Reviewed by Ro
TITLE: Hooked on You
SERIES: EMS Book 1
AUTHOR: K. Evan Coles
NARRATOR: Kevin Earlywine
PUBLISHER: Wicked Fingers Press
LENGTH: 7 hours, 14 minutes
RELEASE DATE: July 24, 2025
BLURB: What’s a straight guy to do when he falls for his new friend?
Paramedic Connor Devlin is a stressed-out tower of a man. Hoping knitting will help him unwind, he visits a local craft shop, where he’s overwhelmed by the yarn selection but more so by his feelings for shop owner Judah.
Judah Bissel is tired of falling for unavailable men. He can’t help his crush on Connor, though, or wanting to get closer to the big, gentle bear. And that just might spell trouble because pining for straight guys is not Judah’s style.
As a blizzard pummels the city, the men hunker down together to wait out the storm. When the spark between them ignites, will the revelation that Connor feels more than friendship for Judah bring them together or tear them apart?
Hooked On You is a 72.8K friends-to-lovers MM novel. It features a stressed-out paramedic who’s figuring out he’s not quite straight, a yarn shop owner with a bad habit of falling for unavailable guys, lots of knitting and snowdrifts, and a sweet, happy-sigh HEA.
REVIEW:
This is a low-angst story about Judah, a knitter who co-owns a yarn shop with his mom (who I adored), and Connor, a stressed out paramedic with generalized anxiety disorder. Connor’s ambulance partner suggested knitting as a way to destress and Connor is game to try. Cue the misunderstanding when he goes to the yarn store and tells Judah he’s making a baby blanket for his partner. But they click, and they become friends.
Connor is a big guy, but he’s shy and quiet. “For a guy who stood six-foot-four, he’d always been easy to startle, a personality flow many of his co-workers exploited with great glee.” Just a sweetheart. He has this long braid of hair that ends up having to be cut off because of a (funny to us, maybe not him) work incident. Just how he interacts at his job shows who he is. He had a really rough childhood and now it’s just Connor, his older brother James, and his sister-in-law and oldest friend, Ally.
Judah has not had a boyfriend since Seb. Seb was very clear from their beginning that he did not want the marriage, kids, picket fence thing, but Judah went in hoping he’d change. He didn’t of course, but what I loved about this is that Seb was not made out to be a villain. They broke up because of it but they are great friends, and Judah trusts Seb. That was so appreciated.
Judah and Connor start to bond over knitting, then movies, and just really click. Judah keeps reminding himself, don’t crush on the straight guy but it’s a lost cause. Until said straight boy starts to realize he may not be so straight after all. But I felt so bad for Connor. James is very conservative so he feels he can’t tell James about his new feelings. And now he can’t tell his best friend, Ally, because she would have to keep it from her husband. It’s a lose-lose situation.
This may not be a popular opinion but I have to say the way Connor felt and went about understanding his sexuality was so realistic to me. I’ve read so many books where it was a no big deal, everyone immediately accepted it, and the guys were so happy. It would be lovely if that’s how it always happened, but from the people I know in real life, it often isn’t that simple or easy. Was Connor hurtful? Sure. Was that intentional? I don’t think so. And the scene with James was heart-wrenching.
While this story doesn’t have a ton of angst, it does make the characters work for it. “It’s like trying to fit the pieces of a puzzle together but every time I reach for a new tile, I notice the whole picture has changed.” I got that, and I completely understood Connor’s fear. There are some hills to climb to get an HEA and they all seemed real and not manufactured.
The book is narrated by Kevin Earlywine, a narrator I have not previously listened to. At first I wasn’t sure about him. I don’t know if it was my audio, but his voice was very nasal. After a bit, however, it smoothed out some. He does have an up and down cadence of voice that some people may not like. Fror the most part, he did a good job differentiating between the characters (my pet peeve if it doesn’t happen because I listen in the car, I can’t keep rewinding!).
A worthy story for the characters , plus you know, KNITTING!
RATING: 
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