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Learning How to Lose #2
Learning How to Lose, in Six Easy Steps. Step Three: Innocence / Step Four: Perspective
It’s not that Ryuu’s a bad loser – he just wants things to be in order. And in the natural order of the universe, he should not be losing to dorks.
Losing is a thing Japanese pop star Ryuu Shiwasuda does not do – certainly not gracefully. Image is everything to hot-headed Ryuu. Sure, his macho bluster is only a cover for shyness and social awkwardness, but he takes it (and himself) very seriously.
So when gratingly cheerful punster Hiro Takahashi delivers the ultimate insult of letting Ryuu win at a video game, Ryuu is cut to the quick, and vows swift vengeance. Can’t be too hard to beat a dork like Hiro, right?
Wrong. As Ryuu chases after his elusive victory, he’s forced to add more and more items to the list of “things to beat Hiro at” – and is shocked to find that Hiro’s quirky charm is sparking never-before felt desires in him.
Ryuu’s life and career have no place for a male lover. But he’s already in too deep. Can he risk going all in? And what does he stand to lose if he doesn’t?
A novel in three volumes and six (easy) steps.
Volume II
Step Three: Innocence
Step Four: Perspective
Length of Volume II:
75,000 words
"Learning How to Lose" is a slow-burning, red-hot gay romance set in the world of Japanese pop idols. A lively tale of boybands, silly bets and challenges, horrible puns, concerts, video games, basketball, identifying too deeply with a samurai and a swordsmith… and most importantly: of two very different men redefining their lives for each other.
Losing is a thing Japanese pop star Ryuu Shiwasuda does not do – certainly not gracefully. Image is everything to hot-headed Ryuu. Sure, his macho bluster is only a cover for shyness and social awkwardness, but he takes it (and himself) very seriously.
So when gratingly cheerful punster Hiro Takahashi delivers the ultimate insult of letting Ryuu win at a video game, Ryuu is cut to the quick, and vows swift vengeance. Can’t be too hard to beat a dork like Hiro, right?
Wrong. As Ryuu chases after his elusive victory, he’s forced to add more and more items to the list of “things to beat Hiro at” – and is shocked to find that Hiro’s quirky charm is sparking never-before felt desires in him.
Ryuu’s life and career have no place for a male lover. But he’s already in too deep. Can he risk going all in? And what does he stand to lose if he doesn’t?
A novel in three volumes and six (easy) steps.
Volume II
Step Three: Innocence
Step Four: Perspective
Length of Volume II:
75,000 words
"Learning How to Lose" is a slow-burning, red-hot gay romance set in the world of Japanese pop idols. A lively tale of boybands, silly bets and challenges, horrible puns, concerts, video games, basketball, identifying too deeply with a samurai and a swordsmith… and most importantly: of two very different men redefining their lives for each other.
251 pages, ebook
First published December 22, 2014
3 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Alex Gabriel
9 books267 followersI am a writer. Mostly, I write gay romance – frequently with an element of the supernatural, fantastical or futuristic.
About Me
It all began when I learned to decipher the alphabet. I soon found that the world was full of wonderful stories – but not all of the tales I wanted to read were being told. In self-defense, I began to write, and haven’t stopped since.
In what little time my busy schedule of reading and writing has left me, I’ve worked as a copywriter, a translator, an English teacher, a linguistics tutor, an alibi S.O., a soap maker, a cloakroom attendant, a bartender, and other such things. Only the jobs that involve writing have stuck.
About My Stories
My primary focus is always on the characters. My goal is to create real, interesting and multi-faceted people and develop relationships that ring true… in the context of a world and a story that grab the reader and don’t let go.
I love fiction for its capacity to explore countless different worlds, ask thousands of different variations on what if.
What if time could flow backwards, what if we could travel to alternate universes, what if magic worked, what if gods and demons walked among us? What if telepathy and/or other such powers existed? What if stories were real, and reality just a fiction?
What if…?
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
May 2, 2015
*** Copy provided by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review. ***
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading. The blurb sounded intriguing, especially since my daughters and two of my dear friends are obsessed with the Asian pop culture (mangas, animes, doramas, boy bands, etc.), so I had a clue into what I was getting in and I have to say I wasn't disappointed.
I have to say that this series has to be read in order and the volumes it consists on can't be read as standalones, and damn if they didn't get marginally better as I read them.
We got more of everything in this volume. More of Ryuu's confusion, more of Hiro's adorableness, more delicious kisses and steamy scenes between Hiro and Ryuu. I wasn't expecting them to fell into this like they did, but I'm not complaining, it worked really well for them, at first. The author's descriptions were amazing, even if I could see there was angst looming in the horizon.
It was lovely to see Hiro and Ryuu sort of settle into a relationship. I would have loved to read Hiro's POV regarding some of the things they went through, though.
Hiro was as lovable as always, and Ryuu is still self-centered, but his growing feelings for Hiro are quite obvious, and even if some of his actions are mean, they are more out of his obliviousness than real desire to hurt anyone.
I also loved the look into the lives of the J-pop idols, which is pretty much how I envisioned it. I love how much research had to go into writing a book like this.
I really loved this volume, even with the beginning of the angst as Ryuu's actions hurt Hiro and things got messed up between them. It was a really good segue and left me wanting more.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading. The blurb sounded intriguing, especially since my daughters and two of my dear friends are obsessed with the Asian pop culture (mangas, animes, doramas, boy bands, etc.), so I had a clue into what I was getting in and I have to say I wasn't disappointed.
I have to say that this series has to be read in order and the volumes it consists on can't be read as standalones, and damn if they didn't get marginally better as I read them.
We got more of everything in this volume. More of Ryuu's confusion, more of Hiro's adorableness, more delicious kisses and steamy scenes between Hiro and Ryuu. I wasn't expecting them to fell into this like they did, but I'm not complaining, it worked really well for them, at first. The author's descriptions were amazing, even if I could see there was angst looming in the horizon.
It was lovely to see Hiro and Ryuu sort of settle into a relationship. I would have loved to read Hiro's POV regarding some of the things they went through, though.
Hiro was as lovable as always, and Ryuu is still self-centered, but his growing feelings for Hiro are quite obvious, and even if some of his actions are mean, they are more out of his obliviousness than real desire to hurt anyone.
I also loved the look into the lives of the J-pop idols, which is pretty much how I envisioned it. I love how much research had to go into writing a book like this.
I really loved this volume, even with the beginning of the angst as Ryuu's actions hurt Hiro and things got messed up between them. It was a really good segue and left me wanting more.
May 3, 2015
I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Yowzers!!!! Ryuu finally realizes that he feels something for Hiro and the boys get together. They are HOT HOT HOT together!!! I am so glad I continued to read this after Volume 1 confused me a bit (with its cultural references).
In this Volume, we see the boys try to figure out how to navigate a relationship beyond just friendship, but Ryuu has a lot of difficulty reconciling his feelings with what others might think. Ryuu was immature in Volume 1, and we continue to see that personality here. Ryuu has realized that he wants Hiro in his life and cares deeply for him, but acts in a contradictory manner without realizing it. My heart broke for Hiro and I wanted to smack Ryuu throughout the last quarter of this or so.
Regardless, I enjoyed the continuation of this story very much and am really looking forward to the resolution between Hiro and Ryuu. This book was MUCH better than the first and I found myself being able to understand it more and get emotionally connected with the characters.
Yowzers!!!! Ryuu finally realizes that he feels something for Hiro and the boys get together. They are HOT HOT HOT together!!! I am so glad I continued to read this after Volume 1 confused me a bit (with its cultural references).
