Landon can’t believe he’s let himself get roped into participating in a charity calendar, let alone one that features tastefully photographed nudes. The genius physicist is hardly model material, and he’s dreading the nude part of the photoshoot. Amid his reluctance, the one bright spot is his emails back and forth with the photographer.
However, Bailey turns out to be not exactly what Landon expects, and their first meeting is decidedly awkward. Bailey’s persistent though, and gradually Landon warms to the burly photographer, and they discover they have a shared love of gamer culture.
A tentative friendship is born, but the road from friends to lovers isn’t easy. Landon’s battling past trauma and must decide how much of a risk he’s willing to take. A sexy connection may not be enough to keep them together unless both are willing to put their hearts on the line.
Previously released as part of the EXPOSED anthology, and loosely linked to the #Gaymers universe, this friends-to-lovers, hurt/comfort story stands alone with a guaranteed happy ending. Contains a brief mention of a prior assault, but no on-screen violence or flashbacks.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
*I received the book in exchange for an honest review*
This is a sweet friends-to-lovers story with an admittedly great beginning. It is all born out of confusion, a result of flirting online and not actually talking about their looks apparently, but with a lot of assumptions on Landon’s part.
So when they meet up, there is some confusion, and despite knowing Bailey really well (other than his looks), Landon doesn’t know how he feels about the new information. There are also some underlying issues on Landon’s part.
This is a novella belonging to Albert’s #gaymers series but it is actually not a problem. I have not yet read any of the books from this series, but it was totally possible to follow the story. However, a big problem is that… now I need to read the series 🙂
I loved the nerdy characters. I mean, Bailey totally doesn’t fit what we generally (or at least I) associate with nerds, but looks more like a jock I suppose. However, he is gentle, patient, and understanding.
As the warnings suggest, there is a mention of prior assault, which is also one of the main reasons Landon at first doesn’t want to get into relationship with Bailey. Bailey is a big, burly guy, and Landon doesn’t like to be restrained or covered or anything that would take power away from him.
Bailey is understanding and patient, as I said, and does not try to rush the relationship. And since he is not living around, and he and Landon have common interest, they bond over playing games and chatting online. I think this was very important, as Landon got to know Bailey better and there was no physical pressure or reminders. And their relationship slowly evolved via chatting.
There was a lot of consent, which I think was also very important, as Bailey made sure he would do nothing that would make Landon feel uncomfortable. He follows Landon’s pace and takes care of him in many ways.
The topic of assault is quite a thing to tackle. It requires a lot of tact, cautiousness, and really thinking about how to approach it. Albert did it well, as far as I can tell. Bailey gives Landon time to decide if he wants to be in a relationship, and is patient even though Landon doesn’t know why he is waiting and not being with someone ‘without problems’. Bailey is also very respectful and Landon doesn’t feel pressured in any way. It is also not the ‘love heals all’ thingy, which I liked a lot.
So yes, this novella was short to read, cute, but also sad in parts. Some parts made me hurt for Landon so much, and I wanted to hug the guy and protect him from everything 🙂 But it is a very nice read in general and of course it has a HEA 🙂
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