Review: Fancy Free

Fancy Free by Mia Monroe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Folks, we have another entry in Mia Monroe's Friendship and Desire series. Fancy Free is the third book in the series and follows Hayden's story. You remember Hayden right? The fabulous wedding planner from Dirty Forty?



Wait WHAT????



You haven't read Dirty Forty yet?



You really need to do that, and while I would love to wait for you while you read it because it helps build the setting, you really don't need to have read the other books to enjoy this one as a standalone in the series. So yes, I recommend that read the other books in the series but it is not required to love Hayden and Luke's love story for its own merits.

“You know how in movies the two love interests meet and it’s instant sparks? Like they both know that something happened to them.”

“Ah, yeah. I know what you mean.”

“Wouldn’t it be cool to experience that?”

“It is cool. It’s happened to me.”

Luke Ellison has been looking for his forever love. He's ready. What shocked him is that his forever love rocked what he thought he knew about himself and his sexuality. And is it any surprise that that love is Hayden? Really? Cause Hayden is amazing. I'm a huge fan of bi-awakening books because sexuality is a lot more fluid than anyone knows and so many of us don't truly explore until we're older. This is definitely Luke, except it's almost like cupid hit him with an arrow at a party and he just fell head over heels into Hayden. And Hayden, oh Hayden had sooooo many blankets needed to wrap him up from his past heartaches.



Fancy Free picks up right where Chasing Fate leaves off at the party and brings us on a roller coaster ride of emotions for both Hayden and Luke.

All in all, I'm giving this fabulous bi-awakening tale a solid 4 stars based on a personal trigger for me. There's a scene with Luke and parental boundaries that made me feel incredibly uncomfortable but won't affect the average reader. I just can't forget it or the feeling it gave me.



If you have a parental unit who was not the best about respecting your boundaries to the point that seeing it happen in a story will cause you anxiety, please be aware that there is a moment in here that will do this to you about 3/4 of the way through Chapter 23 to the end of the chapter.

I felt physically ill by the scene and I wasn't expecting it. I know that it is impossible to trigger everything in a book without spoilers. I understand this, and to most people this wouldn't even be a warning worthy thing, but with me it hit deeper so without spoilers I'm cautioning anyone who may see this that it might trigger them. The moment in the story is short and if you can push through, I guarantee you that it will be worth the read. I still loved this story, just not that moment.

Let me leave you with some of my...


Favourite Lines -

“Call him,” Zach says.

“Yeah, I sort of freeze up around him.”

Dominic chuckles. “Sorry, man, but that’s cute as fuck.”

I shake my head. “I don’t feel cute. I feel like a teenager again. Got no game.”

Suddenly, we’re walking backward, and I’m pressed against the back of my truck. I’m not sure which one of us started the movement, but it doesn’t matter. I’m a fucking goner. Kissing Hayden is my new favorite joy in life.

"I’m burning a candle for you to the patron saint of dick downs. Hayden, you are too young and entirely too gorgeous to be sleeping alone.”

“Anyway…” I lean forward. “I had his dick in my hand.”

“How was that?”

“So fucking hot. It was awesome. I low-key panicked after though.”

“Because you’re into a dude?”

“No. Yes. I mean… I’m not into him, Ned. I think I’m in love with him.”

"If I tell everyone I love my life and my freedom, if I tell them my life is full and doesn’t have room for commitment, it makes them think I’m okay and they don’t pity me.”

“Hayden…”

“I pushed you away because that’s what I do. If you had just wanted to fuck, without all the dating and talking and niceness, I would’ve done that. I would’ve kept you at arm’s length, fucked you, and sent you home. But that’s not who you are.”

"The minute I saw you, you took over my brain. I was drawn to you in a way that hasn’t happened to me before. Not with a woman, and definitely not with a man. It was like…” He shakes his head, shrugging. “I don’t know. Discovering something you didn’t believe existed, like angels or unicorns or sugar-free desserts that taste good.”

“You might be too good for me.”

“I might be perfect for you.”

“I could let you down.”

“You could make all my dreams come true.”

“You might get tired of me.”

“I might marry you.”

Avery: I’m owed an update. Did he fix your pipes? (snickers in gay)

I laugh, shaking my head.

Me: My pipes appear to be in working order.

My phone rings immediately.

"You don’t care if we run into people that you know? People will think you’re gay.”

“I’ve never cared much about what strangers think of me. As far as people I know running into us, good. Then I can introduce you.”

