whole fashion aspect. But I think Isla stole my heart even more? Trans woman, activist, she's just lovely and deserves the world.
Good Service by Sionna Fox
m/f non-queer story that I loved very very much. Evan is a wonderful character, a man who quit politics because he burnt out and needed to stop for his mental and physical health. He's awkward and soft and lovely. Tessa is great but I was very angry at her when she judged Evan for his choices. Overall, though, I liked it a lot.
Love You Like That by KK Hendin
Hmmmph. I have a hard time with this one because the very beginning is some subtle anti-aro shit full of "just friends", "just platonically", "more than best friends" and I don't! like! it! at all! But it feels like being picky. I just think this story made me realize how much I love best-friends-to-lovers as a concept but it's often full of casual aromisia and I hate it.
The thing, though, is that both Jasper and Raina are Big Moods (especially Raina) and I related to them so much it hurt. I could feel my own anxiety wake up alongside Raina's. Once I got over my hurt aro feelings I loved it, but I wish I didn't have to do just that, you know?
Love Your Love by Ainsley Booth
Cute! Maybe too quick, though. This is an f/f polyam V story and it was extremely cute, but it felt like it was shorter than most of the other stories, and it could have used being longer. Like, I wished I'd gotten more Penny/Win scenes, since the romance part was supposed to be about them. It was still super nice and I loved reading polyam lesbian rep.
Starlet Struck by Tamsen Parker
I am very sad I didn't like this one. As a queer activist, I thought I would particularly enjoy a story about a character who does a similar-ish job to mine. And I did, at the beginning. Archer was such a great character at the start, and I felt for her and her struggles and her passion (especially since I live and breathe for almost the same thing) but then she shamed her LI for not being out, and she did so very harshly. And then I completely lost interest. Because it didn't feel like Hadley was out because she really wanted to anymore, and because it felt... wrong. I know the feeling of knowing someone with power who could be out and change so many things but doesn't. I know the anger and frustration of it all. But I don't know, as an activist, I feel like we know more than anyone else how dangerous coming out is for some people, even if they're privileged. Actors are public figures and though it's super cool if they can be out, if they don't want to be... I wouldn't blame them, knowing they could be harassed to easily.
Anyway, yeah, I didn't like how the coming-out part was treated, especially since the character pushing the other one to be out was an activist. It felt icky and wrong and it lost my interest in the romance completely.
In conclusion
I liked most of the stories in this anthology, and even the ones I didn't like that much aren't... bad. They're just not for me. It was a great read and I read it slowly through my exam period and it short romance stories kinda helped with the stress, it was nice.
I received an ARC and am leaving an honest review!
I loved most of the stories, even if I had minor troubles with some of them. I really liked how the activism and politic aspect played out in the anthology as a whole. Knowing myself, I'm not surprised that my fave stories are a few of the queer ones, though.
Okay so I'm going to leave little reviews for each of the stories:
For Love and Country by Tracey Livesay
Unfortunately, the first one is probably on of the stories I liked the least. I don't think it has much to do with the actual story. "It's not you, it's me, you know" and all that. This was very focused on american politics and though I follow most of it, in the end I'm still a French person who doesn't always get how the american stuff works. So lots of technical politic talk that didn't sound like what I'm used to in my country, and I didn't like Ethan much. And I have a weird feeling about a Democrat (which I grossly picture as The Left Party) girl falling for a Republican? I mean it must be more nuanced than what I picture but, yeah, this put me off a little bit. But I liked Zora a lot <3
Ipso Facto ILU by Hudson Lin
Probably one of my favourite stories. Super cute m/m romance, both Brandon and Jonny are excellent, nerdy characters, both relatable in different ways. Cute and soft and I loved it. I also really liked that this one had an epilogue because I often feel like I need one at the end of romance short stories.
A Little Rebellion by KD Fisher
Definitely super high on the list of my fave stories of this anthology! It's f/f and the two MCs are teachers and let me tell you it had everything I didn't know I needed. Cute dogs, queerness everywhere, wanting to help children and fighting against too-harsh rules in education. It was perfect for my queer wannabe-teacher heart. I'd give a thankful hug to that story if I could.
The Blundering Billionaire by Chace Verity
This was so cute!!! One of my faves too. I'm always a little wary of billionaire romance because uuuuh I have a hard time sympathizing with extremely rich people, but this was so well done. Jay is the cutest man, and he doesn't understand shit about how the world works for people who aren't rich but then he tries so hard. Also he's very far from following the gender roles crap and I loved the whole fashion aspect. But I think Isla stole my heart even more? Trans woman, activist, she's just lovely and deserves the world.
