I enjoyed this book. It was a fun quick romantic read. Some parts felt a little slow but it was a cute story overall.

First thing to stress is that the story is pretty simplistic. Main character just out of a relationship moves across country, finds a new partner, starts new relationship, almost leaves but then changes his mind.
The thing that rankled me was the reliance on clichéd gay stereotypes. I'm sure some of these elements feature in relationships (not just homosexual ones) but they were all thrown in for no obvious reason.
Our main characters were both selfish and lacking in self-awareness. They were surrounded by more clichés and even the events within the novel felt forced.
I'm sure a lot of readers - if they bother to get to this stage - will be divided in their response to the graphic sex scenes. All I could focus on was the way they perpetuate stereotypes that people have spent years trying to overcome.
Ultimately, there's lots of books exploring relationships and some of the issues within this one out there...and which do it do much better.
While I thank NetGalley for the ARC, I think someone should have done this a favour and said 'no thanks'.

Love And Other Hot Beverages is a roller coaster of romance, angst, and drama.

Todd is fresh off a breakup that has him completely messed up – quit-your-job, move-across-the-country, just-trying-to-get-from-day-to-day messed up. Sebastian (Sebby), who himself has only recently gotten out of an abusive relationship, is determined to help Todd get over his ex and into his, Sebby’s, bed (you’ll find throughout the book that this is Sebby’s go-to coping mechanism: sex). Problem is, once Sebby starts spending time with Todd and experiences first hand his level of devotion to his ex and naturally romantic personality, just sex isn’t enough. Sebby starts to desperately want Todd to turn all that love and adoration his way.

And that’s when things get messy. (Spoilers Below)

Sebby makes some bad choices and pretty much self-sabotages. Sebby doesn’t really believe in monogamy and Todd is very much into one-on-one intimate monogamous relationships – something he and Sebby talk about and he makes very clear. Sebby has these friends who are in a relationship but also like to regularly bring a third into their bedroom, and somehow he gets the idea in his head that Todd needs to have a threesome with his friends so that it will add to his total of sex partners since his breakup and will increase the distance between him and his ex. Todd’s not into it, but Sebby won’t let it go and Todd finally gives in because he’s starting to really care for Sebby and wants to make him happy. And then when Todd goes off with these guys, after Sebby literally pushes him out the door, Sebby gets scared when his abusive ex calls and asks another one of his friends (an ex-lover) to come over – and then he sleeps with the guy.

See what I mean? What the hell dude?

So it’s a mess, but it’s also a really addictive, entertaining mess that you can’t look away from. I was seriously guzzling coffee and shoving cookies in my mouth without looking as I turned pages wide-eyed and captivated. And rest assured, there’s an HEA – it takes a while to get there, but they do get there eventually.

Overall, Love And Other Hot Beverages is unexpectedly good. It’s not your usual romance and not the kind I regularly read, but it’s got that kind of drama that holds your attention and makes you keep turning the pages. I seriously couldn’t put it down until the end – I would definitely pick up more books by this author in the future.

To be honest, if this wasn’t a review copy, I probably wouldn’t even write a review for this one. It has an average rating of 2 stars on Goodreads – though I only saw this when I went to say I’d finished. I ended up giving this one 2 stars too. It’s not a DNF so there was enough about the characters and the overall story that made me want to know how it all ended. However, most of the book rubbed me the wrong way.

For one thing, Todd has a very weird way of talking that tended to annoy me throughout the book. He’s a word guy, so it made sense within the story, but it still felt off and like he was trying too hard to sound smart. It’s a bit hard to explain, but it wasn’t working for me.

Another thing I didn’t like about the book is the weird direction it took between Todd and Sebastian – it kind of turned into a “maybe open relationship” sort of deal – and since that came out of the blue for me (based on the summary), it just didn’t work. I’ve read books with more than two people in the relationship but it all depends on how it’s done and the reasoning for it in Love and Other Hot Beverages was a negative for me.

I did care about the characters though. I wanted Todd to find someone who wanted him as much as he wanted them. I wanted Sebastian to find true love instead of exes that use and abuse him. So, it wasn’t all bad. I just can’t say I’d really recommend it in the end!

DNF - No rating

I really, really struggled to finish this book and almost DNF several times. Honestly, I did end up skimming in some parts of the book.

