Entangled

Liked it. As always these short, but oh so captivating books can be read through in one sitting. The characters are highly adorable. I love the gay Taylor. Oh so happy and out!! Really great quick but captivating read.

You never know what your getting with "Free" or "99 cent" books... this one was O.K. Things just fell into place with little to no effort. I give it 2 stars because like some other books at this discount, I atleast wanted to see how it ended. Alot of things could have happened that should have happened(just like real life) but didn't. My real downfall with the book is I prefer more masculine men and less "queen" like behavior.

Good news-it's free, well written, and has likable characters. Bad news - there are a few slurs marked as banter. Calling a bottom the "girl" or a gay man a "flamer" (among other things) as a matter of course shows a remarkable lack of understanding in an mm writer. If they were purposeful insults by an antagonist that would be one thing, but the way those terms were used showed a disrespect of homosexual men. If this author cleaned that up, I'd actually buy a work of hers because the characters are really likable. As it stands, she's on my fairly short "no buy" list.

This is an extremely quick read. That's fine considering the price but it just seemed rushed. Story had a lot of potential but was under-developed. I also agree with another reviewer that Daren was a bit vapid. The humor would've worked better in a longer scene.

While this might not be my favorite gay romance by a long shot, it was a good, saisfying love story. I especially appreciated that there were actual sex scenes rather than allusions to them. "Sophisticated writing" or not, it had some good moments. One reviewer gave this one star and referred to a would be rapist, or rape scene. I have no idea what that person is talking about. I encountered nothing of the sort. My biggest criticism might be that some of the dialogue toward the end seemed corny, but that might just be me not being big on mushy, sappy words. This story was worth my time!

Despite the very embarassing (for the author) number of one-line-only five-star reviews, there are two things that do not work for me in this very short M/M romance:

- first, it is short. It is not concise, it is underdeveloped. Too much background information, too many psychological transitions, too many romantic developments are crammed into a couple of pages and the author's writing is certainly not poignant enough to make up for and compensate all the lacking pages.
It reads like a draft, most of the time;

- while the side characters are obnoxiously ill outlined, an obvious result of the sheer lack of pages, the two main one are ill outlined and unlikeable.
Taylor is a troubled man but of all those troubles we only get glimpses. We meet him as an unhappy man, we see him having mind-blowing sex and we leave him a wham-bang happy man.
Daren is the dictionary picture of vapid.
His best friend/epic crush of five years comes to his house in the middle of the night saying he wants to talk about very important things and what we get is him getting randy and horny and thinking about sex while his best friend/crush is baring his soul to him.
Who would not want a friend/lover like that?
I think the author aimed at humour in that peculiar scene. If she did, she failed. If she did not, someone please explain me what was the purpose.
Later on the couple is having sex. Daren is not trembling because of the deep emotions he feels. He is quipping about who is having control...

Friends to lovers is a beloved branch of the romance genre because of its intense psychological implications. It has been done before and keeps on being done for this reason.
Of all this psychological, sentimental complexity one find here little more than nothing.

Heterosexual women writing hetero-normative narratives for eachother in the gay romance genre. Nothing wrong with this in itself, I suppose. It's just boring for this reader; the more so when it's poorly written.

A 4-star rating for Entangled by Lex Valentine. This well written story meets all the criteria for a MM romance, but does not have any surprises.

I recommend Entangle to those readers who like a sweet love story. Lex Valentine is a reward winning writer whose writing is easy to read, concise and moves along at a comfortable speed.

Personally, and this in my bias, why are the lovers in most MM romances always handsome, over 6 foot tall, hung and successful. The fantasy world is filled with gay men of this type. If two guys of this description get together, why wouldn't they find each other attractive? Many readers of romance novels like fantasy and dream of finding and marrying the perfect man who fits the description above. Not me! I am not perfect and I don't expect perfection in others.

The MM romance stories that have really touched my heart are those with characters who experience mental, physical or emotional challenges at some point in their lives. Character develops as we accept ourselves and other's imperfections. It is a test of the love shared in the relationship. By learning to accept and balance our partner's strengths and challenges, love grows and the relationship becomes stronger.

It may sound like I am knocking this story. The author is merely writing what is believed to be what we want to read. I merely want to let good writers, like Lex Valentine, know what I would like to see in a more realistic MM romance novel. What do you think?

How many girls (and boys) crush hard on their best friend and fantasize of the day their feelings will be returned? Daren is the lucky guy whose fantasy comes true in the sexy package known as Taylor. I loved how this story came together and played out. Taylor showing up in the rain and confessing his feelings and Daren lusting after his half naked friend. The chemistry between them was hot but the emotions really got me. The longing they had for each other that they could finally set free...so beautiful.