Good Service by Sionna Fox
m/f non-queer story that I loved very very much. Evan is a wonderful character, a man who quit politics because he burnt out and needed to stop for his mental and physical health. He's awkward and soft and lovely. Tessa is great but I was very angry at her when she judged Evan for his choices. Overall, though, I liked it a lot.
Love You Like That by KK Hendin
Hmmmph. I have a hard time with this one because the very beginning is some subtle anti-aro shit full of "just friends", "just platonically", "more than best friends" and I don't! like! it! at all! But it feels like being picky. I just think this story made me realize how much I love best-friends-to-lovers as a concept but it's often full of casual aromisia and I hate it.
The thing, though, is that both Jasper and Raina are Big Moods (especially Raina) and I related to them so much it hurt. I could feel my own anxiety wake up alongside Raina's. Once I got over my hurt aro feelings I loved it, but I wish I didn't have to do just that, you know?
Love Your Love by Ainsley Booth
Cute! Maybe too quick, though. This is an f/f polyam V story and it was extremely cute, but it felt like it was shorter than most of the other stories, and it could have used being longer. Like, I wished I'd gotten more Penny/Win scenes, since the romance part was supposed to be about them. It was still super nice and I loved reading polyam lesbian rep.
Starlet Struck by Tamsen Parker
I am very sad I didn't like this one. As a queer activist, I thought I would particularly enjoy a story about a character who does a similar-ish job to mine. And I did, at the beginning. Archer was such a great character at the start, and I felt for her and her struggles and her passion (especially since I live and breathe for almost the same thing) but then she shamed her LI for not being out, and she did so very harshly. And then I completely lost interest. Because it didn't feel like Hadley was out because she really wanted to anymore, and because it felt... wrong. I know the feeling of knowing someone with power who could be out and change so many things but doesn't. I know the anger and frustration of it all. But I don't know, as an activist, I feel like we know more than anyone else how dangerous coming out is for some people, even if they're privileged. Actors are public figures and though it's super cool if they can be out, if they don't want to be... I wouldn't blame them, knowing they could be harassed to easily.
Anyway, yeah, I didn't like how the coming-out part was treated, especially since the character pushing the other one to be out was an activist. It felt icky and wrong and it lost my interest in the romance completely.
In conclusion
I liked most of the stories in this anthology, and even the ones I didn't like that much aren't... bad. They're just not for me. It was a great read and I read it slowly through my exam period and it short romance stories kinda helped with the stress, it was nice.
I received an ARC and am leaving an honest review!
copiouspep's review
4.0
The finale of the Rogue Ever series! I’m definitely sad to see it end, but I can’t wait to see what all of the authors involved in these anthologies are putting out next. I’m familiar with some of these authors including Tamsen Parker, Hudson Lin, KD Fisher, and Chace Verity, but others are new to me.
The stories in this anthology are all involved with some type of resistance. That may include speaking out against the president, holding a strike against racist school policies, or joining a campaign and being directly involved with politics all while following your heart. Some do not have a major focus on the politics and instead flesh out the romance.
There are a variety of romances including m/f, m/m, and f/f. One f/f story even includes a polyam romance!
For Love and Country by Tracy Livesay
Cis M/F
Ethan Humphries is a Republican senior senator from Virginia. He’s a white man who wants to make his father proud by following in his footsteps and making the country a better place for everyone to live in.
Zora Lewis is Ethan’s deputy chief of staff and the main person that holds the office together. She a Black woman who freely speaks her mind, is straight-forward, and loves to debate. I love how she’s unafraid to be so feminine and has a clear love for her shoes. The two characters knew each other back in university while she was doing her undergraduate and he was getting his graduate.
This story is very close to our own political climate. The president has a strong stance against immigration and wants to separate families and put immigrants in internment camps. I loved the remarks about how incompetent the president is, but it was frustrating how the Republicans stayed silent and refused to take a side when he said something horrifying because they want to be united.
This story showed that wanting to get reelected so you can “really make a difference” does not always mean you can afford to stay silent on issues that have a large impact on your people. Everything is not always about politics because people’s lives are on the line.
The romance was a lust to love one where they slowly developed their feelings over spending many hours together every day. While I didn’t like Ethan personally, I can see why Zora believed that he would do the right thing.
Ipso Facto ILU by Hudson Lin
Cis M/M with sex scenes
Jonny Lim is a political science podcaster visiting the University of Toronto to give a talk and is offered a research position. He talks about politics in a way that makes it easy to understand for people not familiar with the topic and is relevant for the youth.
