Of all the books in the Spires series, so far all of which but this are narrated in single POV (not counting Fen's letters in Pansies). That alone makes this a special treat, to experience both sides of the story intertwining. I first read For Real maybe four years ago, as maybe the third Alexis Hall book I'd read during a time in my reading life when I'd written off romance as a genre in general. I was so freaking inspired by the beautiful writing, the deep themes, the heartrending delight of following each character's path to happiness, that to this day, the books in this series inform how I approach writing romance and sex in my own books. I read widely, although largely in the SFF genre, and I have many books I love, but whenever someone asks my favorite book, I still say Pansies. Now I digress. For Real is obviously the title under review here, it's subversion of kink stereotypes something I consider one of the most humanly beautiful, delicately treading, carefully crafted treatment of two humans bumbling their way into love that actually fits. Laurie is the most numb, bored, jaded, of all Spires protagonists, and the oldest, and man, does it make for a great time when he does unravel, when he finds what was lost. As someone well older than him, who values unjaded, childlike wonder as the thing that keeps me alive, Laurie's age has a lot to do with how lovely the payoff is when allowing himself love with Toby unsticks him from the preconceived ideas that smother possibility before it starts to bloom. Laurie deserves to learn that love transcends his own bullshit. Who better to do it than a nineteen-year-old who comes from the most impossibly sophisticated, lawless background of Art and Neglect possible- a prince of some kind of convergence of nature and nurture that creates a magical confluence of confidence, determination, and total lack of guile. Toby gets the special distinction of being the only love interest with a full POV and man does he run with it. Also the youngest protagonist of the series, he brings a 'you can't lock me into your stereotypes' combo of bohemian fuckall and just like, genuine emotional intelligence. The Oxford proximity that spans each book, including this one, brings a layered academic nuance and I don't know about you, but reading about smart dummies IS VERY FUN. This new edition is all-around a near-perfect romance for me for its heart, its spice, its references to poetry and homage to bits and pieces of Classical English Things. I recommend the entire series to anyone who asks me for my number one favorite contemporary romance.

For real
By: Alexis Hall

📚💕⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💕📚

Definitely rooting for these two!

In this kind rooting for them book we get a deep look into Laurence and Toby’s story. You could say this definitely starts as the odds are against them from the beginning book. But oh does the author do a great job moving the book in to possibilities of so much more. The question how do they prove it’s worth the risk? The authors writing is flawless and the words are so captivating, the plot had so many twists and turns and none that I was expecting, and many shockingly intimate I have become a huge fan of this author. The author writes with so much intensity and emotion pulled from each book it’s felt page after page. Some are quick witted story lines are so perfect and lets you believe you have a front row seat. So being able to read this love story didn’t disappoint. The authors ability to have two separate individuals struggling in their everyday life and try to navigate someone else’s thoughts, needs and desires was intens

Authors Blurb: Laurence Dalziel is worn down and washed up, and for him, the BDSM scene is all played out. Six years on from his last relationship, he’s pushing forty and tired of going through the motions of submission.

Then he meets Toby Finch. Nineteen years old. Fearless, fierce, and vulnerable. Everything Laurie can’t remember being.

Toby doesn’t know who he wants to be or what he wants to do. But he knows, with all the certainty of youth, that he wants Laurie. He wants him on his knees. He wants to make him hurt, he wants to make him beg, he wants to make him fall in love.

The problem is, while Laurie will surrender his body, he won’t surrender his heart. Because Toby is too young, too intense, too easy to hurt. And what they have—no matter how right it feels—can’t last. It can’t mean anything.

It can’t be real.
This book has everything I love in a book. Then you add that it's beautifully written and believable. It is easily a five star read. Written in single POV this story flows so incredibly well that the next thing you know your 80% into the book and loving every second of it. The believable way the characters interact is perfect. Run, Hop, Jump or use your (1 click) finger to do whatever you have to do and get this amazing book. It'll break your heart, you'll want to scream with frustration and it'll let you discover that love just might conquer all. The chemistry is steamy and sweet and oh so romantic.

Thanks Netgally for letting me read and review.📚💕

Turning stereotypes on their heads is something not every author can do, but Alexis Hall does it with aplomb in this breathtakingly sexy and heartfelt story. Laurie is in his late thirties, an accomplished and successful doctor, and lonely. His last relationship was everything he thought he wanted, and he still feels the loss of his dominant lover keenly. When he meets 19 year old Toby, fresh, innocent but with the right gleam in his eye at a club, he throws caution to the winds and takes him home for a night maybe not straight out of his fantasies, but good enough to make him want for more. The juxtaposition of age expected roles has them both somewhat confused and wary of where things are headed. Can they find in each other the solace, understanding and love they are both looking for?

