Style of Love

So, I actually got this book for free before I tried Sherwood's Villainy series. Likely if I hadn't have, I would have never read anything else by her - that how much I disliked that whole thing. (Reasons of which are in my reviews of them and I am not getting into here.)

I think the reason I wanted this book was the whole renovations thing. I think around the time that I got it, I was really into all those home remodeling/makeover shows. In that aspect, this book is a grave disappointment because - for being the hook that got me interested - it's pretty much non-existent. We spend as much time dealing with Ash's homophobic mother as we do the renovation part of the story. (...Likely more.)

I do like the whole feelings realization between best friends (as that's a particular favorite trope of mine) though the trigger for it being a photoshoot where the guys are being photographed by two (likely straight) women that are using them as models for their gay romance webtoon - and that are previously described as fujoshi's feels somewhat...exploitive. (Which, to be fair, feels like a trend in this book. You have a ‘dedicated bottom', the aforementioned fujoshi's that want to know about gay men's sex lives and the fact that the town has a betting board for who will ‘confess' when they finally do get together. (Something I do not like, at all, and feels very disrespectful.))

I also really did not like the gay guy saying that gay for you happens. I love it as a trope, but ‘gay for you' shouldn't even be a thing. Ever. It should be ‘bi for you' because that's what it actually is. And, in fact, this book is just kind of a bi-erasure example, anyway.

And I have to say, I am used to books not being slow burn - I do wish I could find more than one author that gets what I mean when I look for slow burn - but this is absolutely the fastest burn I think I've ever come across that wasn't a novella. I am not a fan of how after they get together almost every time the guys are alone together, they have to have sex. It's not the only thing they do, but there is only one instance that it doesn't happen - and that is because one of them is upset.

And then the ‘epilogue' is actually from a third guy's perspective and is just the set up for the second book in the series - a trend I do not like at all. (...And that I blame Marvel for.)

Anyway, while the book wasn't ‘bad' per se, it had way too many things I don't like and niggling little pet peeves for me to say it was actually good.