3.5 stars

Overall, Sawyer left me with a feel-good happy time vibe with a bit of mystery/suspense, and a decent dose of steam for the page count. And I loved the disability rep with both the main and a secondary character.

This was my first with M. Tasia as well as the series. So, I'm way out of sequence with the Gates of Heaven or The Gates series (I've seen it written both ways, so I'm not sure which is correct) and I definitely felt like I was missing a lot of back story and significance.

Sawyer's life irrevocably changed a few years ago with a car crash. Leaving him parentless, facing a life-long disability, and the full-time caregiver for his now nearly quadriplegic underage brother. With the life insurance payouts and his current job as a dishwasher at The Gates, a Michelin star restaurant, he can just afford to keep his brother with the necessities for all his needs. So what if he's sleeping on a recliner and his leg brace is hanging on by a string and a prayer. One day when taking his brother to the zoo, his life takes an unalterable turn and everything yet again gets turned on its ear. Now the ever so handsome head chef Alexander along with his boss, manager, and co-workers have changed his life once again. Alexander can't help but be drawn to the proud and honorable Sawyer and keeps finding himself at Sawyer's door to make him and his brother food. And maybe something else very tasty and delicious is cooking outside of the kitchen too.

Overall, Sawyer was cute, had a decent mystery aspect, and a good amount of steam. I did feel that one of the MCs was a bit too perfect and the relationship aspect felt rushed and very insta-y, but, again, still cute. Sawyer is a super good dude just trying to take care of his brother and do his best by him. Alexander, well, he seems like a fairly solid guy, but his ex was a pretty huge douchenozzle and there should be some definite points taken away for dating him at all let alone on/off again over the years... Yeah. I'm salty. I've made peace with it. Anywho, I just felt like a crucial element of 'zing' or connection was missing. They went from a heated, in-the-moment kiss and then, BAM meeting the sister and calling each other boyfriends. Again, with the page count, the author did as best they could.

I am definitely curious to go back and read the series in order now.

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Sawyer and Alexander were great characters, their sweet story was another wonderful addition to the series. The entire cast of characters was great, all in all an enjoyable read.

*I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by NetGalley*

Sawyer is the first book I’ve read by M. Tasia and I really enjoyed it. It can easily be read as a standalone (I haven’t read any of the others in this series) but I liked this so much I’d like to read the other books in this series. Characters from the other books do play a roll in Sawyer but I never felt lost while reading it.

The blurb does a great job of explaining the story so I’ll just say that I felt the romantic connection between Sawyer and Alexander and I could also feel how much Sawyer cared for his brother. There were several places that really touched me and made my eyes leak a bit (that means I really liked it).

There was a bit of excitement in a couple of places and I really didn’t see one of the things coming (no spoiler!). I had a couple of issues which kept me from giving it 5 stars. I can’t say a lot without spoilers but I’ll say that I wanted a bit more closure/details for a couple of the bad guy characters. I loved the epilogue.

A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.

A very saccharine sweet love story with a sort of prince and the pauper vibe. It was definitely a bit over the top at times, but it makes it work. The one part that seemed to diverge a bit was the ending/villain which was significantly more over the top than anything else to the point it didn't quite fit in. Maybe if it was given a bit more time to grow but with the now it's here now it's gone aspects it didn't have a chance to grow into something that fit well into the rest of the narrative.

Lets just put it out there right now - Alexander and Sawyer are #couplegoals. Sawyer is working as a dishwasher at The Gates, a high end restaurant in downtown Los Angeles (DTLA). He and his brother lost their parents in a car crash caused by a drunk driver hitting them at high speed. He and his brother were severely injured and both permanently disabled. Sawyer's brother is a quadriplegic who needs round the clock care and support. Sawyer needs a leg brace to be able to get around. Since the accident, Sawyer has been dealing with a difficult insurance company and managing everything for his younger brother. He is fiercely devoted to his brother and does everything in his power to make his brother's life better. Alexander is the executive chef at The Gates. He comes from a family with a lot of money - but their primary mission in life is to give a lot of it away. His passion is food though - and he has a talent for putting restaurants on the map.

Sawyer has not been on Alexander's radar at all (other than Alexander yelling at Sawyer for a disastrous crash with a server carrying desserts. When Alexander's ex-boyfriend proves just how much of an awful person he really is in horror show of a coincidental meeting at the zoo and Sawyer punches him - things get a little crazy for them all.

I loved Sawyer and Alexander together. They were definitely two pieces of a puzzle. Both of them are very much caretakers and obviously care deeply for their families - both blood and found. I also loved reading a m/m romance that didn't have any angst about coming out or coming to terms with being gay. All of the drama revolves around their family and Alexander's unstable ex.

The characters in the book beyond Alexander and Sawyer are also great.

Overall - this is a great romance read!

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

This book worked for me, it's honestly my favorite trope and everything just fell in place with the characters and the plot. I've only read book one in the series besides this one and I didn't feel lost. Really enjoyed it.

p.s. typo on page 84

Tasia presents an interesting protagonist in the novel with Sawyer. He's a young man who is still recovering from a car accident that has left him with permanent injuries and the responsibility of caring for his little brother. The challenges that he's facing are articulated clearly and painfully to show us why he needs something good in his life. The romance at the center of the novel is interesting to watch unfold as Sawyer learns to let someone in. The backstory for his romantic counterpart is not developed nearly as much, which is a little disappointing. They don't need to be both walking tragedies, but it would be nice to see a balance of texture and insight between the two of them. It's a fairly quick read and should delight fans of romances with a flair for the dramatic.

2.5 "over the top but super sweet love" stars !!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Boroughs Publishing Group for an e-copy in exchange for a review. This book was released in January 2021.

Ok ok ok....first the good stuff....lots of wet tears for Sawyer and Alexander...a pauper and prince improbable romance that felt really good to read and would have been a great read if it sort of just stuck to a sweet love story.

There is too much here for a 159 page book- trauma, grief, evil exes, disability, woman power, gay power, skid row saviors, great wealth, abject poverty, social justice all told in a rushed to fit everything in. Oh lets not forget murder plots and revenge plots. Oh yeah cuisine and architecture too. Oh yeah super sisters and bro-talk. Oh yeah plus plus plus. There is too much here and not enough space given to take any of it seriously. The prose is pretty meh BUT BUT (not BUTT...get your mind out of the gutter !!)

Sawyer and Alexander are such sweethearts that you just can't help rooting for their improbable romance and if they end up together then Karma can be bliss....

This is seventh in a series and despite the good feels of some of this book....much of this book was just too much and if I'm honest more than a touch ridiculous.

But Sawyer and Alexander aaaaaah ! Two kinder and nicer dudes you will not meet and they do deserve each other !!

I didn't actually realise that this book was part of a series when I started it, much less book 7. Having said that, I don' think that I lost anything by not having read the other books. This is a stand-alone story.
This is the story of executive chef Alexander. He comes from money and is very successful in his work life. Sawyer is the pot washer at the restaurant that Alexander works at. He is obviously very clever (having won a scholarship previously) but after the car crash that killed his parents, put his brother in a wheelchair and left him permanently injured, he just lives day to day trying to survive and look after his brother.
This is a romance between Alexander and Saywer and quite a sweet one at that. It's also a view of how hideous the US really is if you are sick or injured. Not only are Sawyer and his brother reliant on private insurance (and Sawyer fears that he might lose his job overnight for nothing really) but it seems that the insurance company has also been ripping them off.
This is quite a quick read, but it isn't all romance, with much of the story being as much about sibling relationships as anything else. It was a good read that I really enjoyed.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.