RELEASE DAY REVIEW: 'More Than Okay' by Bru Baker
Title: More Than Okay
Author: Bru Baker
Published: Sept. 28, 2016
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Bree Archer/Bree Archer Designs
Genre: Contemporary Romance; Erotic Romance
Length: 58 pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Novelette; HFN
BLURB:
Something in Jake’s relationship with Connor is changing, and not for the better. The only thing that’s been growing between them recently is silence, and when Connor starts lying about where he’s been and slipping out of bed at night, Jake fears the worst. Jake gets the surprise of his life when he finds out what Connor has really been doing. It couldn’t be further from what he’d expected. Instead of ending the relationship, Connor has been building up to taking the next step together with a huge romantic surprise for Jake. The scare shows Jake what’s really important, and the ordeal might make them stronger and bring them closer together than ever before.
5 HEART READ
REVIEW:
Okay I’m just gonna come out and say it. Bru Baker’s More Than Okay was a sappy love story and I absolutely adored it.
Baker has managed to create a rather quick read that fully envelops a depth of emotion and feeling.
Viewing things through Jake’s eyes you learn that he and Connor have been together for seven years and, due to many circumstances within their lives right now, he is dissolving into a sense of abandonment.
What I enjoyed most about More Than Okay was the build-up.
The familiarity of the toll “real life” can take on a relationship. Jobs that demand more of our time than we get at home, a roommate that doesn’t afford us any personal privacy, no more stolen kisses or quickies, the little irritations that now suddenly get under your skin, even I love you’s that are more reflexive than meaningful.
Now add to this the fact that neither Jake or Connor seem to be communicating and Jake’s mind begins to wander and fester when Connor comes home late at night, sneaks out from their cozy slumber or isn’t where he says he was. You can guess what happens: Assumptions, resentment and false accusations. But when the moment arrives where Jake is ready to confront Connor it is all for not and so damn romantic – down to the most minute of details to recreate an old memory and in the process create a beautiful new one.
Let’s just say that Bru wasn’t kidding when she said this book “has the sweetest sex scene I've ever written—literally. You'll never look at s'mores the same way again!”
I don’t know how I am going to explain my groaning every time that delectable desert even crosses my path from now on.
It’s not to say that you don’t feel the story has a little predictability. But even that gets tossed to the wind by Baker with an ending that is not what I have come to expect from romance novels yet is mature and healthy and left me hoping for the best. As someone who has been married to their high school sweetheart for 25 years this story touched every beautiful memory of those carefree days long since passed and rejuvenated my spirit to continue to create more.
An advanced reader copy of More Than Okay was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Dreamspinner Press, in exchange for our fair and honest opinion.
Bru Baker spent fifteen years writing for newspapers before making the jump to fiction. She now balances her time between writing and working at a Midwestern library in the reference department. Most evenings you can find her curled up with a mug of tea, some fuzzy socks, and a book or her laptop. Whether it’s creating her own characters or getting caught up in someone else’s, there’s no denying that Bru is happiest when she’s engrossed in a story. She and her husband have two children, which means a lot of her books get written from the sidelines of various sports practices.
