A. M. Arthur

I was lucky enough to receive an early copy of this anthology for charity.

I've read all the stories in here, some I loved, some I liked and some just didn't quite resonate with me.

Lucy's at the start/end is a wonderful intro to this seasons Never Have I Ever ...

AM Arthur's contribution made my heart melt with the best friends to lovers

Spencer's novella about Never Been kissed was cool but way too short LOL

I'd mini review all but not enough time
Overall this is 4… (more)

The narrator is Guy Locke whom I don't think I've heard before. He gave the leads, Noel and Shane, such an innocent, boyish tone that it didn't gel.

He pronounced Noel as Noelle - new to me. But by the end of the novel, Locke's voice did fit these two unique romantic leads - the idealistic and tender-hearted cop, Noel, and the broken yet fierce, gentle, innocent Shane.

Noel is a police officer who meets Shane, a party stripper by night and a deli worker by day. This book is definitely more confronting than the average romance novel. I kept expecting that something particularly horrible was going to happen, particularly to Shane, who acts in porn videos in order to pay medical and old legal bills. It's scary, and also because he's keeping all this secret from Noel, and you can't help feeling disaster is lurking ... throughout.

It's still very well written, as I've come to expect of A.M. Arthur. And ultimately, this is a tender beautiful love story.

Even though I've read plenty of what I would call contemporary romance, or what Rachel Reid calls "romantic smut", there was something about this novel that was a little too much - I don't know whether I mean crude or uncensored or unfiltered or heavy handed or tense .. or what. It lacked a certain levity or empowerment or delicacy, or whatever the mysterious arts are that Rachel Reid - for example - has imbued her delightful Game Changers series with.

I think that built into the definition of "romance novel", ie the HEA or HFN, is the implicit contract that there won't be so much tension that it creates dread. It's enough that the author constructs some kind of challenge to our equilibrium through whatever adversity is faced ... and met.

By the end I was appreciating Gary Locke's voice, particularly the pleasant southern drawl he gave Noel.… (more)