Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Never Have I Ever: Wanted My Brother’s Rival
SERIES: Never Have I Ever
AUTHOR: Willow Dixon
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 359 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2023
BLURB:
“Why is the one person I hate the only guy I can’t stop thinking about?”
West, my older brother’s high school rival. The rich kid who has it all. The guy who disappeared six years ago and destroyed my brother’s life.
I thought West and I were friends. I trusted him, but he showed me I was nothing more to him than a means to an end.
Being twenty and in my last year of college isn’t easy. Neither is being a virgin. I’ve never been normal or felt like I fit in, and I don’t feel what I’m supposed to.
My online job has given me the perfect way to solve my virginity problem, but then the last person I ever wanted to see again shows up on my doorstep. Not only has West learned what I do for a living, he’s essentially my landlord.
I hate him. So why can’t I stay away from him? Why is he the only person I’ve ever felt a connection with, who makes me feel like there’s something in me worth wanting?
Eli and West’s story is an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers romance between a former bad boy who seemingly has it all and an awkward genius who’s never felt like he fits in. Expect lots of banter and hot first times as these two try (and fail) to stay away from each other. It is the fourth novel in the steamy Never Have I Ever series but can be read as a standalone.
REVIEW:
Eli is a brilliant college student with a sort of unusual job. He’s also a virgin who is just tired of being one since he hasn’t met his Ms. or Mr. Right yet (yes, he’s bi). So he figures out a way to solve his problem. What he doesn’t anticipate is how his oh so careful plan sort of backfires on him.
West was Eli’s older brother Gray’s rival in high school. Things went badly and he left town. Now he’s back working for his father’s company. When he turns up to fix a broken water heater, he’s surprised to see Eli as one of the tenants. Eli isn’t happy to see him. West also knows about Eli’s secret job. He has always been protective of Eli and once he finds out what he’s planning his protective instincts go into overdrive. He’s also crazy attracted to Eli. But he knows he has made mistakes and he has to fix them.
While Eli thinks he has the upper hand, West has another plan in mind. In his plan, he gets to change their dynamic and he gets to be friends with Eli again. He can wait on the attraction if he has to 😉 They are both bi but definitely into each other. It’s a bit of a slow burn and rebuilding a friendship that turns into so much more 😀
This was another enjoyable New Adult romance in this series. We’ve seen Eli in the previous books, but really don’t get to know much about him at all until this book. We have known he has diabetes and that he’s a genius, but we learn a lot more about him and his past in this book. West, the other MC, is a former friend, turned enemy to now lover. They have a checkered past that they have to work through in this book. Eli has a number of issues – always being the youngest and smartest and being bullied – that he’s still working on. We learn about why Eli is so angry with West and what West needs to do to make things right after returning to town 6 years later. The impetus behind their spending time together was a bit surprising and I don’t want to spoil it since it’s not spelled out in the blurb, but it’s a doozy. There is a bit of forced proximity that enable West and Eli to figure out how to move forward also here. In my mind, this one is a bit more low angst than the other stories in this series where there is fear of coming out, mental health issues other family issues to deal with. I would have liked more of Gray in this story, since the “rivalry” is between West and Gray and he doesn’t appear really until fairly ate in the book. I did like catching up on the other couples in this series and I’m looking forward to a spin-off series. As I said at the beginning of this series, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by all of these stories as I’ve read some college age romance books that haven’t been very good. This series offers quite a lot and each couple is so different and deals with so many different issues. While this wasn’t my favorite in the series, I recommend it as a nice ending for the roommates in this house. I can hardly wait to see what comes next in the spin-off series.
RATING: 
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