I didn't realize this was part of a series until I began reading, but now I want to go back and read the rest of the series!!!!!

Amazing queer rep!!!!!!!!!!

Full review to come on my blog closer to publication date.

4.5* Very nearly a great tale, but David lost his head a bit. And, how refreshing to read about a trans man who's into women, not guys.

I've not read all the books in this series, as I wasn't enamoured of book 2 (I had to skim read it) and haven't read book 1, but this isn't hard to get into, and there's so much of the other leads and hints about their relationships, past, present and WIPs, that you won't be lost. It's well written and it featured a female lead who's pansexual, I think, and a trans male lead, who, refreshingly, isn't gay. By the latter, I mean that gay trans guys seem to be the focus of the majority of trans tales, so to see one who was het (or, at least I think he was, as David, but he'd been into guys and girls pre-transition, if I recall correctly), was really refreshing. And, this book feels more 'mainstream' than some tales featuring trans characters, and I do hope it gets the exposure it deserves.

What was uplifting about this tale was that David was very, very comfortable about his body, which wasn't detailed unnecessarily, but in line with what was happening in the tale and between the leads. There's a scene where he's topless at a pool and a trans teen fan of the band wants a selfie with him, as a proud, out trans man - I thought that that was both sweet and well done, really organically. And, David outed himself to the band and to the media without batting an eyelid. David doesn't have any body dysphoria, which was really positive to hear; he simply referred to his formerly girl parts (sorry, I don't quite know how else to word this) as the appropriate guy bits. He was on T, so his face and body had changed, and I was interested to read that he passed really well and had passed for so long - most tales where I've read about trans characters have them mainly unhappy at not passing, unhappy with parts of their anatomy and not being able to afford surgery, but other than top surgery, David hadn't had more, didn't seem to need or want more, and seemed like a grounded, happy, secure-in-himself guy.

And, to Mish (and to everyone one else), he was a man, nothing but a man. She accepted him without any shock when he outed himself to her, seemed to love being with him in bed and out, and was an equal opportunity lover, reciprocating fully and making David feel even more secure in his masculinity when she showed him how much, and all the ways, she wanted him. In fact, not one person in this tale batted an eyelid when they found out David was trans, and yes, that's expected from a band with guys on the LGBTQIA spectrum, and yes, it was the slightest bit eye-rolling, but it was sweet. Everyone was welcoming of him as a person, as their security guy and as Mish's lover.

Where the tale lost it a bit for me is that David, no pun or disrespect intended, used his little head instead of his big head, when he was doing a professional job, causing him to mess up, not once, but twice. And yes, he did mess up and he did the right thing by resigning, but to also leave Mish the way he did, citing the reasons he did, was (quite) a bit lame and did make her feel that she was less worthy than his job and earning an income. That was a turnaround for the romance books - because it's normally the girl who has the doubts and does the flit, again no pun intended, but it did make him a bit of a Richard. I didn't like him at that point and I did think he was not quite the man that I'd seen him as up until that point, and I think he was lucky Mish was such a decent person, was forgiving and didn't bear grudges and that she didn't want to see him grovel.

The slight downer for me is that I don't quite get why David was so lax about his duties, because that lessened him as a character - he wasn't the professional he was touted as being, and he wasn't able to compartmentalise, which I think pretty much most adults would be able to do, attraction or not. I mean, if you depend on your job for your mortgage, bills, etc., and value your hard-earned rep, then you will prioritise. And, the guy's ex-military, so those traits, and discipline, especially, should have been ingrained in him. And, at 43, he wasn't a young, immature guy who'd never had a relationship before...

Still, the tale ends well. If I were Mish, I might have wanted David to do at least a little grovelling, but maybe that was the measure of her love for him that she took him back, no conditions other than that they talk if there ever was an issue that rose its head. I think theirs is the start of a HEA, but I think the guys' idea of a HEA is a little less sweetness and light, and a little less all tied up than mine, which is on me, not them. I think the author ended the tale realistically and no doubt there will more sightings of the pair in future tales in the series.

ARC courtesy of Carina Press and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.