. .
Lando writes about romance for a living yet shuns it in his life.
After too many failed relationships, Lando Hardwick has enough. No more dates for him. His taste in men is abysmal. He always falls for the ones who are only looking for fun.
Hesketh Trent has stopped searching for a boyfriend. They only see him as a walking cash machine, only care what he can buy them. What has happened to romance, love?
Getting soaked by scolding coffee is the worst way to start the day, but hell’s bells, the man is divine. Even though the man ticks all his boxes, no way is Lando giving him his phone number. He’ll be like all the rest: one hot night and he kicks him out the door.
But Hesketh doesn’t give up so easily. The cute redhead with no brain-to-mouth filter intrigues him as no man has ever done.
A cat and mouse chase is on, with Lando as the mouse. Once Lando is caught, they can’t stay away from one another.
Until Hesketh makes a mistake.
Thank god for mutual friends who won’t give up on them and push them together when they’re both too stubborn to take the next step.
Asking For a Friend is a stand-alone MM novel with a group of sassy men, a larger-than-life ginger cat called Flanaghan, a stubborn writer, and a man who can plan events but not his own life.
Title: Asking For A Friend
Authors: JJ Harper
Length: 56k
Series: Standalone
Genre: Contemporary.
Tropes: slow burn, sweet vs stubborn.
Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions
Goodreads
Lando licks the wine from his lip and sets his glass down on the counter. His eyes dart to my groin and darken. Then his mouth hits mine, and our bodies line up. He’s as turned on as I am.
But what to do about it? It’s not how I wanted the evening to start, but it’s how I want it to end. It looks like Lando is on the same page as me. Reluctantly I break the kiss and pull back a little.
“You make me feel things I don’t know what to do with,” he says breathlessly. He rests his hands on my chest, pressing his fingertips into my shirt.
“What does that mean?” I keep my hands on his waist, wanting him to feel me. To connect with me.
“I’ve stayed away from relationships. You know that. But you, you make me want it, a relationship with you.”
I grin, making sure my dimples pop. He groans and lays his head on my chest. “Dammit, Hesketh.”
“Would it make you feel better if I tell you I want to be with you? As your boyfriend, in a relationship. Exclusively.”
As he lifts his head, his eyes are sparkling, glittering with unspoken emotion. “I think I’d like that very much.”
“Good.” I kiss his forehead. “Now sit there and pretend you’re not watching my arse as I get dinner ready.”
“I can do that.” He’s so quiet I look over my shoulder at him. He’s chewing at the edge of his thumb. A nervous habit I’ve seen him do before. I wink, and he smiles, so I turn back to the food. “Your hand twitches when you want to hold mine but don’t know if you should. You talk about Ellis and his family more than you do your own. You always peel the edges of your coffee cup when you’ve finished. You’re honest and kind. And I trust you.”
My knife clatters on the chopping board. I swivel around and take the few steps to Lando. When I cup his face in my hands, he parts his lips and sighs. Our mouths collide, and I slip my tongue inside, tasting the wine as well as him. I can’t get enough of him. He tastes divine. We dip in and out of each other’s mouths. Lando’s hands have found their way under my shirt and creep up my back. Mine are tangled in his hair.
When we break apart, Lando slicks his puffy bottom lip. “Maybe we should go and fuck. I don’t think we’re going to get dinner anytime soon.”
I’ve read a couple of books from this author, and this one sounded like a fun one. I was hoping for a light hearted read, but that wasn’t exactly what I got.
Lando and Hesketh really need a class in communication. They took miscommunication to a whole new level in this book. They “dated” for a couple of months before they went on their first date, but all those lunches seemed to just allow them to learn surface things about each other. So, when the big things happened neither knew what was going on with the other and a huge wall leapt up between them that neither stubborn person was willing to breach.
Probably my biggest issue with this book was the “breakup”. It just seemed improbable to me (small spoiler here) that Hesketh would go an entire weekend with his long lost brother and fiance, and never once think about Lando and the fact that he just didn’t show up for something they had been planning for quite a while. Yes, he put his phone on silent, but how, if you love someone do you just completely forget their existence for an entire weekend? The idea of forgiving him for that was just unbelievable to me. I did understand one of them chasing the other for a while, then when they were getting back together, the other one chasing him down. But I just didn’t understand completely forgetting about your lover for three full days.
The other issue I had was Hesketh’s temper. He seemed to blow up at the smallest things. Every person is different, as are their tempers, but it was really hard to like someone who threw a tantrum over a holiday they didn’t know about (this seemed to be an unnecessary scene to me), or because someone was working and so involved in work that they missed the start of lunch.
The side characters were all fantastic, for sure. And Lando wore his heart on his sleeve, even as he told his parents to F off, he was kinder than most would have been.
This one just didn’t work well for me.
2.5 pieces of eye candy
You will normally find her in the living room—typing away—with her wayward puppy, Siddiqi. As a hopeless romantic, JJ dives into her stories, always falling in love with her men, making sure they get the happy-ever-after they deserve, even if they do have to work hard for it.
JJ lives in a small, very quiet, village in Lincolnshire, UK, with her husband and dog, and spends all day dreaming up stories full of really hot men
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