- Learn to accept my future on the family farm
- Be social, to a degree
- Make a secret bucket list
- Have a real conversation with Travis Bradford
Travis’s To-Do List:
- Get into my top law school
- Get the hell out of Elkville, Oklahoma
- Stay focused on my dreams and goals—no crushes, no distractions
- Get spanked by hot and perfectly fussy farm boy, Connor Blume
Travis and Connor do not like each other, but after being paired together in Entomology 101, their mutual hostility explodes into secret after-class hookups and unexpected feelings. With graduation looming near and their careers taking them in different directions, they’ll have to decide if a future together is worth adjusting their to-do lists and letting go of their carefully laid plans.
This gif literally sums up my experience with this book:
Super bummed this wasn't a hit out of the park for me since I've been wishing for it since Controlled Burn. I mean... kink, enemies to lovers, ginger MC, virgin, big guy bottoming, Erin McLellan...
I might be defective. Any chance for a new model? I digress. Anyhoo, no use crying over spilled milk and all that.
In no way does my mediocre response to this book diminish my respect for this author nor will it prevent me from reading more from her in the future. Her writing is as solid as ever. Both characters are three-dimensional, well constructed and sympathetic, in their own ways.
They have chemistry and spine-tinglingly kinky sex with spanking, mild D/s and a teensy bit of breath play.
My problem was Travis and this conflict. The basic formula is much the same as Controlled Burn which completely and utterly worked for me, but this, while plausible, didn't get under my skin the way Joel and Paulie's journey did. Mostly because the conflict is external rather than internal.
The central conflict is they have divergent paths after graduation which is looming thus they have an expiration date. Totally believable. Sort of. Until you listen to Connor for about 2.5 seconds. Which then dovetailed into Travis's perspective making me want to staple things to him. He's the one that devises this fuck buddy relationship yet he repeatedly initiates intimacy, asks Connor to be vulnerable which he does and lays himself bare for Travis whereas Travis gives virtually nothing of himself then repeatedly ices Connor out.
So the power differential was lopsided from early on which I didn't love and came with the added bonus of Travis getting Connor to disclose how all consuming his anxiety and OCD are; that they cause him to spin everything into being his fault somehow. Which made reading Connor's POV a special version of hell and Travis' increasingly distressing as it was akin to kicking a puppy. At one point I found myself talking aloud to my kindle asking Travis to please stop kicking the puppy.
He is aware that what he's doing to Connor is hurting him and in his defense he does berate himself for it but he continues to do it anyway! Ostensibly so he can protect himself from falling ass over teakettle for him. Lookit, I sympathize with safeguarding one's heart but at a certain point doesn't it become imperative to use words to explain this rather than... not? Especially when you care for the other person? Unfortunately, this went on and on sapping all my happy. They part ways for a time and ultimately (in the last chapter! 😩) they reunite. The epilogue, though glorious, just wasn't enough to make up for all that puppy kicking for me.
But I seem to be in the minority judging from other ratings on GR so I would encourage anyone interested to read those reviews too. As always, my opinions are my own so YMMV.
A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
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