In this Volume, we see the boys try to figure out how to navigate a relationship beyond just friendship, but Ryuu has a lot of difficulty reconciling his feelings with what others might think. Ryuu was immature in Volume 1, and we continue to see that personality here. Ryuu has realized that he wants Hiro in his life and cares deeply for him, but acts in a contradictory manner without realizing it. My heart broke for Hiro and I wanted to smack Ryuu throughout the last quarter of this or so.
Regardless, I enjoyed the continuation of this story very much and am really looking forward to the resolution between Hiro and Ryuu. This book was MUCH better than the first and I found myself being able to understand it more and get emotionally connected with the characters.
March 16, 2021
The middle book is the series is the weakest for me (but I still really enjoyed it).
After book one - which was purely about the couple developing a deep platonic friendship - in this book things flip to being in a sexual relationship so quickly it makes my head spin a little. There was a lot of sex (I usually fall on the side of less is more in my romances so a little high on the steamy threshold for me) but also lots of additional story around the samurai tv show (amazing), the various tv shows they appear in, songwriting, the band friendships, Kyuu being a dick, Hiro being hyper and adorable.
After book one - which was purely about the couple developing a deep platonic friendship - in this book things flip to being in a sexual relationship so quickly it makes my head spin a little. There was a lot of sex (I usually fall on the side of less is more in my romances so a little high on the steamy threshold for me) but also lots of additional story around the samurai tv show (amazing), the various tv shows they appear in, songwriting, the band friendships, Kyuu being a dick, Hiro being hyper and adorable.
June 20, 2016
My fourth work by this author and second in this series. I use 'work' so I can include the short story I read. This would be the third novel I've read by him.
Okay then - this was, for various reasons, the weakest of the works I've read by Gabriel. I might even be tempted to rethink my rating and lower it to 2. As it is, I think it might be closer to 2.5.
On one level it's easy to see why I might not like this one as much as the first one - it's drenched in sex (which the first book in the series was not). Male gay sex. Something I'm not exactly keen on reading. Heck, I'm not that keen on reading male-female graphic sex, but at least there a woman is involved. Actually there is a woman involved in this one, more than one. Though only one involved in male-female sex (described mostly as - 'we had sex, twice').
I'm sure I would have called this bisexual instead of gay regardless of the inclusion of the sex with the woman, and the masturbation scene wherein the man had a great time picturing women, and the former girlfriend who had dumped the lead character some time in the past and who Ryuu apparently really really liked. Liked to fuck, that is. Less liked on a friend-friend level. So, Ryuu's bisexual not gay. He can alternate between having male or female partners, he has found out. Hiro, on the other hand, has a more concealed sexual orientation. Obviously he like sex with men, but, other than mention of girlfriends back in school days, there's no mention of prior girlfriends (or boyfriends). So, Hiro's gay. Or bisexual. But not straight.
So, the story of the two music idols continues. Told almost completely from Ryuu's perspective. With tiny tidbits from Hiro's that turn up in emails and blogs entries.
To a certain extent, the most interesting parts, to me, were the ones that involved that samurai television series. Where Hiro . . . um, I'll switch this sentence so not to be spoiler-y. Where Hiro and Ryuu both appeared on.
So far, this series really reads like a single book that got broken down into various parts. Like the first book in the series, this one just abruptly stopped. No warning just . . . oops, story over. This time I didn't immediately turn to the third book to continue reading. Though I did read the opening blog/email section of the third book through the sample. To give myself more of a closure to this second book.
It's perfectly fine, in my eyes, to break a longer work done into parts. The most famous example being The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was supposed to be one big long book. But got broken down (with the Hobbit being a 'prequel' book that had been published about 20 or 30 years before the rest of the series). As I said, perfectly fine, just . . . there needs to be a natural beginning middle and end. Otherwise the broken down parts do not feel like separate entities but things unnaturally divided.
On the other hand, Gabriel might just be horrible with conclusions. I'll have to see, if I ever read it, how the final book concludes. I can't really use the short story as a guide, since it had a sex scene thrust into it near the end, so anything that happened after that was just there. I seem to recall that the superhero book, though, had a good enough conclusion. If I recall correctly.
This is one of those books that have, as an underlying theme, fear of disclosure. Fear of being found out to be gay (or have a same sex relationship). This is the second author who I have read that had 'gay culture in Japan' as an underlying theme. The prior author, also a series though I've only read one book there, was a woman writing about lesbians. High powered corporate lesbian to be exact. Who, it appeared, had no trouble with being a lesbian. In Japan. While here, the bisexual man was freaking out about being found out. The entire relationship, and his attitude to it was directly tied to this 'freaking out.' There's even a section that notes how a famous sports figure 'retired to spend time with his family', but likely retired because he had been found out, or was about to be found out to be gay.
So, two westerners writing about gay life in Japan. And two different takes on it. My prior understanding was that 'it's tricky/complicated/confusing'. There are openly gay/lesbian/transgender people in politics and entertainment in Japan. And the law does not forbid same sex relations or relationships. I had already known about yaoi and yuri manga, but you can't judge a culture and their laws by one thing. Especially if you do not know how deep or thin the impact of that one thing is in a culture. (hmms, looking at an article on gay culture in Japan - apparently there's a difference between gei-comi and yaoi comics, in that the first has two masculine gay men, while the second has a masculine top and feminized bottom).
Bah, I'd not be so focused on the issue if it didn't play a huge role in the book and series. I didn't focus on the issue as much when I read "Daite.", because gay culture in Japan didn't play a huge role in the book. Beyond the huge number of times the main character went to lesbian bars and hang out with friends.
Okay then - this was, for various reasons, the weakest of the works I've read by Gabriel. I might even be tempted to rethink my rating and lower it to 2. As it is, I think it might be closer to 2.5.
On one level it's easy to see why I might not like this one as much as the first one - it's drenched in sex (which the first book in the series was not). Male gay sex. Something I'm not exactly keen on reading. Heck, I'm not that keen on reading male-female graphic sex, but at least there a woman is involved. Actually there is a woman involved in this one, more than one. Though only one involved in male-female sex (described mostly as - 'we had sex, twice').
I'm sure I would have called this bisexual instead of gay regardless of the inclusion of the sex with the woman, and the masturbation scene wherein the man had a great time picturing women, and the former girlfriend who had dumped the lead character some time in the past and who Ryuu apparently really really liked. Liked to fuck, that is. Less liked on a friend-friend level. So, Ryuu's bisexual not gay. He can alternate between having male or female partners, he has found out. Hiro, on the other hand, has a more concealed sexual orientation. Obviously he like sex with men, but, other than mention of girlfriends back in school days, there's no mention of prior girlfriends (or boyfriends). So, Hiro's gay. Or bisexual. But not straight.
So, the story of the two music idols continues. Told almost completely from Ryuu's perspective. With tiny tidbits from Hiro's that turn up in emails and blogs entries.
To a certain extent, the most interesting parts, to me, were the ones that involved that samurai television series. Where Hiro . . . um, I'll switch this sentence so not to be spoiler-y. Where Hiro and Ryuu both appeared on.
So far, this series really reads like a single book that got broken down into various parts. Like the first book in the series, this one just abruptly stopped. No warning just . . . oops, story over. This time I didn't immediately turn to the third book to continue reading. Though I did read the opening blog/email section of the third book through the sample. To give myself more of a closure to this second book.
