Ashlynn Mills

My Theory for Love appears to be part of a series, although it’s not numbered that way. It stars Anthony, a college student and barista, and Keith, a single dad. This is written in first person, present tense.



First the cover. I think that’s supposed to be Anthony. Anthony is in his early twenties. The cover model doesn’t look in his early twenties, more like his late twenties and doesn’t fit Anthony’s description as I remember it. So, the cover doesn’t match the character.

The blurb doesn’t do a good job of describing the story. It doesn’t even mention the characters’ names, so I’ll explain more about the plot as needed. This book is written in first person, present tense as I mentioned. I’m guessing it was to make the story feel more immediate and immersed, but it didn’t. Instead, as soon as I started reading, I noticed a distant, dreamy quality to it. I never felt pulled in, rather instead, on the outside observing the action. The plot is low key without much conflict, just having Keith and Anthony learning about each other, which would have been better served written in past tense.

There were grammar mistakes, incorrect and missing words. Also, there was odd phrasing, such as when contractions should have been used, but weren’t, making the dialogue stilted. It made me wonder if English was not the author’s first language. I also found inconsistencies that should’ve been picked up. Most of this could have been cleared up by betas, editor, and proofer. I don’t know if the author used them, but if they did, maybe get better people next time.

Now about Anthony and Keith. Keith’s ex-wife passed away and he has permanent custody over his son, Milo. The aunt, his ex-wife’s sister, wants to have custody of Milo. Keith thought he was straight, but with his attraction to Anthony, he finally acknowledges to himself that he is bi, and has been all along. He’s a thoughtful, responsible father. Anthony acted like he had a split personality. I don’t know why the author wrote him like that. When Anthony was around his roommate or his co-workers, he was more short-tempered and intolerant. Granted his roommate was irresponsible, and gambled away their money, so that’s understandable. Anthony’s co-worker was a bit nosy, but I didn’t think Anthony should treat him the way he did. There’s one instance where Anthony says something about the boyfriend and it came across as intentional to hurt the co-worker. Anthony is mean when it suits him, but he’s sweet and kind when at Keith’s and around Milo, the son. I didn’t care for Anthony because his personality wasn’t consistent throughout the story making him seem two-faced. Milo the son, I think he was about eight? I’m not quite sure, acted like he was about eleven or thirteen. The author wrote him like a perfect child who always did his homework, helped with dinner and cleaning up, and never caused trouble. He was like an adult. I didn’t care for him either because he wasn’t realistic.

Overall, this book would’ve been better if written in past tense instead of present tense. The present tense left me feeling distant from the characters and scenes. There are also quite a few errors and inconsistencies that should’ve been fixed. I liked Keith the best, Anthony’s character was inconsistent, and Milo acted like an adult.

This is a quick, no angst, fluffy read if that’s what you’re looking for. I can see another book happening with characters from this one. Jonis, the co-worker, and Keith’s friend, Tim, the guy who looks a lot like Keith. I give My Theory for Love, 3 Stars.

… (mais)

I liked this book, but I didn’t all out love it. Casey was a sweet, forgetful, nerdy science teacher who spies muscles, tattooed, non-committal, broken Maverick. There was a lot going for it in the way of an opposites attract story, but Maverick got too broody for me sometimes. I didn’t understand why Casey was so quick to forgive and try again each time he did. By the end, their happiness was hard fought and well-deserved and I loved the epilogue. I felt sometimes that Mavericks backstory was so big and needed to really be told, but it came in bits and pieces. I didn’t feel like Casey really got the whole of Maverick’s story enough to really move on. I’m sure they were fine since it all worked out, but a little more on page depth with that would’ve been helpful as a reader to really believe and feel the HEA.

This was a 3.5 star read for me.

I am voluntarily reviewing an ARC provided by Gay Romance Reviews… (mais)