"Somehow, whoever decides how souls mate put us together. I don’t even care that you love someone else right now. That’s how much I believe in us."

“Gods of Gucci. Are you always going to be so romantic?”

“That’s my plan.”

And finally the BEST (and favourite) out of context quote from a child is....

“I didn’t know boys can marry boys. Like the same way Mom and Dad are married?”

“Exactly the same.”

“How are you gonna have babies?”

I try to hide the internal cringe I feel.

“We’re not. We’re just gonna be your favorite uncles. How’s that?”

Sean nods. “Good.”

Go run and one-click this one right now -



DO IT -



I promise, you won't regret it!



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Review: Becoming Daddy

Becoming Daddy by Mia Monroe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let me preface this by saying, I LOVE THIS BOOK. This is not a negative review but it is a much shorter one because due to spoilers I can't tell you WHY I love it.

You got that? I don't want to ruin WHY I'm in love with this story, so this is going to be a much shorter, smaller and less quote filled review.



Now, let's get this show on the road...

Becoming Daddy is the book I've been waiting for in Mia Monroe's Love in LA series. It appears to be the last one, as this is Ramos' story which I have wanted. It's pretty obvious that Ramos is struggling with his own self worth throughout the first two books of the series and I knew he deserved a happily ever after, I just wasn't quite sure how he was going to get that. And then this book came...

And we got inside his head...

And then I saw what it was that I can't tell you about and I fell. IN. LOVE!!!!

Becoming Daddy is the story of how Ramos finds his happily ever after with Zaden and Alex whom you will remember from Exploring Daddy. Woah, woah, woah!!!! Wait what? WHAT????



You haven't read the other books?



Go get them now -



Right now!!! I'll wait...


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Again, this book can be read as a standalone but the other books in the series provide a depth to the relationships and how they've grown over time. And really, my love for Ramos and his potential HEA just grew over time.

Alex, Zaden, and Ramos fall into their roles perfectly. I love a good Daddy/boy book, I also love a good MMM book and that's exactly what you find here. I cannot recommend this story enough! You have a poly couple looking to add to their partnership who have been burned before (with all the fears and anxieties that come with that) and a sweet yet unsure of himself self-made man like Ramos who is totally into this but is really unsure why they would pick him. Ramos is basically a big mess of "Am I good enough? What could I bring to their relationship? They're fire, but they're gonna get sick of me so fast cause I'm just me not good enough." The emotional internal angst was so high for Ramos, but watching him go for it anyway, acknowledge that fear and go forward... Yeah, that was huge and so emotionally rewarding.



I just love Ramos a lot, OK. Like a lot.



Don't @ me, he's fabulous.



Normally I would leave you with some of my favourite lines, but the lines I chose actually give away something that's bit spoilery for how Ramos takes on the role he's meant to have in this triad. So instead I'm asking you to run, don't walk you need to RUN -



right now! -



and one click this baby today. You're not going to regret it! Then you can anxiously await Mia's next release with me. When???? Who???? I need it now, but you need to read Becoming Daddy first, you're gonna love it!



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Review: Chasing Fate

Chasing Fate by Mia Monroe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, Diego is hot. Not gonna lie.

Baby bi.

Beardless.

Bestie.

All reasons to stop hoping he takes the rest of his clothes off in front of me.

I could have sworn that I mentioned just how much I loved Dirty Forty and one particular side character in that book that totally stole my heart during his failed date with Zach. And I mean, if you didn't originally think his HEA was with his energy-cleansing-tarot-card-reading-friend Isaac (aka Cashmere), then I would be seriously shocked but Sydney's story was just what I wanted for him. It was goofy, endearing, and showed just how two childhood best friends could reconnect and find so much more than just friendship at the core of their relationship.



I love friend love stories. Even when BFFs have spent a few years apart due to distance and space, when they reconnect and find themselves in the same place and realize that that crush they felt growing up is still there... Beautiful! It's just beautiful! Friends make the best partners and that is what Chasing Fate is at its core, a story about friendship blossoming into something more. And my sweet Sydney (you knew how much I loved Sydney, didn't you?) deserved to find the love he was hoping so desperately for.



Chasing Fate by the wonderful Mia Monroe means that the world of Dirty Forty became the Friendship and Desire series and it is the second book. I have no complaints whatsoever - I needed to know what Sydney's HEA looked like, and let me tell you, I am in LOVE with his man Diego. They were friends during their childhood and lost touch for a while but Diego reaches out when an accident causes him to re-evaluate his life and the road he's travelling. He remembers his friend, remembers that Sydney was the first man he truly had a crush on and when they reconnect he sees that those feelings never really went away. They're still there, and he's even more enamoured with the man that Sydney has grown up to be. The only problem is Sydney and his unflappable belief that his forever love is with a bearded prince.

