Saxon James

My fourth of five books in Divorced Mens Club. I wouldn't say this is the greatest book - what has it left me with except some thorough entertainment?

Basically, it excels because Saxon James can write the heck out of an M/M romantic comedy.

System Overload was published last year (2023) so I always appreciate it when a library can bring me a current publication - thanks Hoopla.

Spoiler alert! Keller holds the unusual honour of having become a father at 16, and two years later he is a single dad. So raising Molly has been his reason for breathing. When Molly is in his mid twenties he moves to a new city for a fresh start after a heartbreak. His best friend, Will, remains behind and moves in with Molly's dad to save money. Will has secretly been in lust with the very cool confident Keller for years, so he fears the move. The inevitable happens and in the epilogue a full circle is possible when we find that Keller is looking into adoption so that he can give Will the chance to raise a child - which for Keller was the defining purpose of his life.

I sometimes write a summary like this so I can recount the journey I've just been on in my own words. I now see the novel was a bit more meaty than I thought.

While the 15 years between the MCs tries to pigeonhole System Overload as an age gap novel (I seem to have been deluged in this theme lately and I'm a little over it), the friction in the novel is if a parent/kid's best friend date how bad form is it?

A lot was made of Will and Keller denying, and then holding back on their feelings. This was to save all of them from the potential backlash from the moody Molly, however, it was also posed as a moral rule - love was not to happen between the father and the friend. Laboring this point was tiresome.

To be moral is to conform to a standard that is right and good (Merriam-Webster). That's important in everything. But Will and Kellor's concerns were about dodging potential conflict, and adhering to social norms - I didn't like that it got confused as taking a moral stand.… (altro)

This is a very new novel, released in 2024, according to Library Thing - I read it in April 2024. Thank you Hoopla!

The novel begins with a major meet-cute, and this sets up the characters and framework for the story that follows.

It's not often that a romance novel's best feature is the storyline.

Rush is in a "slutty outfit" when he's at his boyfriend's door, and his boyfriend's boyfriend answers the door. Horror and mortification strike him down! He realises he's the sidepiece! Ian has used him to cheat on someone else.

Ian's fiancé Hunter is out Ian's door on the heels of Rush and discovers Rush with no phone etc. As much as he hates Rush at that moment, he helps him out, calls him an Uber. It shows the difference between people ... and one would hope we'd act with equal good samaritan tendencies.

Hunter is devastated too, but he's more inclined to revenge, once it is suggested by Rush, or rather Rush's flatmates in Big Bertha.

On top of this, turns out Hunter is Rush's new boss. You can see where this is going. Revenge - and attraction - gradually draw them together.

The novel also exposes the damage done by cheating. Fortunately, the reader is not ensnared for long in angst. The two meet again, at work, making this a romantic comedy. A benevolent universe brings together two of the 'good guys', who are better suited to each other than they were to Ian.

The only downside of this audiobook is that for some completely mysterious reason in this audiobook age, one narrator does both voices. Who doesn't love Teddy Hamilton, but he's not great at differentiating between the two MCs. I'd say he's better suited to Hunter.

NB: Saxon James' Accidental Love series needs to be added to the author's Series list on Library Thing.… (altro)

The novels in this series are full of joie de vivre. Finding that other person is the biggest high for these characters. The sexual attraction is exhilarating between Aleks and Gabe, but of course, like the best of romantic comedy, they become each other's best mate.

Gabe is a drop dead gorgeous fireman and Aleks is a drop dead gorgeous hockey player - so off to a good start. The thing is, the story that brings them together has a great set-up - Aleks is coming off a divorce from his childhood sweetheart. Gabe has been married to his job but has moved out of his shared house to his own pad so that he can be a grown up. Aleks is pan sexual, and for some reason, which I didn't pick up in my listening, any moving on he does will be with a man this time. But he's new to everything - to dating, to loving a man, etc. So Gabe become his tutor.

There is close to zero angst in this story. Total escapism, and the delicious fun of romantic comedy.

I'd give this 4.5 stars except that I felt Iggy Toma and Alexander Cendese went a little overboard with their narration. It wasn't necessary because Eden Finley and Saxon James know what they are doing - they write fabulous light-touch romance - it doesn't need any hard sell in the form of overacting. Normally, I love these two narrators, so it's a departure for me to pick a hole in their performance.

And as for "foolish" puckboy, good news is that Aleks isn't a fool - he and his new team mates in Seattle love to be silly at parties - I have some sympathy that they deserve to destress in that high pressure life - but he's pretty mature, the way he goes about finding a new life and happiness.

So Aleks and Gabe's meet cute is due to how silly Aleks and his friends are. It's as SharingTheBookLove below says, meet cute is the right word because its this that sets up the meet cute fun that follows.

I wasn't 100% sure what a meet cute was, since I don't think that expression was around in my youth. Here is a definition from Wikipedia:
"A meet cute is a scene in media, in which two people meet for the first time, typically under unusual, humorous, or cute circumstances, and go on to form a future romantic couple.[1]
This type of scene is a staple of romantic comedies.... Frequently, the meet cute leads to a humorous clash of personalities or of beliefs, embarrassing situations, or comical misunderstandings that further drive the plot."

This quote comes from an article, Why Online Dating Spells the End of the Meet Cute, by Lauren Forsthye: "The term “meet cute” appears to have first originated in the 1938 movie Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife, where the two main characters and love interests meet shopping for pajamas and end up having a “cute” conversation."… (altro)

This was good, but I think I am saturated now with MM Romance and will go looking for the next Romance sub-genre to explore. What will that be?

If I wasn't coming to the end of this startlingly tender and rewarding road, I'd be giving this novel the dues it deserves.

One thing that stood out and made this novel a little different was how the MCs loved that each other was a good, caring, decent, real person - and tried to do good. Christian is a good friend; Emile is into philanthropy. They admit to each other freely and often how much they love that goodness they see each the other. It's an odd sort of thing to be at the heart of their attraction to each other, and to be vocalised, when they have all the usual things in spades like beauty and hotness!

They also have equality to a degree that is unusual - they both need each other and each does offer real help - they are like a team against the world, or at least against their horrible families. (Their families are so awful they are a bit cartoonish - they could be wearing witches hats.)

I loved these words at the very end - especially when Christian says that he never needs to worry about being a disappointment to Emile - Emile loves that he makes mistakes, word vomits at the worst times, is clumsy, is sometimes timid, gets into messes. Emile loves all of him - it's so amazing! Emile has soft edges and is good. He's protective, but it's not a macho protectiveness. Same could be said of Christian for Emile. Their protectiveness is familial, inventive, brave, crazy.
"Emile shows me what it's like to be married to a partner, a supporter, someone who is always in my corner and willing to go to the ends of the earth for me. I never have to worry about him letting me down. I never have worry about disappointing him. And because he shows me that daily, I want to return it, and I'll never stop trying when it comes to him."… (altro)