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Franklin U 2 #2
A Stealthy Situation
Harrison
My life’s goal? Make plants fun!
I’m gonna be fighting for flora when I’m older and it all starts with auditing stats so I can level up for my masters, and lucky for me, the intriguing guy in my class is a math whizz.
He’s standoffish at first, but after a class where I bet my sitcoms can make him laugh, one bet leads to another and we’re hanging out all the time. Even though I know he’s interested in me, we’re easy friends, until I start to think I might be a little interested in him, too.
The only problem? He seems like a totally different guy in class to when we hang out. I brush it off as him trying to concentrate, but then I spot something I can’t explain away.
A scar. On his palm.
One I’m positive Benny has never had before.
Benny
Since we were little, my twin brother and I have always switched things up–literally. It started as funsies, and now we’re college juniors and still taking each other’s classes. I suck at Math, he sucks at English, and we both have a rule not to make friends in class as the other person. Our system is perfect.
Only Emmett has the audacity to get sick right before stats and I have to actually show up for my own class–where I meet my future husband.
Harrison is smart, weirdly into plants, and we instantly hit it off like old friends.
Only of course the gorgeous mountain of a nerd is straight.
Just when I’m telling myself to let my dreams of matching rings go, our text messages become constant, flirtier, deeper than I’ve had with any other guy before. My butterflies have butterflies every time we catch up.
And then I get a text from Emmett: I’m so sorry. I think I messed up.
My life’s goal? Make plants fun!
I’m gonna be fighting for flora when I’m older and it all starts with auditing stats so I can level up for my masters, and lucky for me, the intriguing guy in my class is a math whizz.
He’s standoffish at first, but after a class where I bet my sitcoms can make him laugh, one bet leads to another and we’re hanging out all the time. Even though I know he’s interested in me, we’re easy friends, until I start to think I might be a little interested in him, too.
The only problem? He seems like a totally different guy in class to when we hang out. I brush it off as him trying to concentrate, but then I spot something I can’t explain away.
A scar. On his palm.
One I’m positive Benny has never had before.
Benny
Since we were little, my twin brother and I have always switched things up–literally. It started as funsies, and now we’re college juniors and still taking each other’s classes. I suck at Math, he sucks at English, and we both have a rule not to make friends in class as the other person. Our system is perfect.
Only Emmett has the audacity to get sick right before stats and I have to actually show up for my own class–where I meet my future husband.
Harrison is smart, weirdly into plants, and we instantly hit it off like old friends.
Only of course the gorgeous mountain of a nerd is straight.
Just when I’m telling myself to let my dreams of matching rings go, our text messages become constant, flirtier, deeper than I’ve had with any other guy before. My butterflies have butterflies every time we catch up.
And then I get a text from Emmett: I’m so sorry. I think I messed up.
293 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 14, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 480 reviews
June 1, 2024
Benny is my second favourite Dalton! I loved the dyscalculia representation - numbers, directions and mental maths are so hard and I empathised with Benny so much 🥹
I also died laughing at the phone call with Asher, but I do wish there was more Asher content! I can't help it, he's my favourite Sadenverse character and I always want more of him 😂
Harrison is definitely Benny's perfect balance. He's patient, likes to talk and enjoys the small things in life - plus he's a huge nature geek and that made him so attractive! Loved the way he supported Benny and the way their relationship grew from friends to more.
This whole book just made me smile and Benny's allergy to feelings made me laugh so much - so Asher-like. I'd love to read more about Benny and Harrison's relationship and the rest of the Dalton's in the future.
Very excited to read Eden Finley's book with Emmett Dalton now - so intrigued after getting to know him a little in this book!
*****
I received an ARC of this book from Gay Romance Reviews, and this is my honest review
I also died laughing at the phone call with Asher, but I do wish there was more Asher content! I can't help it, he's my favourite Sadenverse character and I always want more of him 😂
Harrison is definitely Benny's perfect balance. He's patient, likes to talk and enjoys the small things in life - plus he's a huge nature geek and that made him so attractive! Loved the way he supported Benny and the way their relationship grew from friends to more.
This whole book just made me smile and Benny's allergy to feelings made me laugh so much - so Asher-like. I'd love to read more about Benny and Harrison's relationship and the rest of the Dalton's in the future.
Very excited to read Eden Finley's book with Emmett Dalton now - so intrigued after getting to know him a little in this book!
*****
I received an ARC of this book from Gay Romance Reviews, and this is my honest review
June 19, 2024
dnf @ 58% - and here i thought book 1 in the FU 2 series was boring😅 my god....this was torture😭 SJ is on my DNR list but i haven't been very strict about that recently and this book just sat me tf down and reminded to stick to my list bc it's there for a reason😂
first off, the whole switcheroo shit was convoluted and annoying....like i'm expecting it to be something like both twins go to FU and they switch for one class....but it's actually one twin goes to FU, one goes to another college but gets expelled bc he accidentally BURNS DOWN A WHOLE ASS DORM (!!!???? like is mans not facing charges??💀), and now firestarter twin has to stay in benny's room in the frat house but CAN'T BE SEEN (???) bc no one knows they're twins and it's somehow extremely important to keep this secret but WHY???? it's not that serious, no one's gonna automatically suspect ur cheating🙄 i literally don't understand why it's so deathly important for no one to figure out they have a twin brother.
firestarter aka emmett is sick one day and can't attend benny's math class like he usually would, so benny has to go to his own class, where he meets harrison, who usually sits next to emmett, unbeknownst to benny. benny's all heart eyes and tells emmett that he's met someone and to steer clear of him in class. except emmett knows harrison (which is already a sexless name) by his (even more tragically awful and sexless) nickname, bowser, so emmett doesn't make the connection. now, does benny help emmett know who to stay away from other than giving emmett a name??? no🙄 like huh??? you can't recognize who to avoid sitting by/talking to with just a name. wtf why wouldn't you describe harrison or show emmett a pic??? he has flaming red hair, it would be clear and obvious who to avoid, fucking hello🙄 there's probs only one redhead in the damn class...pure foolishness. like if ur so dead set on no one finding out ur a twin and no one finding out y'all are big fat cheaters, you definitely wouldn't skimp on the details. like there's miscommunication and then there's stupidity.
also this was giving deja vu bc both this book and the hookup mix-up started out with one mc thinking he and the other mc were flirting and vibing and going to hook up, but then the other mc turns out to be straight and terrible at knowing when they're being hit on. probably too similar for book 1 and 2 in the same series...
also harrison loves plants but hates animals (🚩🚩) bc other people love animals enough to support causes and raise money for them but no one gives enough of a fuck about plants to do the same like ???? so ur jealous people like animals more than plants so that makes u hate animals??? how tf does that work???😭 that's the most unlikable thing i've ever heard💀 u literally hate animals bc supporting causes and raising money for plants is not as popular as it is for animals??? i don't think those things are even comparable.....like i'm pretty sure people raise money for a ton of different causes that are way more popular than plants...wtf is this singling animals out and hating them solely based on that bullshit💀💀
oh and btw harrison, a COLLEGE STUDENT, loves cooking cheap and easy meals and his go to is RISOTTO.....HUH😭 risotto...easy???? ur telling me this college bro is making risotto every night bc its easy!? good tf bye✋ risotto is like 45 minutes of pure arm torture and what fucking college student 1: knows how to make risotto and 2: is willing to make it multiple times a week bc it's "easy".....WILD....and yes i'm aware this doesn't really matter but i'm going to complain about it anyway bc it's fucking stupid and i can.
anyway, the MAIN reason i hated this is bc it's criminally BORING!!!! like seriously i should be able to press charges!!!! how is EVERY SINGLE convo cringe and lame!?? and not just the convos between the mcs, i mean ALL the convos...i swear the dialogue is the most uninspired shit ever, it literally reads like no time or effort was spent on it...it reads like the author procrastinated and then scrambled to finish this in two weeks....and there was NO FUCKING CHEMISTRY!!! the entire first half of the book read like pure filler😭😭 how is that even possible!! it's like the book isn't even focused on the two mcs together or on any build up....it's basically one mc having a boring convo with a side character and then the other mc having a boring convo with a side character.... like wtf that useless shit is taking up too much page time....and then when we actually get the two mcs in the same room, their convos are just as useless and the exact opposite of intriguing and sexy, they're LAMEEEE and BORINGGG and DRYYY and do nothing to further any relationship development😭 how was i 39% in feeling like everything i'd just read had been a bunch of random throwaway scenes!?! like there was so much NOTHING happening, it was truly mind boggling. the mcs actually have negative chemistry, it's that fucking bad😭 like seriously, they don't even have FRIEND chemistry!!!!💀
oh and apparently the inexperienced baby bi was desperate to skip straight to rimming after only kissing and a single hand job??? ok sure✋😂 no blow jobs or nothing, just straight to rimming after ONE, I repeat, ONE hand job like wtf is this timeline😂😂
then harrison finds out about the whole twin thing and my buddy reader let me know what was coming up in the next few chapters and i just couldn't...too much bullshit for a couple i already don't give a single fuck about.
