Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: My Anti-Valentine Collection
SERIES: My Anti Series #1-3
AUTHOR: DJ Jamison
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 282 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 7, 2019
BLURB:
A bundle of three novellas:
My Anti-Valentine: Jaded by relationships gone wrong, Bret throws an anti-Valentine’s Day party to celebrate being single and burn his ex-boyfriends’ belongings. Bret’s low interest in sex has destroyed every relationship he’s had and tarnished his view of romance, but a cute blond guy at the party who says all the wrong things inspires him to hope for more.
My Anti-Boyfriend: Brad has everyone fooled. He’s the casual, sexy friend. The fun-time guy who sleeps around. Except not really. There’s one man who holds his heart: his best friend — with benefits — Riley. Too bad Riley has no interest in a relationship, and as far as Brad can tell, never will. But once Brad acknowledges his feelings for Riley, he can’t continue to ignore them. Riley’s days of having his cake and eating it too are over. Then again, maybe Brad is tasty enough to keep a man satisfied.
My Anti-Marriage: Love has never been a good bet for Chris, so going on a Vegas wedding trip for his friends is bittersweet. Especially when Ant, the last man to break his trust, is suddenly along for the ride. Which explains why Chris wakes up in his hotel room with the mother of all hangovers. Not so much why Ant is in his bed … or worse, wearing a matching wedding band.
Each novella has previously been published. There’s been no changes to content.
OVERALL REVIEW:
This was a good series. In each story, communication is the key to all these relationships. And the lack thereof. But anything in life worth having takes work, and they all work at it. It’s got some tearful moments and moments of joy, but most of all, it’s so real. It’s everyday relationships and people trying to keep them going, no matter what.
RATING: 
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TITLE: My Anti-Valentine
SERIES: My Anti series #1
AUTHOR: DJ Jamison
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 66 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 21, 2017
BLURB:
Jaded by relationships gone wrong, Bret throws an anti-Valentine’s Day party to celebrate being single and burn his ex-boyfriends belongings. Who needs a commercialized holiday that only serves to make you feel bad about your relationship status, anyway? But not everyone at his party agrees. The cute blond guy who could be a member of a boy band challenges Bret, calling him bitter, and the truth comes spilling out: Bret’s low interest in sex has destroyed every relationship he’s had and tarnished his view of romance.
Harry is tired of fast hook-ups and meaningless sex, but finding a guy who wants a serious commitment has been a challenge. When he meets the cute hipster throwing an anti-Valentine’s Day party, he’s immediately charmed. But when he learns Bret is graysexual — willing to have sex only occasionally in the right circumstances — he’s leery of making promises he can’t keep. He doesn’t want to break Bret’s heart or his own, but can he really walk away from a chance at real love?
REVIEW:
I feel for Bret in this situation because I feel exactly like him. Being in the asexual scale myself, I understand how he feels. You want that relationship, but too many people put the emphasis on sex. And on Valentine’s Day. It’s commercialized and if you love someone, shouldn’t it be all year round you show them instead of one day?
But I got where Harry was coming from, too. He wanted to be sure he could handle a relationship like that with Bret. It’s not that he didn’t care for the man, but he didn’t want to hurt him by needing something Bret couldn’t give. It’s a complicated situation. It can work, but communication is a very serious key. It’s always a key in any relationship but with this kind, it really is.
The thing I liked, though, is even with feelings being hurt sometimes from tension, they did try to talk. They did try to work. And it’s not an easy thing. It doesn’t mean there aren’t fights, or hurt feelings or doubts and fears that creep up often, but it takes work to make it work and they did that. Even when it was hard, they worked at it. And that makes all the difference sometimes.
RATING:
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TITLE: My Anti-Boyfriend
SERIES: My Anti series #2
AUTHOR: DJ Jamison
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 58 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 30, 2017
BLURB:
Brad has everyone fooled. He’s the casual, sexy friend. The fun-time guy who sleeps around. Except not really. There’s one man who holds his heart: his best friend — with benefits — Riley. Too bad Riley has no interest in a relationship, and as far as Brad can tell, never will. But once Brad acknowledges his freelings for Riley, he can’t continue to ignore them. He pulls back, trying to find a way to shut down his hurting heart so he can remain Riley’s friend.
