Cam and Jude had been college roommates for two years, fitting into each other's lives with ease.
That is, until Cam walked in on Jude getting off alone in their shared dorm bathroom.
Everything shifted between the two of them, awakening feelings Cam hadn't felt for anyone in a long time. Feelings Cam believed had shriveled up after surviving a near fatal car accident to then suffer a disastrous breakup with his first love.
Since then, Cam kept his heart sealed tight in a fortress, keeping himself busy with a lot of mindless hookups and a steadfast refusal to ever commit.
Cam's life had been predictable. He knew what he wanted.
Until that impromptu mutual orgasm with Jude.
Cam didn't want a boyfriend, and he certainly didn't *need* a relationship.
But he knew one thing he did crave and that was more of Jude McAlister.
Will Cam be able to work through his painful past if Jude offered him a chance at more?
***Give Me A Hand is the first book in the Beyond Desire Series, but is a standalone novel. Each book in the series will feature a different couple, but the couples will show up throughout the series. It is approximately 50,000 words and a New Adult Friends to Lovers romance between two men with explicit language and graphic sex intended for Adults Only.***
I had high hopes this would be sort of an NA version of Want Me. Alas, it was not.
Give Me a Hand follows your basic romance algorithm: MCs meet/are hot for each other, the courting ritual, feelings happen, conflict/misunderstanding which leads one of them to realize how many feelings they had for the other MC which leads to the big finish of HFN/HEA.
I like the romance algorithm otherwise we wouldn't be here. Martin delivered the bones of the algorithm but the filling needs some polish and here's a quick rundown of my biggest issues:
Telling vs. Showing: it's all told from Cam's POV and he's been through some hardships thus he's guarded with his heart. Understandable. He talks an awful lot about his feelings for Jude but all of those feelings always, and I do mean always, leads back to sex. Sex is great but it doesn't equal love and when you're trying to convince me that the characters are 'right for each other' I need to be shown that connection on more than just a sexual level. Most of their time together is spent doing sexy things rather than discovering each other's personalities and whether or not they mesh, so when we got to the HFN my first thought was 'less than a year' before Jude moves on.
Anthropomorphizing: if I had to read about Cam's innards jumping, swooping, turning, twisting, skipping, etc. I was going to call the ambulance myself.
Characters: not only did I not invest in them as a couple but they never reached fully realized status and-death knell-I didn't like them.
All that being said, not many authors can hit a home run their first time up at bat but I do think Martin shows promise, though to be fair, many will likely not have the issues I did. However, my opinions are my own and YMMV.
An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.
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