so the main point is that this absolute garbage, worthy of only the oldest and most rotten of tomatoes, traumatized me into a bored coma!!!! and i knew better but i still put myself thru this bc of my cursed curiosity😭😭
also BIG thank you to my buddy reader, megan🫶🫶 for accompanying me thru this hellhole...your sacrifice will never be forgotten🫡🤣🤣 even reading shit books with you is fun🤗💗
final thoughts: 🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅
first off, the whole switcheroo shit was convoluted and annoying....like i'm expecting it to be something like both twins go to FU and they switch for one class....but it's actually one twin goes to FU, one goes to another college but gets expelled bc he accidentally BURNS DOWN A WHOLE ASS DORM (!!!???? like is mans not facing charges??💀), and now firestarter twin has to stay in benny's room in the frat house but CAN'T BE SEEN (???) bc no one knows they're twins and it's somehow extremely important to keep this secret but WHY???? it's not that serious, no one's gonna automatically suspect ur cheating🙄 i literally don't understand why it's so deathly important for no one to figure out they have a twin brother.
firestarter aka emmett is sick one day and can't attend benny's math class like he usually would, so benny has to go to his own class, where he meets harrison, who usually sits next to emmett, unbeknownst to benny. benny's all heart eyes and tells emmett that he's met someone and to steer clear of him in class. except emmett knows harrison (which is already a sexless name) by his (even more tragically awful and sexless) nickname, bowser, so emmett doesn't make the connection. now, does benny help emmett know who to stay away from other than giving emmett a name??? no🙄 like huh??? you can't recognize who to avoid sitting by/talking to with just a name. wtf why wouldn't you describe harrison or show emmett a pic??? he has flaming red hair, it would be clear and obvious who to avoid, fucking hello🙄 there's probs only one redhead in the damn class...pure foolishness. like if ur so dead set on no one finding out ur a twin and no one finding out y'all are big fat cheaters, you definitely wouldn't skimp on the details. like there's miscommunication and then there's stupidity.
also this was giving deja vu bc both this book and the hookup mix-up started out with one mc thinking he and the other mc were flirting and vibing and going to hook up, but then the other mc turns out to be straight and terrible at knowing when they're being hit on. probably too similar for book 1 and 2 in the same series...
also harrison loves plants but hates animals (🚩🚩) bc other people love animals enough to support causes and raise money for them but no one gives enough of a fuck about plants to do the same like ???? so ur jealous people like animals more than plants so that makes u hate animals??? how tf does that work???😭 that's the most unlikable thing i've ever heard💀 u literally hate animals bc supporting causes and raising money for plants is not as popular as it is for animals??? i don't think those things are even comparable.....like i'm pretty sure people raise money for a ton of different causes that are way more popular than plants...wtf is this singling animals out and hating them solely based on that bullshit💀💀
oh and btw harrison, a COLLEGE STUDENT, loves cooking cheap and easy meals and his go to is RISOTTO.....HUH😭 risotto...easy???? ur telling me this college bro is making risotto every night bc its easy!? good tf bye✋ risotto is like 45 minutes of pure arm torture and what fucking college student 1: knows how to make risotto and 2: is willing to make it multiple times a week bc it's "easy".....WILD....and yes i'm aware this doesn't really matter but i'm going to complain about it anyway bc it's fucking stupid and i can.
anyway, the MAIN reason i hated this is bc it's criminally BORING!!!! like seriously i should be able to press charges!!!! how is EVERY SINGLE convo cringe and lame!?? and not just the convos between the mcs, i mean ALL the convos...i swear the dialogue is the most uninspired shit ever, it literally reads like no time or effort was spent on it...it reads like the author procrastinated and then scrambled to finish this in two weeks....and there was NO FUCKING CHEMISTRY!!! the entire first half of the book read like pure filler😭😭 how is that even possible!! it's like the book isn't even focused on the two mcs together or on any build up....it's basically one mc having a boring convo with a side character and then the other mc having a boring convo with a side character.... like wtf that useless shit is taking up too much page time....and then when we actually get the two mcs in the same room, their convos are just as useless and the exact opposite of intriguing and sexy, they're LAMEEEE and BORINGGG and DRYYY and do nothing to further any relationship development😭 how was i 39% in feeling like everything i'd just read had been a bunch of random throwaway scenes!?! like there was so much NOTHING happening, it was truly mind boggling. the mcs actually have negative chemistry, it's that fucking bad😭 like seriously, they don't even have FRIEND chemistry!!!!💀
oh and apparently the inexperienced baby bi was desperate to skip straight to rimming after only kissing and a single hand job??? ok sure✋😂 no blow jobs or nothing, just straight to rimming after ONE, I repeat, ONE hand job like wtf is this timeline😂😂
then harrison finds out about the whole twin thing and my buddy reader let me know what was coming up in the next few chapters and i just couldn't...too much bullshit for a couple i already don't give a single fuck about.
so the main point is that this absolute garbage, worthy of only the oldest and most rotten of tomatoes, traumatized me into a bored coma!!!! and i knew better but i still put myself thru this bc of my cursed curiosity😭😭
also BIG thank you to my buddy reader, megan🫶🫶 for accompanying me thru this hellhole...your sacrifice will never be forgotten🫡🤣🤣 even reading shit books with you is fun🤗💗
final thoughts: 🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅
June 20, 2024
MM Romance
College Borefest
1 Star ⭐️
DNF @ 64%
I knew better and yet I picked this up anyway because Asher Dalton from the CU Hockey series is one of my favorite characters and finding out that his twin brothers are books 2 & 8 in this series made me unable to resist. We met Bennett and Emmett in book 4 of that series and I loved that family so much that I went against my better judgement and decided reading this was a great idea. Grabbed my favorite buddy reader and went for it. 💀💀🫶🏻 SIGH 😔
The blurb for this was so good. I was excited to read about the twins switching places for the other in class and then some kind of mistaken identity happening but this was just overly complicated and one of the sex scenes was recycled from book 4 of the CU Hockey series. Can you plagiarize your own book? 😂 Emmett and Bennett didn’t even go to the same school FFS so it took almost 30% of the book to set this thing up where it even made sense that Em would be in one of Ben’s classes and mistaken identity could happen at all. It made the book dragggggggg because nothing happened during this time and it was so boring.
During this time of nothing we meet Harrison who loves plants so much that he hates animals. That was a weird choice to make him hate animals just because they get more attention than plants. WTF. Who doesn’t like animals? Serial killers and psychopaths that’s who. Even if you aren’t a pet person I guarantee seeing a cute baby animal would probably make you smile but not Harrison who is so obsessed with his plants that he’s named them all. And can we talk about names for a minute??? WTF was up with the names and nicknames in this book? First off, Harrison is the middle name of all the men in my family and had been considered as a first name for my brother but my dad was afraid his kid would be called Harry Crotch or something worse so it was left as the middle name but even if this wasn’t a family name, Harrison is just not it for me. However, I could have gotten over this but Harrison also went by Bowser and if that isn’t the most unsexy nickname ever? But Bennett’s frat brothers were even worse. We had Sandman, Big Wally, Tater Tot and someone else who I can’t remember thank fuck. No 💀 Oh but wait, his plants were named Rich and Stacey. He explained why but I think I went into a coma because I don’t remember. Thankfully.
We also get to know Bennett who was so much like Asher that I kept saying his name instead of Bennett’s when I was talking to my buddy reader. And I guess that was fitting because this author plagiarized herself by writing the same exact sex scene that was in Asher’s book between him and Kole. In that book Kole and Asher want to fuck but don’t have a condom. They are in Kole’s bedroom and Asher says something like “I’m a hockey guy I think of things on the fly” and uses Kole’s thighs as a sleeve for his cock. Well, in this book which is about Asher’s brother FFS 🤦🏻♀️ Harrison and Bennett are on the greenhouse roof at their college and want to fuck but what do you know, no condoms 🙄 So, Bennett decides that Harrison can use his thighs because he has “tight hockey thighs” and Harrison uses his thighs as a cock sleeve. Hmmm 🤔 the only difference here besides the couple is the fact one is taking place in a greenhouse and the other is in a bedroom…I’m sorry but that’s lazy fucking writing. It’s not just any sex scene that may be similar because it’s sex but thighs as a cock sleeve! I mean come on!
