Drowning in You: An MM Enemies to Lovers Romance

4.25 stars
Spice: 4

It took me some time to warm up to the characters in this book, but overall I enjoyed it. Both MCs were complex, and the plot was a bit messy but intriguing. There were many fun moments, but things also got serious when it came to Cloud's grief and Rainer's reasons for being a douchebag.

Cloud and Rainer had their own struggles and baggage, which explained the facades they presented to the world. It's murky at first, but throughout the novel, we learn about the heartbreaking story surrounding Cloud's best friend's death. His guilt is so heavy throughout the book that it's a relief when the actual cause of Zane's death is revealed near the novel's end. Cloud slowly let his vulnerabilities show and grow while his relationship with Rainer evolved.

Rainer seemed to be the typical rebel son with an I don't give a shit about anything attitude at first. We quickly learn that he is so much more than that. He is committed to his facade, but as the novel progresses, we see his vulnerable side, and he grows as a person through his relationship with Cloud.

A first hint about the real side of Rainer is through his interactions with his brother Anson. Anson is brooding and troubled, and his behavior gets erratic as the book progresses, and Rainer learns about the incident that broke his brother. Rainer's father is a slightly prominent side character who threatens Cloud and Rainer for different reasons.

This book was very spicy, but a lot of the sex was used to avoid the real issues that both Rainer and Cloud were experiencing. The mindless sex was a coping mechanism for Rainer that Cloud also developed to bury the emotions and the things they did not want to discuss. I appreciated the spice, but at a certain point, I just wanted them to take some time to discuss their issues honestly.

Rainer's family was a subplot in the book that became more prominent at the end. I won't spoil what turns out to be a significant revelation from Rainer's family. I wish we got to see more about Rainer's relationship with his family because it would shed some more insight into how he became the person we met at the beginning of the novel. Rainer's father was initially a random annoyance, but as the novel progresses, we see how despicable he is.

The major revelation was an unexpected twist, and the ending was satisfying, which I appreciated.

Thank you to GRR for an ARC copy, and I have voluntarily left my honest review.

'Happy Boyfriend’s Dead Best Friend Polar Plunge Remembrance Day.' Um....What? Yet, unsurprisingly, very on brand for this book. The entirety of which was almost a threesome between the two MCs and one's dead best friend.

This one was a conundrum. The first 50% was deeply annoying, in the sense that the story showed great promise, BUT the MCs were both equally annoying and spoke in annoyingly long-winded sentences.

Things got good for the next 30% of the book, during which they fell for each other but remained too emotionally constipated to say anything.

The last 20% was back to bizarre territory, with them dealing with murderous family drama and makeout sessions (and love declarations) atop the dead bestie's grave.

Basically, I —don't really know what to even think about this one.