It's perfectly fine, in my eyes, to break a longer work done into parts. The most famous example being The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was supposed to be one big long book. But got broken down (with the Hobbit being a 'prequel' book that had been published about 20 or 30 years before the rest of the series). As I said, perfectly fine, just . . . there needs to be a natural beginning middle and end. Otherwise the broken down parts do not feel like separate entities but things unnaturally divided.
On the other hand, Gabriel might just be horrible with conclusions. I'll have to see, if I ever read it, how the final book concludes. I can't really use the short story as a guide, since it had a sex scene thrust into it near the end, so anything that happened after that was just there. I seem to recall that the superhero book, though, had a good enough conclusion. If I recall correctly.
This is one of those books that have, as an underlying theme, fear of disclosure. Fear of being found out to be gay (or have a same sex relationship). This is the second author who I have read that had 'gay culture in Japan' as an underlying theme. The prior author, also a series though I've only read one book there, was a woman writing about lesbians. High powered corporate lesbian to be exact. Who, it appeared, had no trouble with being a lesbian. In Japan. While here, the bisexual man was freaking out about being found out. The entire relationship, and his attitude to it was directly tied to this 'freaking out.' There's even a section that notes how a famous sports figure 'retired to spend time with his family', but likely retired because he had been found out, or was about to be found out to be gay.
So, two westerners writing about gay life in Japan. And two different takes on it. My prior understanding was that 'it's tricky/complicated/confusing'. There are openly gay/lesbian/transgender people in politics and entertainment in Japan. And the law does not forbid same sex relations or relationships. I had already known about yaoi and yuri manga, but you can't judge a culture and their laws by one thing. Especially if you do not know how deep or thin the impact of that one thing is in a culture. (hmms, looking at an article on gay culture in Japan - apparently there's a difference between gei-comi and yaoi comics, in that the first has two masculine gay men, while the second has a masculine top and feminized bottom).
Bah, I'd not be so focused on the issue if it didn't play a huge role in the book and series. I didn't focus on the issue as much when I read "Daite.", because gay culture in Japan didn't play a huge role in the book. Beyond the huge number of times the main character went to lesbian bars and hang out with friends.
July 12, 2015
This second book has the same problems as the first book in the trilogy, in that I think it will be hard to really appreciate for anyone who lacks knowledge of Japanese culture and "idol" subculture. This, for me, retains its fan fiction flavour, where the reader's knowledge of the world can safely be assumed, but of course that isn't true in the greater world in which it is published now. It'd be great if at some point the author could figure out how to write this type of work for people who're complete strangers to the culture; I think that would be a demanding task, especially doing it without constant info dumping. It all feels very authentic to me; it'd be nice if other could get to appreciate it as much as I do.
I found this second book very satisfying. Yes, despite the cliffhanger -- at least I knew this was a trilogy from the start, and bought the second and third volumes after having liked the first. I can now see why it is three books too; one would have to cut a lot to make it two, and the natural place to break would result in one long and one short book.
I've also come to appreciate the viewpoint. Much of the enjoyment I experienced came from seeing things slowly dawn on Ryuu; if I had also been invited into Hiro's head, that wouldn't have had the same impact. I think it's deftly done, because for the most part I could stay just a bit ahead of Ryuu, which to me is ideal; I don't want to be totally blindsided like the character, but I also don't want to feel the character is an idiot. Ryuu made sense to me, even his really desperate mistakes.
Ryuu isn't an ass. Honestly, I blame the culture much more in this case than I ever would for somebody who behaved like Ryuu in my own culture. The culture does not encourage direct communication, and you're supposed to guess what other people are really thinking. For many people that guesswork will quite naturally assume that other people are a lot like oneself, and especially so in a culture where homogeneity is prized. Hiro does in fact do the same thing at several crucial points; he extrapolates from what he feels himself to what Ryuu must mean -- but he is just as wrong about that as Ryuu is when he assumes that Hiro must "logically" recognize Ryuu only acts that way to protect them both. It's a very Japanese dilemma, especially for young people without the experience of many years of reading people.
I also really enjoyed what the book did in regard to sex -- a lot of pseudo-gay works published in Japan (as so-called "boys love", written mostly by women for women) get actual gay relationships horribly wrong, what with their insistence on one guy being the top, making him the "man" (seme), and the other one being the bottom, and therefore the "woman"(uke). Who is the seme is usually determined by who is older, taller, more successful, more "rugged", and the uke is all too often exaggeratedly feminine to boot. Here the author plays with the seme/uke stereotypes quite deliciously. I laughed out loud in a couple of places.
I loved the "play within the play" about the well-known story (in Japan) of Sanada's 10 warriors. Though it was mildly discobobulating to see Yuri Kamanosuke as the straightforward (if probably not perfectly straight) hero here, since he's the perverted assassin in BRAVE10, and a female cook in Samurai Deeper Kyo. Nicely done!
Do yourself a favour and buy the 3rd book before you finish this one. You will want to keep on reading right away.
I found this second book very satisfying. Yes, despite the cliffhanger -- at least I knew this was a trilogy from the start, and bought the second and third volumes after having liked the first. I can now see why it is three books too; one would have to cut a lot to make it two, and the natural place to break would result in one long and one short book.
I've also come to appreciate the viewpoint. Much of the enjoyment I experienced came from seeing things slowly dawn on Ryuu; if I had also been invited into Hiro's head, that wouldn't have had the same impact. I think it's deftly done, because for the most part I could stay just a bit ahead of Ryuu, which to me is ideal; I don't want to be totally blindsided like the character, but I also don't want to feel the character is an idiot. Ryuu made sense to me, even his really desperate mistakes.
Ryuu isn't an ass. Honestly, I blame the culture much more in this case than I ever would for somebody who behaved like Ryuu in my own culture. The culture does not encourage direct communication, and you're supposed to guess what other people are really thinking. For many people that guesswork will quite naturally assume that other people are a lot like oneself, and especially so in a culture where homogeneity is prized. Hiro does in fact do the same thing at several crucial points; he extrapolates from what he feels himself to what Ryuu must mean -- but he is just as wrong about that as Ryuu is when he assumes that Hiro must "logically" recognize Ryuu only acts that way to protect them both. It's a very Japanese dilemma, especially for young people without the experience of many years of reading people.
I also really enjoyed what the book did in regard to sex -- a lot of pseudo-gay works published in Japan (as so-called "boys love", written mostly by women for women) get actual gay relationships horribly wrong, what with their insistence on one guy being the top, making him the "man" (seme), and the other one being the bottom, and therefore the "woman"(uke). Who is the seme is usually determined by who is older, taller, more successful, more "rugged", and the uke is all too often exaggeratedly feminine to boot. Here the author plays with the seme/uke stereotypes quite deliciously. I laughed out loud in a couple of places.
I loved the "play within the play" about the well-known story (in Japan) of Sanada's 10 warriors. Though it was mildly discobobulating to see Yuri Kamanosuke as the straightforward (if probably not perfectly straight) hero here, since he's the perverted assassin in BRAVE10, and a female cook in Samurai Deeper Kyo. Nicely done!
Do yourself a favour and buy the 3rd book before you finish this one. You will want to keep on reading right away.
May 2, 2015
I received a free copy of this book from the author, in exchange for an honest review.
3.5-4 stars.
Just as the first book, containing the first two installments, this book is clearly not meant to be a stand alone read. The story picks up where the first book let off. The installments are named Innocence and perspective and very aptly so.