Brandon Ng is a polisci graduate student at the University of Toronto and is a total nerd for Jonny. Brandon is a massive introvert and pushes himself to hang out past what’s comfortable for him because he knows that connections are important. He’s definitely relatable to me because he wants to get noticed but didn’t want to stand out.
I liked the opposing outgoing/shy personalities between these two that made a great romance! There is great philosophical debates between the two main characters and Jonny isn’t scared to share his opinion on politics in Canada, including the oil rig and how people are consuming so many resources that the next generations won’t have anything left.
I loved the way their chemistry was slowly building up from the first moment they met and the way it was finally acted on near the end of the story. The sex scenes between them also helped Jonny work out if he could leave Brandon and take the job in Vancouver instead of Toronto.
A Little Rebellion by KD Fisher
Cis F/ F with a sex scene
Definitely one of my favorite stories! It has a meet-cute where the two characters met at a dog park where we learn that Ruth has a dog named after Frida Kahlo.
Ruth Chan is a Chinese-American English teacher and the building union representative at a high school. She’s dealing with a new principal after the last one retired as well as a new superintendent that hired the principal. She became a teacher because she wanted to make things easier for queer students and students of color in high school after not having fun when she was in high school.
Mia Lewis is a biology teacher fresh out of graduate school and was recently hired at the high school. She loves biology (!!), has a dog named after Gary the snail from Spongebob, and is the assistant coach for the girls’ soccer team.
The principal that was hired was an underqualified racist jackass that tried to enforce policies that would mostly affect students of color while white students could get away with almost everything. He only cares about test scores and not if students are learning things that they’re interested in. The teachers wanted to make learning fun, but they were evaluated on if they followed the curriculum, even though the way students learn in high school can determine if they want to go to college or not.
The Blundering Billionaire by Chace Verity
Cis M/Trans F
This story was amazing. The characters bonded over Kingdom Hearts 3, gave me a new coffee order to try, and a size difference. This story focused on why many people struggle with their finances, which was mostly because the people in power do not understand or care about the poor.
Jayden-James Hancock is a socially awkward, short billionaire who barely knows how to order his own coffee after he fired his previous assistant. His family is in the fashion business and he’s not used to people not recognizing him, so it was funny when Isla did not. Jay accidentally offers Isla a job when he tries to ask her on a date, but she ends up being one of the best assistants he’s had.
Isla Dyer is a communications major who is part of an activist group trying to reform student loans. I loved her. She’s into romance novels and mentions Courtney Milan and Alyssa Cole (two of my favorite authors!) and for a long time, she wasn’t sure where her next paycheck was going to come from. She also talks freely about therapy and her antidepressants.
This story brings up really important issues that society has with transgender people. Isla says that ever since she came out as trans, she’s had a harder time finding jobs and people not understanding that trans women can dress in what our culture considers to be masculine clothing.
Good Service by Sionna Fox
Cis M/F with a sex scene
Tessa writes health policy bills, wanting to help as many people as she can. She had to move her entire life after she broke up with her asshole of an ex-boyfriend who cheated on her and she’s still a little caught up with him. She’s a planner and I love that she gets custom stickers to help with her lists.
Evan currently works as a bartender at the restaurant close to the state house and is the person that staffers go to for opinions or introductions. He was a former politician but left because it was mentally and physically affecting him. He has an anxiety disorder and is seeing a therapist to help cope with it.
This story talked a lot about burnout and how it affects people. It’s important to take breaks. I didn’t like the way Tessa reacted to Evan leaving politics for his own good because she should have understood that working in a job like that didn’t give you many breaks and the pressure was intense. I did like the chemistry between them and the sex scene was nice to read through! Evan asked her what she liked and she talked him through it.
Love You Like That by KK Hendin
Cis M/F
The childhood best friends trope!
Raina Passmore was a gifted child back in school, so she’s disappointed with herself for not being something more than a manager at a coffeeshop. However, she’s very invested in politics as the climate is getting worse, and she provides easy access to information for people wanting to get more involved as well. She’s finally realized she was in love with Jasper after he had moved far away.
Jasper Kazan has been in love with Raina since they were children, but now he’s moved to Washington D.C. to work for a Congressperson. He’s very quickly burning out and running out of money.
The ending felt a bit rushed to me, but otherwise it was a nice story. There’s a focus on Jasper burning out at his aide position and how his Congressperson helped fix it by asking him to return home and run the local building as a pay increase wouldn’t even help him. I really liked how the Congressperson asked all of their staff to take a shift answering the phones so they won’t forget who they’re working for, unlike many politicians going into their jobs just for the money.
