Title: No Such Thing by A.M. Arthur
Publisher: Carina Press
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic, M/M, Romance
Length: 67,000 words
Book Rating: B
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Author
Summary:
Twenty-two-year-old Alessandro Silva knows that returning to tiny Perch Creek to help his foster mother was the right thing to do. With no degree and a delinquent’s reputation, he’s lucky to have landed a job waiting tables. But not everyone is happy he’s back, and the only thing keeping his move home from being a total bust is his boss’s hot brother.
Jaime Winters spent most of his life watching the world go by, first from a series of hospitals and then from behind big stacks of textbooks. Studying is easier than facing the fact that years of heart failure means he’s still a virgin at twenty-three. Until the new waiter in his sister’s diner awakens desires he’d long ago given up on.
The last thing Alessandro wants is to fall for someone as fragile as Jaime. And Jaime may have a new heart, but he’s scared of what giving it to another person would mean. Their no-strings-attached, instructional approach to sex keeps emotion safely at bay, until a secret from Alessandro’s past forces them to confront their feelings in the present…
67,000 words
The Review:
A.M. Arthur’s No Such Thing is an incredibly charming love story between two young men whose lives have not always been easy. Alessandro Silva has overcome the most and I love how he was able to leave his bad boy past behind once he graduated high school. He could not wait to leave the small town of Perch Creek behind, but when his foster mom needs his help, he drops everything to move back in with her. Jaime Winters’s precarious health kept him from a normal childhood and by the time he was in high school, his health had deteriorated to the point he was mostly housebound. Now with a new lease on life, Jaime has a lot of living to catch up on, and after a little nudge from his sister Shannon, he and Alessandro are soon involved in a very hot “friends with benefits” relationship.
Alessandro has come a long way from his rebellious teenage years and although he sometimes feels he does not quite measure up to Jaime, he does not let his past define him. His generous and loving heart just shines through with his scenes with his foster mom and foster siblings. Trying to help his younger foster brother escape the heartache he went through, he uses his previous experiences to help guide their sometimes complicated relationship.
Living in a larger city provided Alessandro the opportunity to fully explore his sexuality and he is the perfect man to teach Jaime everything he wants to know about sex. A little awkward and a lot uncertain but always enthusiastic, Jaime willingly follows Alessandro’s lead in the bedroom and oh my goodness, their sex scenes are incredibly hot but also very touching.
Strong family ties, appealing characters and super steamy sex scenes make No Such Thing a must read for fans of contemporary m/m romances. This mostly lighthearted read has just a hint of drama and the conclusion of Alessandro and Jaime’s story is quite heartwarming. My fingers are crossed they’ll make a guest appearance in A.M. Arthur’s next book in this delightful series.