Ryuu and Hiro are in love, and Ryuu's understanding and accept of this comes slowly but surely and ever so sweetly. (although he doesn't actually admit to it being love, even if we, the reader is well aware of the fact)I can't say I blame him, even if we only see Hiro through his eyes, I am half way in love with the dorky guy myself!
Step 4 unfortunately throws in the perspective and it isn't pretty. The world of JPop Idols is not a world where romantic entanglements are encouraged at all, and certainly not homosexual ones. Ryuu is very aware of this fact, and becomes rather hurtful in his actions towards Hiro in his attempt to "throw people of the scent".
I enjoyed the second book a lot more than the first one. I loved the cute parallels of the samurai story to the boy's relationship and Ryuu's intimate thoughts about all the small things he likes about Hiro.
We end on a rather painful note, and I will rush forward to the third and last book, to hopefully get my HEA fix!
Overall series rating (all three books): 3.5-4 stars. If you start, you will need to get the next one. Very enjoyable and recommendable.
3.5-4 stars.
Just as the first book, containing the first two installments, this book is clearly not meant to be a stand alone read. The story picks up where the first book let off. The installments are named Innocence and perspective and very aptly so.
Ryuu and Hiro are in love, and Ryuu's understanding and accept of this comes slowly but surely and ever so sweetly. (although he doesn't actually admit to it being love, even if we, the reader is well aware of the fact)I can't say I blame him, even if we only see Hiro through his eyes, I am half way in love with the dorky guy myself!
Step 4 unfortunately throws in the perspective and it isn't pretty. The world of JPop Idols is not a world where romantic entanglements are encouraged at all, and certainly not homosexual ones. Ryuu is very aware of this fact, and becomes rather hurtful in his actions towards Hiro in his attempt to "throw people of the scent".
I enjoyed the second book a lot more than the first one. I loved the cute parallels of the samurai story to the boy's relationship and Ryuu's intimate thoughts about all the small things he likes about Hiro.
We end on a rather painful note, and I will rush forward to the third and last book, to hopefully get my HEA fix!
Overall series rating (all three books): 3.5-4 stars. If you start, you will need to get the next one. Very enjoyable and recommendable.
May 4, 2015
4 so happy stars.
Part two of this series just did it for me. I loved Ryuu and Hiro and their bumbling friendship that gradually turned into a (REALLY hot) relationship. It was lovely, it was sweet and it was intense. Ryuu is kind of an asshole but bubbly Hiro sees beyond that to his loving core. That is, until Ryuu manages to inadvertently be a real jerk towards the end. There's drama, but it's relatable drama, and something I could see totally happening in real life. This, of course, propelled me towards the next volume in the series without any breaks in between. Another $2.99? Sure, no problem!
Read my half assed review of the series here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Part two of this series just did it for me. I loved Ryuu and Hiro and their bumbling friendship that gradually turned into a (REALLY hot) relationship. It was lovely, it was sweet and it was intense. Ryuu is kind of an asshole but bubbly Hiro sees beyond that to his loving core. That is, until Ryuu manages to inadvertently be a real jerk towards the end. There's drama, but it's relatable drama, and something I could see totally happening in real life. This, of course, propelled me towards the next volume in the series without any breaks in between. Another $2.99? Sure, no problem!
Read my half assed review of the series here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
October 25, 2015
4.5 Stars - So sweet and humorous! I loved Ryuu and Hiro. I was sad at how it ended, though, and needed to jump in to the next volume right away!
October 31, 2016
しわすだ君と髙橋君はいよいよ恋人同士に。
恋に仕事（バラエティー、コンサート、ドラマ、歌番組などなど）に大忙しの二人。時代劇「真田十勇士」の撮影も始まって盛り上がります。
しわすだ君視点で話が進みますが、髙橋君の気持ちもじわじわと伝わってきてよかったです。
あぁ、この後どうなっちゃうの？
恋に仕事（バラエティー、コンサート、ドラマ、歌番組などなど）に大忙しの二人。時代劇「真田十勇士」の撮影も始まって盛り上がります。
しわすだ君視点で話が進みますが、髙橋君の気持ちもじわじわと伝わってきてよかったです。
あぁ、この後どうなっちゃうの？
July 6, 2018
Hmm. 2.5* This seemed drawn out. The boys get it together, avoid talking, Ryuu is stuck in deep denial while Hiro bounces about like he just don't care. He clearly does.
The result for me is a lack of love for out narrator Ryuu. His concerns are justified but his lack of awareness of the hurt he's causing is not. Perhaps some of Hiro's pov would help matters. There's a lot he's oblivious too. They seem to avoid what matters, perhaps that's apt for YA but it could be frustrating. If you're familiar with Japanese culture and music industry this may resonate more with you. For me the pressures and consequences placed on them weren't adequately stressed to justify Ryuu's behaviour.
There's a lot of sex, some of it endearingly awkward. There are moments of unwitting sweetness. The rest didn't always flow well. While I get the film set storyline was meant to be meaningful it seemed like filler. The story switching to the pov of the film character being portrayed could be disconcerting. The boys still read as very young and I found myself wondering what language their speaking. The setting is Japan, the texts they send are apparently kanji, but then Hiro loves puns which I'm not convinced would translate.
It's not without merit. There's some cute moments along the way and certainly some feeling for the wounded heart Hiro hides behind his manic grin.
This instalment ends with a cliffhanger, to my mind these are instalments of a story rather than a book series; they add up to one book something I generally avoid and get ranty over! If you're on KU great, but I'm not so wont be continuing.
On the whole I'll stick to the author's Challengers and Nix, those I love; this though, it isn't for me.
The result for me is a lack of love for out narrator Ryuu. His concerns are justified but his lack of awareness of the hurt he's causing is not. Perhaps some of Hiro's pov would help matters. There's a lot he's oblivious too. They seem to avoid what matters, perhaps that's apt for YA but it could be frustrating. If you're familiar with Japanese culture and music industry this may resonate more with you. For me the pressures and consequences placed on them weren't adequately stressed to justify Ryuu's behaviour.
There's a lot of sex, some of it endearingly awkward. There are moments of unwitting sweetness. The rest didn't always flow well. While I get the film set storyline was meant to be meaningful it seemed like filler. The story switching to the pov of the film character being portrayed could be disconcerting. The boys still read as very young and I found myself wondering what language their speaking. The setting is Japan, the texts they send are apparently kanji, but then Hiro loves puns which I'm not convinced would translate.
It's not without merit. There's some cute moments along the way and certainly some feeling for the wounded heart Hiro hides behind his manic grin.
This instalment ends with a cliffhanger, to my mind these are instalments of a story rather than a book series; they add up to one book something I generally avoid and get ranty over! If you're on KU great, but I'm not so wont be continuing.
On the whole I'll stick to the author's Challengers and Nix, those I love; this though, it isn't for me.
May 24, 2020
Ryuu and Hiro together are So. Damn. Cute! I love seeing the two of them discover preferences and comfort that neither of them had any idea they had before that moment. Yes, especially the moment when ...that might have been my favorite discovery! Hiro is so sweetly earnest -- he melts my heart into a pile of goo on the floor. And Ryuu getting into character while acting: what a lovely and tragic way he has of becoming Akisada. But the ending. No no no no no no! I can only hope that the right things happen in the last book about these adorable boys, aka Ryuu pulling his head out of his ass pronto!
June 29, 2022
So everything is from Ryuu's POV and the writing style itself reflects on Ryuu's changes. And that's awesome. The way Ryuu and Hiro are developed is awesome, too. Not to mention their relationship, I love how it's not finished when they get together, but we see them grow together.
