Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

Overall Rating: 5 Stars

HIM by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

[Audiobook purchased from Audible]

Goodreads synopsis:

Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wise-cracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were eighteen? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died.

Ryan Wesley’s biggest regret is coaxing his very straight friend into a bet that pushed the boundaries of their relationship. Now, with their college teams set to face off at the national championship, he’ll finally get a chance to apologize. But all it takes is one look at his longtime crush, and the ache is stronger than ever.

Jamie has waited a long time for answers, but walks away with only more questions—can one night of sex ruin a friendship? If not, how about six more weeks of it? When Wesley turns up to coach alongside Jamie for one more hot summer at camp, Jamie has a few things to discover about his old friend… and a big one to learn about himself.

Full book details here.

Review

Him was either the best choice for my first m/m romance or it was the worst. It was so freaking good that it either has ruined all the rest that I will read after it, or it has set the tone for the rest. I guess only time will tell.

I fell in love with Wes and Jamie almost immediately. Their characters were so well developed and loveable, their relationship was believable and not over the top at all, and the romance blossomed beautifully.

Aside from Jamie and Wes’s relationship, I got all goo-goo over Jamie’s family. They remind me so much of my family. Even though they were only in the novel for a very short time, getting little glimpses into how (and with whom) Jamie was brought up really validated why Jamie is the way he is: laid back, accepting, understanding, introspective, and confident in the most humble way.

I also loved the contrast of Wes’s family as well, the things he had to deal with, how he dealt with them, and how they affected his perception of his relationship with Jamie.

This book gave me so many feels — the most prominent being straight up giddy. It was such a refreshing read, I cannot wait to crack open the next book. I should probably see what it is about since I haven’t even checked yet! Oops!

Audiobook Performance: 5 Stars

Teddy Hamilton and Jacob Morgan narrated the audiobook and OMG, both of them were mother effing fantastic. Their voices, especially the guy who performed Wes’s POV (I don’t know who did what, unfortunately), were super sexy. The performance itself was basically flawless. I highly, highly recommend checking out the audiobook for sure!

Butterfly Rating: 4 Stars

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m stingy with my butterfly stars because a 5-star rating to me is ACOWAR, which gave me so many butterflies I literally had a stomach ache (in a good way). This was not too far behind, but not quite there. While I did get butterflies while reading this book, it was mostly pure happiness that I experienced during most of it rather than butterflies.

Re-read Worthiness: 4 Stars

There’s a good chance I’ll re-read this one!

Bookshelf Placement: Yes

Abso-freakin-lutely! It helps that the cover is swoony.

New Book Boyfriend: Yes

I loved both Jamie and Wes! ❤

---

Grab a Copy of Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Google Books | Kobo

---