Love, Hypothetically by Anne Tenino
Released: August 27, 2012
M/M Contemporary Romance (Novella)
Riptide Publishing
Reviewed by Mandi
Paul and Trevor had a secret relationship together in high school. Paul considered himself in love, although they never really talked about their feelings much. Trevor was a big time baseball player, with a pretend girlfriend. Although he had the hots for Paul, he never wanted to reciprocate oral sex or do anything “too gay.” One day while starting to fool around in the shower together, they get caught by a teammate of Trevor’s. Trevor immediately plays the hetero card, blaming Paul for trying to come onto him, dually forcing Paul out of the closet and humiliating him. Paul can not forgive Trevor for this, as Trevor goes onto play in the major leagues, still in the closet.
Now nine years have past, and Paul is still very bitter over the whole thing. He is just an anti-social, grumpy person in general. He is a tutor for a AA college, and gets a message that the new women’s softball coach wants him to tutor several of his players. And guess who the new coach is?
Trevor is back in town and now all these years later, wants Paul back. Paul just wants revenge for the embarrassment that Trevor caused. Deep down, Paul was not only embarrassed but he lost the person he loved all those years ago and has never gotten over it.
I’ve said it in the past, but I love cranky heroes. I love the self deprecating humor, the grumpiness, and the foul mood they are in when shoved in the face with a big surprise aka the high school crush back after nine years. Paul is still so pissed off about Trevor outing him, yet not outing himself and choosing baseball over a relationship. But now Trevor is back, more mature, out to the world and wants Paul back. Paul kind of falls for Trevor’s sexy advances and then feels even more pity that he let himself do that.
This one is okay, the sex is hot, kind of angry at first, which can be fun in a sex scene. But I kind of feel like, the basis of the two of these guys deciding to give their relationship another shot is all based on sex. We don’t see them court each other, except with blow jobs and sex on a boat (although I’ll never complain about sex on a boat!). Told in Paul’s point of view, he turns to friends for consultation, but we never really get into Trevor’s mind to see exactly how he feels about all this. I’m not convinced that they actually work through their issues. It felt more like Paul worked through some of his issues with the help of his friends, and we don’t really know the extent of Trevor’s internal battle. But I think we miss the two of them working it out together. I wish we could have seen that more.
This is novella length, so it is a quick read, and like I said, Paul made me smile a few times because he really is a grump. This is the second book I’ve read by Anne Tenino and I’ll be back for another.
Rating; C+
Recent Reviews:
Jessewave – 4.25/5
Under the Covers – 5/5
Tracy’s Place – 4/5
Insta-Love – B+
Goodreads
This sounds like one I’d like to read!