What is not great is how much of an asshole Ryuu can be. I get that this is exactly about him getting better about it, and I can see where he changes, but sometimes he just pissed me off.
I guess a good book does make you feel things, so this must be a good one.
What is not great is how much of an asshole Ryuu can be. I get that this is exactly about him getting better about it, and I can see where he changes, but sometimes he just pissed me off.
I guess a good book does make you feel things, so this must be a good one.
May 30, 2021
Read all three volumes in this series in one sitting so can't actually remember what happened specifically in the middle one. Must've been good enough to keep reading, though?
March 30, 2022
Review of trilogy here.
May 23, 2024
3.5 stars
June 29, 2024
Favourite series ! Cute characters.
Loved the whole trilogy!
Loved the whole trilogy!
September 12, 2015
**4.5 stars**
The author was kind enough to provide me wih a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
After the first book turned out to be kind of disappointing overall, but with a promising ending, I hoped this book to be better. And it was.
I loved that we finally got to see more of Ryuu doing his job, be it as a singer, an actor, or by taking part in weird game shows. I especially loved the scenes when he was acting. It made for an intersting story in the story and I could really connect to Akisada and Yuri. That was very well done.
I felt like we got to see more of Ryuu's life in general. Not just little snippets of it like in the first book. We meet his family and we get to know him better. He's still a sore loser, though. But that's okay, because it's pretty funny to watch him come up with all sorts of excuses why he didn't really lose or how Hiro cheated.
Hiro and Ryuu were perfect together. It was a little bittersweet, though, because they have to hide their relationship so completely that Ryuu feels he can't even acknowledge Hiro as his friend in public. The constant paranoia was heartbreaking in a way. And yet when they did spend time together, I absolutely loved both of them. I could really feel their love for each other.
Hiro is way less annoying. We finally get to see past his mask of eternal cheerfulness and dorkiness. And I have to say, I like the man behind the mask.
I also got more of the "Japanese vibe" that I'd missed so much in the first book. I really felt the author did the unique setting of Tokyo justice. Though I have to say I'm glad I have a friend who's happy to translate random Japanese words for me at 1am. People who don't have a friend like that might have some trouble with the untranslated words. Though it was mostly obvious they were talking about food or clothes or whatever, I'm a very nosy person and always wanted to know what EXACTLY they were talking about.
While this book was definitely less shadow than book one and had a real plot in it, I still thought it lacked details. We never find out all that much about Hiro's backstory. We meet Hiro's mother and there are some hints of a tense relationship, but there's no depth to it. Once that scene is over, the mother is forgotten. We never even hear a word about his father. We also never find out if Hiro's been with other men before. He seems pretty happy to go with the flow and doesn't really have any inhibitions. But that might as well just be the way he is in general.
Overall, this book was a lot better than book one. It had a real depth and we got more than silly, shallow snippets. The scenes when Ryuu did his job were great and I got more of the "Japanese vibe". With a little more depth, this could have easily been a five star read.
The author was kind enough to provide me wih a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
After the first book turned out to be kind of disappointing overall, but with a promising ending, I hoped this book to be better. And it was.
I loved that we finally got to see more of Ryuu doing his job, be it as a singer, an actor, or by taking part in weird game shows. I especially loved the scenes when he was acting. It made for an intersting story in the story and I could really connect to Akisada and Yuri. That was very well done.
I felt like we got to see more of Ryuu's life in general. Not just little snippets of it like in the first book. We meet his family and we get to know him better. He's still a sore loser, though. But that's okay, because it's pretty funny to watch him come up with all sorts of excuses why he didn't really lose or how Hiro cheated.
Hiro and Ryuu were perfect together. It was a little bittersweet, though, because they have to hide their relationship so completely that Ryuu feels he can't even acknowledge Hiro as his friend in public. The constant paranoia was heartbreaking in a way. And yet when they did spend time together, I absolutely loved both of them. I could really feel their love for each other.
Hiro is way less annoying. We finally get to see past his mask of eternal cheerfulness and dorkiness. And I have to say, I like the man behind the mask.
I also got more of the "Japanese vibe" that I'd missed so much in the first book. I really felt the author did the unique setting of Tokyo justice. Though I have to say I'm glad I have a friend who's happy to translate random Japanese words for me at 1am. People who don't have a friend like that might have some trouble with the untranslated words. Though it was mostly obvious they were talking about food or clothes or whatever, I'm a very nosy person and always wanted to know what EXACTLY they were talking about.
While this book was definitely less shadow than book one and had a real plot in it, I still thought it lacked details. We never find out all that much about Hiro's backstory. We meet Hiro's mother and there are some hints of a tense relationship, but there's no depth to it. Once that scene is over, the mother is forgotten. We never even hear a word about his father. We also never find out if Hiro's been with other men before. He seems pretty happy to go with the flow and doesn't really have any inhibitions. But that might as well just be the way he is in general.
Overall, this book was a lot better than book one. It had a real depth and we got more than silly, shallow snippets. The scenes when Ryuu did his job were great and I got more of the "Japanese vibe". With a little more depth, this could have easily been a five star read.
April 30, 2015
*I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for a fair review*
I am writing this as more of a review for the whole series, because I truly feel like you can't read any of these as stand alone, and I think that they would have been better served edited down into just one, maybe two books.
This series is set in the Japanese world of J-pop stars, and I truly think the reader would get the most out of this series if they were more familiar with that world. The series is filled with honorifics and societal norms that are quite unfamiliar to someone like me. I kept getting pulled out of the story trying to figure out what something meant, or how things were done. There was also reference to several different bands (at least two, Hiro's group and Ryuu's group), tv series, movies, game shows, and interviews, which I think dragged the story down at times. I found myself skimming the bits that didn't further Hiro and Ryuu's relationship in any way.
I did really enjoy the characters, although Ryuu did have his frustrating moments. Hiro, though, was an absolute, quirky, happy go lucky dream.
The series is told from Ryuu's POV solely, and I would have LOVED to get at least some of Hiro's POV. His thoughts and feelings were a bit of a mystery, and I wanted to know more of what he was thinking throughout the story.
Book two is where the relationship finally starts to come into play. I loved that the sex was a bit awkward at times, and also how much Ryuu struggled with who he was and what he wanted. While I was happy to finally get to the sexy times, that wasn't all book two was about. There were also plenty of moments of the guys just being close, watching movies together, hanging out, acting like goofballs, as well as Ryuu trying to balance his relationship Hiro and his professional life. I really wish that the guys had talked more about their relationship, especially Hiro. We know for sure this is Ryuu's first anything with another guy, and while it seems that way with Hiro, too, I was never sure if he'd been attracted to another guy before. It then ends in a cliffhanger after Ryuu screws up, and then book three is Ryuu coming to terms with what he wants and fighting to get it back, and how dedicated he is to making things work.
All in all, I really enjoyed this series, I just wish it had been a bit easier for me to understand the world that the series was set in.
I am writing this as more of a review for the whole series, because I truly feel like you can't read any of these as stand alone, and I think that they would have been better served edited down into just one, maybe two books.
This series is set in the Japanese world of J-pop stars, and I truly think the reader would get the most out of this series if they were more familiar with that world. The series is filled with honorifics and societal norms that are quite unfamiliar to someone like me. I kept getting pulled out of the story trying to figure out what something meant, or how things were done. There was also reference to several different bands (at least two, Hiro's group and Ryuu's group), tv series, movies, game shows, and interviews, which I think dragged the story down at times. I found myself skimming the bits that didn't further Hiro and Ryuu's relationship in any way.
