Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  Becoming Daddy

SERIES:  Love in LA Book 3

AUTHOR:  Mia Monroe

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  212 pages

RELEASE DATE:  August 13, 2021

BLURB: 

I knew nothing about love until they came along to teach me. 

My life is all about three things.

Helping people in need

Loyalty to my friends

Surviving by any means.

My life has always been about the hustle. That’s what it’s like when you grow up on the tough streets of LA. I learned early on to rely on myself but always look out for the little guy. I guess it’s my instinct or something. My new friends pulled me out of a bad situation and into a world I’ve never experienced. I’m slowly finding my way on the straight and narrow path, but watching all my friends find love makes me realize what I’m still missing.

When a couple invites me into their lives, I’m confused. Why would these two gorgeous men want me? They’re determined to convince me it’s real. The more time we spend together, the more I wonder if I’m a boy at heart. But when things come to a head, maybe Becoming Daddy is what my men really need from me.

Becoming Daddy is an MMM book featuring a former bad boy with a heart of gold trying to find his footing, a loving couple who knows exactly what they want, and three men discovering much more about themselves than they expected. It is book 3 in the Love in LA series featuring doting Daddies and sweet boys finding love in Los Angeles.  

REVIEW:

We’ve read it before.  An opposites-attract romance with an income/class disparity.  The men are wildly attracted to each other.  Their sexual chemistry is off the charts.  But can the relationship survive in the real world where each man’s world experience is so very different?  Typically, the “rich” guy is unhappy, usually repressed by an overbearing father.  The “poor” guy has had a rough history.  He carries emotional baggage and doesn’t know how to trust.  But through some trials and tribulations, it all works out and the improbable couple gets their well-deserved HEA.

Mia Monroe’s Becoming Daddy is that story.  But it’s also so much more.  Ms. Monroe delivers, in her inimitable way, an unputdownable romance between not two, but three very different men.  Alex, Zaden, and Ramos fall in love and make a life together against the odds.  In her hands, their story builds on what we expect, adds unexpected twists and new elements, and ultimately creates something new.  And that’s precisely why you need to read this refreshing, low angst, super sexy romance.

Ramos, a guy from the hood who’s had people abandon him his entire life, has been fighting just to survive.  Yet he never lets his circumstances or the rejection from friends and family completely harden him.  He’s a sweet, kind soul with a huge heart, overflowing with the need to protect and take care of the people around him.  

We first meet the gorgeous, blue-eyed, tatted-up Ramos (who I picture exactly like the drool-worthy cover model 🔥🔥🔥) in Legendary Daddy, the first book in this Love in LA series.  He’s rough, uncultured, and intimidating.  However, belying his appearance, he surreptitiously acts as de facto guardian angel to Bentley (who Ramos affectionately calls “Bento” or “Little Bento” – adorbs 💙).  Ramos is also running a business for almost no profit to help get weed to elderly people who are sick or in pain and who can’t afford medicine.  When Legend (Legendary Daddy’s titular character) finally comes to get Bentley out of the hood, Ramos refuses to leave.  However, when Bentley later finds out that Ramos has been shot and left for dead, Legend, Bentley, and Matteo and Finn (from Book 2, Exploring Daddy) swoop in and pluck Ramos out of that horrible life.

Alex and Zaden arrive on the scene for the first time at the end of Exploring Daddy.  The first time they lay eyes on Ramos, and vice versa, a connection instantly snaps into place.  It literally stops Ramos in his tracks.  But he doesn’t know what it means or what to do with it.  In contrast, Alex and Zaden know exactly what the connection means.  It’s an answer to their prayers and deepest desires.  But they go slow to help Ramos navigate a situation that is completely new to him, and also to protect themselves from repeating past mistakes.

Becoming Daddy tells the story of these three men weaving their lives together.  Like filling in one of Zaden’s canvases with brush strokes and patterns painted in vibrant, breathtaking color, these three men merge and blend in a way that harmoniously fills in all of their white spaces.  This is not a typical romance about finding love or even falling in love.  It’s a romance about building trust and putting aside preconceptions about what you “owe” other people, what you have to offer to others, and what you deserve in life and in love.  Through Ramos, Alex and Zaden, Ms. Monroe shows us what open-mindedness, flexibility, and a willingness to embrace something unexpected, unusual, and maybe even non-traditional, looks like in a relationship.  And it’s a beautiful thing. 

Ramos, Alex, and Zaden create a gorgeously loving, supportive, crazy sexy, closed triad.  However, what will grab your focus is how they figure out their roles within the relationship.  How they learn to lean on, trust and support each other in a dynamic way.  How their roles shift to provide what their partners need, even as it moves and changes from moment to moment.

The title, Becoming Daddy, perfectly describes what this book is all about.  This story isn’t about action.  It’s about emotion.  It doesn’t contain an involved plot.  Rather, it keeps a tight focus on the closed triad relationship.  It shows how Ramos learns he can be a boy and a Daddy, and how Alex and Zaden can trust and accept him in either role.  

Ms. Monroe indulges us with cameos from our favorite four guys from the prior books, as well as some newcomers.  But, ultimately, Becoming Daddy is almost exclusively about Ramos, Alex, and Zaden, together.  When they finally click and settle into their roles, the pure joy they experience radiates.  The feels are warm, fuzzy, and decadent.  The image of these men together is glorious.  Which works out well for us because Becoming Daddy is enthralling.  You won’t want to look away.  I highly recommend you give this creative, well-executed romance a read. 

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon