Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  Filthy Sweet

AUTHOR:  R. Cayden

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  220 pages

RELEASE DATE:  September 27, 2021

BLURB:

Loner. Troublemaker. Rebel.

…and secret softie?

I try to enjoy the reputation I’ve earned as a hotshot music exec, even as I’m careful to hide my checkered past.

But after another unfortunate scandal catches me with my pants down (literally), I’m forced to clean up my image.

Enter Owen: my best friend’s little brother. The adorkable sweetheart is my wholesome polar opposite, which makes him perfect for a little fake relationship publicity.

Owen’s just out of the closet. He acts shy, but the more time we spend together, the more I glimpse his surprisingly filthy imagination.

And the more I can’t stop thinking about him.

I don’t do relationships. And with my past crashing down around me, I have no right to drag Owen into the chaos of my life.

But then he says my name with his gentle voice, and something unfamiliar stirs.

Owen breaks down the walls I’ve built, but can a guy like me give him the kind of love he deserves?

Filthy Sweet is a standalone M/M romance with a naughty geek, a secretly-sweet bad boy, and a dash of fake relationship. It features forbidden, best-friend’s-brother steam, dirty talk, and ongoing confusion about a pair of panties. Enjoy!

REVIEW:

As the title implies, R. Cayden’s Filthy Sweet tells the story of a relationship that is both filthy and sweet at the same time.  More precisely, here we can attach the filthy sweet label to Owen, a seemingly innocent, adorkable, brainiac Ph.D. sweetie pie.  Owen’s had little time for sex, no less love, but has a predilection towards some kinky between the sheets activity. He’s yet to explore it though, due to lack of opportunity, but also because one of his few boyfriends, thankfully now an ex, shamed him into thinking his sexual desires were wrong.  

Enter the delicious Fox.  A gorgeous specimen whose swagger and seeming confidence mask a lonely guy who has had to scrap and fight for everything in his life.  Fox made some less than honorable choices along the way out of desperation and determination to survive.  But now those choices hang like an albatross around his neck.  They weigh him down, making him feel unworthy and undeserving of good things – like love with Owen.  Fox also believes it’s just a matter of time before his past deeds come back to destroy everything he’s accomplished, especially in the cutthroat music industry where the sharks are circling in the water, waiting for blood to fall.

This opposites-attract, brother’s best friend romance could easily have veered into sex, sex, and more sex without substance.  And while it does have sex, sex, and more sex – hot AF sex in fact – the author deftly balances that with an intriguing story, two endearing characters, and a certain charm that accomplishes exactly what the title promises:  a filthy sweet romance. 

This is two men falling in love and indulging in fantasies.  Owen and Fox give each other the space to explore their wildest desires with each other.  But the key component here is that they also give each other their trust and respect.  We get to witness something quite beautiful, even obscured by the raw sensuality that plays out in their sexual escapades.

Filthy Sweet also has some humor, mainly through some awkward bumbling scenes with Owen in the initial parts of the book, and Owen’s brother Reggie, who is also Fox’s oldest, closest, and really only friend.  I do wonder, however, if Reggie is intended to be funny.  For me at least, I find him sweet and well-meaning in his overbearing protectiveness of Owen, but also irritating, particularly in the buffoonish way he interacts with him.  His “Big Reggie” persona drives me up the wall if I’m honest.  But the author’s character development of Owen and Fox luckily does not suffer the same fate.  

Owen and Fox are given complexity and dimension and are highly endearing to the reader.  The author convincingly portrays them as a well-matched couple who fill in the open spaces in each other.  Owen and Fox are adorable while simultaneously naughty with all the cumplay, exhibitionism, and other kinky sexual activity they get up to. 

I’ve read most of R. Cayden’s books and I think Owen and Fox may be my favorite of the author’s couples.  I appreciated and enjoyed the honesty and respect in their relationship and how they readily and thoroughly embrace the other’s wants and needs and ensure they are met.  Their transparency with each other stands in contrast to their fake relationship.  The irony created by that juxtaposition highlights the exceptionality of their forthrightness with each other.  The rest of the world sees one thing, but they have a secret that no one else gets to see but them.

Overall, Filthy Sweet makes for an easy couple of hours of reading.  You can consume this delicious story in one sitting.  It’s easy to get caught up in it because there’s nothing too heavy to dwell on and the chemistry between Owen and Fox will keep you engaged.  If you are in the mood for something light and not angsty but that has some bite and isn’t fluffy, Filthy Sweet fits the bill nicely.

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

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