I did really enjoy the characters, although Ryuu did have his frustrating moments. Hiro, though, was an absolute, quirky, happy go lucky dream.
The series is told from Ryuu's POV solely, and I would have LOVED to get at least some of Hiro's POV. His thoughts and feelings were a bit of a mystery, and I wanted to know more of what he was thinking throughout the story.
Book two is where the relationship finally starts to come into play. I loved that the sex was a bit awkward at times, and also how much Ryuu struggled with who he was and what he wanted. While I was happy to finally get to the sexy times, that wasn't all book two was about. There were also plenty of moments of the guys just being close, watching movies together, hanging out, acting like goofballs, as well as Ryuu trying to balance his relationship Hiro and his professional life. I really wish that the guys had talked more about their relationship, especially Hiro. We know for sure this is Ryuu's first anything with another guy, and while it seems that way with Hiro, too, I was never sure if he'd been attracted to another guy before. It then ends in a cliffhanger after Ryuu screws up, and then book three is Ryuu coming to terms with what he wants and fighting to get it back, and how dedicated he is to making things work.
All in all, I really enjoyed this series, I just wish it had been a bit easier for me to understand the world that the series was set in.
August 28, 2017
I love my boys <3 I want them to be happy!! But Ryuu is killing me with his indecision to come out (understandably, since he is an idol) and his reluctance to admit his feelings for Hiro out loud. In the process, he is hurting poor Hiro :(
[My theory is that the author based these 2 guys in 2 Johnnys. Unfortunately not the 2 I wanted. Anyway, my theory is that Ryuu is based on Nishikido Ryo. More or less same name, same grumpy personality, both of them were super cute when they were children, both of them are from Osaka, and are in a 7-member band. And Yo looks like he is YamaPi: best friend in the band, with a steady girlfriend (there was a time where he was steady with Keiko, and Yo is steady with Yumiko). Hiro, I think, is Taguchi (wtf, Ryo and Junno?? hahaha). Hiro is tall, likes puns, is mostly being made fun of, saying nothing and just smiling, just like Junno.]
So, this book was so much better than the 1st because of the romance. It has everything I like: a bit angsty (ok, pretty angsty in the last chapter, boohoo), romantic, steamy, cute... I almost want to punch Ryuu, because he is so scared to be busted. But hello! they are just meant to be together, everyone can see that ^_^ But no, Ryuu has to go and ruin everything... my heart almost broke in the last chapter (which is basically, the first chapter of the next book). I mean, his reasons are plausible. I've read so much about gossips on J-idols and the scoops of one being caught in a conbini/disco/etc. and the speculations of X idol being gay, X idol being promiscuous, etc, and they have to maintain their image intact and whatever, but still, it hurts when Ryuu more or less denigrates Hiro ("what? me with Hiro? As if. I am with **grabs some chick** this girl") right in front of him and then expects all to be good. As much as Hiro is nice and tries to go with the flow, there is a limit.
Please Ryuu, do something :( and please Hiro, don't be so hard on both of you. You both are suffering :( and me too :(
[My theory is that the author based these 2 guys in 2 Johnnys. Unfortunately not the 2 I wanted. Anyway, my theory is that Ryuu is based on Nishikido Ryo. More or less same name, same grumpy personality, both of them were super cute when they were children, both of them are from Osaka, and are in a 7-member band. And Yo looks like he is YamaPi: best friend in the band, with a steady girlfriend (there was a time where he was steady with Keiko, and Yo is steady with Yumiko). Hiro, I think, is Taguchi (wtf, Ryo and Junno?? hahaha). Hiro is tall, likes puns, is mostly being made fun of, saying nothing and just smiling, just like Junno.]
So, this book was so much better than the 1st because of the romance. It has everything I like: a bit angsty (ok, pretty angsty in the last chapter, boohoo), romantic, steamy, cute... I almost want to punch Ryuu, because he is so scared to be busted. But hello! they are just meant to be together, everyone can see that ^_^ But no, Ryuu has to go and ruin everything... my heart almost broke in the last chapter (which is basically, the first chapter of the next book). I mean, his reasons are plausible. I've read so much about gossips on J-idols and the scoops of one being caught in a conbini/disco/etc. and the speculations of X idol being gay, X idol being promiscuous, etc, and they have to maintain their image intact and whatever, but still, it hurts when Ryuu more or less denigrates Hiro ("what? me with Hiro? As if. I am with **grabs some chick** this girl") right in front of him and then expects all to be good. As much as Hiro is nice and tries to go with the flow, there is a limit.
Please Ryuu, do something :( and please Hiro, don't be so hard on both of you. You both are suffering :( and me too :(
April 19, 2015
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Follows volume one. The relationship between Ryuu and Hiro gets a bit more complicated with Ryuu realizing he's physically attracted to Hiro. Their relationship takes a huge step forward from friendship to something more. Conplications arrive in the form of social appearances and trying to keep their affair under wraps.
Like I said in my review of volume one. The series is highly character driven. Readers get to see a lot of Ryuu's thoughts and feelings and the reasoning to some of his awful treatment of Hiro.
I liked seeing the cultural aspects on Ryuu in his native setting and learning about all the cultural social drinking games. The romantic development between Ryuu and Hiro was kind a bit like what I imagined love felt like when I was younger. The emotional, physical and mental pull the two had for each other really had my heart a flutter. The explorative sex was hot and a tad embarrassing. I loved seeing the intimacy but I kind of felt like I was seeing something I wasn't suppose to be seeing. I think I fell a lot in love with them because of it though.
The Akisada and Yuri moments of the book reminded me a bit of Haru wo Daite Ita (err..the Winter Cicada drama portion of it anyway) by Youka Nitta(a manga that was licensed as Embracing Love for a short time in America before copyright issues stopped publication). I found it fascinating how far the Ryuu and Hiro got into the heads of the character they were playing and their thought process/reasoning behind their characters behavior.
Ryuu was an ass in this volume...I mean a bigger one than usual with his denial of any relationship with Hiro in front of others. I get that he's trying to protect both their careers but he definitely could have handled it better.
Follows volume one. The relationship between Ryuu and Hiro gets a bit more complicated with Ryuu realizing he's physically attracted to Hiro. Their relationship takes a huge step forward from friendship to something more. Conplications arrive in the form of social appearances and trying to keep their affair under wraps.
Like I said in my review of volume one. The series is highly character driven. Readers get to see a lot of Ryuu's thoughts and feelings and the reasoning to some of his awful treatment of Hiro.
I liked seeing the cultural aspects on Ryuu in his native setting and learning about all the cultural social drinking games. The romantic development between Ryuu and Hiro was kind a bit like what I imagined love felt like when I was younger. The emotional, physical and mental pull the two had for each other really had my heart a flutter. The explorative sex was hot and a tad embarrassing. I loved seeing the intimacy but I kind of felt like I was seeing something I wasn't suppose to be seeing. I think I fell a lot in love with them because of it though.
The Akisada and Yuri moments of the book reminded me a bit of Haru wo Daite Ita (err..the Winter Cicada drama portion of it anyway) by Youka Nitta(a manga that was licensed as Embracing Love for a short time in America before copyright issues stopped publication). I found it fascinating how far the Ryuu and Hiro got into the heads of the character they were playing and their thought process/reasoning behind their characters behavior.
Ryuu was an ass in this volume...I mean a bigger one than usual with his denial of any relationship with Hiro in front of others. I get that he's trying to protect both their careers but he definitely could have handled it better.
