Reviewed by Jenn Taylor
TITLE: Sweet Young Thang
SERIES: Theta, Alpha, Gamma #3
AUTHOR: Anne Tenino
LENGTH: 412 pages
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
BLURB: Thanks to Collin Montes, Theta Alpha Gamma now welcomes gay and bisexual students. Persuading his Uncle Monty, president of the TAG Alumni Association, that the open approach won’t adversely affect TAG’s reputation is Collin’s own first step toward coming out. As long as there are no repercussions, he’ll escape the closet by graduation.
Enter repercussions, stage left: someone rigs the TAG House water heater to launch through the ceiling, then plants a bomb—thankfully unsuccessful—in the fraternity’s basement. Now Collin has his hands full not only trying to convince his uncle that this might not be the work of homophobes, but also dealing with a fratful of brothers worried about their kegger fridge.
Paramedic Eric Dixon can’t stop thinking about the kid he met during a call at his former college fraternity house. The age gap between them is trumped by sexy eyes, so when Eric sees Collin again at the bomb scene, he pursues him. Soon, Eric is dreaming of being a househusband, fighting to keep Collin safe from whoever’s trying to destroy the fraternity, and helping his sweet young thang realize that repercussions sometimes have silver linings.
REVIEW:
Let me preface this review with saying I usually love any books with paramedics, firefighters, etc. and I love frat boys or just even college men stories. Those elements combined SHOULD have hooked me enough to rate this at least middle of the road. Unfortunately, I couldn’t focus on the book at all for more than ten minutes due to very specific factors.
This is the story of Collin Montes, a Theta Alpha Gamma fraternity member, who has pushed for his fraternity to openly allow gay members. Collin is still in the closet himself due to a contentious, homophobic uncle, Marty, who is the president of Theta Alpha Gamma’s Alumni Association, but he wants to come out as soon as possible. Late in the night one evening there is an explosion at the frat due to a rigged water heater, and a frat member is injured. Enter Paramedic Eric Dixon, an older man and a former Theta Alpha Gamma member, who coincidently enough, used to have a crush on Collin’s uncle, Monty. What follows is a whirlwind romance between Collin and Eric (and I mean that and will get to that later), and a weak mystery plot concerning a vendetta against the fraternity and its members, perhaps particularly Collin.
So first things first, this plot was just ALL over the map and the book was too much of EVERYTHING. Too many characters, too many storyline threads, too much sex, too many pet names, too much creepiness, too much repetition, too much insta-love, too many clichés…the only thing this book didn’t have too much of was a plot that was interesting.
The fraternity brothers would often have meetings or discussions, and I gather many of these moments were to produce laughter in the reader. I just found it all tedious and unrealistic. It didn’t read at all like any college man I’ve really ever encountered, especially not ones in a group frat setting. I’m not saying the author didn’t know what she was talking about or do her research, but it felt all very flat and contrived to me.
The main couple of Collin and Eric drove me BONKERS. If I heard one.more. freakin. time. “Sweetness,”“Pretty Thang,” “Sweet Thang,” “ Pretty Thing,” or “Sweet Boy,” I felt like I was going to slam my head on a counter. And I get that Eric was older, but my God, it was brought up over and over. And seriously, I’ve read insta-love before (and never liked it), but this was overboard, even for me. I think it was the second time they hang out (and maybe even just 2 days) and Eric is already talking love. The next dozens of chapters kept being all “Are you changing your mind?” “No” “Are you OK if I’m not there yet?” “Yep” “Let’s go bareback” “Yes” “No, wait…maybe wait” (next sex scene) “I’m ready to go bareback”. So freaking frustrating!!!! Also the author put way too much sex in this, and it felt at times like page filler. I didn’t feel each time advanced the couple’s standing or the plot. Also, I can’t place my fingertip on it, but for some reason Eric’s photography hobby and taking pictures of Collin creeped me out mildly. Perhaps if he hadn’t come across so clingy, googly-eyed, and insecure IMMEDIATELY after sleeping with Collin, I would have felt better. I couldn’t understand how this man was discussing love so soon with someone he didn’t know at all, and combine that with his neediness and picture-taking, it felt almost like Eric viewed Collin as some younger man object and could freeze him in time with photos. Or I’m rambling and this is all a load of conjecturing crap. Either way, the couple didn’t do it for me at all.
I didn’t care for the mystery, both in the perpetrators or the crimes themselves. It felt distracting and at the same, never felt focused enough to warrant being there. I just wish the characters could have met some other way.
So this is kind of sugar fluff with loads of pet names and endearments, an older man falling in love with his closeted younger man, and a mystery of who is potentially after the fraternity for allowing homosexual members to pledge and become members. Just not for me.
BUY LINK: Riptide Store :: All Romance eBooks
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Jenn Taylor is one of the official reviewers on The Blog of Sid Love.
To read all her reviews, click the link: TAYLOR’S REVIEWS
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