Just a Bit Dirty

I liked the first 2/3 of this a whole heck of a lot, but upon completion it's far from being a contender as a favourite book in this series for me. But I can definitely see other people enjoying this instalment much more than I did. Around the 54% mark I had a status update where I said,“First of all, an Alessandra Hazard book without high angst (for now at least)? And me, connoisseur of anything with excessive levels of angst, LOVING said book without high angst? combusts”So, clearly I was enjoying this. But around the last 1/3 of the book, the characterizations, relationship development and plot progression all felt a bit stilted and stiff. These books are far from being realistic, but that's what I love about them; they're escapist reads where somehow I don't have a hard time suspending my disbelief.But for some fucking reason, I eventually DID have a hard time suspending my disbelief. I stopped being able to convince myself that the animosity between Derek (from [b:Just a Bit Twisted 58341179 Just a Bit Twisted (Straight Guys, #1) Alessandra Hazard https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1623684508l/58341179.SY75.jpg 43138453]) and Ian had any grounds to be plausible between two grown ass adults. Also, Derek being made out as a somewhat unlikeable side character felt pretty bad to read about, especially considering that readers like myself who are reading this series chronologically are looking to find comfort in characters' appearances from previous books.The 3rd act conflict was predictable, but being predictable isn't inherently bad. I just lost a bit of interest after that point.I was loving the progression of Miles and Ian's relationship; it was surprisingly wholesome and progressed without much internal conflict between the characters themselves. But then I started to think, is all of this happening too easily? The external conflicts or relationship barriers—Derek and Shawn—were very flimsy as a point of conflict to begin with. I expected there to be a lot more conflict and emotional barriers to overcome considering the nature of the boss / employee relationship that Ian and Miles initially had. It just felt like there was a lot of missed opportunity to create more convincing conflicts that had some substance to them.Aside from them as a couple, as individual characters I liked Ian and Miles a lot. They were wholesome for sure, and I liked the grumpy/sunshine dynamic. And though this bothered me slightly—I still also appreciated the almost excessive levels of honesty and lack of brain-to-mouth filter that Miles had (or, well, didn't have) when he was with Ian right from the get go, before anything romantic or sexual started. Now that I think about it, that probably did add to the feeling of things happening too easily between them, but I digress.So, there were a couple things here and there that culminated into the story not exactly working for me and my specific reading tastes. But I'd still recommend it—especially if you're not as hungry for angst as I am—if the premise sounds promising to you.