Audiobook Review: Don't Twunk With My Heart (Loving You #2) by Renae Kaye

Kee Smith isn’t sure who he is anymore. He knows who he used to be—the ignored gay son who chose a blue-collar job just because no one expected it, the submissive bottom who enjoyed large, masculine jocks who put him in his place, the sleek, fashionable twink who partied all night. But after his ex-boyfriend hit Kee and called him names, Kee retired from the social scene.

Back after a year’s hiatus, Kee still doesn’t know where he fits. His friends say he’s a twunk—a twink who put on muscle and turned into a hunk—but Kee is searching for somewhere to belong. Instead of going back to his usual type, Kee hooks up with twink Tate Stevens—a fashion-industry professional who works the image hard. It proves to be the best decision he’s ever made, and not just because he’s starting to regain his sexual confidence.

With Tate, Kee can open up about his fears and confusion without ridicule. Tate has his own fears about putting on weight and getting old. It will take work to make a relationship of opposites succeed, but they begin to realize the compromises will be worth it if they can be together.

Listening Length: 5 hours and 52 minutes
Narrator: Joel Leslie

Reviewer: Annika


I'm a huge fan of the first book in this series (Loving Jay), so when I had the chance to listen and review the second book I jumped right in, and had a blast.

We follow Kee, one of Jamie’s friends. He's been kind of hibernating at home for the past year and a half. Licking his wounds after his ex-boyfriend sent him to hospital. (Side note, I sure write that a lot this week. :( There's entirely too much violence in the world). Anyway Kee is finally ready to re-enter the world again and agrees to go out clubbing with his friends. There he meets Tate and he has a hard time keeping his eyes off the twink. Expecting nothing more than a quick hookup, he's surprised of how quickly they do connect in other areas and so they meet again. And again. I loved them together, each being what the other needed. Building the other up, helping and having a lot of fun (and sex) along the way.

There were a lot of humor in this book - not the least when Jamie entered the scene. He's still as insane and talkative as always. I loved the parts where he and Tate bonded over football, both equally uninterested and clueless of the game and rules. To their point where their respective boyfriends actually moved away from them and their insane comments. ;)

Sure, this book wasn’t flawless by any means. There were a few things that kind of started but was then forgotten or ignored; Matt-the-rat (abusive ex) entering the scene for a brief moment. That never really went anywhere part from creating drama for the moment. Then there was the whole Tate’s eating disorder issue. At times it was a huge deal, but then it just fizzled out into nothing. That being said, I still enjoyed every second of this book. It was sweet and fun and light. It made me happy, and I can’t really ask for anything more than that.

Joel Leslie was brilliant! I'm a huge fan of his Aussie accent. I can't speak to its authenticity, but to me it sounds accurate, and he keeps it up throughout. He also captured all the characters personalities and gave them individual voices. I think I’m mostly impressed with how he handled Jamie during his word vomiting at supersonic speeds. That cannot have been an easy feat, but he did it and perfectly.

Don't Twunk With My Heart was a great listen and just the perfect way to start the day.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Don't Twunk With My Heart (Loving You #2) by Renae Kaye

Kee Smith isn’t sure who he is anymore. He knows who he used to be—the ignored gay son who chose a blue-collar job just because no one expected it, the submissive bottom who enjoyed large, masculine jocks who put him in his place, the sleek, fashionable twink who partied all night. But after his ex-boyfriend hit Kee and called him names, Kee retired from the social scene.

Back after a year’s hiatus, Kee still doesn’t know where he fits. His friends say he’s a twunk—a twink who put on muscle and turned into a hunk—but Kee is searching for somewhere to belong. Instead of going back to his usual type, Kee hooks up with twink Tate Stevens—a fashion-industry professional who works the image hard. It proves to be the best decision he’s ever made, and not just because he’s starting to regain his sexual confidence.

With Tate, Kee can open up about his fears and confusion without ridicule. Tate has his own fears about putting on weight and getting old. It will take work to make a relationship of opposites succeed, but they begin to realize the compromises will be worth it if they can be together.

I liked this more than I thought I would, but maybe that’s because I was expecting the worst. A lot of people have been less than favourable with their reviews so far, and I think that would be largely due to everyone else having read the first book in the series, Loving Jay. Due to that being so successful I think it would be hard to do anything other than compare the two. I haven’t read Loving Jay (I know, don’t shoot me) so I could enjoy this book as a standalone. I really did enjoy this a lot, but I found it's not particularly memorable.

Urgent matter to attend to first!!!! I need to rectify the images on the front cover. The one of Tate (the blonde) isn’t too bad, but what is with the picture of Kee?!?!? Hell NO! so here’s my versions of Kee and Tate.

Kee

Tate

Anyway, this story is very simple and very sweet. We have Kee, who was a twink until his boyfriend hit him and he decided to lose himself in his work, which happens to be steel welding. Due to the very heavy physical work, Kee buffs up and finds himself resisting his submissive side in fear he’ll become another victim.

Kee and Tate meet at a nightclub and hit it off straight away. What starts out as a one-night stand progresses into a loving relationship over the period of months. I actually really liked how realistic this relationship progression was. They spent time together, had great sex, fell in love after a few months and reached a HEA.

There was plenty of sex and it was well written. I for one enjoyed reading them ;-) Okay, a lot of you would probably know I like role-playing scenes by now, yeah? Well this book certainly has a role-playing scene, but unfortunately I must say I didn’t find it sexy at all. However it was most certainly hilarious! I am sure I would be exactly like Kee if I ever did role-playing.

Kee and Tate were both sweet characters, but Jay just stole the show. I can see why people liked Loving Jay, Jay was vibrant and the he made every scene he was in come alive. However this book wasn’t about Jay, and yet he was a large part of the story. Even the epilogue was about him and Liam. It just felt a bit like the author was milking what worked well in the past, when the story should have been mainly about Kee and Tate.

There were also a few storylines that just finished rather suddenly, or were tied up way too neatly. Tate has a supposed “eating disorder” that just disappears... He just starts eating and everything is hunky dorey. Kee’s ex-boyfriend Matt was the absolute most OTT villain I have ever read about (and that's saying something because I have read a lot of OTT books) and once again that whole storyline was cleared up with one very short scene. The book also ended quite abruptly. Nothing was left unfinished per se, the ending just sort of crept up on me.

I think a lot of people will really enjoy this book. It sweet and romantic, it’s a bit silly in places and a bit over the top but overall rather enjoyable.

For more info on, Dreamspinner Press or Goodreads!