Love Your Love by Ainsley Booth
Cis F/F with a polyamory relationship
It’s rare to read a story where people are in a polyamory relationship! I loved this story. It was wholesome and cute. Tanya and Penny obviously loved each other and it was nice to see Tanya walking Penny through her crush.
It was nice to see how Penny grew as a character with the backstory we get of hers and Tanya’s relationship. Penny was scared of Tanya seeing other women, but slowly realized that she felt secure in their relationship and had nothing to fear and even wanted to try opening their relationship to see Win.
Starlet Struck by Tamsen Parker
Cis F/F with a sex scene
Hadley Beaumont is a closeted actress who was told by her agent that she wouldn’t go anywhere if she were to come out. Because of this, she’s denied herself of any type of pleasure, but she wants to try with Archer.
Archer Kydd is an out lesbian activist that works with homeless LGBTQ youth. She’s passionate about her job and the children and absolutely hates the rich and privileged and the frivolous things they purchase.
Okay. I liked this story, but it did have a major fault to it. Archer forced Hadley to come out even when she says that she doesn’t want to shove anyone out of the closet. Let people live their lives. Otherwise, it was a really nice age-gap with instant attraction story that also talked about how lonely it is to be an activist when it feels likes no one cares about what you’re doing.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC from one of the authors in exchange for an honest review.
The stories in this anthology are all involved with some type of resistance. That may include speaking out against the president, holding a strike against racist school policies, or joining a campaign and being directly involved with politics all while following your heart. Some do not have a major focus on the politics and instead flesh out the romance.
There are a variety of romances including m/f, m/m, and f/f. One f/f story even includes a polyam romance!
For Love and Country by Tracy Livesay
Cis M/F
Ethan Humphries is a Republican senior senator from Virginia. He’s a white man who wants to make his father proud by following in his footsteps and making the country a better place for everyone to live in.
Zora Lewis is Ethan’s deputy chief of staff and the main person that holds the office together. She a Black woman who freely speaks her mind, is straight-forward, and loves to debate. I love how she’s unafraid to be so feminine and has a clear love for her shoes. The two characters knew each other back in university while she was doing her undergraduate and he was getting his graduate.
This story is very close to our own political climate. The president has a strong stance against immigration and wants to separate families and put immigrants in internment camps. I loved the remarks about how incompetent the president is, but it was frustrating how the Republicans stayed silent and refused to take a side when he said something horrifying because they want to be united.
This story showed that wanting to get reelected so you can “really make a difference” does not always mean you can afford to stay silent on issues that have a large impact on your people. Everything is not always about politics because people’s lives are on the line.
The romance was a lust to love one where they slowly developed their feelings over spending many hours together every day. While I didn’t like Ethan personally, I can see why Zora believed that he would do the right thing.
Ipso Facto ILU by Hudson Lin
Cis M/M with sex scenes
Jonny Lim is a political science podcaster visiting the University of Toronto to give a talk and is offered a research position. He talks about politics in a way that makes it easy to understand for people not familiar with the topic and is relevant for the youth.
Brandon Ng is a polisci graduate student at the University of Toronto and is a total nerd for Jonny. Brandon is a massive introvert and pushes himself to hang out past what’s comfortable for him because he knows that connections are important. He’s definitely relatable to me because he wants to get noticed but didn’t want to stand out.
I liked the opposing outgoing/shy personalities between these two that made a great romance! There is great philosophical debates between the two main characters and Jonny isn’t scared to share his opinion on politics in Canada, including the oil rig and how people are consuming so many resources that the next generations won’t have anything left.
I loved the way their chemistry was slowly building up from the first moment they met and the way it was finally acted on near the end of the story. The sex scenes between them also helped Jonny work out if he could leave Brandon and take the job in Vancouver instead of Toronto.
A Little Rebellion by KD Fisher
Cis F/ F with a sex scene
Definitely one of my favorite stories! It has a meet-cute where the two characters met at a dog park where we learn that Ruth has a dog named after Frida Kahlo.
Ruth Chan is a Chinese-American English teacher and the building union representative at a high school. She’s dealing with a new principal after the last one retired as well as a new superintendent that hired the principal. She became a teacher because she wanted to make things easier for queer students and students of color in high school after not having fun when she was in high school.
Mia Lewis is a biology teacher fresh out of graduate school and was recently hired at the high school. She loves biology (!!), has a dog named after Gary the snail from Spongebob, and is the assistant coach for the girls’ soccer team.