Riley has everything he needs: a decent job, plenty of hookups, and his wingman Brad, who also makes for great fun in the sack. He’s happily oblivious, until Brad starts avoiding him. Riley is baffled when Brad starts skipping regular nights at the gay club, fails to return calls and otherwise ignores him. He can’t imagine what he’s done wrong, and when he finally corners Brad and learns the truth, he’s scared to death one more person is going to abandon him. He misses Brad like crazy — both the friend and the lover — but he’s never even considered a relationship.
Now Brad and Riley have a choice to make: friends or lovers. Riley’s days of having his cake and eating it too are over. Then again, maybe Brad is tasty enough to keep a man satisfied.
REVIEW:
This is another story that’s a hard one. Friends with benefits when one starts to feel more than the other. Especially when the other is a commitment phone and would run screaming instead of trying a relationship.
But Brad’s heart can’t take being second fiddle anymore and their relationship as friends is falling apart as well. Brad has denied sex now and is blowing of Riley completely to save his heart. But when Riley finds out how Brad feels, it scares the crap out of him, but he can’t help but start to see Brad a little differently. Well, truthfully he’s been looking at Brad differently for a while but was too scared to do anything about it. But losing Brad is the last thing he wants. But he’s going to if he doesn’t do something. And quick.
I feel for Brad more than Riley in this one. I get Riley has commitment issues and I get why, but he spends so much time thinking about sex or his next conquest, he doesn’t think about anyone else’s feelings. And my heart hurts for Brad. To constantly feel like you are second fiddle to everyone. Even as a friend. It can destroy you. And when Riley seems to not even care how Brad feels as long as he gets some ass, it’s heartbreaking. So I get Brad backing off. Sometimes you have to do what’s best for you and if it means walk away….you’ve got to go.
RATING:
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TITLE: My Anti-Marriage
SERIES: My Anti series #3
AUTHOR: DJ Jamison
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 158 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 12, 2018
BLURB:
Can one drunken night in Vegas and a pair of wedding rings lead to a happily ever after?
Love has never been a good bet for Chris, so going on a Vegas wedding trip for his friends is bittersweet. Especially when Ant, the last man to break his trust, is suddenly along for the ride. Which explains why Chris wakes up in his hotel room with the mother of all hangovers. Not so much why Ant is in his bed … or worse, wearing a matching wedding band.
Ant invited himself on a Vegas trip, gambling on a second chance with the man who got away. He never dreamt he’d be the one with a wedding ring on his finger, but if their predicament gets Chris talking to him again, he’ll make the most of it.
Between keeping their secret from friends and trying to figure out what really happened that first crazy night in Vegas, passions ignite. If they can hold on to their fresh start, maybe the Vegas motto doesn’t have to hold true: What happens in Vegas doesn’t have to stay there.
REVIEW:
Another story where communication is a key. An ex shows up at a date and ruins it. But instead of listening to an explanation, Chris just blocks Ant from his thoughts and ignores him. But Ant wants Chris. If he could just get him to listen.
Having an ex who is not, show up at a date and act all psycho, is not exactly the way to end a good date. Makes the date quite horrible in fact. But Chris won’t let Ant explain and just writes Ant off as a cheater and a player. When it comes time for Brad and Riley to get married, they go to Vegas and Chris gets a surprise when he sees Ant walk up. What makes it worse is they ended up super drunk and scouting out wedding venues for the groom’s and wake up with rings in their fingers. Thinking they are married, it’s got Chris in a panic and he wants an annulment. But the more they’re in Vegas, they closer they’re actually getting as friends and finally a but more. But now that Ant finally got Chris to listen to what happened, will they still be together when they get home?
There’s a story in this one that might cause a trigger. It pertains to BDSM and the so called Dom not listening to the safe word and leaving Chris tied up and left him. Basically he raped Chris and left him tied and alone. So if it’s a trigger, be careful. And that’s not all of Chris’s bad stories, but it is the worst. So I can’t blame him for being scared to death to commit or anything. But not even getting Ant a chance to explain was wrong. Scared or not. But thankfully, Ant has the patience of a saint. And Vegas he keeps trying. It eventually works but it’s still scary because this is Vegas. Not home. And Chris may freak at home. So it’s hard on both sides. But again, communication is key. They have to talk it all through. Fears and all and keep going. And work to keep it going.
RATING:
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