Alex Silver (2)

Anyone that has read my reviews for the past dozen or so years, knows that I love a good ghost story and I also read a truckload of M/M Romances so this being of both genera's I thought, "okay...why not"? Two for the price of one. I had a few reservations, but it started off fairly well. Both characters were likeable, especially Dan. The flow of the book was easy, so no problems there. For me the issue I had as I got further into it was, I simply seemed for some reason to lose interest in the story. Dan came across as somewhat of a fraud. He says he’s all about helping ghosts find closure and move on, yet he has zero skills as a medium...not even the basic ones. How can he help them move on without the ability to contact or communicate with them? Does he just show up and hope that the ghosts do also and then just wish they will magically leave the place they are haunting? He even calls a well-known medium who rather harshly judges him, to help and then Dan himself says he "feels like an imposter"...and he then ignores her advice. This should have just been called a paranormal book that happens to feature two guys...one that is gay, and one is Trans....which, by the way was handled very well. However, that aside, the romance was almost nonexistent, except that each chapter started out with them "thinking" about one another and how they each felt... but it was mostly all the reasons why they COULDN'T be together. They did go on one semi date. I gave it 3 stars as it had the bones of a really good story and did start off with my interest piqued but ultimately it just couldn’t hold that much interest in the end. I'm not sure if I will try this series again.… (mais)

I went into this book with no real expectations. The previous book had been too short for effective relationship development, imho, and had lacked the DnD energy I'd been hoping for.
So I was pleasantly surprised because this has both of these in spades. There are chapters devoted to game play and set up, which also lead into relationship development but even out of the game the author does a great job of moving this couple on from one time only hook-up to long term boyfriends. Shifting Theo from a player to boyfriend material was believable without resorting to any huge medical drama (with Jude).
Theo's dysphoria really struck a chord and while I know everyone is different, the reactions and yo-yoing emotions felt genuine.
This series has a very diverse cast of characters.
Fun read. Surprisingly low angst considering some of the subject matter.
#bestfriend'sbrother
#transmc
#diabetes
#tamingaplayer
#gamers
#roleplay (hah, not like that)
#bodydysphoria… (mais)