Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Kicking It With My Best Friend
SERIES: Out and Kickin’
AUTHOR: Riley Long
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 147 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 9, 2023
BLURB:
A childhood pact changed everything.
I loved my life. Sleeping around. No commitments. But my mother kept prying into my love life, wanting to see me happily settled down.
The remedy seemed to magically reveal itself when I stumbled onto Travis, my childhood best friend, on a dating app. When we were in elementary school, we promised to marry each other if we were still single at thirty.
Reconnecting, I proposed we give the pact a real shot. To my surprise, Travis agrees. Somewhere in the midst of planning our wedding, the unthinkable happens. Our feelings for each other become… real.
As the day of our fake marriage grows near, how do I tell Travis I want the real thing and for him to be mine forever?
REVIEW:
Note: This is the third in the series and does have major spoilers for the first two books. It can be read as a standalone.
Parker is a bit of a manwhore. He’s feeling a lot of pressure though now that two of his besties have gotten married. His family is also anxious for him to settle down. He’s looking for his next hookup when he sees his best friend from childhood on the app! Didn’t they have a marriage pact that if they were 30 and single, they would marry each other?
Travis loves his job as a park ranger. He’s a 30 year old virgin who has never found anyone he really connected with. His friends make him a profile on the app, and he sees his childhood friend Parker there. He decides to swipe right 😉
Travis and Parker start chatting over the app. They decide to meet in person. While nervous at first, they get along great. They are both getting the rush from their families to “settle down” and the topic of their marriage pact comes up. Parker posits that they just do it! So they decide to get engaged.
Their friends as skeptical at first, but they start planning the wedding. Their families are surprised. They get closer as the wedding approached. But the biggest surprise is for Parker. Because somewhere along the way, he realizes that he really likes Travis. No that’s not quite right. He loves Travis. He’s never gone this long without sex, but he doesn’t even care. He just wants everything to be what Travis needs. Both guys never expected this ruse to turn out to be the real thing.
This is a super cute, low-angst story with two old friends reconnecting as adults and living out their childhood fantasy. Parker’s life has been a bit empty with his hookups. Travis can’t connect with anyone and he’s not just going to have sex for the sake of “getting it over with” and so he’s been waiting for the right person. I loved that Parker respected Travis’s boundaries and took things at his pace. I loved seeing Parker’s kickball team be their for him – just like they had been for Theo and Cam. There isn’t a lot of drama and watching these two fall for each other and have their special day and their life together was an easy and enjoyable read. I’m looking forward to the next book. This series is a low-angst pleasure. Recommended.
RATING:
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