Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: The Realist
SERIES: Vers Podcast #3
AUTHOR: Riley Hart
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 239 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 17, 2023
BLURB:
Marcus
To listeners of The Vers, a queer podcast I host with my three best friends, I’m known as The Realist—I accept life the way it is, believe in honesty over sugarcoating, and okay, I can maybe be a little bossy.
If you asked The Vers guys, they’d tell you I’m a caretaker who’s always thinking of others, but they also give over-the-top hugs and don’t believe me when I say feelings are the worst.
It’s why I have no business offering Kai Lewis a place to stay when he’s in need. He’s a flirt who makes no secret about wanting in my bed…somewhere I’d like to have him if he wasn’t the employee of one of my closest friends. But he’s too trusting and leaps before he thinks, so at least he won’t get taken advantage of if he’s with me.
Now he’s always around, wearing shorts that leave nothing to the imagination and saying he wants to take care of me because I’m always doing it for others. It’s not long before I can’t resist him—a man who likes listening in the bedroom but is stubborn in other situations.
Kai is sweet and funny and gets me to open up to him. Maybe this whole relationship thing wouldn’t be so bad…if he wasn’t nine years younger…and leaving Southern California soon…or if I had any idea what I was doing.
REVIEW:
The Realist, book three in Riley Hart’s The Vers Podcast series, features Marcus and Kai, a bartender at Declan’s bar whom we met in The Loner. This is a low-angst, friends to lovers, age gap romance.
Workaholic Marcus is cautious, needs to have control over his life, and doesn’t like to depend on others. His parents’ frequent indifference toward him caused that. His most defining attributes are his huge heart and his desire and need to take care of others. When Kai needs a place to stay temporarily, Marcus volunteers his spare bedroom and they quickly become friends with benefits. It doesn’t take long for Marcus to grow feelings; he feels out of control of his emotions, though, and soon pulls back, avoiding Kai. Marcus makes Kai feel important and needed, but he’ll be soon moving across the country.
The book lacked pizzazz. I never warmed up to Kai and his over the top flirting. I liked Marcus a little more, especially the way he takes care of those important to him. Although they had plenty of sexual chemistry and tension, I never became engaged in their relationship as a whole. Kai was at his best when he showed the vulnerability behind his confidence, when he struggled with what to do with his life and didn’t understand why Marcus treated him so kindly.
An aspect of the book I liked is Marcus and Corbin’s close friendship. Marcus is closer to Corbin than Declan or Parker because of their longer bond and the fact that Declan and Parker are now coupled up. We see more of Corbin’s neediness and low self esteem. Hart is setting him up for what I hope will be a more complex and interesting novel. That said, there is plenty of on page time with Declan and Sebastian, and Parker and Elliott. Kia’s family rounds out the cast with highly likable characters.
So while I liked the premise of The Realist, the story didn’t completely capture me. Marcus is a little bland and the least exciting of the Beach Bums for me. Other reviews seem much more positive, though, so I think this is a me issue. Your mileage may vary.
RATING: 
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