Reviewed by Ro
TITLE: Yes Guy
AUTHOR: Barbara Elsborg
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 139 Pages
RELEASE DATE: November 12, 2024
BLURB:
Saying No has to stop!
Heath’s negative attitude leads to the loss of his boyfriend, his job and the place he calls home. Now he’s determined to be a yes guy. Yes, he’d love to flat sit while the owner is away, though one look at the horrendous mess and after a painful tussle with a belligerent cat, he wishes he’d stuck to his usual no.
No is the last thing Tristan expects to hear when he proposes in front of his boyfriend’s friends and family. Humiliated, he hides out in his brother’s empty flat without asking, because does he really need to hear another no?
What he needs is a guy who’ll say yes…yes…yes… Could that be Heath?
REVIEW:
Oh my. To different men with two different incredibly terrible partners and two different humiliating scenarios. Right away, you cringe in second hand embarrassment for what Tristan and Heath are going through.
Heath’s boyfriend, Diego, has him meet at a restaurant in order to break up with him, in the process showing that he has been cheating with Heath’s boss, Benny, who is present and making heart eyes at Diego. As Heath walks in. “It might have been an aaahh, that’s so cute moment. But one of the men was Heath’s boyfriend and the other was Heath’s boss. So not an aaahh moment at all, but a heart-crushing, stomach-churning, fucking-annoying one.” For his part, Benny is so delusional. When Heath quits on the spot, “Come on, Heath. There’s no need to be hasty. You do a great job and I don’t want to lose you.” WHAT?? Have you lost your mind? After that, you expect him to keep working for you? OMG, I wanted to slap him. So in one betrayal, Heath lost his boyfriend, his job and his home (which was Diego’s).
Diego tried to gaslight, telling Heath his always saying NO was the reason. When you read it, the things Heath said no to were valid and made sense, but Diego used that as a weapon. Heath needs some time away, so when his best friend, Stef, offers her boyfriend’s house for a month while he’s away, Heath jumps at it.
Then there’s Tristan, who decides to propose to his long-time boyfriend, Grant, at Grant’s father’s birthday party and is not only met with a no, but gets laughed at by Grant and his friends. You can tell right away Grant is no prize, and it made me wonder why Tristan had been with him. Tristan even tries to gloss over it and make it funny, but Grant wouldn’t play along, just another “no”. Luckily, Grant lived at Tristan’s house, so he didn’t lose his job or place to stay, but he had to get away while Grant removes all his stuff from the house. So he has the great idea to go to his brother’s house, who is away for a month. See where it’s going?
The meet-cute of Tristan and Heath is hysterical. Tristan is busy getting drunk and staying that way, Heath goes to the house to find a complete and utter pigsty. Cleaning is a type of therapy for Heath, so he cleans, goes to the store and fills the fridge. Tristan is out when Heath arrives and when he comes in, he thinks he is in the wrong apartment because it’s clean. When you read Heath deciding to pamper himself in the bath, you can see what’s coming and I was laughing before it even happened. I don’t want to spoil it, because the whole scene is so funny. Suffice to say, “…a monster from the sewers had somehow crept up the plughole and brought it’s lagoon with it.”
They have some funny miscommunications, such as when Tristan asks Heath, “Do you want a taste?” of champagne and Heath’s mind goes right to the gutter. As the two navigate sharing the space, the one thing that I didn’t love was how fast they jumped into bed together. Tristan had been completely heart-broken, Heath almost as much. So it seemed a bit rebound.
Both of these guys carry baggage and it makes your heart hurt for them. Especially Heath, who lost his parents as a child and had only a wealthy aunt as family. Said aunt refused to take him in, seeing him only Christmas and birthdays, and Heath went to foster care. She is no better with him now than she was then and she’s another one you want to slap. “He’d struggled for so much of his life to find someone who’d love him…”.
There is drama happening with the ex, and that was infuriating. Such an entitled jerk! There is a touch of paranormal, or maybe just Christmas magic, happening here, so be ready for that. This is a holiday-themed story timewise but focuses more on two people healing together. It’s pretty quick, but after what they had each been through, I was okay with it and cheering them on.
RATING: 
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