Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: Silver and Sage
SERIES: Silver in the City #1
AUTHOR: A.D. Ellis
PUBLISHER: A.D. Ellis Publishing
LENGTH: 206 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 26, 2019
BLURB:
Bode Silver doesn’t have time for feelings or a relationship. Then Sage shows up. Sage is Silver’s exact opposite, his renter, and his new employee. The kid is much too young and much too innocent. There are a million reasons why Silver and Sage should never get together. And Silver plans to keep it that way.
Until all of those reasons go up in flames with one kiss.
REVIEW:
Silver and Sage is the first book in A.D. Ellis’ new series, Silver in the City. Twin brothers Bode and Benji, and their cousin Kyson live in a four bedroom apartment above the Salty Lizard, the bar Bode is soon opening. Benji and Kyson agree on renting the fourth bedroom to graduate student, Sage, but cantankerous Bode is against the idea. He’s also against admitting to himself – let alone anyone else – that he’s attracted to Sage. They share a mutual, instant attraction, but Bode feels it’s a mistake to mix romance into the landlord-renter dynamic (and soon employer/employee). Not to mention the ten year age difference, which doesn’t faze Sage in the least.
Sage and Bode are opposites in many ways: Sage is socially awkward, Bode is the life of the party; Sage is a quiet, genius graduate student, Bode is a bar proprietor; Sage has no true friends while Bode has life-long friends in Benji and Kyson; and Sage is sexually inexperienced while Bode is, well, not. But Sage isn’t shy about making his feelings for Bode known and that those differences are unimportant. Because they are so different, the alternating first person POV is particularly effective.
One of my favorite parts of the book is the brotherhood of the main and secondary characters who wholeheartedly and without hesitation welcome Sage into the family. But the best aspect of the book is the insane chemistry between Sage and Bode. Someone asks Bode:
You going to be the one to show him the world? Or watch him with someone else?”
Eventually that thought, added to the sexual tension, breaks down Bode’s defenses and the pair are soon sizzling between the sheets. I like that these two, as their bond strengthens, have some smart conversations about relationships, worries, concerns, and hopes, and practical discussions about sex since Sage is a virgin. The pragmatic talks don’t take away from the sexiness, though, rather they lend an air of realism to the story.
Silver and Sage is not heavy on plot but that’s fine since this book is all about the love developing between these two men, and the interaction between them, Benji, and Kyson. There’s a side plot involving Bode and his father, we meet the love interests for books two and three, and we get to enjoy a happy ending for Sage and Bode.
This is a book I happily recommend.
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