Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: The Glow Up
SERIES: Franklin U #5
AUTHOR: A.M. Johnson
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 250 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 23, 2022
BLURB:
Chris Delaney
I’ve promised myself that this was going to be the year to finally buckle down. I’m a junior, and I’ve settled on a major. I’ve got focus and determination. The one thing I haven’t figured out yet? How to deal with the massive crush I’ve been harboring on the guy in study carrel six.
I don’t know his name and some of my friends think it’s time for me to move on, but he has this whole sexy, broody, dark eyes and messy hair thing going for him. And yeah, he seems like he could be my polar opposite. The kind of unapproachable, serious type who doesn’t smile much, but I’d like to think he’s all rays of sunshine underneath his stormy expressions and disheveled demeanor. All that intense energy… I dig it.
I want to know him.
The rub?
I’ll have to find the courage to actually introduce myself.
Aiden Russo
The college experience is supposed to be parties, drinking, and fun with a few classes mixed in. It sounds pretty amazing, right? For me, it turned out to be endless lectures, avalanches of homework, and copious amounts of caffeine. The study carrel might as well be my dorm room. And that guitar under my bed? It’s got two years of dust growing on it. But this is the life I have to lead if I’m ever going to help my dad.
Pre-med isn’t for the weak.
The problem? Loneliness holds me hostage.
If only I could find someone willing to break through my ever-present cloud bank, and remind me what it’s like to have fun again.
REVIEW:
Gushy /gəSHē/ adjective
- Unrestrained in emotional or heartfelt expression
- Me after reading The Glow Up
Oh, wow, what a book! Could Chris and Aiden be any cuter? (emphasis à la Chandler) An emphatic NO! They’re arguably the sweetest, most adorbs MCs ever. I’ve read this book *three* times now; I just can’t get enough of these boys. Warning… there will be lots of gushing in this review.
This might be the swooniest book I’ve ever read:
“And for the record,” I said, brushing my thumb over his lips. “My life…I started living it when I met you.”
It’s a story of new adult, first-time love with all the little things that make me melt: the shy smiles, Aiden’s thumb caressing Chris’ lips or tucking a stray lock of hair behind his ear, brushing their pinkies together and holding hands for the first time, quiet tears flowing as they say goodbye. I was a puddle of feels on the floor.
I’ll give you just a little bit about the plot…
Chris Delaney has been crushing on fellow junior, Aiden Russo, from afar for two years at Franklin University. He just doesn’t have the nerve to approach his “hot, broody, science guy.” Along with his classes, a work study program, and munching on edibles, Chris is plugging away on a massage therapy certificate. He counts his lucky stars (as do I) when Aiden’s roommate drags him to the free massage clinic when Chris happens to be working. Cue an awkward/embarrassing/hard meet-cute. It ends in disaster but fate has other ideas and brings them together again.
Thus begins Aiden’s glow-up – a personal transformation – from an unhappy, struggling student stuck in a major he’s not even interested in, mired in feeling responsible for and worrying about his father, and missing out on all the wonderful things college has to offer, to a young man finally having the college experience he always dreamed about. He has an epiphany about his career, and with Chris in his life, he has a bright future to look forward to.
“Chris was offering himself to me, without contingencies, without time limits, open and ready.”
So, let’s talk sex. There’s something about A.M. Johnson and sex. Er, I mean her writing about sex. Nobody does intimacy between their leading men quite like she does and it’s the reason she’s one of my favorite authors. Yes, I like uber-hot, passionate, steamy scenes, but I prefer them with deep feeling, and Amanda delivers. For me, that’s what spells romance. She hits all the emotional notes as she creates an intense bond. And I love the pillow talk. This is love-making at its finest.
The Glow Up is not an overly serious or angsty book, though. Chris’ perpetually stoned house-mates and Aiden’s roommate Drew bring the humor. Chris’ hippie, lesbian mothers are a trip and I almost cried at how they take Aiden under their wings. Chris and Aiden’s kinship grows over shared music interests, a lovely feature of the book. And as this is a shared world series among eight authors, there are appearances by characters in the other books, as well as time spent at Shenanigans bar, one of the aspects that ties the series together.
This truly heartwarming novel will become (I’ll admit, it already has become) a comfort read that I’ll return to again and again. It’s a magnificent addition to the Franklin U series.
“How was it even possible for a man to be that beautiful?”
RATING: 
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