Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: #lovehim box set
SERIES: #lovehim series
AUTHOR: S.M. James
PUBLISHER: May Books
LENGTH: 1011 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 4, 2019
BLURB:
Six stories. Three couples. One perfect kind of love.
Read the first three books in the #lovehim series and their short stories.
That Feeling When
A summer camp romance where a bi actor and a closeted ballet dancer are blackmailed into keeping their relationship a secret.
No Big Deal
In the meet cute to To Be Honest, Angus finally gets a roommate … and a big, fat crush.
To Be Honest
Angus and his adorkable roommate Tyler, embark on a cross country road trip to confront Angus’s catfisher.
For The Win
The meet cute for In Case You Missed It, Brooks agrees to one non-date with Darien because they’ll never see each other again … right?
In Case You Missed It
Love is suppose to be simple, but Brook’s secret will put their relationship to the test.
PLUS A BONUS NOVELLA NOT YET RELEASED
In Real Life
The sequel to That Feeling When, where Archie and Landon visit Australia and try to make their relationship work amidst judgmental family and pushy exes.
OVERALL REVIEW:
I noticed when I was looking up the books, there are a few more to this series, so if you want to read those as well. It kind of looks like some may be out of order or skipped. I’m not entirely sure but here is what I’ve got. Or it could be that GR is labeling them different from Amazon. Anyway. As the blurb says, this box set is about 3 couples, not one. But they are all connected in some way. They have good times, bad times, and times of hardship as they learn who they are and what their relationships, boyfriends or friends, mean to them and their lives. It’s not always an easy thing, but then no relationship really is.
The first two stories involve an actor and a trust fund kid. One who is bisexual and the other who thought he was straight. But after a passionate quick kiss, things change. He’s not quite as straight as he thought. But the thought of coming out is terrifying. The thought of being labeled as the gay dancer isn’t going over well either. But the more they spend time together, the closer they are getting and the feelings can’t be denied. But they have to realize, they both have compromises and things to do in order to make it work. And it’s not an easy thing.
I liked these guys, even though it reminded me of my kid. She’s 17 and in high school, so you know….drama. But considering the dancer is 17 as well, it’s bound to happen. There’s not quite a full maturity there. Plus being a trust fund kid and somewhat sheltered, he’s a bit…..snobbish to a point. But not too much. He’s just tired of being pressured to be something he doesn’t want to be. He wants to dance. And the actor is having a hard time because the lime light and being far from home. He’s homesick. It’s all got a lot of angst. But they’re good stories. Good characters and a lot of sass 😉 .
The next two stories involve two more students. Both gay. One out, one quiet about it. This deals with some serious triggers. It has severe homophobia, hate crime, attempted suicide and actual suicide. So if these are triggers, be careful.
But Angus and Tyler are roommates. Angus is talking to someone on an app, thinking he’s being catfished. He’s not, but the person he’s talking to is being secretive for a reason. Meanwhile, he’s falling for this guy and falling for his roommate, who sometimes seems to be into him. When he finds out the secrets to everything on a road trip, things come crashing down. But he can’t live without the true one he’s in love with. But can he truly forgive for the secrets and lies all around him and move forward or is it time to fully walk away?
This one is a hard story to read. It is about high school students. Boarding school. But this deals with a lot of bullying, and all the triggers I warned you of. It deals with falling in love and hope, but it’s much harder story because of some of the content. Not that it goes into severe detail, but still. You get the drift and it’s not easy. The thing I love though, is the person is a survivor. They are scared and make mistakes, but they survived and moved on. And that is huge.
This last set did me in. Brooks gets stood up for a date and ends up meeting Darien, who doesn’t seem to take no for an answer. Not in a bad way, but Brooks isn’t into relationships for a reason. He just wanted a date. The more they got to know each other, the more Darien knows he’s hiding something. But it doesn’t keep him from trying to be a part of Brooks life, no matter how hard he pushes back. And it doesn’t stop him from falling for him. But when he finds out the truth to what is really going on, he’s floored, but knows nothing could change how he feels. Even when things get the worst. He just has to convince Brooks that he’s worth taking a chance on. No matter the situation.
I knew what the secret was in this one. I figured it out pretty quick. But it didn’t stop me from crying my eyes out at the situation. And that Brooks is basically resolved to his fate as being bad. But, granted, it is a bad situation. But to basically give up on things just broke my heart. I knew there were times he wouldn’t be able to, but that didn’t mean he should give up. And Darien is determined to have him not give up, no matter how hard Brooks wants to try. He wants Brooks to keep up his hope that things will be better and ok.
These are some good books. They are YA. All about teens in a boarding school. So there’s not sex scenes and such. Things are implied but it’s not described. I personally like that. I like the plots of the story. And they were good. Each story had it’s own set of troubles and things they had to overcome. And none of the stories were easy. They were hard situations to deal with. But each story, even with the heartbreaking moments, comes with hope, forgiveness and love. So overall….I definitely recommend
OVERALL RATING: 
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