And while we are talking about sex scenes…This book was absolutely fucking ridiculous. Harrison had only been with chicks until Benny and then he realized he’s pan. Cool. But like the way the sex scenes came about then were weird af. Benny and Harrison are making out and they pull out their dicks and Harrison starts frotting them but he legit said he had never even looked at gay porn or seen another guys dick so how the fuck was he taking the lead and knowing what to do??? And then the greenhouse scene 🤦🏻♀️ Besides the recycled thigh scene, Harrison goes from kissing and frotting to wanting to rim Benny?? WHAT?? What about blowing him first? Like who the fuck just starts with eating ass when they haven’t done anything else??
So then a bunch of dumb drama happens and I decided to DNF because seriously it was just so boring and when Benny tells Harrison he’s going to go get his dick sucked by someone else I was like OMG fuck off 💀
BUT…
I skimmed forward because I heard there was a flip fucking scene in this and I wanted to see it. Ugh curiosity is a bitch and it always slaps me upside the face. So B & H (I’m too lazy now to keep typing their names out and I’ve almost written Asher instead of Benny more times than I can count lol) make up and go fuck at the frat house. This is the first time H was ever had sex with a guy but he’s done anal with a chick before. He had a nasty habit of talking about his hookups while getting it on with B. 🙄 Since there was no oral except for H rimming B, H has never had anything in his ass, not even fingers and yet he’s begging B for the D. But H also wants to know how it will feel for him to be in B 🙄 so B says they can switch once they cum. So B fingers himself and puts a buttplug in there then fingers H open and H had the audacity to say it didn’t hurt at all, just had pressure. You’re an ass virgin H how the fuck doesn’t it hurt even a little bit?? B barely did anything to him. The whole scene was just super fucking cringe and when they switched it was even worse.
Honestly, up until the flip fucking scene I wasn’t going to rate this book despite being appalled that it had recycled sex scenes and an overall boring plot but something about the fact there was no oral in this book and it just went straight to rim jobs and anal on top of every other boring torturous thing I had to read made me 1 star this shit. I thought I had SJ on my DNR author list but apparently I only had Eden Finley. Since they write so much together I figure it’s only fair to put both of them on perma DNR. Someone please punch me if I try to read Emmett’s book. 💀
🫶🏻🫶🏻 Mug, I don’t care what shit we read, it’s always a good time. 💗💗 This sucked though.
The best part of this book was learning what monkey orchids are. They are so fucking cute. If I didn’t think I’d kill it, I’d get one asap. If I knew how to put pics in this bitch I’d show you but I don’t so go google it. 🐵🌸
The worst part was the cringy sex scenes and the dialogue. Holy fuck who talks like this??? I usually love banter but this wasn’t it and the conversation H has with the random guy in his stats class was just like WTAF 😳
College Borefest
1 Star ⭐️
DNF @ 64%
I knew better and yet I picked this up anyway because Asher Dalton from the CU Hockey series is one of my favorite characters and finding out that his twin brothers are books 2 & 8 in this series made me unable to resist. We met Bennett and Emmett in book 4 of that series and I loved that family so much that I went against my better judgement and decided reading this was a great idea. Grabbed my favorite buddy reader and went for it. 💀💀🫶🏻 SIGH 😔
The blurb for this was so good. I was excited to read about the twins switching places for the other in class and then some kind of mistaken identity happening but this was just overly complicated and one of the sex scenes was recycled from book 4 of the CU Hockey series. Can you plagiarize your own book? 😂 Emmett and Bennett didn’t even go to the same school FFS so it took almost 30% of the book to set this thing up where it even made sense that Em would be in one of Ben’s classes and mistaken identity could happen at all. It made the book dragggggggg because nothing happened during this time and it was so boring.
During this time of nothing we meet Harrison who loves plants so much that he hates animals. That was a weird choice to make him hate animals just because they get more attention than plants. WTF. Who doesn’t like animals? Serial killers and psychopaths that’s who. Even if you aren’t a pet person I guarantee seeing a cute baby animal would probably make you smile but not Harrison who is so obsessed with his plants that he’s named them all. And can we talk about names for a minute??? WTF was up with the names and nicknames in this book? First off, Harrison is the middle name of all the men in my family and had been considered as a first name for my brother but my dad was afraid his kid would be called Harry Crotch or something worse so it was left as the middle name but even if this wasn’t a family name, Harrison is just not it for me. However, I could have gotten over this but Harrison also went by Bowser and if that isn’t the most unsexy nickname ever? But Bennett’s frat brothers were even worse. We had Sandman, Big Wally, Tater Tot and someone else who I can’t remember thank fuck. No 💀 Oh but wait, his plants were named Rich and Stacey. He explained why but I think I went into a coma because I don’t remember. Thankfully.
We also get to know Bennett who was so much like Asher that I kept saying his name instead of Bennett’s when I was talking to my buddy reader. And I guess that was fitting because this author plagiarized herself by writing the same exact sex scene that was in Asher’s book between him and Kole. In that book Kole and Asher want to fuck but don’t have a condom. They are in Kole’s bedroom and Asher says something like “I’m a hockey guy I think of things on the fly” and uses Kole’s thighs as a sleeve for his cock. Well, in this book which is about Asher’s brother FFS 🤦🏻♀️ Harrison and Bennett are on the greenhouse roof at their college and want to fuck but what do you know, no condoms 🙄 So, Bennett decides that Harrison can use his thighs because he has “tight hockey thighs” and Harrison uses his thighs as a cock sleeve. Hmmm 🤔 the only difference here besides the couple is the fact one is taking place in a greenhouse and the other is in a bedroom…I’m sorry but that’s lazy fucking writing. It’s not just any sex scene that may be similar because it’s sex but thighs as a cock sleeve! I mean come on!
And while we are talking about sex scenes…This book was absolutely fucking ridiculous. Harrison had only been with chicks until Benny and then he realized he’s pan. Cool. But like the way the sex scenes came about then were weird af. Benny and Harrison are making out and they pull out their dicks and Harrison starts frotting them but he legit said he had never even looked at gay porn or seen another guys dick so how the fuck was he taking the lead and knowing what to do??? And then the greenhouse scene 🤦🏻♀️ Besides the recycled thigh scene, Harrison goes from kissing and frotting to wanting to rim Benny?? WHAT?? What about blowing him first? Like who the fuck just starts with eating ass when they haven’t done anything else??
So then a bunch of dumb drama happens and I decided to DNF because seriously it was just so boring and when Benny tells Harrison he’s going to go get his dick sucked by someone else I was like OMG fuck off 💀
BUT…
I skimmed forward because I heard there was a flip fucking scene in this and I wanted to see it. Ugh curiosity is a bitch and it always slaps me upside the face. So B & H (I’m too lazy now to keep typing their names out and I’ve almost written Asher instead of Benny more times than I can count lol) make up and go fuck at the frat house. This is the first time H was ever had sex with a guy but he’s done anal with a chick before. He had a nasty habit of talking about his hookups while getting it on with B. 🙄 Since there was no oral except for H rimming B, H has never had anything in his ass, not even fingers and yet he’s begging B for the D. But H also wants to know how it will feel for him to be in B 🙄 so B says they can switch once they cum. So B fingers himself and puts a buttplug in there then fingers H open and H had the audacity to say it didn’t hurt at all, just had pressure. You’re an ass virgin H how the fuck doesn’t it hurt even a little bit?? B barely did anything to him. The whole scene was just super fucking cringe and when they switched it was even worse.
Honestly, up until the flip fucking scene I wasn’t going to rate this book despite being appalled that it had recycled sex scenes and an overall boring plot but something about the fact there was no oral in this book and it just went straight to rim jobs and anal on top of every other boring torturous thing I had to read made me 1 star this shit. I thought I had SJ on my DNR author list but apparently I only had Eden Finley. Since they write so much together I figure it’s only fair to put both of them on perma DNR. Someone please punch me if I try to read Emmett’s book. 💀
🫶🏻🫶🏻 Mug, I don’t care what shit we read, it’s always a good time. 💗💗 This sucked though.
The best part of this book was learning what monkey orchids are. They are so fucking cute. If I didn’t think I’d kill it, I’d get one asap. If I knew how to put pics in this bitch I’d show you but I don’t so go google it. 🐵🌸
The worst part was the cringy sex scenes and the dialogue. Holy fuck who talks like this??? I usually love banter but this wasn’t it and the conversation H has with the random guy in his stats class was just like WTAF 😳
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 6, 2024
RTC tomorrow but I basically bloody loved it 😁
***
This book is all I hoped it would be and it also surprised me in a few ways. I've been dying for the Chaos Twins' story since we first met Bennett and Emmett Dalton in the CU Hockey series which followed two of their older brothers' romances.
In A Stealthy Situation we find the twins have reunited at FU because Em's been thrown out of the university he was attended after a prank went wrong and he's now mattress surfing on Benny's dorm floor.
Ordinarily this wouldn't be an issue, the twins have stood in for each other throughout their lives, especially when it came to switching out for Maths and English classes. But this time they've broken their rules and Em made a friend in Benny's statistics class which causes all sorts of complications.
