Served Hot (Annabeth Albert)
3.5 stars
Just the right kind of story for a cloudy Saturday afternoon (probably with a coffee near you, although since I am not a huge coffee drinker, water was suffice too). I enjoyed the progress of friendship to lovers. The 'courting' moments were pretty cute.
I loved Robby (and he is an Asian, yes!), all of him, including his slight insecurity to talk about what he wants from David. He had this humorous voice as well. I loved how he was tolerant with David's tentative approach into their relationship .Robby was the sole perspective in this story but I could still get David from Robby's narration. There were times when I was a bit frustrated with David's inability to move forward, to see that Robby wanted more, but considering that his previous relationship was pretty much a decade of a dysfunctional one, I could understand David's lack of initiative.
I did feel that Ms. Albert played around too much with 'summarized moments' though; that some events were written off page or explained in several paragraphs only. It is a limitation of the novella length, I know. This story pretty much happened for almost a year so maybe Ms. Albert focuses on some significant ones. Still, I felt a bit robbed from moments in which I could connect with Robby and David better.
Having said that, it was a warm and comforting read with two likable characters. I definitely look forward to the next book in this series.
Just the right kind of story for a cloudy Saturday afternoon (probably with a coffee near you, although since I am not a huge coffee drinker, water was suffice too). I enjoyed the progress of friendship to lovers. The 'courting' moments were pretty cute.
I loved Robby (and he is an Asian, yes!), all of him, including his slight insecurity to talk about what he wants from David. He had this humorous voice as well. I loved how he was tolerant with David's tentative approach into their relationship .Robby was the sole perspective in this story but I could still get David from Robby's narration. There were times when I was a bit frustrated with David's inability to move forward, to see that Robby wanted more, but considering that his previous relationship was pretty much a decade of a dysfunctional one, I could understand David's lack of initiative.
I did feel that Ms. Albert played around too much with 'summarized moments' though; that some events were written off page or explained in several paragraphs only. It is a limitation of the novella length, I know. This story pretty much happened for almost a year so maybe Ms. Albert focuses on some significant ones. Still, I felt a bit robbed from moments in which I could connect with Robby and David better.
Having said that, it was a warm and comforting read with two likable characters. I definitely look forward to the next book in this series.
PS: I also enjoyed this author's short stories in two anthologies before: Going for Gold: M/M Olympic Anthology and Campus Cravings: Higher Learning MM Boxed Set.
The ARC is provided by the publisher via Netgalley for an exchange of fair and honest review. No high rating is required for any ARC received.
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