Leo Loves Aries

This book starts with twins Theo and Leone trying hard to move on after breaking up with their exes – who actually fell in love with each other. That's understandably rough. They decide to find each other dates for “The Wedding”. In the meantime, they also interview roommates and Theo finally settles on his previous semesters' econ tutor Jamie. What follows is a story of friendship, trust, jealousy and love in all it's fun forms.

Theo is very funny and sweet and adorable but absolutely clueless in certain matters. He loves getting Jaime's skin, irritating him to no end but also enjoying their encounters. Leone is legally blind and can only slightly see outlines and some colors but she is fierce, loyal and independent. Jaime is calm, cool, smart, a health food nut and gives back as good as he gets to Theo. The three of them develop a great dynamic living together and it was fun seeing their daily interactions.

Jaime is always attentive towards Leone's needs but also considerate to let her be and figure out her surroundings in a new place. This makes Theo want to setup his sister with Jaime but fate has other ideas.

When Theo goes on a date with Liz and Leone and Jaime join them, Theo ends up spending most of his time with Jaime. He gets incessantly jealous seeing with his childhood best friend Sean. The banter between them is absolutely hilarious and so full of sexual innuendo but Theo is as usual his oblivious self. Even when they take their friendship to the next level, he couldn't get it through his thick head that he was in love and his insistence that they were just friends with benefits fooled no one.

The book also has good side characters and I loved all the friendships. Sean is a great, supportive best friend to Jaime and I loved the progression of his relationship with Leone. Ben and Kyle are also a cool addition to their group and definitely help Theo figure out his feelings. But the most charming of all is the twins' mother Crystal – her obsession with the zodiac and insisting that the predictions in the horoscope will work was very funny. But her emphasis that the sexual chemistry between Leo and Aries will be explosive does turn out to be true. I can't wait to see more of her in the remaining books of the series.

To wrap up, I just have to say that this book has great elements – beautiful friendships, amazingly positive sibling relationship, very slow burn romance and hilarious entertaining banter. It is also quite angst-free and will make for a delightful read when in need for some fun.

J'ai apprécié ce livre beaucoup plus que ce à quoi je m'attendais je dois admettre. Je me suis retrouvé à sourire des aventures de Theo, Jamie, Leone & Sean énormément, à avoir plusieurs moments d'attendrissement, bref à vraiment apprécier ce moment. Ce n'est sans doute pas le meilleur livre que j'ai lu mais il a l'immense mérite de m'avoir fait sourire du début à la fin :)

3.5 stars. Thoroughly enjoyed this and absolutely LOVED Leone as a side character, considering that I usually don't care for side characters in romance books. The romance itself was very slow burn but not incredibly angsty, if that suits your tastes (I love angst but I didn't mind the lack of it here).

But I have one complaint. Are some mm authors scared of bisexual people? Call a character bisexual when that's what they are. When they like two genders, don't call them gay! I hated the inadvertent bi erasure. I need authors to call people bisexual instead of categorizing people in these mm books as simply gay or straight.

Ultimately, is this a story I'll remember a couple weeks from now? Probably not, I don't think it will be memorable for me. But did I enjoy my time reading this? Absolutely.

★★★★★ 4,5 Stars

This is a gem filled with witty conversations, characters you'll want to adopt and a slow-paced romance that'll leave you cheering

*I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Should anyone ask me for a short opinion on this book me reaction is probably gonna be like this:



To be perfectly honest I didn't expect all that much from the book because horoscopes? straight-guy-falls-for another-guy? The first is not really something I want a story to build around. The second one I have read so many times in so many good and bad variations that I'm sick and tired of the stereotypical way those types of stories go. But boy did this book not only give me more that I expected it gave me everything and more!

The story sucked me in right from the start. The interactions between them were so natural and funny, they made me want to call my best friend just to talk nonsense with her like Theo and Jamie. Also, before each new chapter there is a quote from the characters that doesn't appear in the actual story and I LOVE THESE QUOTES TO BITS!

“I thought you Aries were supposed to be an impatient, impulsive lot? Because I'm raring to see a throw down, Any of these people will do.” Theo to Jamie while waiting in the longest supermarket line ever.

Seriously, this book had the best written conversations I read in a long time, for me it was the heart of the story. It was so refreshing and fun I wouldn't mind reading a whole book of Theo and Jamie just talking shit like that.
Okay, I'll stop declaring my love for the conversations now and get to the actual story.

Theo and Leone both broke up with their partners some time before the start of the story because their exes fell in love with each other. Now they are getting married and invited the twins. Not yet over the break-up, both of them pledge that they'll find dates for each other for the wedding. And when the new room-mate Jamie comes along, Theo is convinced that he's the perfect date for his sister.

Theo is so thick and slow at times I just want to smack some sense into him. This story is a slow burn, mostly because Theo doesn't realise that he likes Jamie, in a I-really-want-to-get-in-your-pants way. Can we all please have a moment of quiet for poor Jamie who has to deal with that idiot?
They had so much chemistry, I was impatiently waiting for the penny to drop for Theo and when it did I was pleasantly surprised.
If you've read a lot of friends-to-lovers stories in which one character is “straight” like I then you've surely come across a lot where that character goes through a bit of a crisis after discovering he has the hots for another guy. I'm really fed up with that and so this book was a refreshing surprise. Theo doesn't give a shit about also being into guys, he's just a bit surprised. Someone on the internet said they think Theo may be pansexual and it sounded plausible so I don't just want to write bisexual in my review.

The only thing I didn't like as much was the way it ended because I don't handle sappy stuff that well, but other than that this story was brilliant. Definietly worth a reread in a few years after I've finished all other books by Anyta Sunday because her writing is fucking gorgeous!

3.5
I really liked the last 30% of the book, but overall I'm a little bit disappointed.
I won't remember these characters for years to come, which is a shame. And the saddest part is that I don't know why. Is there some problem with me or with the book? Am I just not in the mood for romance? Who knows? All I know is that I desperately wanted to love it but for some reason I just liked it.
Also, Theo not saying he may be bi or pan or queer was not cute...

Reread June 2022
I finished the book yesterday (read it in like less than 24 hours) and just as I was getting ready to write the review, I was hit with a migraine. So I don't really remember what I wanted to say about it. I do know I really liked some things (like the fact that the story focused so much on Theo and Leone moving past a couple of bad breakups (and Leone in general)) and that some things didn't really work for me the second time around (the friends to friends with benefits to lovers set up). I'd probably drop the rating to a four star, honestly.


Original Review

Absolutely lovely. I almost gave this book a pass. I read Scorpio Hates Virgo last year and didn't see how this one could be anywhere near as good as that one - but this was billed as a slow-burn romance and, honestly, I am so sick of the typical formulae for M/M romances where the main couple has sex by the fifty percent mark. So, I thought slow-burn would be good. Besides the fact that it is, the characters in this story are wonderful. Jamie and Theo are perfect together and Leone is a great woman - something too many M/M romances lack that leaves me depressed. The single thing I would complain about with this book - much like Scorpio Hates Virgo, is that it is narrated by only one character. Personally, I feel that having everyone involved in the relationship narrating - especially if that book is a romance - gives even a great book that little added push. (And this kind of is a great book.)