I really liked the way Saxon handled the twins' switching places with Harrison. It wasn't a case of deliberately deceiving him. Em knew him as Bowser, his nickname in the previous series of FU books, whereas Benny only met him because Em was sick and he had to sit his own class.
So I felt that while the cat had to come out of the bag at some point, it wasn't as likely to be an overly dramatic episode which felt utterly cliched and I was right. When Harrison discovers the truth, he's obviously hurt but, as he finds out more about the twins' situation, he comes to realise there's perhaps more to Benny not being able to cope with numbers than just not liking statistics.
On the way to that point, they've gone from being friends, to Harrison realising he's not only attracted to Benny's personality, but he's also sexually getting turned on by him and this pansexual discovery was also handled really well.
Benny's basically a miniature version of Asher (but don't ever tell him that) and his allergy to feelings comes back to bite him big time when he realises he's fallen for Harrison. Thankfully those feelings are returned and the two of them are stupid sweet and swoony together, as well as smoking hot as Harrison gets to explore his newly discovered sexuality.
This books funny too, not too much over the top college frat level humour, but smart mouth snarking from Benny and the type of ribbing from his twin that only comes from a lifetime of knowing everything about your identical match.
Now I'm even more stoked for Em's book which is coming towards the back end of the second series of FU.
#ARC kindly received from the author via GRR Tours. I am voluntarily leaving a review
***
This book is all I hoped it would be and it also surprised me in a few ways. I've been dying for the Chaos Twins' story since we first met Bennett and Emmett Dalton in the CU Hockey series which followed two of their older brothers' romances.
In A Stealthy Situation we find the twins have reunited at FU because Em's been thrown out of the university he was attended after a prank went wrong and he's now mattress surfing on Benny's dorm floor.
Ordinarily this wouldn't be an issue, the twins have stood in for each other throughout their lives, especially when it came to switching out for Maths and English classes. But this time they've broken their rules and Em made a friend in Benny's statistics class which causes all sorts of complications.
I really liked the way Saxon handled the twins' switching places with Harrison. It wasn't a case of deliberately deceiving him. Em knew him as Bowser, his nickname in the previous series of FU books, whereas Benny only met him because Em was sick and he had to sit his own class.
So I felt that while the cat had to come out of the bag at some point, it wasn't as likely to be an overly dramatic episode which felt utterly cliched and I was right. When Harrison discovers the truth, he's obviously hurt but, as he finds out more about the twins' situation, he comes to realise there's perhaps more to Benny not being able to cope with numbers than just not liking statistics.
On the way to that point, they've gone from being friends, to Harrison realising he's not only attracted to Benny's personality, but he's also sexually getting turned on by him and this pansexual discovery was also handled really well.
Benny's basically a miniature version of Asher (but don't ever tell him that) and his allergy to feelings comes back to bite him big time when he realises he's fallen for Harrison. Thankfully those feelings are returned and the two of them are stupid sweet and swoony together, as well as smoking hot as Harrison gets to explore his newly discovered sexuality.
This books funny too, not too much over the top college frat level humour, but smart mouth snarking from Benny and the type of ribbing from his twin that only comes from a lifetime of knowing everything about your identical match.
Now I'm even more stoked for Em's book which is coming towards the back end of the second series of FU.
#ARC kindly received from the author via GRR Tours. I am voluntarily leaving a review
June 15, 2024
So so so boring😥
June 19, 2024
so damn boring. the last part was okay but not enough to save the rest
May 16, 2024
Not me reading this a month early because I’m Saxon’s annoying friend.
THE PREMISE: plant-obsessed sweetheart, Harrison, sits next to shithead [affectionate] Benny in stats and they have an instant connection. Well, Benny does. Harrison thinks they’ve been sitting together all semester. Enter: Benny’s identical twin brother, Emmett.
TROPES & VIBES:
- MM college campus romcom
- Sunshine x shithead [affectionate] pairing (Asher x Kole 2.0. Slay)
- “I’m straight, but I sure am checking out your forearms a lot … ” (pan-awakening)
- Be gay and do crime (impersonating your twin brother to cheat at math)
- Learning disability rep: Dyscalculia
- Epilogue cuteness
- Books that made me insane and I read in 24 hours
4.5⭐️ 2.5-3🌶️ (the greenhouse scene. Jesus)
THE PREMISE: plant-obsessed sweetheart, Harrison, sits next to shithead [affectionate] Benny in stats and they have an instant connection. Well, Benny does. Harrison thinks they’ve been sitting together all semester. Enter: Benny’s identical twin brother, Emmett.
TROPES & VIBES:
- MM college campus romcom
- Sunshine x shithead [affectionate] pairing (Asher x Kole 2.0. Slay)
- “I’m straight, but I sure am checking out your forearms a lot … ” (pan-awakening)
- Be gay and do crime (impersonating your twin brother to cheat at math)
- Learning disability rep: Dyscalculia
- Epilogue cuteness
- Books that made me insane and I read in 24 hours
4.5⭐️ 2.5-3🌶️ (the greenhouse scene. Jesus)
June 9, 2024
I was so excited to start this story, especially once I found out who the twins were (Asher and West Dalton’s twin brothers from the CU Hockey universe)! Unfortunately, it was not my favourite. I don’t know whether it’s just the story itself or the fact that I read it directly after book 1 in the series or I just had high hopes for these characters but it just didn’t work for me.
This story was so incredibly similar to book 1 that I’m shocked actually. Definitely did this book a disservice reading it directly after book 1 because every similarity just made it worse and worse for me. I absolutely realize there’s only so many story ideas to go around but to have a very similar plot in two books in the same series and one right after the other was just too much for me.
There are some differences in this one but I don’t know if they are good differences or bad ones honestly. There’s a small third-act breakup with some other man drama which usually I’m not picky about but this time it really didn’t work for me. We also seemed to skip a bunch of stuff I was really excited about reading (Halloween party seen in book 1, them meeting their boyfriend’s families, I really wanted some Asher and West time).
So I did enjoy just being back in the world (mind you even Bowser/Harrison I had a hard time reconciling him with the character we met in the original FU series). Loved seeing Marshall and Felix again. And this doesn’t deter me from reading the rest of the series or even being excited about Eden’s book in the series so I’ll leave this as is and just move on! Hope you enjoy this one more than I did.
This story was so incredibly similar to book 1 that I’m shocked actually. Definitely did this book a disservice reading it directly after book 1 because every similarity just made it worse and worse for me. I absolutely realize there’s only so many story ideas to go around but to have a very similar plot in two books in the same series and one right after the other was just too much for me.
There are some differences in this one but I don’t know if they are good differences or bad ones honestly. There’s a small third-act breakup with some other man drama which usually I’m not picky about but this time it really didn’t work for me. We also seemed to skip a bunch of stuff I was really excited about reading (Halloween party seen in book 1, them meeting their boyfriend’s families, I really wanted some Asher and West time).
So I did enjoy just being back in the world (mind you even Bowser/Harrison I had a hard time reconciling him with the character we met in the original FU series). Loved seeing Marshall and Felix again. And this doesn’t deter me from reading the rest of the series or even being excited about Eden’s book in the series so I’ll leave this as is and just move on! Hope you enjoy this one more than I did.
June 2, 2024
Since they were kids Benny and his identical twin brother Emmett have switched places, whether it’s to play a prank on their older brothers or to take a class the other one sucks at. The pair have honed it down to a science, with neither of them having an issue until now.
Harrison is in grad school and auditing a statistics class as a refresher, where he meets Benny Dalton. Benny is friendly enough but a bit standoffish until they strike up a bet over Harrison’s love of British sitcoms. The pair become fast friends after that, spending all their free time together.
Things don’t get weird until Harrison starts picking up on the differences between the Benny he sit next to in class and the Benny who he’s starting to have feelings for, and that’s when the truth comes out.
I loved Benny & Emmett in West & Asher’s books so much, and was excited to see that they each get their own in FU2! Benny is so grumpy and adorable, and so much of his personality reminded me of his equally grumpy and feelings adverse big brother.
I also really loved the instant connection between him and Harrison. They may be total opposites, but Harrison balances Benny out so well with his kindness and general good outlook on life. Plus he’s such a plant nerd and that’s just so cute.
Aaaannnddd the glimpses of Emmett’s character and personality has me so excited for his book, even if the wait is going to kill me! I need to know what’s going on with him asap!
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️.5
- opposites attract
- friends to lovers
- dyscalculia rep
- queer awakening
- twin switching shenanigans
Harrison is in grad school and auditing a statistics class as a refresher, where he meets Benny Dalton. Benny is friendly enough but a bit standoffish until they strike up a bet over Harrison’s love of British sitcoms. The pair become fast friends after that, spending all their free time together.
Things don’t get weird until Harrison starts picking up on the differences between the Benny he sit next to in class and the Benny who he’s starting to have feelings for, and that’s when the truth comes out.
