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A review by lezreadalot
His Cocky Cellist by Cole McCade
4.0
Amani sounded amused, and suddenly Vic felt like the mouse once more with a cat who liked to play the long game with his food before he devoured it.
I liked but didn't love the first book in this series, so I wasn't sure about checking out the second one, but holy crap I'm soooooo glad I did. This one I liked a LOT. For some of the same reasons that I liked the first book. There's no such thing as an ethical billionaire in real life, but this is a romance novel, and it's nice to pretend, and see rich people using the oodles of money that their parents made to do good things in the world. I loved the emphasis on their class differences, how repulsed Amani is by Vic's money, and how Vic's personality draws him in nonetheless. How even while falling in love with him, he didn't let go of the things that mattered to him (and also the book didn't do the thing where like, poor people needing money to procure things like rent and school fees is seen as villainous). And god I really love and appreciate billionaire romance where the rich person isn't the one to hold all the power in D/s relationship, since they already have so much societal power. Amani and Vic's dynamic was great; Amani serving femme realness and Vic being his huge, flustered, cat-toy on a string. Their banter was great, and all their quiet moments getting to know each other. The romance in general was extremely swoon-worthy.
I had my nitpicks here and there. I'm not a cellist but Amani's reentry into playing seemed... unrealistic. The romance moved a bit too fast for my liking, and I do wish we'd gotten more scenes with Ash, and Amani's mother, and Julie & co, and at the massage parlour, and just general little things that would take us out of the relationship for a bit. Also Cole McCade's prose is extremely pretty, really good and evocative to read, and it's part of what made this so enjoyable but... sometimes it was juuuuuust this side of purple.
All extremely minor things tho. I enjoyed this thoroughly, can't wait to try more of his work.
I liked but didn't love the first book in this series, so I wasn't sure about checking out the second one, but holy crap I'm soooooo glad I did. This one I liked a LOT. For some of the same reasons that I liked the first book. There's no such thing as an ethical billionaire in real life, but this is a romance novel, and it's nice to pretend, and see rich people using the oodles of money that their parents made to do good things in the world. I loved the emphasis on their class differences, how repulsed Amani is by Vic's money, and how Vic's personality draws him in nonetheless. How even while falling in love with him, he didn't let go of the things that mattered to him (and also the book didn't do the thing where like, poor people needing money to procure things like rent and school fees is seen as villainous). And god I really love and appreciate billionaire romance where the rich person isn't the one to hold all the power in D/s relationship, since they already have so much societal power. Amani and Vic's dynamic was great; Amani serving femme realness and Vic being his huge, flustered, cat-toy on a string. Their banter was great, and all their quiet moments getting to know each other. The romance in general was extremely swoon-worthy.
I had my nitpicks here and there. I'm not a cellist but Amani's reentry into playing seemed... unrealistic. The romance moved a bit too fast for my liking, and I do wish we'd gotten more scenes with Ash, and Amani's mother, and Julie & co, and at the massage parlour, and just general little things that would take us out of the relationship for a bit. Also Cole McCade's prose is extremely pretty, really good and evocative to read, and it's part of what made this so enjoyable but... sometimes it was juuuuuust this side of purple.
All extremely minor things tho. I enjoyed this thoroughly, can't wait to try more of his work.