I adored this story. Told from both Laurie and Toby's points of view you get a sometimes hilarious, often poignant and quite kinky tale of two lovers who both have difficulty with the idea that this relationship could be for real (hence the very appropriate title). Toby is lovely as an insecure youthful man, often acting his age, yet with the enthusiasm and desire to prove to Laurie and to himself that this is the kind of relationship he wants, the one where he is in charge of everything in the bedroom. He is fully aware that his youth makes people assume he's not serious about being a dominant lover, but Laurie believes in him, and that makes all the difference. Laurie is equally wonderful as this tough on the outside, broken on the inside man. He craves a submissive role and can't quite believe that Toby is giving him what he wants, albeit in his own way. Toby's youth presents a real problem for him, yet it makes the excitement of the shame and humiliation he craves at his feet all the more seductive. The sex scenes between them are hot and kinky and pull no punches. But through it all there are the underlying emotions of both of them as they strive to find the right balance and believe that they could have a future together. 5 stars for this compelling romance.

This book hooked me in from the first chapter. I loved the character development and how the story progressed.

I'm in the minority with this. While I like how descriptive the book is with the characters and the scenes, making things realistic and vivid, I just couldn't get into it. I've enjoyed Alexis Hall's other books, but I think the Spires series is just not for me.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC of this title. Alexis Hall is a master at finding kindness and humanity in unusual romantic situations. The characters are so well rounded and human that, as a reader, I bond with them so easily. While Hall never shies away from sexy scenes, For Real is a fascinating new (for me anyway) direction with its main characters having sub-dom sexual preferences. Laurie and Toby find one another at a time in their lives when they, first, don't expect it, and second, aren't really sure what to do with it when they find it. Their age difference might initially be the reason they see their first encounter as a fling, but when their shared passions and connection keeps bringing them back together, it seems they are more than right for each other.

I really enjoy Hall's literary references and consummate wit in his writing. In For Real, I felt comfortably welcomed into a world I personally never experienced (and had me googling a few things!) What was wonderful was the level of vulnerability and acceptance was still amazingly where all of Hall's stories take us - deep into a world and characters that are still extremely relatable and emotionally real. For a book where the romance happens between a sub and a dom, and where there are a lot of sex scenes, nothing every felt forced or manipulated, not the relationship, not the insecurities of the characters, not the social situations, not the side characters. I really enjoyed the footnotes at the end of this version also. The bigger conversation about power and toxic social expectations woven through this novel is amazing.

I will read anything Alexis Hall writes because it's always moving, hot, smart and funny.

I don't always enjoy age gap books, but this one worked well for me. Their relationship and the way it progressed was cute. I will say I don't completely buy Toby being a Dom, he didn't come off overly dominant to me. For me, I was absolutely able to look past it and just enjoy the story. Lauren was such a wonderful soul. The two of them together made my heart full.

FOR REAL is a work of art. I’m a champion of romance novels, and I believe that so many of them deserve more acclaim than they receive, but this book is on an altogether different level. The caretaking and power and love that Hall is able to convey through Laurie and Toby is breathtaking. I first read this book years ago, and I think about it constantly. When Laurie first kneels? When Toby first returns? The Oxford trip? The cologne shopping? The St Andrew’s Cross? The lemon pie. This book dares to take taboos and just slice them right up. Hall makes his readers BELIEVE in love through immense differences, through painful conversations, and through misguided expectations. The plot structure is a masterclass, and the romance is a masterpiece.

I am a huge Alexis Hall and I was so excited to find out that For Real was getting rereleased with a beautiful new cover. I loved this story and I think Alexis Hall did a magnificent job of creating characters that you fall in love with and feel so strongly about and for. I liked how the story progressed and you slowly fall in love with these two main characters. There's a purpose for every scene and you don't have these intimate scenes between characters just for the sake of it (even if there was though, it would be worth it). Overall, I think Alexis Hall did a fantastic job of creating a world and people that you hope nothing but the best for.

This book like all Alexis hall books was funny and entertaining read. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the age gap between the two main characters and felt like it wasn’t really realistic that no one is their lives seemed to call them out on it or think it was odd.