I loved Benny & Emmett in West & Asher’s books so much, and was excited to see that they each get their own in FU2! Benny is so grumpy and adorable, and so much of his personality reminded me of his equally grumpy and feelings adverse big brother.
I also really loved the instant connection between him and Harrison. They may be total opposites, but Harrison balances Benny out so well with his kindness and general good outlook on life. Plus he’s such a plant nerd and that’s just so cute.
Aaaannnddd the glimpses of Emmett’s character and personality has me so excited for his book, even if the wait is going to kill me! I need to know what’s going on with him asap!
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️.5
- opposites attract
- friends to lovers
- dyscalculia rep
- queer awakening
- twin switching shenanigans
June 16, 2024
Super cute! Harrison and Benny are so sweet and cute. They were so different but they worked perfectly together, their friendship was so sincere and fun. The epilogue has a really lovely HEA.
I cannot wait for Emmy’s book.
Loved knowing the twins backstory, and the mention of the the rest of their family.
I cannot wait for Emmy’s book.
Loved knowing the twins backstory, and the mention of the the rest of their family.
June 23, 2024
Disappointed I wasted a few hours of my life on this. I loved the Daltons in the original CU series but this was a complete shambles. Asher 2.0 but the ‘when you buy a dress off the internet and a doll’s size arrives’ version. The storyline just fell apart. There is a diagnosis and then nothing else. Major time skips and scenes like the ‘meet the Daltons at Christmas’ occurring off page. Harrison bored me to tears.
I kept going to the end because I was hoping the twin swap reveal to everyone would be good but IT DIDNT EVEN HAPPEN! The book suddenly ends and then there is an epilogue set 10yrs later with a proposal which doesn’t fit with their super quick ILY’s and casual talk of marriage already.
The sex scenes were super cringey, completely unbelievable for a supposed ‘straight and/or possibly demisexual’ guy and pretty sure at least one was completely recycled from Asher’s book. There isn’t even any point reading this for Asher content - he is in one phone call only and Kole, West and Jasper don’t feature at all.
I needed to skim most of this to prevent myself stabbing my own eyeballs out.
I kept going to the end because I was hoping the twin swap reveal to everyone would be good but IT DIDNT EVEN HAPPEN! The book suddenly ends and then there is an epilogue set 10yrs later with a proposal which doesn’t fit with their super quick ILY’s and casual talk of marriage already.
The sex scenes were super cringey, completely unbelievable for a supposed ‘straight and/or possibly demisexual’ guy and pretty sure at least one was completely recycled from Asher’s book. There isn’t even any point reading this for Asher content - he is in one phone call only and Kole, West and Jasper don’t feature at all.
I needed to skim most of this to prevent myself stabbing my own eyeballs out.
June 23, 2024
✨ARC REVIEW✨
Dalton Twins!!
This was super cute. Em and Benny use their identical twin status to help each other at uni on the subjects they each fail. Em is good at maths while Benny is a disaster (we later learn he has dyscalculia), so Em takes Benny's stats class. But one day, Em is sick, so Benny has to attend. Enter Harrison. He is the dorkiest most endearing and understanding person to ever exist. For real. That man is amazingly cute and loving. And he LOVES plants.
Well, they meet and Harrison, who is supposedly straight, is not as straight as he believes. One thing I appreciate about Saxon James' books is the banter and the way the sexual awakening are written. And these two didn't disappoint. Of course there are issues once Em starts taking the statistics class again. That, mixed with Benny and Harrison developing relationship -in which one is allergic to feelings and the other is just so in tune with his own- make for some interesting shenanigans. And some hot af intimate scenes. The greenhouse 🤌🏽
The epilogue was 🥹
Dalton Twins!!
This was super cute. Em and Benny use their identical twin status to help each other at uni on the subjects they each fail. Em is good at maths while Benny is a disaster (we later learn he has dyscalculia), so Em takes Benny's stats class. But one day, Em is sick, so Benny has to attend. Enter Harrison. He is the dorkiest most endearing and understanding person to ever exist. For real. That man is amazingly cute and loving. And he LOVES plants.
Well, they meet and Harrison, who is supposedly straight, is not as straight as he believes. One thing I appreciate about Saxon James' books is the banter and the way the sexual awakening are written. And these two didn't disappoint. Of course there are issues once Em starts taking the statistics class again. That, mixed with Benny and Harrison developing relationship -in which one is allergic to feelings and the other is just so in tune with his own- make for some interesting shenanigans. And some hot af intimate scenes. The greenhouse 🤌🏽
The epilogue was 🥹
August 11, 2024
Audio: 4 stars, while I enjoyed Tim Paige, there wasn’t much distinction between Benny and Harrison, so if you weren’t paying attention you’d lose who is talking. Also audio can be found on Everand.
Book: 3-3.5 stars
Cute, but I felt like something was missing. I wish we got to see more with Benny and his dyscalculia. I haven’t ever heard of that disorder, so I would have wanted to see more of that in the story. But it was kinda glossed over…even though the whole premise was about Emmett taking Benny’s math class… lol
I did wish we were able to see the Christmas aka meeting the families, but I guess that is on her Patreon?
It was still a cute intermission from my Soulbound reread/relisten. But I kinda was hoping for more especially for a Dalton brother!
I am interested to see ho Emmett’s book goes cause he’s got a lot of explaining to do! Haha
Book: 3-3.5 stars
Cute, but I felt like something was missing. I wish we got to see more with Benny and his dyscalculia. I haven’t ever heard of that disorder, so I would have wanted to see more of that in the story. But it was kinda glossed over…even though the whole premise was about Emmett taking Benny’s math class… lol
I did wish we were able to see the Christmas aka meeting the families, but I guess that is on her Patreon?
It was still a cute intermission from my Soulbound reread/relisten. But I kinda was hoping for more especially for a Dalton brother!
I am interested to see ho Emmett’s book goes cause he’s got a lot of explaining to do! Haha
June 4, 2024
Harrison doesn't realize that his friend Benny is a twin until he starts to wonder why he has such an obsession with Ben outside of statistics class, but in class Ben is more standoffish. A Stealthy Situation is a college-age former jock/nerd romance with a biawakening and a cinnamon roll MC.
I didn't make the connection until I started the book that this is about one of the Dalton twins! I loved West and Asher's stories and was thrilled to read more about the family. I thought the story was super creative with great dyscalculia rep. The way it was woven into the story was well done and kept things interesting. I also love the biawakening trope and liked the way Saxon gave us a thoughtful MC with no internalized homophobia. I really liked all the plant facts and different aspects of Bennett and Harrison's characters. In some books the MCs are almost interchangeable and that's never the case with Saxon's books. On the downside, I thought the book wrapped up kind of abruptly and I would've liked to have a more satisfying resolution of some important plot points.
Rating: 3.75 rounded up
Angst: 3/5
Steam: 3/5
I received an advance copy of this book and this is my honest review.
I didn't make the connection until I started the book that this is about one of the Dalton twins! I loved West and Asher's stories and was thrilled to read more about the family. I thought the story was super creative with great dyscalculia rep. The way it was woven into the story was well done and kept things interesting. I also love the biawakening trope and liked the way Saxon gave us a thoughtful MC with no internalized homophobia. I really liked all the plant facts and different aspects of Bennett and Harrison's characters. In some books the MCs are almost interchangeable and that's never the case with Saxon's books. On the downside, I thought the book wrapped up kind of abruptly and I would've liked to have a more satisfying resolution of some important plot points.
Rating: 3.75 rounded up
Angst: 3/5
Steam: 3/5
I received an advance copy of this book and this is my honest review.
June 3, 2024
The chaos twins indeed, I do love all those Dalton boys 🥰 I loved Benny & Harrison. I loved getting a glimpse at Fe & Marshall too! This was all the things - cute, funny, sweet, spicy, I cannot wait for Emmy's book (and the rest of FU2)
June 17, 2024
Tropes: kind of jock/nerd, secret identity
Feels: 3.75/5
Steam*: 3/5
Kinks: flip f*ck
Angst: low
HEA: yes
Pairing: MM
Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: mentions of parents dying 13 years ago, some discussions of homophobia, drinking and weed
Benny Dalton is 21 and a junior at college. He is the younger brother of West and Asher, and he has a twin named Emmett. Harrison is 23 and he's at the same college doing his Masters. He loves plants and he wants to be an ecologist and have people care more about plants.
Harrison is auditing the stats class that Benny is taking, in preparation for a more advanced stats class that Harrison will be taking. Benny has an undiagnosed disorder and struggles with math, so his twin Emmett is taking the class for him. They've been cheating all through high school and now into college, with Emmett attending Benny's math classes and Benny attending Emmett's English class. But then Emmett is sick and Benny has to attend his own class and Benny meets Harrison. Harrison has never been with a man before and thinks he's straight. Benny is instantly attracted to Harrison and tries to hook up with him, they have a misunderstanding about whether this is a friendship or a hookup. Harrison turns him down but they keep hanging out as friends. Harrison starts realizing he might be open to being with men, he really starts having a thing for Benny.
