I Love these guys so much

After reading the book, I just had to listen to the audio version of it.
I am so glad I did as it didn't disappoint.

Luke Itzvic & Guy Locke did a great job and made me fall in even more love with Tren and Drew.

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Not a book I would normally buy but...

I met Trent and Drew in the # series of books and you could see where their story was leading.

Would I normally buy an LGBTQ story? No, because that’s not what turns me on, and let’s be honest that’s why we read these books.

Did I enjoy it anyway? Yes I did. The story is well written and the humour is still there so it was good. Now I enjoyed the daft little factoids, but I am a nerd so sue me.

I have bought the rest of the series and will continue the story because I want to know what happens to Joey, Arrow, Lorehaven and co. I also want to see Con get his comeuppance, it has to happen the guy is a shit.

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Might as well skip straight to chapter 12....

Firstly, the narration made me cringe. It was so damned slow and poorly paced it sounded as though the narrator had to think about almost every word before reading it out loud. This didn't improve with the second narrator. I had to increase playback speed to 1.15 x and at times even 1.20 x just to make it bearable.

I pretty much skipped over everything that happened in the first 12 chapters of this book. It was all, toxic masculinity, sexism, mysogyny, problematic writing and nonsense. There was a little bit of cute pining thrown in, but overall l really didn't care about anything or anyone. Up until the point one of MCs starts questioning his sexuality and pondering his reactions to being called homophobic slurs in a PoV monologue and then decides to visit a gay bar. At that point the story finally became not just bareable but actually engaging. I'll give kudos for the side character 'Joey' she was the only one I found truly likeable, Ivy was ok too but not as 3D as Joey. (Although, women can wear sensible shoes to drive and still be feminists but ok 🙄). I will also give credit to the way the author handled the characters confronting their sexuality and exploring the realm of same-sex attraction. As a real life queer, I really appreciate the fact that this was a central theme to the story, and feel the author took a good crack at trying to explain the internal battle we face when coming out. Also, points for how she portrayed same-sex love, she touched on some genuine themes that must have been researched such as comparing bodies (in a body image issue way) and the fact that the boys would have known how to pleasure each other from previous solo experience. #SpotOn . Major points for the consent before each sex scene too! However there was some super problematic character flaws with both MCs, mainly slut shaming, the use of terms like "sissy, little b*tch, pansy, 'acting like a God's damned woman' and pussy to describe "non-traditonal" masculine behaviour, and the fact that arguments are settled by throwing muscles around instead of using intellect. It made my stomach turn when this display of muscle mass ended with (what we're supposed to assume are) lesser men being in "awe". Literally. Ewwww. I also hate the fact that every single chapter starts with a fact about cars. Imagine being deep in the middle of a smut scene only to have it interrupted by " the most expensive car in the world sold for $14 million to some rich twat" or being immersed in an emotional scene which switches POV so we can hear what the other MC is feeling but no, first we interrupt this precious little moment with "in certain parts of Canada people leave their cars unlocked for humans to hide safe inside in case a polar bear should show up" and the like. Honestly. Eye roll after eye roll after eye roll. Given that the author is a woman, I'm a little concerned about the sentiment portrayed against women the whole way through the book such as "all that women ever did was moan"... I guess we're supposed to be appeased by the one feminist character who has a brain, as well as enormous breasts that are constantly on display (because, of course) who spends her time calling out Sexism in a male-dominated industry (points for this at least). The ending was unsatisfying and underwhelming as the author spent the entirety of the book building to a climax which then essentially went unresolved. I don't know what to make of this book, the first half was mind-decaying, the second half had many redeeming qualities, the ending was throughly underwhelming and didn't really feel finished at all (maybe this is by design though, as this is only the first book in the series? Idk, I won't be reading the rest just to get the ending of book 1). All in all, not a bad listen but if I ever re-listen I'll skip straight to chapter 12 after the prologue which is cute....


**UPDATE** I was correct in my assumption that the author purposefully left the ending unresolved as book 2 in the series, titled #Rev, is the continuation of Trent and Drew's story. Initially I wasn't going to bother with it but then I read Audible reviews that say "This book is not about cars or racing it's all about sex and soft feelings" (PRAISE BE TO ALL THAT IS HOLY! 🥳). Another review mentioned that the mandatory fact about cars at the start of each chapter has been replaced with bucket list items (MUCH less annoying, hopefully the bucket list is things they want to do together🤞🏻). Thanks to these reviews, though I'm pretty sure at least one was intended negatively, I am now sold on book 2. I hope beyond hope that Drew develops as a character and stops being so mysogynistic/sexist/emotionally stunted. Oh, and I want to see Joey whoop everyone's ass on the track. 🤞🏻🙏🏻 #Rev here I come....

***UPDATE*** I gave up, and I soldiered on for at least 60%. I give up. There's no reading this nonsense.

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