Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Order Up
SERIES: Bold Brew Book 5
AUTHOR: Wendy Qualls
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 111 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2021
BLURB:
Barista Blake Hilliard has a sexy secret and a fanbase eager to see more from him. The stars align when he discovers new customer Graham Aldersen is a dead ringer for his best friend–who had to leave town right before they’d planned a special livestream together. Graham isn’t so sure about subbing in for Blake’s regular partner, mask or not, but the chance to play with Blake’s popular online persona is too tempting to ignore. Going live on the internet is out of Graham’s comfort zone but Blake makes the experience eminently worth the risk.
When it becomes apparent that Blake’s partnership with his friend is more business than romantic, Graham finds himself wanting more. More sexy fun, more quiet chats, as much more of Blake as he can get. Blake doesn’t “do” boyfriends, though, and he certainly isn’t the type that straight-laced Graham ever thought he’d fall for. He’d put that life behind him when he bought the cute little house with the white picket fence and the cat–could the two sides of himself ever mix?
Will this mismatched duo be able to order up a happily ever after?
(Order Up is a 30K stand-alone novella in the multi-author Bold Brew shared universe centered around an inclusive coffee shop set in a fictional small city in PA. Each steaming hot coffee shop romance can be enjoyed alone, but collect all ten for the most fun!)
REVIEW:
Order Up is the fifth book in the ten book multi-author Bold Brew series. Bold Brew, the titular coffee shop set in the fictional college town of Laurelsburg, serves up a kink-friendly atmosphere, a safe inclusive space, along with some kickin’ caffeinated beverages. The romances in this series all hinge in some way on a connection to Bold Brew, so it makes sense that they’re all kinky to varying degrees.
Order Up opens with pink-haired, personality-plus Blake Hilliard, established Bold Brew barista, serving up creative, delectable coffee concoctions. He’s working through a line of customers who are about to attend a rope bondage tutorial given by Vann and Landon, from Book 4 Vanilla Steamer. The Bold Brew management mandates that participants remain fully clothed and the demo occurs behind closed doors in a closed off room in the coffee shop. But still … that’s some pretty progressive thinking.
I happily indulged in the appearance, albeit brief, of Vann and Landon. They make such an adorable couple. We get some glimpses of them in an established relationship. They’re all swoony and schmoopy. It’s so freaking sweet.
Bold Brew and Vann are responsible for the premise of the relationship between Blake and Graham Aldersen. Graham runs the student health clinic at Laurelsburg University and often lunches with Landon and Vann at the LU Hospital cafeteria where Landon works as an ER doctor. When we first meet Graham, he’s helping Vann and Landon set up for their demo. Blake sneaks up behind him, mistaking him for his friend and cam modeling partner, DJ. Apparently, Graham is DJ’s doppelganger. Graham is polite but isn’t the most welcoming.
Shortly thereafter, Blake is lamenting circumstances that have unavoidably detained DJ out of state. That Saturday, they had planned a special live stream broadcast to “celebrate” Blake’s birthday. Vann suggests that Graham step in as the Dom for the livestream. Surprisingly, Blake asks Graham, even though they’ve known each other for about 2 seconds, and, surprisingly, Graham agrees.
Frankly, I frowned in confusion and disbelief at this turn of events. Blake is all in with little hesitation, which frankly struck me as odd and borderline dangerous. He barely knows this guy but he’s going to let him tie him up and have his way with him on camera? The story dismisses the concern with some implausible hand-waving. Vann knows him so he must be completely trust-worthy. Uh ok …
As it turns out, Graham is actually a trustworthy, overall good guy. But his agreement to go along with the plan, especially in light of his initial lukewarm reaction to Vann, seems strange in and of itself. Then we have Graham’s own self-description as lonely, uptight, boring and private. Yet in the blink of an eye, he agrees to step outside his comfort zone to transform into an experienced Dom well versed in rope bondage and suspension (which he happens to be BTW), but with a virtual stranger on camera. Seems indicative of an apparent split personality if you ask me.
So Graham agrees and easily turns Blake into a blissed out sub. Their relationship develops from there. The romance isn’t quite instalove, but love indeed develops rapidly and Blake and Graham declare their feelings rather abruptly. The problem is, there is no fluidity from one to the other. In fact, their feelings for each other bounce back and forth like a ping-pong ball. I never got the sense that they really got to know anything about each other, except how to get Blake into subspace. Hookups become hangups which abruptly about-face and become pure happiness and abiding love. To be honest, it gave me figurative whiplash.
The author added into Order Up all the ingredients for an engaging story. However, Blake and Graham’s relationship needed more time to brew. Graham and Blake are two really interesting guys who work well together despite how opposite they are. The story had so much potential for digging into their characters. But the novella length story didn’t allow enough time to explore. The story lacked fluidity and reconciliation especially in relation to Graham’s equivocation about allowing this other part of him, his kinky side, to be seen. I really wanted organic development of Blake and Graham’s relationship and a solid, plausible HEA. Instead, the romantic journey was uneven and the HEA felt manufactured and forced.
Having now read five Bold Brew kink heavy books in quick succession, maybe I have kink fatigue. Order Up also seemed reminiscent of the excellent Vanilla Steamer that immediately preceded it in the series. So maybe my disappointment in Order Up stems from the unfortunate, coincidental, back-to-back comparison between the books. Maybe if I had read it as a standalone, I would have enjoyed it more. Maybe??
Realistically, I don’t think that would solve the problems with Order Up. It would have potentially made them more tolerable. Is the story terrible? No, not at all. Clearly this author has writing skill. This just was not the best showcase of her abilities. Ultimately, these issues distracted me enough that Order Up, for me, ended up being just ok.
RATING: 
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