Benny is trying to keep his twin a secret though at this college, he doesn't want to be known as being a Dalton and he doesn't want his switching places with Emmett thing getting caught. But as they spend more time together, that secret doesn't seem very realistic to keep, and some problems are going to happen.
I thought this was a cute story. Benny is a lot like Asher, he's a sarcastic gremlin. There's a lot of funny moments. I did like the relationship between Benny and Harrison, they were great as friends, and they had a natural chemistry between them that made their relationship understandable and work. I loved their trash talk and jokes. They were sweet as they tackled each other's problems in such a no-nonsense way, neither of them were schmoopy so it kind of fit for them to be college guys. Harrison taking as hard of a line as he did about cheating surprised me a little, he didn't seem like such a goody goody that that would be a problem for him. Maybe I'm just too corrupted by so much dark romance and all the horrible things that men have done, a little cheating at school wasn't a big deal for me. LOL. There was a nice conflict of secrecy throughout adding a bit of suspense.
I wish we could have seen Harrison meet the Dalton family though. They just skipped right over Christmas. I think it would have been a hilarious chapter if we'd seen that so I feel like I missed out.
I think this book was a poor choice to follow directly after book one in the series. Because these books were a bit too similar in that both book one and this book had a character who thought he was straight and a character who had a disability that affected them in school. And both of them had a hook up misunderstanding.
One thing I didn't like about this book was how Benny didn't consider that Harrison was going to try to find and interact with Benny after that one time where Emmett was sick and Benny had to attend the stats class himself. With them both knowing that the other person is in that class, and them being so close outside of class, of course Harrison was going to try to find and talk to Benny during that class again. Benny acted so surprised by that concept after Harrison found out that the twin attending the class wasn't Benny. That seemed like a plot hole.
Some notable moments:
Ha! "“You’re so annoying. You’re also killing my chances of hooking up. I can’t bring guys back to my room and be all ‘don’t worry about the other me in the corner, he’s not watching,’ can I?”"
Lol... not above... "Those geniuses sure did. “Eh. Our school is literally FU. It’s on all the sweatshirts. It’s a crime that I don’t have a FUKing DIK hoodie by now.” “But you’re not a King.” “I’m not above sucking off the entire football team to make it happen.”"
Microtrope that I love, when the MC wants their love interest to have their focus on them, and they get this icky feeling when they don't have the focus. "I glance over at him, but he’s not looking. It … bristles me a little bit. Usually, I catch him looking all the time, so this should be an improvement. Should be but isn’t. I want to see his eyes. I like his eyes."
""Besides, my family aren’t going to believe that someone likes me enough to put up with me unless I have you there for proof.”"
*FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink.
**Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers.
Feels: 3.75/5
Steam*: 3/5
Kinks: flip f*ck
Angst: low
HEA: yes
Pairing: MM
Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: mentions of parents dying 13 years ago, some discussions of homophobia, drinking and weed
Benny Dalton is 21 and a junior at college. He is the younger brother of West and Asher, and he has a twin named Emmett. Harrison is 23 and he's at the same college doing his Masters. He loves plants and he wants to be an ecologist and have people care more about plants.
Harrison is auditing the stats class that Benny is taking, in preparation for a more advanced stats class that Harrison will be taking. Benny has an undiagnosed disorder and struggles with math, so his twin Emmett is taking the class for him. They've been cheating all through high school and now into college, with Emmett attending Benny's math classes and Benny attending Emmett's English class. But then Emmett is sick and Benny has to attend his own class and Benny meets Harrison. Harrison has never been with a man before and thinks he's straight. Benny is instantly attracted to Harrison and tries to hook up with him, they have a misunderstanding about whether this is a friendship or a hookup. Harrison turns him down but they keep hanging out as friends. Harrison starts realizing he might be open to being with men, he really starts having a thing for Benny.
Benny is trying to keep his twin a secret though at this college, he doesn't want to be known as being a Dalton and he doesn't want his switching places with Emmett thing getting caught. But as they spend more time together, that secret doesn't seem very realistic to keep, and some problems are going to happen.
I thought this was a cute story. Benny is a lot like Asher, he's a sarcastic gremlin. There's a lot of funny moments. I did like the relationship between Benny and Harrison, they were great as friends, and they had a natural chemistry between them that made their relationship understandable and work. I loved their trash talk and jokes. They were sweet as they tackled each other's problems in such a no-nonsense way, neither of them were schmoopy so it kind of fit for them to be college guys. Harrison taking as hard of a line as he did about cheating surprised me a little, he didn't seem like such a goody goody that that would be a problem for him. Maybe I'm just too corrupted by so much dark romance and all the horrible things that men have done, a little cheating at school wasn't a big deal for me. LOL. There was a nice conflict of secrecy throughout adding a bit of suspense.
I wish we could have seen Harrison meet the Dalton family though. They just skipped right over Christmas. I think it would have been a hilarious chapter if we'd seen that so I feel like I missed out.
I think this book was a poor choice to follow directly after book one in the series. Because these books were a bit too similar in that both book one and this book had a character who thought he was straight and a character who had a disability that affected them in school. And both of them had a hook up misunderstanding.
One thing I didn't like about this book was how Benny didn't consider that Harrison was going to try to find and interact with Benny after that one time where Emmett was sick and Benny had to attend the stats class himself. With them both knowing that the other person is in that class, and them being so close outside of class, of course Harrison was going to try to find and talk to Benny during that class again. Benny acted so surprised by that concept after Harrison found out that the twin attending the class wasn't Benny. That seemed like a plot hole.
Some notable moments:
Ha! "“You’re so annoying. You’re also killing my chances of hooking up. I can’t bring guys back to my room and be all ‘don’t worry about the other me in the corner, he’s not watching,’ can I?”"
Lol... not above... "Those geniuses sure did. “Eh. Our school is literally FU. It’s on all the sweatshirts. It’s a crime that I don’t have a FUKing DIK hoodie by now.” “But you’re not a King.” “I’m not above sucking off the entire football team to make it happen.”"
Microtrope that I love, when the MC wants their love interest to have their focus on them, and they get this icky feeling when they don't have the focus. "I glance over at him, but he’s not looking. It … bristles me a little bit. Usually, I catch him looking all the time, so this should be an improvement. Should be but isn’t. I want to see his eyes. I like his eyes."
""Besides, my family aren’t going to believe that someone likes me enough to put up with me unless I have you there for proof.”"
*FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink.
**Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2024
Rating: 1 Star.
Steam: 4 out of 10.
Triggers:
Love Triangle:
Cheating:
HEA:
This one is on me... I can't even blame the author, I already know I don't like Saxon's books when she's writing alone (even sometimes with eden but specifically alone) so the only reason I can give you to why I picked this book was the CU series, I liked their family a lot (the books were cool but not really really good) and I wanted to see what happens next to the boys...
I should've stay curious 🙄...
All kidding aside, the book is really weak, I feel like Saxon's and even Eden are focusing to much on smut and forgetting to give us a story.
Stop treating us readers like that, we deserve better than an author writing tropes instead of character, that's why their books feel empty a lot of the times. They aren't writing us a story, they are writing us a trope with smut.
If I could give an advice to this authors I liked a lot a few years ago would be : quality over quantity!
Steam: 4 out of 10.
Triggers:
Love Triangle:
Cheating:
HEA:
This one is on me... I can't even blame the author, I already know I don't like Saxon's books when she's writing alone (even sometimes with eden but specifically alone) so the only reason I can give you to why I picked this book was the CU series, I liked their family a lot (the books were cool but not really really good) and I wanted to see what happens next to the boys...
I should've stay curious 🙄...
All kidding aside, the book is really weak, I feel like Saxon's and even Eden are focusing to much on smut and forgetting to give us a story.
Stop treating us readers like that, we deserve better than an author writing tropes instead of character, that's why their books feel empty a lot of the times. They aren't writing us a story, they are writing us a trope with smut.
If I could give an advice to this authors I liked a lot a few years ago would be : quality over quantity!
June 17, 2024
"Emmett is sweet. Almost naïve. I'm much more like our brother Asher eat-shit-and-die Dalton."
I LOVED getting to know the Dalton twins better, even though this was totally Ben's book. I was hoping for some in person cameos, but we did get to hear from Asher in all his glory. Just in case you were wondering, married life hasn't changed Asher one bit. He's still a dick, albeit a loveable one. It was actually cute seeing the bits of him in Ben.
Oh Ben. I loved him and his chaos. Boy is defensive AF when he feels backed into a corner and I can kind of relate. When it comes to expressing his feelings? Well, this is one of his similarities shared with big bro Asher. Poor Harrison had to basically pry the words from Ben with force.
