Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Never Have I Ever: Punched my Roommate’s V-Card

SERIES:  Never Have I Ever

AUTHOR:  Willow Dixon

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  321 pages

RELEASE DATE:  October 26, 2022

BLURB:  

Why can’t I stop thinking about my roommate after walking in on him “taking care of business?”

What should have been a humiliating experience for both of us ends up being the start of one of the best friendships I’ve ever had. Finn is smart, adorkable, and his shyness pushes all my buttons. The problem? My interest in him quickly shifts from friendship to something less than platonic. Feelings I’ve been pushing down for years bubble up to the surface, and I find myself unable to see him as just a friend, or keep my hands to myself.

When a night out leads to some extracurricular fun, Finn and I decide to have a no-strings-attached fling. He’s the perfect person to explore my bisexuality with, and our chemistry is off the charts. Finn might still have his V-Card, but he’s not inexperienced, and the more we’re together, the more we learn about ourselves.

Until it’s not enough.

I want him, and he wants me, but the idea of coming out terrifies me. Is Finn the person who can help me discover who I am? And can I get my head out of my a*s in time to prove to him I’m worth taking a chance on?

Beck and Finn’s story is a friends-to-lovers MM romance between roommates who discover that opposites really do attract. Expect super hot, slightly kinky encounters, a houseful of quirky college guys, and a ton of sweetness once this jock and nerd finally get on the same page. It is the first novel in the exciting new Never Have I Ever series but can be read as a standalone.

REVIEW:

Finn and Beck are two of the roommates at an off-campus house.  They share the third floor, but other than passing in the hallway, haven’t really had a lot of contact.  Then one night Beck and Alex and Matt are playing a game of Never Have I Ever and Finn walks by so they ask him to play.  He’s never played this particular drinking game, so he agrees.  But he’s a lightweight.  He stays pretty sober until the end but then he confesses that he’s a virgin and hasn’t done a lot of things.  Eventually Matt and Alex and Beck go off to a frat party where Matt is a brother and Finn stays home – he’s already tipsy!  Beck is clearly a good guy.  He keeps a young girl from making a mistake and stops a guy from potentially also making a mistake – so clearly consent and maturity are things he’s fully aware of and he’s pretty vigilant about it.  But then he gets home and catches Finn in a “compromising position” 😉  AWKWARD!!!

Despite the awkwardness, Finn and Beck become more friendly back at the house.  Finn confesses his social awkwardness and Beck wants to help.  The campus LGBT group has is a mixer and Beck talks Finn into going with him, claiming he’s a great wingman.  When Beck introduces Finn to some classmates, Finn seems to be doing OK, but one of the guys gets him a drink – one that knocks him on his behind.  Beck is not happy and takes Finn home and makes sure he is none the worse for wear.  Beck feels guilty for taking him and not watching out for him, but Finn assures him he’s not mad and that it isn’t his fault.  They then agree to go to an LGBT night at a club.  Finn is hoping it’ll be less nerve wracking and he’s right.  He ends up dancing with some guys and having a great time.  But not as good a time as when he ends up dancing with Beck and then they kiss.  Beck has started to feel a bit possessive and maybe a bit jealous?  Hmmm.  What could this mean?

It seems that the kiss wasn’t enough.  Beck realizes something that he’s not made peace with for a long time – he’s definitely bi-sexual.  He confesses the truth to Finn as they continue to explore what is between them.  But he also isn’t ready for everyone else to know yet.  He’s not told his family or his friends and he’s worried about how they might see him if he tells them.  So for a bit it seems like he wants his cake and to eat it too by having Finn in his room, but not outside of his room.  Finn gets it – and he’s not about to out the guy.  At some point though, it starts to get hard to be Beck’s secret.

They have roommates and don’t want to make things uncomfortable for them.  They have hot hookups around campus.  It’s clear that there is quite a bit more than friendship between them.  Beck has to decide though if what he has with Finn is worth being honest with his family and friends and potentially dealing with some blowback.  It’s not fair to Finn though to treat him like an acquaintance except when they are behind closed doors.  The ball is firmly in Beck’s court.  If he wants to see where this thing with Finn is going to go, he’s going to have to make some decisions.

I find a lot of these college-age romances to be very hit or miss.  These kinds of stories can be really really good or really really not good.  Thankfully this was a good one 🙂  I really loved both Beck and Finn.  Finn’s family were really quite surprising and I was happy he stood up to them – although he did have quite a good safety-net so not really any dire consequences.  Beck’s family were the polar opposite and having 5 meddling sisters definitely left an impression on him 🙂  His parents were so laid back and supportive so it was nice to see.  I loved how Finn and Beck thought they were being so sneaky 😉  Their semi-public encounters were definitely hot and steamy.  While Beck might have taken a while to get his mind around accepting his orientation, he certainly knew what he wanted when it came to being with Finn.  Finn’s older brother Dex was his rock.  He was really good a telling Finn what he needed to hear.  These two guys were just such a perfect match – it’s like they each found the missing puzzle piece.  Beck wasn’t intimidated by Finn’s intellect and Finn was able to share things with Beck and build true intimacy.  He had plenty of patience with Beck figuring out how he wanted to handle his coming out.  His bestie Anna was there for him too and that helped.  At the end of the day, these two guys came together in the best possible way and figured out that they were definitely each other’s person.  There were some humorous and light moments as well that provided some relief from the heavy issues of their lives too.  Overall just a really well done story and I greatly enjoyed this low-angst ride to the HEA.  Recommended and I can’t wait to read the next book which is Alex’s story.

RATING: 

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