October 18, 2020
I just love these guys! The first book was an incredibly slow burn, and though it was glacially slow, it was worth it because I felt that I really knew Ryuu and Hiro. Which was necessary to appreciate how the relationship progresses in this one.
The romance in this installment, however, heats up very quickly. Unsurprisingly, Hiro is the one to make the first move, and that first physical scene was stunning. The emotion! I got shivers, in the best way...
But for these guys, in the public eye as members of two popular boy bands, being in a relationship at all, much less a gay one, would be career suicide. And they are both committed to their careers, as band members as well as thinking forward to futures in acting. Which led to the main source of tension in the book -- Ryuu really doesn't know how to balance this secret with his public persona, and it causes conflict not just with Hiro and his other friends, but also within himself. He truly struggles to define to himself who he is, what he wants, and he can't really talk with anyone about it, so he blunders along and ends up hurting just about everybody.
I also really enjoyed how Ryuu's confusion and questioning played out in their sexual roles as well -- Ryuu automatically decided he was a top, not because he didn't enjoy bottoming from a physical standpoint, but he felt that it was the submissive role, which he couldn't accept. He had all these preconceived notions about who he should be, and who his partner should be, and he couldn't let them go, even when Hiro was clearly so much different from anyone he'd been with before -- and not just because he was a man!
For anyone who enjoys character development, I recommend this series highly.
The romance in this installment, however, heats up very quickly. Unsurprisingly, Hiro is the one to make the first move, and that first physical scene was stunning. The emotion! I got shivers, in the best way...
But for these guys, in the public eye as members of two popular boy bands, being in a relationship at all, much less a gay one, would be career suicide. And they are both committed to their careers, as band members as well as thinking forward to futures in acting. Which led to the main source of tension in the book -- Ryuu really doesn't know how to balance this secret with his public persona, and it causes conflict not just with Hiro and his other friends, but also within himself. He truly struggles to define to himself who he is, what he wants, and he can't really talk with anyone about it, so he blunders along and ends up hurting just about everybody.
I also really enjoyed how Ryuu's confusion and questioning played out in their sexual roles as well -- Ryuu automatically decided he was a top, not because he didn't enjoy bottoming from a physical standpoint, but he felt that it was the submissive role, which he couldn't accept. He had all these preconceived notions about who he should be, and who his partner should be, and he couldn't let them go, even when Hiro was clearly so much different from anyone he'd been with before -- and not just because he was a man!
For anyone who enjoys character development, I recommend this series highly.
February 8, 2015
Contemporary M/M pop-rockers Japanese style romance.
Not clean like the first, Learning How to Lose, in Six Easy Steps. Step One: Tetris / Step Two: Fun and Games. There is quite a bit of sexy time between our Hiro and Ryuu.
I get why people might not understand or click with this story because if you have no Japanese background then you really won't understand this story or why the characters react the way they do.
These are Japanese pop-stars that are supposed to be a certain way.
Then catastrophe! When a couple of guys fall in love but then Ryuu ruins everything as he tries to hide his gay relationship with Hiro when he is just trying to protect his love, but ends up punished because we get a definite cliffhanger ending to this second part of the story. I'll probably buy the last part, but I think I liked the Learning How to Lose, in Six Easy Steps. Step One: Tetris / Step Two: Fun and Games better then this story but it was still sweet and stupid because Ryuu avoids analyzing this feelings like it will kill him, but then it is too late to save his relationship with Hiro. So very heartbreaking story.
251 pages and cost 3.99$ on Kindle.
3 stars
Not clean like the first, Learning How to Lose, in Six Easy Steps. Step One: Tetris / Step Two: Fun and Games. There is quite a bit of sexy time between our Hiro and Ryuu.
I get why people might not understand or click with this story because if you have no Japanese background then you really won't understand this story or why the characters react the way they do.
These are Japanese pop-stars that are supposed to be a certain way.
Then catastrophe! When a couple of guys fall in love but then Ryuu ruins everything as he tries to hide his gay relationship with Hiro when he is just trying to protect his love, but ends up punished because we get a definite cliffhanger ending to this second part of the story. I'll probably buy the last part, but I think I liked the Learning How to Lose, in Six Easy Steps. Step One: Tetris / Step Two: Fun and Games better then this story but it was still sweet and stupid because Ryuu avoids analyzing this feelings like it will kill him, but then it is too late to save his relationship with Hiro. So very heartbreaking story.
251 pages and cost 3.99$ on Kindle.
3 stars
April 28, 2015
This book was provided for free by the author in exchange for an honest review.
I will again reiterate that I loved the trilogy as a whole, but this book for me was not the best. Why? I was already unhappy that the first book didn't really resolve anything, and then this one again didn't do that either. Yes, we get to see more of the amazing bromance between Ryuu and Hiro, and the development of their romantic/intimate relationship, but other than that, my language/culture issues from the first book are the same. Please read my review of that book for more details on those issues. What I do think is well done is the insight we get into Ryuu's mind as he starts to think of Hiro as more than just a friend. He has never really thought of himself as anything other than straight (having dated several girls before) and when he realizes his attraction to Hiro, he is understandingly bewildered. I would have loved to have seen Hiro's side of all this as well, but the books are written from Ryuu's POV.
Overall this second book of the trilogy was good, but with all the little language issues, as well as the fact that nothing really gets resolved, I just couldn't give it 5 stars. But I definitely recommend this book as well as the whole trilogy for those who love GFY/OFY, friends to lovers, and slow-burn romances.
I will again reiterate that I loved the trilogy as a whole, but this book for me was not the best. Why? I was already unhappy that the first book didn't really resolve anything, and then this one again didn't do that either. Yes, we get to see more of the amazing bromance between Ryuu and Hiro, and the development of their romantic/intimate relationship, but other than that, my language/culture issues from the first book are the same. Please read my review of that book for more details on those issues. What I do think is well done is the insight we get into Ryuu's mind as he starts to think of Hiro as more than just a friend. He has never really thought of himself as anything other than straight (having dated several girls before) and when he realizes his attraction to Hiro, he is understandingly bewildered. I would have loved to have seen Hiro's side of all this as well, but the books are written from Ryuu's POV.
Overall this second book of the trilogy was good, but with all the little language issues, as well as the fact that nothing really gets resolved, I just couldn't give it 5 stars. But I definitely recommend this book as well as the whole trilogy for those who love GFY/OFY, friends to lovers, and slow-burn romances.
April 19, 2015
*A copy of this book was provided for free by the author in exchange for an honest review.*
Step Three picks up right where Step Two left off. Ryuu is just realizing that he feels more for Hiro than mere friendship and is struggling with this new found part of himself. Hiro is harder to get a feel for since we only ever see him through Ryuu's besotted eyes. This is the book where the romance kicks in, and fast! The racy scenes are great, and I love that that's not all the relationship is based on. You see them have intimate scenes that have nothing to do with sex. They hang out. They touch just to be connected. And then in Step Four the other shoe drops. Ryuu knows how he feels about Hiro, and is happy with it. He knows how much Hiro means and doesn't want to lose him. But he also knows that their public lives really leave no room to be gay. And knowing the consequences of being out, he tries to play it cool and keep it private. Then he goes too far. He pulls a major jerk move right in front of Hiro, who just leaves. We'll see the fallout in Step Five. It's hard to be mad at him though, because he really doesn't understand what he did that was so bad. I really can't wait to see how everything plays out.
