Book Review: Top Secret by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

Stand Alone

Format: ebook

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

How I Got It: Purchased

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance, M/M

Publisher: Self-Published

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads

LobsterShorts, 21

Jock. Secretly a science geek. Hot AF.

LobsterShorts: So. Here goes. For her birthday, my girlfriend wants…a threesome.

SinnerThree: Then you’ve come to the right hookup app.

LobsterShorts: Have you done this sort of thing before? With another guy?

SinnerThree: All the time. I'm an equal opportunity player. You?

LobsterShorts: [crickets!]

SinnerThree, 21

Finance major. Secretly a male dancer. Hot AF. 

SinnerThree: Well, I’m down if you are. My life is kind of a mess right now. School, work, family stress. Oh, and I live next door to the most annoying dude in the world. I need the distraction. Are you sure you want this?

LobsterShorts: I might want it a little more than I’m willing to admit.

SinnerThree: Hey, nothing wrong with pushing your boundaries...

LobsterShorts: Tell that to my control-freak father. Anyway. What if this threesome is awkward?

SinnerThree: Then it’s awkward. It’s not like we’ll ever have to see each other again. Right? Just promise you won’t fall in love with me.

LobsterShorts: Now wouldn’t that be life-changing...

Review

Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy are back with another M/M romance. And it definitely delivered. It was fun, engaging, and full of great characters.

A lot of M/M romances (I've read) are pretty angsty. Keaton and Luke don't have perfect lives, but there isn't a ton of angst. Instead there is tons of humor and great banter. There's also an enemies-to-lovers element which is executed pretty well. The two main characters interact a lot through a dating app which I love. I'm a sucker for textual communications.

Keaton and Luke begin their app convos because Keaton's girlfriend wants a threesome for her birthday. Ms. Bowen and Ms. Kennedy say there is not a cheating element to this story. I can see why that is their standpoint, but I think it's actually more of a personal view on these grey areas.

Sometimes surrounding Keaton's girlfriend are what stops me from giving this five stars. I like her...it's other stuff.

Keaton and Luke were both great characters and I love their interactions. Keaton always has fun animal facts which I think is adorable. I'm also full of useless information so I can relate. They both had personal struggles which aren't related to their sexuality. I really liked that being gay/bi is not the only identifier for them and the only conflict.

This was such a fun and exciting read. It was a joy to read and I highly recommend it.

Thanks for reading!

Holly