Baked Fresh

This a story of second chances in life in quite a literal way.

Robin & Vic meet at Victory Shelter where they both volunteer. Each is on the path of overcoming life issues and in a sense trying on a new skin.

Robin is a young (23) recovering addict, who has a strained relationship with his family. He has just broken up with a not so nice boyfriend and suffers from survivor's guilt.

Vic is 33 and after devastating losses has transformed himself professionally and physically. And he's been loving' on Robin from afar for a long time until he decides take a chance and go after him if only as a “rebound” guy.

Luckily for us and them things don't stay in the casual mode mostly due to the awesomeness that is Vic. You would be hard pressed to get more lucky than to be loved by Vic. Robin has hit the jackpot. Vic may not be physically perfect like most of the MCs we are used to in romance but he makes up for his perceived shortcomings by being the man Robin needs at any given moment: nurturer, lover and a strong hand to save him from himself in dark hours. He does all this despite his fears and struggles. He does it because he loves Robin wholeheartedly.

I liked the first book in the series but this story I loved. I wished it was longer so that we could have more time with these two perfectly flawed men.

I should have borrowed Conventionally Yours by Albert instead of the bind-up of the first three books in this series. I didn't because I thought it would likely be a little more YA angsty and thought this series sounded cute and sweet. Jokes on me because this book is way to dramatic and angsty for me.

I do like Vic and Robin as characters - but I really don't like them together. First, friends with benefits always has more sex than I like, so I was prepared for that. I wasn't prepared for Vic to tell Robin (during their first time together? I can't remember) that he was going to ‘lick him all over.' That is so not my kind of kink.

Also, I'm not a big fan of most D/s relationships - and this one hits several of my least favorite tropes from this: older, bigger man is the dom; younger, slighter man is the sub. And I would have liked to have been warned that there is a ten year age difference here. (I don't dislike age differences, I just don't understand them. Especially when the younger is in their early twenties and the older has so much more life experience and they really have little to no common ground. Like this book.) Then there's the ‘boy' do this and ‘boy' do that and ‘baby let me take care of you' and I loathe ‘baby' as a term of ‘endearment'. (And am not the biggest fan of a sub always being called ‘boy'.))

And then we have all the drama. Like boatloads of drama and I just don't care any more.

And, finally, I nearly DNF'd this book twice (first because of the zing of energy when they touched, and the awareness between them and all the other sixth sense feelings I hate in romance and second because I started getting lack of communication vibes reminding me of the first book) and I kind of wish I had. (Though I will say that Vic and Robin seem to have a much healthier relationship and I do think they are much better for each other than the couple from the first book is/was.)

(I'm done with this series here, because at least the third book tells me there's an age difference and even more ‘no strings attached sex' and this is not me. Bye.)