The principal that was hired was an underqualified racist jackass that tried to enforce policies that would mostly affect students of color while white students could get away with almost everything. He only cares about test scores and not if students are learning things that they’re interested in. The teachers wanted to make learning fun, but they were evaluated on if they followed the curriculum, even though the way students learn in high school can determine if they want to go to college or not.
The Blundering Billionaire by Chace Verity
Cis M/Trans F
This story was amazing. The characters bonded over Kingdom Hearts 3, gave me a new coffee order to try, and a size difference. This story focused on why many people struggle with their finances, which was mostly because the people in power do not understand or care about the poor.
Jayden-James Hancock is a socially awkward, short billionaire who barely knows how to order his own coffee after he fired his previous assistant. His family is in the fashion business and he’s not used to people not recognizing him, so it was funny when Isla did not. Jay accidentally offers Isla a job when he tries to ask her on a date, but she ends up being one of the best assistants he’s had.
Isla Dyer is a communications major who is part of an activist group trying to reform student loans. I loved her. She’s into romance novels and mentions Courtney Milan and Alyssa Cole (two of my favorite authors!) and for a long time, she wasn’t sure where her next paycheck was going to come from. She also talks freely about therapy and her antidepressants.
This story brings up really important issues that society has with transgender people. Isla says that ever since she came out as trans, she’s had a harder time finding jobs and people not understanding that trans women can dress in what our culture considers to be masculine clothing.
Good Service by Sionna Fox
Cis M/F with a sex scene
Tessa writes health policy bills, wanting to help as many people as she can. She had to move her entire life after she broke up with her asshole of an ex-boyfriend who cheated on her and she’s still a little caught up with him. She’s a planner and I love that she gets custom stickers to help with her lists.
Evan currently works as a bartender at the restaurant close to the state house and is the person that staffers go to for opinions or introductions. He was a former politician but left because it was mentally and physically affecting him. He has an anxiety disorder and is seeing a therapist to help cope with it.
This story talked a lot about burnout and how it affects people. It’s important to take breaks. I didn’t like the way Tessa reacted to Evan leaving politics for his own good because she should have understood that working in a job like that didn’t give you many breaks and the pressure was intense. I did like the chemistry between them and the sex scene was nice to read through! Evan asked her what she liked and she talked him through it.
Love You Like That by KK Hendin
Cis M/F
The childhood best friends trope!
Raina Passmore was a gifted child back in school, so she’s disappointed with herself for not being something more than a manager at a coffeeshop. However, she’s very invested in politics as the climate is getting worse, and she provides easy access to information for people wanting to get more involved as well. She’s finally realized she was in love with Jasper after he had moved far away.
Jasper Kazan has been in love with Raina since they were children, but now he’s moved to Washington D.C. to work for a Congressperson. He’s very quickly burning out and running out of money.
The ending felt a bit rushed to me, but otherwise it was a nice story. There’s a focus on Jasper burning out at his aide position and how his Congressperson helped fix it by asking him to return home and run the local building as a pay increase wouldn’t even help him. I really liked how the Congressperson asked all of their staff to take a shift answering the phones so they won’t forget who they’re working for, unlike many politicians going into their jobs just for the money.
Love Your Love by Ainsley Booth
Cis F/F with a polyamory relationship
It’s rare to read a story where people are in a polyamory relationship! I loved this story. It was wholesome and cute. Tanya and Penny obviously loved each other and it was nice to see Tanya walking Penny through her crush.
It was nice to see how Penny grew as a character with the backstory we get of hers and Tanya’s relationship. Penny was scared of Tanya seeing other women, but slowly realized that she felt secure in their relationship and had nothing to fear and even wanted to try opening their relationship to see Win.
Starlet Struck by Tamsen Parker
Cis F/F with a sex scene
Hadley Beaumont is a closeted actress who was told by her agent that she wouldn’t go anywhere if she were to come out. Because of this, she’s denied herself of any type of pleasure, but she wants to try with Archer.
Archer Kydd is an out lesbian activist that works with homeless LGBTQ youth. She’s passionate about her job and the children and absolutely hates the rich and privileged and the frivolous things they purchase.
Okay. I liked this story, but it did have a major fault to it. Archer forced Hadley to come out even when she says that she doesn’t want to shove anyone out of the closet. Let people live their lives. Otherwise, it was a really nice age-gap with instant attraction story that also talked about how lonely it is to be an activist when it feels likes no one cares about what you’re doing.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC from one of the authors in exchange for an honest review.
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