Sam's Reading: A Work in Progress

Reread Nov 2017:
You know, I might *might* knock off a half star for plot devices stacked there at the end....but...nah....it's just too damn delightful.

Chess is funny, independent, dedicated, driven and grounded. I loved her. She made choices I understood and was generous enough in her spirit yet cautious and honest enough to face issues head on.

Finn is the guy who states without hesitation that, sure, he'll buy someone tampons. And you believe it. Finn is also cautious while being open, direct, honest, and flirty. Quick-witted. I loved him. A laid back and focused character with a whole lot of confidence...sexy. He knew where it was all going, he just had to figure out how to get there and accept it.

This couple decides that they don't meet each other's needs immediately. Finn is gun-shy on relationships for solid reasons, and is struggling with what's real and what's not. Upon meeting Chess, he realizes she's real so is definitely interested, but it's still slow-going for them. Chess doesn't do casual, and is looking for someone she can build a life with, but is completely fine on her own. Both characters are amazingly considerate of the other, demonstrating through little romantic gestures and their wonderful communication. Some stuff happens, there's forced proximity, then there's choices at a point at which the characters are already gone for each other. It's a friends-to-lovers but it is not because from the onset it is clear they want each other. After all, from Ch 2:
The second I touch him, I know it's a mistake. The air between us changes, drawing tight. A hum pulses in my bones, and his expression becomes intent, his focus never wavering from mine. In that instant, I know him. I know him. I known him my whole existence, like I've been waiting for him to return from wherever he's been.
Kristen Callihan is brilliant because she doesn't say "he gazes at me intently," she says shit like above, or
it's the intensity of his focus, as if you are the most important thing in this golden god's world.
We all want to feel a little of that, right?

I really don't want to spoil some of these beautiful thoughts of the characters, but I'll say this: lots of sexual tension and slow burn and then you basically burst into flames. (I flushed and fanned myself there in chapter 14.)

But there are flaws. I felt there were quite a few plot devices, maybe a couple too many. The first time I read them, my heart pounded and they worked. The second, they felt a little weaker. I also noticed that they end of this book could be considering amazingly cheesy - partially because Finn is an incredibly tender hero. That tenderness manifests in sweet and sappy ways at times, and I loved it. I certainly won't downgrade because it got a cheesy. Sometimes you just need that smack right in the feels.