I did love the banter between these two. They built up a pretty solid friendship before things dipped into the intimacy pool. I also really liked how even though it was Harrison's first time being with a man, he did some mature thinking on it without a total freak out. What was even more impressive was his willingness to try out anything in the bedroom with minimal hesitation. That's a man who is comfortable in his own skin.
I think Harrison's steadiness was a major factor that helped in the relationship. Ben is sort of still finding himself as his own person and not as a half of a twin set. Their epilogue was super romantic and made me smile so big. I cannot wait for Ben's twin Em to bag his man soon too!
I LOVED getting to know the Dalton twins better, even though this was totally Ben's book. I was hoping for some in person cameos, but we did get to hear from Asher in all his glory. Just in case you were wondering, married life hasn't changed Asher one bit. He's still a dick, albeit a loveable one. It was actually cute seeing the bits of him in Ben.
Oh Ben. I loved him and his chaos. Boy is defensive AF when he feels backed into a corner and I can kind of relate. When it comes to expressing his feelings? Well, this is one of his similarities shared with big bro Asher. Poor Harrison had to basically pry the words from Ben with force.
I did love the banter between these two. They built up a pretty solid friendship before things dipped into the intimacy pool. I also really liked how even though it was Harrison's first time being with a man, he did some mature thinking on it without a total freak out. What was even more impressive was his willingness to try out anything in the bedroom with minimal hesitation. That's a man who is comfortable in his own skin.
I think Harrison's steadiness was a major factor that helped in the relationship. Ben is sort of still finding himself as his own person and not as a half of a twin set. Their epilogue was super romantic and made me smile so big. I cannot wait for Ben's twin Em to bag his man soon too!
June 14, 2024
I was really looking forward to this one, especially after enjoying the first in the series so much and loving all of Saxon's other books, but I really struggled with it, going as far as almost DNFing a few times.
Benny is one of the Dalton twins, that we originally meet in the CU series as West's little brothers. He's enrolled in FU, but switches with his twin Emmett for one of his classes. When Emmett is unable to go for him one day, he attends himself and meets Harrison/Bowser. Harrison had been sitting with Emmett during the class and when Benny walks past and ignores him, Harrison follows to continue his normal.
And this is where I started to struggle - Emmett knows Harrison as Bowser so there is some explanation over why they don't figure out things until 50% through the book, but why did
Harrison and Benny not mention all the times they've sat next to each other in class? Why does Harrison not question that Benny always calls him Harrison but in class calls him Bowser?
Overall it's an ok book, and people will enjoy it, but it just wasn't as enjoyable for me as I was hoping. It end very abruptly before an epilogue 10 years in the future talking about 'we were always going to end up here' - in Australia looking at some ghost mushrooms, which were never mentioned in the book before?!
We also don't get any content with West and Asher, even after the struggles that Benny is going through and the mention of Harrison going home with him for Christmas to tell his brothers that him and Em have been switching their maths and English classes their entire lives, Benny has a learning difficulty and may have to leave FU to come home (something we also never find out due to the abrupt ending).
**I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review**
Benny is one of the Dalton twins, that we originally meet in the CU series as West's little brothers. He's enrolled in FU, but switches with his twin Emmett for one of his classes. When Emmett is unable to go for him one day, he attends himself and meets Harrison/Bowser. Harrison had been sitting with Emmett during the class and when Benny walks past and ignores him, Harrison follows to continue his normal.
And this is where I started to struggle - Emmett knows Harrison as Bowser so there is some explanation over why they don't figure out things until 50% through the book, but why did
Harrison and Benny not mention all the times they've sat next to each other in class? Why does Harrison not question that Benny always calls him Harrison but in class calls him Bowser?
Overall it's an ok book, and people will enjoy it, but it just wasn't as enjoyable for me as I was hoping. It end very abruptly before an epilogue 10 years in the future talking about 'we were always going to end up here' - in Australia looking at some ghost mushrooms, which were never mentioned in the book before?!
We also don't get any content with West and Asher, even after the struggles that Benny is going through and the mention of Harrison going home with him for Christmas to tell his brothers that him and Em have been switching their maths and English classes their entire lives, Benny has a learning difficulty and may have to leave FU to come home (something we also never find out due to the abrupt ending).
**I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review**
August 11, 2024
Audio - 5 Stars
Story - 3.5 Stars
Story - 3.5 Stars
June 6, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️
A Stealthy Situation is book two in the second season of Franklin U and brings us Benny and Harrison’s story.
One thing I really love about Saxon’s writing is the amazing representation of not only the queer community, but of the mental health rep. This book also adds in learning disability rep and it’s done with the same kindness, compassion, and understanding we’ve come to know and love from Saxon.
I loved getting more of the Dalton family in this book. The dynamic between Benny and his twin Emmet is so fun. Harrison and Benny are the perfect complement to each other. Harrison is the sunshine to Benny’s grumpy. I enjoyed their unwavering support for each other.
I would have loved a chapter with the Harrison’s visit home with Benny at Christmas. I can never get enough of the Dalton clan; especially Asher.
Where this book fell a bit short for me was the ending. It just ended so abruptly with many, many unanswered questions that weren’t answered in the epilogue either. Overall I enjoyed the book. I just wish we had a few more chapters to wrap up the story.
🌶️🌶️🌶️
A Stealthy Situation is book two in the second season of Franklin U and brings us Benny and Harrison’s story.
One thing I really love about Saxon’s writing is the amazing representation of not only the queer community, but of the mental health rep. This book also adds in learning disability rep and it’s done with the same kindness, compassion, and understanding we’ve come to know and love from Saxon.
I loved getting more of the Dalton family in this book. The dynamic between Benny and his twin Emmet is so fun. Harrison and Benny are the perfect complement to each other. Harrison is the sunshine to Benny’s grumpy. I enjoyed their unwavering support for each other.
I would have loved a chapter with the Harrison’s visit home with Benny at Christmas. I can never get enough of the Dalton clan; especially Asher.
Where this book fell a bit short for me was the ending. It just ended so abruptly with many, many unanswered questions that weren’t answered in the epilogue either. Overall I enjoyed the book. I just wish we had a few more chapters to wrap up the story.
August 1, 2024
«—Llámame romántico, pero quiero casarme contigo. Más de lo que nunca he deseado algo, y estoy bastante seguro de que he estado planeando esto desde que te conocí.»
📚⇢ Con este libro aprendí varias cosas que desconocía, como todas esas nuevas plantas (que si no las hubiera conocido aquí, jamás habría imaginado que existen), el hecho de que existe el equivalente a la dislexia pero para las matemáticas, y además fue interesante toda la dinámica de los gemelos acerca de hacerse pasar por el otro y las repercusiones que eso les dejó a largo plazo. Volver a saber de West y Ash fue de mis cosas favoritas porque yo amé sus libros.
📚⇢ Con este libro aprendí varias cosas que desconocía, como todas esas nuevas plantas (que si no las hubiera conocido aquí, jamás habría imaginado que existen), el hecho de que existe el equivalente a la dislexia pero para las matemáticas, y además fue interesante toda la dinámica de los gemelos acerca de hacerse pasar por el otro y las repercusiones que eso les dejó a largo plazo. Volver a saber de West y Ash fue de mis cosas favoritas porque yo amé sus libros.
June 14, 2024
I feel like I’m in a reading slump
Everybook just feels so predictable now :/
Straight guy who is so fine with magically being bi
Nothing exciting the whole book, and the whole twin in class thing? It doesn’t make for a good plot or even sense on the learning disability side. And bowser thinking of ratting him out… are we 10? Let the guy cheat Jesus Christ
Also if the book before you referenced a scene with the couple you are writing, please for the love of god include it -.-
Everybook just feels so predictable now :/
Straight guy who is so fine with magically being bi
Nothing exciting the whole book, and the whole twin in class thing? It doesn’t make for a good plot or even sense on the learning disability side. And bowser thinking of ratting him out… are we 10? Let the guy cheat Jesus Christ
Also if the book before you referenced a scene with the couple you are writing, please for the love of god include it -.-
Read
June 20, 2024I dnf'd this one, so no rating. Boring is the best way to describe this book.
June 10, 2024
I was so hyped up to read this book because I love the twins and wanted to know more about their story but somehow it didn’t work for me. They didn’t grow on me as much as I hoped for.
It is a solid story with cute moments but somehow the story didn’t get to me like the books usually do.
It also felt a bit like the focus was too much on Harrison. Like obviously 10 years later he is still doing what he loves but what about Benny? Did he get his degree? Is he having a job as a journalist making a change?
I also hoped to get a bit more of the family and maybe their reaction but that did sadly not happen.
It is a solid story with cute moments but somehow the story didn’t get to me like the books usually do.
