Review: Sweet Thing (Pretty Boy #2) by Isobel Starling

French male model Simeon Duchamp has a lot of explaining to do.
Two years after a breakdown Simeon is off drugs and booze and wants to stay that way.
On his road to reclaiming his life and modeling career, Sim first needs to apologize to the man he hurt the most -his ex-best friend and object of his unrequited affection Pieter Bayer. Pieter now has a long-term partner, artist Emily Raven, with whom he shares a baby son. Sim is amazed when Pieter accepts his apology, and invites him into his family.

Closeness to Pieter sees Simeon's longing for his friend is rekindled. But then, when Simeon meets an attractive older man, Bastian Roth at an Art Exhibition, he realizes that there is a soul more broken than his, and Simeon feels compelled to help. Simeon's connection with the troubled Bastian Roth turns his world upside down. He has to decide whether to allow himself to fall for the man who wants him or pine for the man he can never have.

***THIS BOOK CAN BE READ AS A STANDALONE***

DNF 44%

I'm not sure what happened here, but I just didn't connect with either Simeon or Bastian. It may have been the writing style and the shifts in multiple points of view, including secondary characters that didn't allow me that connection to the main leads.

I also had some difficulty with content. I cannot like Bastian from what I read. I know he's going through something, but from the glimpse into his past, it seemed he always had boundary issues. This is probably the biggest reason I didn't connect with him for Simeon. And why I eventually had to admit defeat.

Simeon was pretty stereotypical with his personality, and that's not fun for me. I didn't feel like he had any layers, and the story didn't delve deep enough into his actual feelings and self reflection. He was very superficial, and I got impatient for something more from him. I made it almost halfway before I decided it wasn't going to happen the way I wanted it to.

This may work for others, and by all means, do not take my word for anything. This just wasn't for me, for multiple reasons, most of which was where my headspace is at this moment in time, and my very low tolerance for a lot of problematic content in romance.

A review copy was provided for an honest opinion.