Just a Bit Unhealthy

Number 3 in the series, this moves to the UK for the tale of Gabe, a straight football star obsessed with Jared, his gay physiotherapist. Although Gabe had a girlfriend, he can't be separated from Jared and treats him like an extension of himself, which inevitably messes with Jared's head. Gabe is a bit of a spoilt brat who must have his own way, to the point that he strings Jared along promising a physical relationship without the sex, just kissing and cuddling. I thought this was a slightly weaker story in terms of the erotic content because Gabe spends a long time convincing himself of a physical relationship. And whilst the intense co-dependency is explored, Gabe ultimately doesn't seem to grow as a person, just admits he's gay. I suppose I wanted him to become a little more independent.

3.5 stars. Huh. That title doesn't even begin to cover how fucked up and messy this story's relationship is, whilst being overwhelmingly tender, and written in a way that made my heart ache incessantly.Though this is classified as a romance, it's not a ‘romantic' story. It's a story about an obsessive, needy relationship that will play all sorts of games with your morals as a reader. But if you know anything about me, I love a story that makes me feel conflicted, with truly morally gray characters that push the boundaries. The angst and longing in this one are through the roof.First, we have Gabriel. He's a brat, oftentimes a man-child, plain and simple. The only person adept at dealing with his obnoxiousness is Jared, whose heart gets stomped all over and who allows himself to fall back into a co-dependent cycle with Gabriel. It made my heart ache, sometimes out of frustration and sometimes because I wish things were easier for them, and because I wish Gabriel would stop confronting life with a stick up his ass, but I digress.They way their relationship culminated at the end was not what I was hoping for, but then I asked myself, what was I hoping for exactly? I have no idea; I don't know how to hope for a conventional happy ending with two characters whose relationship is anything but conventional. It was HEA for sure, but not in the way you'd expect.As for side characters, I loved seeing the characters 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 [b:Just a Bit Obsessed 55218452 Just a Bit Obsessed (Straight Guys, #2) Alessandra Hazard https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599114203l/55218452.SY75.jpg 43296041] show up, it made me realize how much I missed them and loved them. I also appreciated getting a good amount of POV chapters from side characters such as Alexander (Jared's cousin from [b:Just a Bit Obsessed 55218452 Just a Bit Obsessed (Straight Guys, #2) Alessandra Hazard https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599114203l/55218452.SY75.jpg 43296041]) or Claire (Gabriel's son's mother). It showed how the story itself was aware of the shortcomings and flaws of its main characters, especially Gabriel's. Their actions weren't excused, but instead, the narrative progressed whilst dealing with these issues or in spite of them. It's why I don't think any of the fucked up behaviour was romanticized, but rather, it was presented for what it really is; unhealthy and impossible to escape.Also, the next book is about Gabriel's brother, Tristan, alongside a character who we encounter at the end of this book (who I already love, because Spoilerleave it to Zach to be the only one to successfully deal with Tristan's whiny ass