Step Three picks up right where Step Two left off. Ryuu is just realizing that he feels more for Hiro than mere friendship and is struggling with this new found part of himself. Hiro is harder to get a feel for since we only ever see him through Ryuu's besotted eyes. This is the book where the romance kicks in, and fast! The racy scenes are great, and I love that that's not all the relationship is based on. You see them have intimate scenes that have nothing to do with sex. They hang out. They touch just to be connected. And then in Step Four the other shoe drops. Ryuu knows how he feels about Hiro, and is happy with it. He knows how much Hiro means and doesn't want to lose him. But he also knows that their public lives really leave no room to be gay. And knowing the consequences of being out, he tries to play it cool and keep it private. Then he goes too far. He pulls a major jerk move right in front of Hiro, who just leaves. We'll see the fallout in Step Five. It's hard to be mad at him though, because he really doesn't understand what he did that was so bad. I really can't wait to see how everything plays out.
May 1, 2015
*This book was received free in return for an honest review via the Goodreads Don't Buy My Love program*
Oh my gosh! This is steaming hot compared to the first book of this series. It opens with a flash bang of a stun grenade, Ryuu realizes he's sexually attracted to Hiro and he doesn't know what to do.
The two are now working together, acting in a historical samurai series. And Ryuu's ex girlfriend is costaring with Hiro. The scenes with Akisada and Yuri were absolutely great. I would love to watch that series if it was real. I found the whole film making portions fascinating.
This book sent me on an emotional roller coaster ride, the awkwardness, the trials and tribulations of falling in love for the first time with a guy. But Ryuu is still clueless when it comes to other people and social dealings. Too wrapped up in his head to see what is going on around him. He can be so frustrating at times, but it also makes for some humorous situations.
Warning: This book is part 2 of a trilogy, not a stand alone.
Oh my gosh! This is steaming hot compared to the first book of this series. It opens with a flash bang of a stun grenade, Ryuu realizes he's sexually attracted to Hiro and he doesn't know what to do.
The two are now working together, acting in a historical samurai series. And Ryuu's ex girlfriend is costaring with Hiro. The scenes with Akisada and Yuri were absolutely great. I would love to watch that series if it was real. I found the whole film making portions fascinating.
This book sent me on an emotional roller coaster ride, the awkwardness, the trials and tribulations of falling in love for the first time with a guy. But Ryuu is still clueless when it comes to other people and social dealings. Too wrapped up in his head to see what is going on around him. He can be so frustrating at times, but it also makes for some humorous situations.
Warning: This book is part 2 of a trilogy, not a stand alone.
May 4, 2015
I was given a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
This is the second in a three part series and I have to say I enjoyed the second book more than the first.
Ryuu and Hiro's friendship has grown (noted by Ryuu referring to Takahashi now as Hiro). Ryuu also starts to realize he might just like Hiro as more than just a friend which bothers him on so many levels. And we see Ryuu's angst and insecurities take center stage. Despite the other group members hangout with each other and with members of different groups Ryuu doesn't want others to know that he and Hiro are friends, and that point confused me some. This only got worse after they slept together.
I have to say I barely like Ryuu in the first book and halfway through this one I was like what does Hiro even see in him. So yeah I was sorta happy with the way this one ended because Ryuu was being an ass...
This is the second in a three part series and I have to say I enjoyed the second book more than the first.
Ryuu and Hiro's friendship has grown (noted by Ryuu referring to Takahashi now as Hiro). Ryuu also starts to realize he might just like Hiro as more than just a friend which bothers him on so many levels. And we see Ryuu's angst and insecurities take center stage. Despite the other group members hangout with each other and with members of different groups Ryuu doesn't want others to know that he and Hiro are friends, and that point confused me some. This only got worse after they slept together.
I have to say I barely like Ryuu in the first book and halfway through this one I was like what does Hiro even see in him. So yeah I was sorta happy with the way this one ended because Ryuu was being an ass...
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January 28, 2018
Favorite quotes:
This issue seemed impossibly complicated yesterday, but now, he simply asks himself if he wants to choose - actively choose when he doesn't have to, when there's a different choice available - a reality of wanting Hiro but never touching him... never being touched by him. When he thinks about it like that, the answer becomes clear in an instant.
He wants to watch Hiro's face and see the pleasure and desire and need in his eyes. And maybe he'll get to do that later tonight and maybe he won't, depending on just how long they'll be here and how tired they'll be by the time they get home. But somehow, none of that matters, because it's not about that.
This - the kissing in an empty office in the dark like teenagers. The silliness. The sweetness. It's enough. More than enough.
May 3, 2015
A copy of this book was given to me for free in exchange for an honest review.
In comparison to the first book, this would be 3.5*. This book was definitely more interesting and grabbed my attention easier than the first. Judging it alone, it would stay a 3.
Ryuu became more likeable in this story. He was "humanized" in this part. I enjoyed reading as their relationship blossomed and the conflict at the end of the book was realistic.
Had I not had the third book to read when this one ended, I would have been sorely disappointed. I'm truly not a big fan of cliffhangers, unless I have the next book ready to roll. Thankfully I did in this case.
Hiro was very much a likeable character. There were times I would have liked to be in his head.
Overall, okay book.
In comparison to the first book, this would be 3.5*. This book was definitely more interesting and grabbed my attention easier than the first. Judging it alone, it would stay a 3.
Ryuu became more likeable in this story. He was "humanized" in this part. I enjoyed reading as their relationship blossomed and the conflict at the end of the book was realistic.
Had I not had the third book to read when this one ended, I would have been sorely disappointed. I'm truly not a big fan of cliffhangers, unless I have the next book ready to roll. Thankfully I did in this case.
Hiro was very much a likeable character. There were times I would have liked to be in his head.
Overall, okay book.
January 8, 2017
3 stars!
I genuinely did like the characters and their development so the only reason I rated this book with 3 stars is for the following reason: the impending conflict. I knew, when I first started this series that book 2 ends in conflict that will ultimately bring us to book 3. And it is solely because I was so wary of it that I felt I didn't enjoy the book as much as I should have. Nonetheless I really do like this series so far and will finish off book 3. Perhaps I will re-read this book next time and give a better rating.
Overall, I really enjoyed the first half of the book and I liked the scenes where they did the historical drama because it was like a mini story within a story.
I genuinely did like the characters and their development so the only reason I rated this book with 3 stars is for the following reason: the impending conflict. I knew, when I first started this series that book 2 ends in conflict that will ultimately bring us to book 3. And it is solely because I was so wary of it that I felt I didn't enjoy the book as much as I should have. Nonetheless I really do like this series so far and will finish off book 3. Perhaps I will re-read this book next time and give a better rating.
Overall, I really enjoyed the first half of the book and I liked the scenes where they did the historical drama because it was like a mini story within a story.
December 29, 2015
The hints in Volume I are fulfilled in Volume II as Hiro and Ryuu stumble their way into a relationship. Not that Ryuu is aware enough to call it that.
Gabriel has a way with dialogue. No formal sentence structure here, just the uneven flow of words from a man trying to discover himself and what he wants.
If Volume I ended with a whisper of possibility, Volume II ends with an explosion of angst. Serious cliffhanger...thank God, Amazon is 24/7 :)
Gabriel has a way with dialogue. No formal sentence structure here, just the uneven flow of words from a man trying to discover himself and what he wants.
If Volume I ended with a whisper of possibility, Volume II ends with an explosion of angst. Serious cliffhanger...thank God, Amazon is 24/7 :)
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