Review of Off Campus by Amy Jo Cousins

 Off Campus by Amy Jo Cousins

2.5 stars

With his father’s ponzi scheme assets frozen, Tom Worthington believes finishing college is impossible unless he can pay his own way. After months sleeping in his car and gypsy-cabbing for cash, he’s ready to do just that.

But his new, older-student housing comes with an unapologetically gay roommate. Tom doesn’t ask why Reese Anders has been separated from the rest of the student population. He’s just happy to be sleeping in a bed.

Reese isn’t about to share his brutal story with his gruff new roommate. You’ve seen one homophobic jock, you’ve seen ’em all. He plans to drag every twink on campus into his bed until Tom moves out. But soon it becomes clear Tom isn’t budging.

Tom isn’t going to let some late-night sex noise scare him off, especially when it’s turning him on. But he doesn’t want any drama either. He’ll keep his hands, if not his eyes, to himself. Boundaries have a way of blurring when you start sharing truths, though. And if Tom and Reese cross too many lines, they may need to find out just how far they can bend…before they break.

Let’s start off by saying how much we like college boys, sign.  And this roommates to lovers romance fits the bill, but gets waylaid with too many other storylines.

Tom is a former rich boy whose father is in prison for essentially embezzlement, although all assets are frozen he is working as a cabbie to finish up school.  Assigned to a new roommate he meets up with Reese, who is none too happy about being assigned this former jock.  They both have secrets in their past, and agree that keeping distance from each other is the best way to co-exist.  But Reese really wants a single room and will do almost anything to get Tom to leave.

Fun idea – right?  But a few things get in the way of making this a great read.  Tom is struggling with letting people help him, and is trying to pay his way through college himself.  However even when teachers want to help find him scholarships he pushes everyone away, almost becoming a hermit.  He has run ins with a few other students, and it causes him to pull back further to himself.  I guess it could be believable, but thinking that Tom really wants to accomplish his degree would he not be looking for help? 

And Reese, we struggled with his character.  Reese was raped a college a year ago, and now brings everyone and anyone home.  Trying to get Tom to move out, he resorts to bringing home twinks, and starts this voyeur thing between Tom and himself.  We lived in Rez and ewww, this turned us off, a roommate having sex 10 feet away, no, nope, no way.  We really expected more the the raped storyline to come through, yes, it explains why Reese always wants control, but I was expecting more.

The story is a long one and the back and forth between Tom and Reese makes it drag.  Tom isn’t sure if he is comfortable being open or out with Reese, he doesn’t want to bring more attention to himself. Reese isn’t sure he wants to be Tom’s dirty little secret.  Back and forth, back and forth.  But, not that they are celibate during this time, nope, these are some horny bunnies.  There is lots of sex in this book, and it was hard in the beginning to see Reese, one of the main characters, sleeping with others.

So all in all, a great idea for a story, but just didn’t pan out for us.  Off Campus felt like a circle of a story that never quite found it’s groove.

Review of Owning It by Riley Hart and Devon McCormack

 Review of Owning It by Riley Hart and Devon McCormack

5 stars

Just out of an eighteen-year marriage, the last thing Jackson expects the first time he visits a gay bar is for a sexy, drunk, twenty-six-year-old twink to mistakenly climb into his Jeep. The twink part he’s good with, the drunk part…not so much. As far as Jackson’s concerned, the boy should come with a warning label. But Derek is not as flighty as Jackson thought…he’s actually pretty incredible. Getting to know the wild, funny man is a breath of fresh air. And when Derek calls him Daddy? Christ, he never thought something like that would feel so right.

Derek has serious daddy issues, and his name is Jackson. He’s stubborn and controlling…and ever since Derek woke up in the silver fox’s condo, he can’t get Jackson out of his mind. Maybe because no matter how many times he throws himself at him, Jackson doesn’t take the bait. And maybe because Jackson is the one person who sees him for who he really is. But Derek loves a challenge, and he’s eager to rock Jackson’s world.

Jackson isn’t interested in a meaningless hookup. He wants the real Derek, not just the sassy jokester everyone else sees. But it’s not easy for Derek to open up. He feels much safer guarding his heart. And Jackson needs to figure out the balance between living for himself and the mountain of responsibilities weighing him down. Derek and Jackson must find the common ground between hookup and commitment—if they can’t own their issues and work together to overcome their faults, they could smother the flame between them that’s just beginning to ignite.

So happy to finally read this book – Derek is a favouite character in the Metropolis series, and this book delivers his happy ending and SO much more.   We will start by saying that reading the description we weren’t overly excited for Derek’s story, and some Daddy kink, boy were we wrong, this is smoking hot, sweet, sexy and the best of the Metropolis series. 

Owning It is the 3^rd installment in the Metropolis Series, based around an apartment complex.  Derek is considered a twink, a go-to-fun guy, the life of the party, flirty and fun, and he plays his charter well.  After a drunken night of fun he stumbles in KJackson’s car thinking he is the Uber driver.  Jackson is newly divorced with a teenage son, and finally allowing himself to live his life for himself, and in walks hurricane Derek. 

Sign, this book is pure magic.  We love that Derek isn’t just a hook up to Jackson.  Derek struggles with letting everyone see his real self, and Jackson sees through his fun flirty exterior and wants to see the man underneath.  Derek needs someone to fight for him, to nurture him, someone he can lean on and Jack son is that.  Jackson really wants Derek to see his worth, and it creates this slow burn romance those notches up the sexual tension.  Let’s talk Daddy kink, woohooo, it is smoking hot.  Actually, this is our first Daddy kink book (say that 3 times fast!) , and there is something so sexy about Derek and Daddy Jackson, the heat literally melts the pages.  We thought it might be a little weird, but it fits Derek and Jackson, and only adds to the book.

Riley Hart and Devon McCormack are a formidable writing team, their voices blend seamlessly, and they weave a story that feels like every word moves the story along.  There is no unnecessary angst, ill-communication, or the usual pitfalls couples fall into.  Building through the Metropolis series, it is fun to revisit our favourite couples, but really excited about some of the new men being introduced. 

Owning It is a fun, flirty read that is one of our favourites this year.  If the Metropolis series keeps going this way we can’t wait to read the next books!