Better Than People

This type of story is right up my alley - an equal mix of angst and sweet moments. This is totally a love/hurt story with a HEA. Parrish seems to really enjoy the virgin + mental illness trope as Simon and Corbin Wale were pretty similar characters (without the magical realism) as well as giving one of her leads a dead parent or two. These are so far the only two books I've read from them so it was interesting they were so similar but I feel that if every book follows the same formula I'll have to move on. I liked that it's established they (this book and [...] Corbin Wale) exist in the same world, as Jack is actually a fan of Corbin's work - this obviously takes place a few years after [b:The Remaking of Corbin Wale 39347033 The Remaking of Corbin Wale Roan Parrish https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1521734437l/39347033.SY75.jpg 58042835]. I'm glad I read that book first as the mention of him in this book wouldn't have had the same impact otherwise.I'm really enjoying Parrish's writing style including how they write love scenes. There were quite a few moments in this book where I felt like I should light up a cigarette after. However, as some other reviewers mentioned, in hindsight it does seem a bit much because of Simon's personality but, at the time, I didn't mind the scenes or the amount of them. My main problem is Jack is a talker and uses the term “baby” at Simon a lot - but that's just personal preference.Another issue is just how many animals live in what seems like a pretty small house with Jack, especially when he's laid up with a broken leg for iirc 8+ months. That house would be disgusting unless Charlie and later Simon are also doing cleaning on top of their other help. Jack would have to be constantly vacuuming and mopping and brushing while still enjoying a healthy diet of animal dander. THEN he gets Simon a puppy at the end of the book!? I wanted to call the ASPCA.Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will continue with Parrish's writing for now. I'm excited to read Charlie's story as he seemed like a really likable character.

Animals Really Are Better Than People. Up front: It took me a month to finish this book, and even then it was a large degree of forcing myself to finish it so that I could get to its sequel, which I have signed up to do a blog tour for. That noted, however, it actually was a strong story of two men both trying to overcome their own limitations - which are largely both in their own heads. (With a physical bone break being one of the only truly physical limitations either deal with.) The main difficulty for me was that Simon's anxiety was portrayed so similarly to some of the more “severe” (God I hate that term) aspects of being an Autistic, with the constant mind-fight of what people are expecting vs what you feel capable of, being a bit of a misanthrope and (in Simon's case, and perhaps not Parrish herself's) not really realizing it. Other than this though, the romance itself seemed to work, and both Simon and Jack were solid characters that worked well together. But the dogs... the dogs damn near stole the show at times. They truly were better than people. ;) Very much recommended.