"Holy shit," I mumbled. Was I in a coma? A fever induced dream? In what universe did a sexy neighbor come in, tell you everything you needed to know to complete your current chapter, then kiss you senseless?
Toby, a socially awkward dark paranormal romance writer, is doing research for his newest story (about torture, in particular), and his (equally awkward) mysterious neighbor Dex offers some useful information. Toby has theories about Dex that he chalks up to his overactive imagination, but he is actually way closer to the truth than he thinks.
One of the things I really liked was how this book was fun and silly, yet well-balanced with hurt/comfort. MCs had their sweet and vulnerable moments, and the fun part was just them being so lovably awkward and ridiculous.
Some things you should expect: insta-love (it's not my favorite, but I was prepared coming into this book and you know what? It worked just fine), two socially awkward MCs whose love language is talking about torture and dismemberment (but the actual torture happens off-page, which I really appreciated); equally lovable side-characters; low-angst (Toby has a stalker and this is treated seriously, but as a reader, you always know that Toby is safe with Dex around); Dex being possessive and overprotective of Toby (it never turns toxic and Toby enjoys it);
Some things that I didn't like much: the lack of visual description (most of characters were repeatedly described as "sexy as hell", which really didn't do anything for me); the lack of actual talking between Toby and Dex. Somehow, it felt like most of relationship progress happened in their heads, while they <s>stalked</s> cough observed each other, which made their loving exchanges during actual interactions seem a bit abrupt.
But still, higly recommended as a light, feel-good, fun read.
"Well, of course you should return the hammer. That's totally normal. Not sure on the coffee, though. It might come off as a little stalkerish to admit you know when he gets coffee delivered and when he doesn't. Or to give him coffee how he likes it prepared, which I'm sure you know with your attention to detail."
"I should give him coffee that isn't prepared to his liking?" I asked. "That seems strange."
"No, maybe just skip the coffee altogether is what I'm saying," Jude replied. "You don't want to come off like a stalker."
"He doesn't think I'm a stalker. He thinks I'm a serial killer," I answered resonably.
"What's wrong?" he asked, gently rubbing his hand up and down my back.
"You're just too good, you know that?" I answered.
"I'm really not, Toby," he said seriously.
"Pffft," I muttered. "You're good in all the ways that count. No one is perfect. I know that, despite the fact that I write books with romance."
He rumbled some form of agreement, and I felt like he wanted to argue with me more, but he settled on saying, "I'll be perfect for you, Toby. You just tell me what you need."
°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*
General Notes
-low-angst, anxious MC x hellhound shapeshifter LI
-some stalking - both the fun one, both by Dex and Toby, and the not-fun one by a dangerous fan who is obsessed with Toby.
-mating bond
-LI with tattoos (Dex)
Intimacy Notes
-Top/bottom/verse: strict; Toby bottoms and Dex tops.
-Kinks/sex notes:BJs, frotting, rimming, tail play, knotting, biting/marking...
-Other:
・Dex being super possessive and protective of Toby.
・The way Dex just decided to keep Tobylmao andwanting to microchip Toby to keep him safe
・Dex setting bed on fire bwahahaha and he tried to chalk it all up to sex weirdness (hey, embarrassing stuff happens during sex, it's normal)
・Dex is so precious
・hellhound brothers bonding over torture
"Holy shit," I mumbled. Was I in a coma? A fever induced dream? In what universe did a sexy neighbor come in, tell you everything you needed to know to complete your current chapter, then kiss you senseless?
Toby, a socially awkward dark paranormal romance writer, is doing research for his newest story (about torture, in particular), and his (equally awkward) mysterious neighbor Dex offers some useful information. Toby has theories about Dex that he chalks up to his overactive imagination, but he is actually way closer to the truth than he thinks.
One of the things I really liked was how this book was fun and silly, yet well-balanced with hurt/comfort. MCs had their sweet and vulnerable moments, and the fun part was just them being so lovably awkward and ridiculous.
Some things you should expect: insta-love (it's not my favorite, but I was prepared coming into this book and you know what? It worked just fine), two socially awkward MCs whose love language is talking about torture and dismemberment (but the actual torture happens off-page, which I really appreciated); equally lovable side-characters; low-angst (Toby has a stalker and this is treated seriously, but as a reader, you always know that Toby is safe with Dex around); Dex being possessive and overprotective of Toby (it never turns toxic and Toby enjoys it);
Some things that I didn't like much: the lack of visual description (most of characters were repeatedly described as "sexy as hell", which really didn't do anything for me); the lack of actual talking between Toby and Dex. Somehow, it felt like most of relationship progress happened in their heads, while they <s>stalked</s> cough observed each other, which made their loving exchanges during actual interactions seem a bit abrupt.
But still, higly recommended as a light, feel-good, fun read.
"Well, of course you should return the hammer. That's totally normal. Not sure on the coffee, though. It might come off as a little stalkerish to admit you know when he gets coffee delivered and when he doesn't. Or to give him coffee how he likes it prepared, which I'm sure you know with your attention to detail."
"I should give him coffee that isn't prepared to his liking?" I asked. "That seems strange."
"No, maybe just skip the coffee altogether is what I'm saying," Jude replied. "You don't want to come off like a stalker."
"He doesn't think I'm a stalker. He thinks I'm a serial killer," I answered resonably.
"What's wrong?" he asked, gently rubbing his hand up and down my back.
"You're just too good, you know that?" I answered.
"I'm really not, Toby," he said seriously.
"Pffft," I muttered. "You're good in all the ways that count. No one is perfect. I know that, despite the fact that I write books with romance."
He rumbled some form of agreement, and I felt like he wanted to argue with me more, but he settled on saying, "I'll be perfect for you, Toby. You just tell me what you need."
°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*
General Notes
-low-angst, anxious MC x hellhound shapeshifter LI
-some stalking - both the fun one, both by Dex and Toby, and the not-fun one by a dangerous fan who is obsessed with Toby.
-mating bond
-LI with tattoos (Dex)
Intimacy Notes
-Top/bottom/verse: strict; Toby bottoms and Dex tops.
-Kinks/sex notes:BJs, frotting, rimming, tail play, knotting, biting/marking...
-Other:
・Dex being super possessive and protective of Toby.
・The way Dex just decided to keep Tobylmao andwanting to microchip Toby to keep him safe
・Dex setting bed on fire bwahahaha and he tried to chalk it all up to sex weirdness (hey, embarrassing stuff happens during sex, it's normal)
・Dex is so precious
・hellhound brothers bonding over torture