Todd basically ran away after his last break-up and is working in construction and is back in the closet. He's basically waiting for his ex-boyfriend to change his mind and want him back. He's decided to hide the fact that he's gay because he assumes the other construction workers are homophobic. Sebastian (Sebby) is the office manager for the construction company and he's out of the closet and a total flirt. He is constantly flirting with Todd who is basically very rude to him at first. Sebby knows that Todd isn't over his ex-boyfriend but decides to help him heal. Although he doesn't plan to fall for Todd he does.

Both Todd and Sebby were almost totally different characters when they were at work and when they were home. Actually Todd kept changing his personality so many times I got whiplash. Sebby is hiding past secrets from Todd and of course Todd is hung up on his ex through most of the book. Once Sebby and Todd are in a relationship and having sex, Sebby decides that Todd really needs to have sex with two of his friends (Sebby isn't even there for that) just sends him off. Then he gets scared and has sex with someone else because Todd wasn't there. I really struggled with this and REALLY wanted to DNF at this point because Todd really didn't want to do this and Sebby really pushed him into it. The whole thing was just off-putting for me.

I never really felt a connection between these two. Between the "cheating" and one of them being completely hung up on an ex there just wasn't much romance. Both of these men had some serious issues and the author basically chose to tie everything up in a neat bow at the end that I found completely unbelievable.

I never really liked either character and the dialogue was just bizarre at times. The banter felt stilted and the sex scenes were just okay.

Overall I just can't recommend this one.

2.5 stars

I wanted to like this, really, I did. I read the blurb and thought this was going to be a drama-filled romance, but it's not.

Oh, there's plenty of drama, alright, but not really the romance I expected.

Todd Addison is working for a construction company after his last relationship ended with a bad and painful break-up. Having put many miles between himself and his former boyfriend, he's taken the construction job until he finds something better to do or until ex-boyfriend changes his mind. Oh, he's also now in the closet, because construction workers are generally homophobic, according to Todd.

Sebastian (Sebby) Nye is out and proud and the office manager for the construction company. He is an outrageous flirt, and tries his charms on a very standoffish Todd, plying him with coffee and more. Eventually, Sebby gets what he wants. It's supposed to be healing Todd from heartbreak, and Sebby isn't planning to fall for the guy but he does anyway.

I really didn't like Todd. He exasperated me with his back and forth, and he hurt Sebby more than once. Their relationship is messy because Sebby isn't totally honest, and Todd is still pining for the cheating ex.

I had a difficult time liking both characters, actually, and their actions and reactions were possibly a little to realistic for me. I don't mind realism in the books I read; I welcome it usually, but here it just got too much for me - I just didn't believe that these two men are going to make it, despite the HEA we get in the end.

The writing is a bit stilted on occasion, and the dialogue felt off, especially when they were bantering. There are sexy times, but I wasn't super impressed with those either.

Overall, it was just meh.

I liked this story but it was not a whopping "yeah" though more of a "oh, this is nice" so it's a 4,5 stars for a enjoyable read.

The first kiss.......so sweet and ....fun......I love how it was written.

The writing style was a little unusual because I felt like it was a little staccato and took some time getting used to but it grew on me.

Descriptions of the characters was a little weak in the beginning so it took some time to get to know them but when I did I just wanted to know them in real life.

There is no unnecessary descriptions of surroundings and enough dialogues to hold my interest.

I loved Todd's weird little antics and his caring personality. Sebastian is presenting himself as a very confident but in reality he is insecure and has little self-esteem.

In my opinion this was a little weird but very sweet story.

Please see the note to the publishers about why I couldn't finish this book.

I DNF this book at 60% mark.
I had a hard time to digest the story. I think the author need to give a little warning about sex life preference of the main characters.
There's no warning about swinger life style. This is alone should be a consideration because the MM reader community usually need a trigger warning..
I'm not sure I can recommend this to my friends.. Sorry.

This review is quite difficult to write as my reaction to the book veered wildly from thinking it brilliant to finding it intensely irritating, from finding it oh-so- insightful to wondering how any writer could pen such drivel, from five star to no star.

Sebby meets Todd.....decides he's the one... but knows he has just been hurt in love....so has Sebby....but in a different way......can it be made to all add up to a meaningful and lasting relationship?

In real life, with a lot of hard work, yes it can. In a novel,.... maybe.

I found both of the main characters difficult to like, but easy to identify with.I found the writing tedious at times and a lot of the banter excruciating: I persisted because of the blinding flashes of great insight into the way REAL gay men's minds work.

The sex was pretty ho-hum and, at times, too detailed. The ending, too contrived and the appearance of Todd’s mother, unconvincing.

Despite these reservations, I do urge you to read this novel .

Thank you to net galley and Riptide for the advance copy.