This was a pretty good story. Damien and Christo were hot together...when they finally got together. I felt that Damien was very misunderstood by Christo and that Christo's opinion of him was unwarranted. The author tried to have us understand why Damien was so
"awful", but I didn't see that come through. I ended up finding Christo to be unfair when it probably wasn't intended that way. I liked when they finally got together, however, and the growth of their relationship. ( )

A book called What He Wants about men dating men that contains rape. Yeah, that's a massive no.

But let's add whipped cream. The characters and plot can be extremely boring, slow, and go nowhere.

Need more? Here's your cherry. The rape is excused under really awful reasons which basically fit the title: What He Wants. The excuse in question is, He Needed It.

So we have men dating, and instead of having a normal homosexual-themed story or anything remotely positive to LGBT or homosexuality, you go and add rape with an excuse being the guy needed it. ( )

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3.5 Romantic Stars

First off I have to thank Kate Aaron for mailing me (from the UK to the USA) a copy of her wonderful book. I won this during the Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia:
http://hopagainsthomophobia.blogspot.com/

THE STORY

What a wonderfully rewarding romance. This is ALL about the developing relationship and romance of two men who are initially competitive teammates, but are compelled to work together to avoid a difficult workplace scandal.

Neither of these two are looking for a long term relationship, but watching it develop from a tenuous friendship to a real, true romance and relationship is very fulfilling.

For those looking to read about real struggles and clever solutions, I think this will be the ticket. It's nice to read about a whole, complete relationship. Plus it's sexy, believable and romantic.

*light BDSM play

THE CHARACTERS

Christo - Totally insecure and a worrier, he is just coming out of an 8 year relationship. He's been living a half life and needs to snap out of it before he loses everything.

Damien - Confident, gorgeous and a player, he isn't someone to trust, to depend on or to fall for, but...

THE WRITING

Right off I enjoyed the direct tone and quick pace. I was impressed by the editing and quality of the writing. However, there is some POV switching that could mess up the flow. 90% of the work reads from one POV, but there are glimpses from the other m/c's head that I felt were out of place. Nonetheless, the story and characters stand out and I found myself quite absorbed.

Thanks again Kate!!!

~ ~ ~

Take a look at my Male/Male Romance Book Blog:


http://www.attentionisarbitrary.blogspot.com




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I enjoyed the previous book I read by this author, but it was, well, light, in the meaning that it was an average read. So yes, I didn’t expect nothing different from this one, and I was very pleased to discover that instead this was a very good contemporary novel, an old fashioned office romance, and a story that well develops the relationship between Christo and Damien.

Just out from a 8 years long committed relationship and a bad break-up, Christo doesn’t want to be involved again so soon; Christo is not even the no-strings attached type of guy, and so, well, he thinks celibacy is the best option. But when co-worker Damien offers to be his rebound lover, without commitment and regrets, Christo reluctantly accepts the offer.

Christo has never really liked Damien on a personal level, actually probably their competition on the workfield reflected on the opinion Christo had of Damien as a man, a flirt, someone who is not able to commit, someone who, from his position as second half of a couple, he was only able to condemn and pity. But now Christo is alone, no one of his previous friends, that are also friends of his former partner, are there to help him cope with his newfound “freedom”, and Damien instead is offering help and comfort.

Damien is very different from what Christo was thinking, his incapacity to commit is not due to unwillingness, but to deep emotional scars Damien is bringing along from when he was only a child. They are more similar than what Christo thought, and actually, Christo was probably luckier than Damien, despite all Damien’s money and good looks.

I really loved the slow paced evolution of Damien and Christo’s relationship, how they fell into a long-term commitment without even realizing it, how they are able to face and overcome all the trouble they stumble upon, simply considering their love is more important than everything else. Damien and Christo are destined to a wonderful life together and it was nice to read how they met and fell in love.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007YUJCN0/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

This is a lovely. very believable and romantic lovestory between two CEOs who only on the surface appear to be similar.

There was so much I loved about this book: the reality and real maleness of the characters, the British understated and cultured authorial voice, the forthright glimpse into the male mind, for the author, albeit female herself, has got it right so many times. Even though I at times wanted to thump Damien and Christo into displaying more sense, they behaved like so many real men I knew and have met and call my friends, that I was happy to see it in a story. There were some intense emotions handled with a stiff upper lip, there was sizzlingly hot sex (without vulgarity) and there were some truly detestable baddies. The girl and her mothers were an absolute boon, poignant and touching as Damien finally owns up to wanting to be more than just a sperm donor.

I didn't give it a full 5 stars because I think the book would have profited quite a bit from some work on the subplot of the men's workplace. I'd have loved getting more detail, having a "real" company with a real field they were working and possibly a more serious take on how both men suffered from the bullying within the job.

On the whole I enjoyed this and I liked the characters, especially Todd (yeah, me sucker!). Seriously, at times I thought I was listening to friends of mine and that's the best thing one can say about most m/m stories.

A last and important thing here...

There is definitely no rape anywhere in this book. All sex within it was perfectly and entirely consensual. I say this because someone alleged there is rape because "violence (to tissues, not to a person) blood pain = rape" for her. This person should have a raincheck, seriously. By her qualifications my own defloration was rape. Her unjust accusation comes over as kink-shaming people who like their sex violent, painful and bloody, and I really dislike kink-shaming. Just saying. So, no rape in this book!
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