“I’m not a bear, right?”

“No. You’re not a twink either. You’re kind of a pretty boy.”

“Pretty boy, huh? Is that bad?”

“Everyone has a type. You’ll be somebody’s.”

But not his. Got it.

It kills me poor Diego, because Sydney throws him so many mixed signals. He tries so hard to guard his heart because his past romantic traumas, but Sydney's heart can't hide from Diego and the wooing (seriously like that word for what he did) that he's showered with. Poor Diego felt this pang a few times, and I wanted to slap Sydney but he eventually comes around.

Through all of that the love, support, mutual respect and kindness that they both have for each other are the highlight of the story. This really is a story of love being friendship set on fire and I LOVE IT!



I could wax poetic about Diego and Sydney for hours, but instead because I want you to actually READ the story, I'm going to leave you with some of my...



Favourite Lines -

It’s always the same. I want to find love. Toe-curling, soul-stealing love. Ideally, with a hunky bearded prince who has a good job, his absolute shit together, and is one hundred percent ready to settle down.

At sixteen, I would sometimes even get hard when we wrestled or when his leg brushed against mine at sleepovers. I kind of wanted to tell him, but I was scared that would weird him out. He never looked at me like that.

He would show me his favorite celebrities, and his eyes would light up. I felt jealous, like I wanted his eyes to light up for me.

“Any chance of a love connection?”

I laugh. I never thought my parents would be so encouraging when I told them about my expanded sexuality. “We’re just friends, Mom.”

“Friends make great relationships. Your dad and I were friends first.”

“I’ll tell you a secret,” he whispers loudly.

“Okay.”

“I figured out my type.”

“Oh, right. What is it?”

“You.” He laughs. “Night, Sydney.”

It takes me a hundred years to react. By the time I do, Diego is snoring softly. Okay, he’s drunk. He’ll forget all of this in the morning. I close my eyes. I’ll forget it too.

Up to this point, I felt like I was still trying it on a bit, this bisexual title, but now I’m wondering if I was so hung up on which label to assign myself that I wasn’t focusing on the big picture. I date guys. I like guys. I want to fuck guys. A smile pulls at my lips. Yeah. That feels right.

Part of me wishes I was brave enough to walk away from a steady, good-paying job, but then what? Become one of a million influencers on the internet? Build a lifestyle brand from scratch? Does anyone want to follow tips from a super short, very gay, not highly motivated guy whose only achievement to date is successfully not finding the love of his life?

I have no idea what we’re doing tonight, but it doesn’t really matter as long as I’m with Sydney.

Oof. That thought hits me right in the gut. I’m already just as attached to him as I always was.

"If I needed something major, Zach and Dom would be there, I know that, but I wouldn’t call them to tell them I’m lonely and afraid I’ll spend the rest of my life that way. I wouldn’t call Isaac either.”

“But?”

“I would call you. I know you’d listen.”

“I’d come over with wine.”

“I would do that for you too.”

“I know, Syd.”

And just like when we were kids, I know I would rearrange the planets for him just to see him happy.

“You make it sound easy.”

“I never got the memo that said life was going to be easy.”

“How did your cards tell you what the guy looks like?”

“Well, they didn’t exactly, but I know how to ask the right questions to narrow it down. I’m positive he has a beard.”

“Because you have a beard fetish, or…”

Sydney twists his lips. “I mean, doesn’t that make sense? That the thing you’re most attracted to is a quality your mate would have?”

“He’s not my type.”

“Oh? How has your type been working out for you?”

“Ouch.”

But last night, that kiss. That was a life-changing kiss, like it actually rearranged my DNA. I felt it in every part of me. It just felt so…right. I remember his words. Then Isaac telling me he’ll be an important part of my life. Is it possible that Isaac is right, and all this time, I’ve been misinterpreting the cards?

If I was a gambling man, I’d bet maybe he was going to tell me he loves me and, holy patron saint of baby bis, I think I want him to. I’m so fucked.

"Are you sure?”

“Are the summers hot in Phoenix?”

I nod as a tear falls. “Yep.”

“I’m as sure as that."

Folks, I want you to run - RUN



- don't walk you have to run and one-click this baby today. You're going to love everything about Sydney and Diego - I promise you, you won't to regret it.



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