Reviewed by Taylin
This is a Series Review of Graceless Duet Series (Books 1 & 2)
AUTHOR: NN Britt
PUBLISHER: NB Creative
SERIES REVIEW:
The Graceless Duet is one of those collections that is more than its individual components.
When a life-changing event happens at an early age, it isn’t easy to understand the many reactions and emotions that affect a person. However, as an older man, when that event also stops you moving forward, Dylan felt that he needed to understand the past, not realizing that comprehension could give him a future. Those realizations lead to Dylan becoming emotionally stronger, thus able to face things he’d previously hidden from.
Graceless deals with the realization that people and events are not what they seem – and Dylan isn’t graceless about the revelations. Faithful copes with understanding, acceptance, dealing with events, and moving on.
The series is told in the first person, from Dylan’s sole viewpoint. Worldbuilding is detailed down to thoughts and movements, slowing the storyline’s progress. However, romance begins as instalust, albeit the longer-term relationship is slow-burn.
The tales show that pressures, assumptions, and pigeonholing occur no matter which circles you live in. The effect of loss, too, is universal. Loss changed Dylan. His search for the truth also changed him, opening his eyes to himself and those around him.
The story is so involved that it can be hard-going. However, as insinuated earlier, the books must be read as a pair. Despite giving Graceless 4 hearts, I would not read it as a standalone (see my reasoning below), but the story is much more meaningful as a pair. Graceless sees Dylan on a path to self-destruction. By surviving Graceless, one appreciates more what happens in Faithful.
Book two sees Dylan begin to stand up for himself and try to gain control of his life by getting out from under his father’s thumb. Unfortunately, Gavin Watson has a long reach. Faithful is by far the more readable book of the two, but I wouldn’t have had the same emotional reaction without Graceless.
SERIES RATING: 
TITLE: Graceless
LENGTH: 365 Pages
RELEASE DATE: June 30, 2022
BLURB:
One young man with a secret that can damage a political career and his family’s reputation.
One superstar on the rise with a secret that can destroy the other man’s life.
Their fates shouldn’t have collided…
Except one of them takes matters into his own hands.
College student Dylan Watson has spent the past three years mourning the mysterious death of his beloved sister and hating her bandmate–he’s convinced Iodine’s lead singer Kai Delisa had something to do with Ava’s “accident.” When her old band unexpectedly signs a massive record deal with a major label, Dylan decides to do what he should have done years ago–find out exactly what happened that tragic night.
For an up-and-coming rock star, Kai isn’t an easy man to track down. There’s precious little info about him online, and what’s there is more confusing than enlightening. But when Dylan’s and Kai’s paths finally cross, the meeting triggers a chain of events that unravels Dylan’s life and shatters the cherished image of his sister.
What’s worse? Kai threatens the one secret Dylan has tried to hide since high school: he likes men. And despite years of hating Kai, their time together makes two things crystal clear. Dylan’s attracted to him, and that attraction is mutual.
Torn between the dark past he can’t shake off and the uncertain future he might be able to have if he dares to give in to the allure of the intense chemistry he has with Kai, Dylan is now facing some hard choices.
Graceless is a high-angst, slow-burn MM romance that explores the following themes: depression, mental illness, suicide, and abuse.
REVIEW:
Dylan is grieving the loss of his sister Ava, so when he discovers that her band, Iodine, has made a record deal, he sinks into a panic attack. Grieving, depressed Dylan believes their lead singer, Kai, is the reason Ava is dead and goes looking for answers. Unfortunately, he doesn’t do it in the most constructive, or graceful way.
This story begins very somberly, and kudos to the author as the characters’ mood seeps off the page beautifully. Depression is a condition that isn’t thwarted quickly, so don’t expect levity any time soon. The story is also long, but I’m unsure that anything shorter would have given off the same vibe or enough attention to the condition. To that end, while reading the narrative, it was depressing, but once I finished it, I appreciated the story more.
Dylan is a senator’s son. His father, Gavin Watson, is a man who considers his family chattels to be directed as he pleases because image is everything. Gavin is also a man whose public face differs from his private one. Gavin’s treatment of Dylan is abusive, which means Dylan’s emotional landscape is distorted.
Dylan becomes obsessed and cyberstalks Kai in the hope of getting something – anything – but he doesn’t expect what he does get – a lesson in reality. In this book, Dylan is hard to like, but given that the story begins with him in a bad place (one mass of anger), he’s like an emotional bomb ready to go off. Dylan’s family gives absolutely no support either.
However, through the elusive Kai, who answers questions with questions in the nature of ‘riddle me this’, Dylan’s hate turns into self-awareness, a changed view of his sister, and a different outlook on life. His interactions with Kai also morph from hate to lust, but whether it can be more has yet to be seen.
I was in two minds while deciding what mark to give this book. From an entertainment viewpoint and personal preference, I rarely want to read or watch anything that, from beginning to end, is dark, depressing, and tough-going with hard-to-like characters. On the other side, it is emotionally and physically informative about depression, drew me into Dylan’s mindset, and made me want to see that Dylan could emerge from the ordeal as a stronger person. Therefore, I rated it four hearts because it is different and twisted in the only way a person needing help can be. Graceless also set me up for book two beautifully.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
TITLE: Faithful
LENGTH: 356 Pages
RELEASE DATE: July 14, 2022
BLURB:
Some secrets aren’t meant to remain secret forever.
Ever since Iodine’s debut album propelled Kai to stardom, his every move is scrutinized on social media and in the tabloids. And after the recent scandal, Kai has been dragged into, Dylan’s worst fears come true–Kai suggests putting their affair on pause. With Dylan closeted and Kai being the talk of the town, it’s the smart thing to do.
It’s also harder than it seems.
Because neither of them is ready to let go. Kai breaks his own rules and reaches out to Dylan again and again. While they continue to indulge in late-night texts and calls, Dylan finally begins to slowly unravel the mystery behind Kai’s scars–the scars Kai refuses to talk about.
As Dylan comes to terms with the true nature of his feelings for Kai, and the two admit their relationship is more than a fling, Dylan’s father takes an unexpected interest in his life. He could end Kai’s career with a word.
Now Dylan must do the unthinkable–stand up to the man who’s always terrified him, or risk losing the man he loves.
REVIEW:
In a bid for his sanity, Dylan moves out of the family home. However, not living in the same house as his father only gives Dylan the illusion that he has privacy. In the meantime, Kai is fighting the publicity juggernaut that spins out of control in all directions, fueling speculation of all kinds.
Faithful was much more my kind of book, as hope and brightness are on the horizon. All the lessons learned in Graceless fortify Dylan’s soul. Gin (a person, not the drink) as the voice of reason, alongside the delightful Auntie Amelia, helps give Dylan the courage to do what he needs to do to live the life he wants; it was a lovely process to read. One of the many stand-out moments was the tattoo representation.
For the majority, Kai remains an enigma. Occasionally, I found his lack of plain speaking annoying because there was no letup, and it got hard to follow. Kai is like multiple extreme Sudoku puzzles wrapped into one – damned hard to figure out, and any answer could be right on any given day or change by the hour. Nevertheless, in a similar way to the way that Kai helped Dylan in Graceless, the tables get turned in Faithful.
Faithful is still a long book, with occasional wading through mud sections. However, with personal relationships and life progression on the horizon, I found myself taking a break, and eagerly returning to the story. By the final chapters, I was diverting interruptions in favor of others, bringing me a cuppa so that I could finish the story in peace.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
[…] Reviewed by Taylin […]