It also felt a bit like the focus was too much on Harrison. Like obviously 10 years later he is still doing what he loves but what about Benny? Did he get his degree? Is he having a job as a journalist making a change?
I also hoped to get a bit more of the family and maybe their reaction but that did sadly not happen.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2024
A Stealthy Situation by Saxon James
💜 Opposites Attract
💜 Sexual Awakening
💜 Grumpy-ish/Sunshine
💜 Cinnamon Roll MC
💜 Snarky MC
💜 Dyscalculia Rep
💜 Twin Switcheroo
This book was probably the one I was most looking forward to in this series. Saxon is one of my favourite authors and I loved Harrison in The Dating Disaster so I've been looking forward to his story.
I really liked both of the MCs in this book. Benny reminded me of Asher so much, he's so grumpy and snarky and acts like nothing can phase him, but beneath all that is real insecurity. Harrison is utterly adorable and I really liked how his sexual awakening wasn't a 'lightbulb' moment, but more something that took time. I really enjoyed seeing his journey of self discovery.
Emmett, Benny's twin, was a great addition to the story and I liked how even though they are described as being physically identical, they both are actually very different personality wise. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Emmett's character in book 8.
I enjoyed the couple of cameos of Marshall and Felix that we got, but I was a little disappointed that there weren't more Dalton family cameos, only one short phone call with Asher. I wish the bonus scene for the book would have been added into the actual story as it would have given that extra dose of Dalton family antics that was missing.
It felt to me like the main conflict of the story was quite quickly resolved and forgotten about, and it would have been nice to see more of the MCs learning to trust each other again afterwards.
This book was definitely a little more stressful to read than I expected. 😅 But even though I found the overall plot a little lacking, I still enjoyed this story and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the FU Universe.
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5
Humour: 🤭🤭🤭.5
Intimacy: 🫂🫂🫂🫂
Angst: 🥺🥺🥺
First person dual pov 👀
CW: mention of arson by a side character, mention of animal death, academic cheating, panic attack, intoxication.
💜 Opposites Attract
💜 Sexual Awakening
💜 Grumpy-ish/Sunshine
💜 Cinnamon Roll MC
💜 Snarky MC
💜 Dyscalculia Rep
💜 Twin Switcheroo
This book was probably the one I was most looking forward to in this series. Saxon is one of my favourite authors and I loved Harrison in The Dating Disaster so I've been looking forward to his story.
I really liked both of the MCs in this book. Benny reminded me of Asher so much, he's so grumpy and snarky and acts like nothing can phase him, but beneath all that is real insecurity. Harrison is utterly adorable and I really liked how his sexual awakening wasn't a 'lightbulb' moment, but more something that took time. I really enjoyed seeing his journey of self discovery.
Emmett, Benny's twin, was a great addition to the story and I liked how even though they are described as being physically identical, they both are actually very different personality wise. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Emmett's character in book 8.
I enjoyed the couple of cameos of Marshall and Felix that we got, but I was a little disappointed that there weren't more Dalton family cameos, only one short phone call with Asher. I wish the bonus scene for the book would have been added into the actual story as it would have given that extra dose of Dalton family antics that was missing.
It felt to me like the main conflict of the story was quite quickly resolved and forgotten about, and it would have been nice to see more of the MCs learning to trust each other again afterwards.
This book was definitely a little more stressful to read than I expected. 😅 But even though I found the overall plot a little lacking, I still enjoyed this story and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the FU Universe.
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5
Humour: 🤭🤭🤭.5
Intimacy: 🫂🫂🫂🫂
Angst: 🥺🥺🥺
First person dual pov 👀
CW: mention of arson by a side character, mention of animal death, academic cheating, panic attack, intoxication.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 15, 2024
I wanted to love this so badly and everything was there for this to be perfect but it just fell so flat and was honestly disappointing.
The few things that would’ve made this book more entertaining/captivating were scenes that were just completely cut or that were just glossed over. Without spoilers, a perfect example of this is the bonus scene that is included if you sign up for the authors newsletter. This scene is one I was so excited for in the book and it never happened. This is the type of scene that would’ve been included in the CU hockey series where we first meet Asher and West. Overall, there were so many scenes that felt like there was no point to them being included and yet as I said many that I wanted to be included which felt like would’ve made the story progress better but they weren’t there.
I don’t know. It was just disappointing and this unfortunately is something I have been experiencing more and more from this author and several others. Continuously pushing out these books one after the other and so quickly shows in the writing because the books feel rushed and it’s negatively affecting the whole story. The characters start feeling two-dimensional and the whole plot is excruciatingly simple and I just don’t care. It’s like there’s no substance and as I said it’s not just this author it’s others as well. The glaring common theme between them is the speed at which they keep pushing out these books and that as I said they all just feel bland and rushed.
I’m not saying these books should take years to write, but I just wish more time went into making them the best they could be. I wish there was more showing instead of telling, more time fleshing out the characters and their other relationships beside the one with the love interest which honestly wasn’t that developed either.
This is something I know this author can do because Asher and West’s books were better than this one because they were more fleshed out. You didn’t just see Asher and Kole’s relationship or West and Jasper’s, you saw Asher and West’s dynamics with each other and their siblings. You saw Kole’s with his dad. I could go on but there’s just something substantial missing from the recent books from this author that the old ones had.
The few things that would’ve made this book more entertaining/captivating were scenes that were just completely cut or that were just glossed over. Without spoilers, a perfect example of this is the bonus scene that is included if you sign up for the authors newsletter. This scene is one I was so excited for in the book and it never happened. This is the type of scene that would’ve been included in the CU hockey series where we first meet Asher and West. Overall, there were so many scenes that felt like there was no point to them being included and yet as I said many that I wanted to be included which felt like would’ve made the story progress better but they weren’t there.
I don’t know. It was just disappointing and this unfortunately is something I have been experiencing more and more from this author and several others. Continuously pushing out these books one after the other and so quickly shows in the writing because the books feel rushed and it’s negatively affecting the whole story. The characters start feeling two-dimensional and the whole plot is excruciatingly simple and I just don’t care. It’s like there’s no substance and as I said it’s not just this author it’s others as well. The glaring common theme between them is the speed at which they keep pushing out these books and that as I said they all just feel bland and rushed.
I’m not saying these books should take years to write, but I just wish more time went into making them the best they could be. I wish there was more showing instead of telling, more time fleshing out the characters and their other relationships beside the one with the love interest which honestly wasn’t that developed either.
This is something I know this author can do because Asher and West’s books were better than this one because they were more fleshed out. You didn’t just see Asher and Kole’s relationship or West and Jasper’s, you saw Asher and West’s dynamics with each other and their siblings. You saw Kole’s with his dad. I could go on but there’s just something substantial missing from the recent books from this author that the old ones had.
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August 16, 2024
I loved this. Loved Bennett and his cute grumpiness. Loved Harrison, he was such a cutie. It was all so fucking sweet and adorable omg. That’s all I have to say. Sweet. Light. Fluffy. Funny. Loved it.
He inputs a note in the margin of the document he’s typing in, and bingo. Harrison Dunn. Ah. Dunn and Dalton. I ship it.
We’ve been given a fucking gift with this world, and we’re ruining it.
Fuck, maybe I should turn myself into a tree? I wonder if he’d take a blow job from one of those flytrap thingies.
“You’re so stabby and cute. Not going to lie, jealous Benny is a real turn-on.”
» I do wish we’d gotten a few more crumbs from the Dalton family. Loved the extended epilogue where Harrison meet the Dalton family for christmas though.
4 stars
He inputs a note in the margin of the document he’s typing in, and bingo. Harrison Dunn. Ah. Dunn and Dalton. I ship it.
We’ve been given a fucking gift with this world, and we’re ruining it.
Fuck, maybe I should turn myself into a tree? I wonder if he’d take a blow job from one of those flytrap thingies.
“You’re so stabby and cute. Not going to lie, jealous Benny is a real turn-on.”
» I do wish we’d gotten a few more crumbs from the Dalton family. Loved the extended epilogue where Harrison meet the Dalton family for christmas though.
4 stars
October 15, 2024
4.25⭐️
This story had me hooked from beginning to end! Benny and Em’s switch thing was such a chaotic mess but it was hilarious. I absolutely adore the twins! Harrison and Benny’s friendship was super sweet and watching it evolve into something more was heartwarming. It was a fun, lighthearted read that kept me smiling throughout. Plus, I have a total soft spot for redhead MCs with freckles so it’s a win for me!
This story had me hooked from beginning to end! Benny and Em’s switch thing was such a chaotic mess but it was hilarious. I absolutely adore the twins! Harrison and Benny’s friendship was super sweet and watching it evolve into something more was heartwarming. It was a fun, lighthearted read that kept me smiling throughout. Plus, I have a total soft spot for redhead MCs with freckles so it’s a win for me!
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