Reviewed by Racheal 

TITLE: Bad Stepfather

SERIES: Guilty Pleasure Series #3

AUTHOR:  Romeo Preminger

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

LENGTH: 321 pages

RELEASE DATE:  December 1, 2020

BLURB:

A story about finding your way back after a teenage trauma and discovering love along the way, with all the thrills and drama readers have come to expect from gay mm romance author Romeo Preminger.

My name is Elijah Masters, and I haven’t been the same since my dad died in an electrical fire. My friends and teachers lifted me up to make it to high school graduation. But away at college, I chose sex and partying to cover up the gaping hole in my heart. I got sent home on academic suspension, and now I’m back in West Palm Beach, Florida, living with my mom.

That’s seriously depressing, and then I find out my mom’s got a live-in boyfriend. Really thoughtful on her part. We haven’t even been through the second anniversary of dad’s death, and the guy, Justin, is totally not age-appropriate. He’s this sketchy “lifestyle coach,” who’s really obviously sponging off my mom. To make things ten thousand times worse, Justin’s a gorgeous, golden haired fitness god, and as much as I want to hate him, he does things to me I can’t control just being in his presence.

My daily escape from Crazytown is working as a barista-in-training at a coffee shop, where oddly enough this kid Mike Shatz holes up to study. We went to middle school and high school together, though we traveled in different circles. I don’t know Mike’s deal, but I remember he had it kind of tough. The rap on Mike was he was slow, but I think it’s more like he’s on the spectrum. People in our town are pretty ignorant, and meanwhile Mike’s really come into his own. I’m kind of falling in love with his dark brown, wavy shag of hair.

I don’t know if anything is going to come of that, but I need to keep an eye on Justin. I’ve got this feeling he’s after something, and I’ve got to wake my mom up to the game he’s playing.

A genre-bending thriller that’s part family drama, part mm new adult romance, and part high stakes mystery suspense.

About Guilty Pleasures Editions: Romeo Preminger’s Guilty Pleasures Editions titles are a branded line of hardcore romantic suspense standalones with murder, mayhem, and steamy mm romance.

REVIEW:

I was not prepared for all the twist and turns this storyline was gonna have. Elijah stumbles into more than he ever bargained for, when he goes up against his step dad. It’s not just the fact that he is ten years his mom’s junior, but things are just not adding up. Elijah is determined to prove that mom’s new husband is more than just a “bad husband,” and that he may cost them more than their future.

Being busted for cheating isn’t Elijah’s proudest moment, having to come home and face his mother is even worse. The fact being that he, and his mother, more or less just cohabitate together. When he lost his father, he lost a part of himself. Now that he is back, it’s time for him to get his act together, but now he has to deal with Justin, his mother’s health nut of a man. From the beginning, these two had that love/hate relationship. So, when Elijah lets his body take control, instead of his mind, just one time with Justin, it was the worst trap he could have fallen into.

Poor Elijah is not only dealing with his mother’s horrible love interest, but has come face to face with the kind of person he once was when a past high school classmate catches his interest.

As things are getting worse at home for him, Elijah turns to his new potential love interest for help. Mike has no filter and isn’t afraid to speak his mind, but he lacks self esteem; with Elijah’s attention, and understanding of him, Mike will do whatever it takes to help Elijah.

Along with a great storyline between the two MCs, there are some brutal truths from the past, suspense, murder, and mystery. You are in for an epic adventure, with this book!!!

Definitely recommend this book to anyone that loves humor, has a soft spot for a sweet love story, thrives on suspense, and mystery served up with a few murders.

Great word building, and the author did a phenomenal job with each one of his character’s!!

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon