Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Cup of Joe
SERIES: Bold Brew Book 1
AUTHOR: Annabeth Albert
PUBLISHER: Self-published
RELEASE DATE: February 25, 2021
LENGTH: 194 pages
BLURB:
Sometimes an ordinary Joe is all you need…
Newbie barista Levi Miles is having a bad day in the middle of a bad month. He’s trying to figure out post-graduation life, and a recent breakup hasn’t helped. The one bright spot? The charming blue-collar customer with the simple order and reassuring voice.
Electrician Joe Simmons can make anything light up—except his love life. As he gets older, he remains unsure about what he wants from a relationship. But an innocent flirtation with the fresh-faced barista is exactly what his ego needs.
Levi doesn’t need a boyfriend. Or a Daddy. But bantering with Joe feels so good, and when their tentative friendship takes a turn for the sexy, a summer fling seems fun. Exploring long-held desires brings them closer with each steamy night, and the idea of parting gets harder.
But Levi’s only in town temporarily, and the end of summer is approaching. Both are reluctant to disclose their feelings, but pushing past their fears may be the only way to keep this special thing going. Can they order up a happy ending before time runs out?
Cup of Joe is a stand-alone novel in the multi-author Bold Brew shared universe centered around an inclusive coffee shop set in a fictional small city. Each steaming hot coffee shop romance can be enjoyed alone, but collect all ten for the most fun! This 53,000 word age gap story contains a reluctant Daddy, lots of fluffy steam exploring new desires, low angst, and a guaranteed happy ending!
REVIEW:
Cup of Joe is the first book in a new ten book, multi-author series based in a shared universe that revolves around the titular LGBTQ+ inclusive coffee shop, Bold Brew. The creative premise of this series provides a colorful backdrop to a host of what are likely to be unusual, interesting pairings of men. The Bold Brew coffee shop, which provides more than just coffee-to-go, forms the central point for all of these interactions. Bold Brew is described as a gathering place for the whole community, and is particularly welcoming to the kink-friendly. It’s described as hosting everything from coffee meet-ups to safe-play kink demonstrations and community education and engagement beyond play parties and sex clubs. This premise completely captivated me and made me eager to engage in this series.
In this first installment in the series, Annabeth Albert crafted a short, sweet romance between 22-year-old Levi Miles and 35-year-old Joe Simmons. They meet at Bold Brew where Levi is a barista and Joe is a regular customer. It’s insta-attraction between these two, with both discerning a subtle Daddy/boy dynamic humming between them.
Joe is a burly bear of a guy, an electrician, and an ordinary “Joe”, all wholesome, sweet, nice and down to earth. That’s a bit of a misnomer, though, because there’s nothing average about Joe Simmons. Joe is a self-described “bossy muscle top”, but admits he doesn’t fit the typical Daddy/Dom role. Joe is also, surprisingly, self-conscious about his appearance. When his mom got sick, Joe reprioritized his time, thereby sacrificing his former, super built football physique. He recognized that time with his mom was more important than time in the gym. While he doesn’t regret it, his concern that he is somehow “less” in Levi’s 22-year-old eyes is completely endearing … and also foolish, as Levi continually points out.
Joe is not only hot, but also empathetic and considerate, while also clearly lonely and looking for love. Joe’s former partners considered him too kind and cuddly for a typical Dom/Daddy, so he’s trying to find the relationship dynamic that works for him, wanting that type of relationship in spirit: Daddy-lite, if you will.
Levi is just out of a bad relationship, which dictated his now less than ideal circumstances of subletting a room for the summer and working as a barista. Unlike Joe, Levi is more secure in what he’s looking for from a relationship. Where he struggles is in how to make that work in practice. Levi and Joe struggle with communication and misintepretation of intentions. They need to develop trust and grow into their relationship. To work together to get it right and believe that they can.
Both Joe and Levi have a complex juxtaposition of insecurity and confidence in their personalities. Ms. Albert does a nice job of developing those nuances. Where the character development fell a bit short was in tying everything together. The story did not fully reconcile the conflicting aspects of their personalities.
For example, when Joe first meets Levi, Levi is struggling as a barista and presents as an insecure, easily flustered kid. But then we also see him assertive enough to initiate things with Joe and act “bratty” (without hesitation) in their scenes. Those two things seem incompatible without some integration of how Levi can be both at the same time. Stated differently, it’s certainly true that Levi could be both but we need the context to understand why and how. Another example is Joe’s self-consciousness about his appearance and age vis-a-vis his openly confident and assertive presence in seemingly all other respects. This reconciliation of inconsistent emotions and personality traits is the piece that was missing for me. Consequently, every time I thought I had Joe and Levi figured out, it slipped like water through my fingers. I just couldn’t fully grasp them as people.
Because I couldn’t fully understand Joe and Levi, I didn’t completely “get them” as a couple. No doubt, their chemistry is evident as is the potential for them as a couple, despite their age, appearance and personality differences. Joe and Levi are like two puzzle pieces that look like they fit, but they are never actually fully “clicked” together to finish the puzzle that is “Joe and Levi, the couple”.
Notwithstanding, Cup of Joe is absolutely an enjoyable, heartwarming read and a solid introduction to the world of Bold Brew. There weren’t many side characters introduced in this one, so I’m curious to see where this series goes next and whether we’ll see more of Joe and Levi. I will definitely be reading the next one, and in the meantime, encourage you to give Cup of Joe a read.
RATING: 
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