Reviewed by Taylin

TITLE: Love Bites

SERIES: Love Bank #3

AUTHOR: Duckie Mack

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

LENGTH: Approx. 246 pages

RELEASE DATE: April 24, 2022

BLURB:

Jonah might have hit it big as a member of a rock band, but his dreams go beyond music. His heart belongs in the kitchen. A food truck seems like the perfect solution to let him do both.

Donovan “Van” has worked hard for his restaurant on wheels. He won’t let anything get in the way of his passion, not even a new guy crashing onto the food truck scene.

Jonah and Van might have gotten off to a rough start, but when Jonah needs help, Van is the one who shows up. Can these two competitors become companions?

Love Bites is a sweet story of pursuing dreams, discovery, and finding your way to love one bite at a time.

The Love Bank Romance series features sweet LGBTQ love stories with a little heat.

REVIEW:

Jonah is all about chakras, positive and negative energy, and food. He loves cooking, but most know him as the quiet bass player in the famous band – Crow’s Nest. When he fulfills his chef’s dream to get a food truck, a fellow trucker Donovan takes exception to Jonah encroaching on his pitch. Pre-conceived ideas, and other stuff, mean their relationship doesn’t begin well, and Jonah is emotionally cut up about Van’s cold welcome. But only time will tell if it stays that way.

Love Bites is the third book in the Love Bank series. One of the mains, Jonah, knows he is gay but has never desired to get intimate with another man. He doesn’t understand it and doubts he’d recognize the urge if it hit him. Although, there are plenty of bandmates around who frequently follow their desires to sacred places. Crystals, aromatherapy, and meditation are more Jonah’s style – he’s a sensitive Zen man.

The story is told in the first person, present tense from the viewpoints of Jonah and Van. Technically, it was pretty good. However, as reading is hugely subjective, there were a few things that belong in my room 101. E.g., Acronyms, repeated use of the words smirked and bobbed. I eventually had visions of whack-a-mole with the latter. And yes, these things affected my reading enjoyment. But, moving on – worldbuilding was appropriate for the story, the characters were interesting, and I came away from the tale, educated.

Love Bites has a wider range of different characters than the other stories, which I liked, including a lad with sass and some protective brothers. Van was tailor-made for Jonah. The two words that appear front and center in this story are patience and understanding. And, with Jonah, Van has it in spades, which given their misconception-based, heated first encounter, was a nice twist.

As with the other stories in the series, there is plenty of mutual appreciation, wholesome humans, and texting, which is an all too familiar element of modern society.

Back to Jonah, who I will freely admit was my fav. He is a superb example of – ‘you are who you are’ and should not have to apologize for it. When the right person comes along, whatever will happen, will happen – when the time is right. It wasn’t only Jonah’s outlook that was different. His other layers include reasons for the use of crystals etc., which all made for depth of character.

As already mentioned, Love Bites is the third book in the series. They all contain wonderful, wholesome, understanding, helpful human beings – if only real life were as utopian. Then again – that’s what the wonderful world of fantasy is for. I’ve now read two of these stories in quick succession. For me, it was a bit much of the ‘wholesome’ menu all at once. Nevertheless, when I need some cookies and milk, I’ll be sure to pick one up.

RATING:

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