< He’s got good hands. Because, frankly, he’s got good everything. They’re strong and blunt and very, very steady. Except, sometimes, when they’re really not. And that’s a wild thrill all by itself. I know so little about this man, but I know he unravels hands first. >

What a quote eh? Alexis Hall has a way with words.
This was the quote that made me think "yep, I'm going to adore this book."
I spoke too soon.

I am genuinely shocked I didn't love this as much as I hoped.
I'm also absolutely devastated too.
I can't believe I didn't love this: I don't know what went wrong, but I didn't.
I was so certain this book was going to be my favourite out of the Spires novels: BDSM, older, jaded sub finding himself again at the hands of a younger, unexperienced, Dom, age gap, a bit of an opposites attract, AND the Spires's universe brand of angst and emotional gut-punches? I was so certain I was going to adore it.

I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to say in this review. I keep thinking about how to word this, but it seems like I'm one of the few readers that couldn't manage to connect with this novel.
Mind you, I did enjoy it, and I even loved bits of it.
For one, I adored Laurie: give me all the jaded, afraid, lost men who hide their vulnerable hearts behind a cold façade. ALSO, subs at that? I love that kind of juxtaposition: I swear I could read hundreds of BDSM novels with this premise and I'd never tire. I adored bits of Laurie and Toby's dynamic too: most (most!) of their BDSM scenes together were wonderful, and I enjoyed the hell out of slowly witnissing their kinky relationship flourish. Those last few chapters, where everything comes to a heed? I loved that.
I also loved all the side characters to bits: from Grace and the mysterious Jasper (is there a novel about him?) to Dom-the-Dom; the small glimpses we get of the previous MCs gave me so much joy.

Apart from that, I wasn't feeling much of anything. I skimmed quite a lot, mainly Toby's POVs (@Toby enthusiasts, please don't hate me!!!!); the writing in those left me feeling lukewarm.
I really liked the kink dynamic between Laurie and Toby (like I said, younger Dom/older sub is my jam), but I wasn't feeling their romance, like at all? Outside the kink, I didn't buy the affection and love between them, I think. I'm so sad to be saying this, because I know LOTS of people adore this novel, but there was something not credible about their relationship that made me quite suddenly "leave" the novel, and I just could not, for the life of me, get back inside it. Maybe it was the fact that Toby isn't very Dom-like most of the time, and on the one hand, it's refreshing to see (you can be a Dom, and you can cry and be insecure, and whatnot) but on the other, it just added to the "I don't buy this" factor. I kind of feel cheated on that aspect? I don't know. Like I said, I loved most of the kink scenes, but even there, there was something at times that kept pulling me out of the novel. Plus, I wasn't the biggest Toby fan.

I think maybe I was expecting something different, or maybe it was the fact that "For Real" didn't feel like a Spires novel to me. It didn't make me feel much of anything, unlike "Glitterland" and "Waiting for the Flood" (two of my favourite novels of the past few months, and my favourite Alexis Hall romances to date). Something was off. Maybe it was me, who knows? But I'm still so damned devastated. I jumped into this book with giddy enthusiasm, and now I don't know what to do with this disappointment.
But oh well, better luck next time?

I still enjoyed bits of this, and I'm still looking forward to the rest of the Spires novels.
Long time fans of "For Real" will absolutely ADORE Alexis Hall's footnotes at the end of the book, I'm sure. It offered special insight into this book, its characters, and the whole of the Spires universe, so I'd totally recommend getting your hands on it.
As for the rest, I'd still recommend this book because it's part of a wonderful series (seriously, "Glitterland" and "Waiting for the Flood" OWN my heart), and who knows, you might, hopefully, love it more than me.

Very disappointed that the bonus story "In Vino" was not included in the Netgalley eARC as I had read the rest of the book before.......

For Real by Alexis Hall is a spicy contemporary romance with an age gap. The characters who meet in a BD SM club are quite different. Toby is 19, has dropped out of university and works at a café with no real plans for the future. He seems to be only sure about wanting to take on the dominant role in the bedroom. Laurie is a 37-year-old doctor who has been left by a man he had been with for ages and seems to be quite jaded, looking only for quick hook-ups. When the two meet they try to find together but stumble a lot. Their being at different points in life seems to be an obstacle causing a lot of doubt, insecurity and hesitation on both parts despite being quite compatible in other areas (well. the bedroom.).
The characters are quite complex and well-written, their cautious dance around each other, pushing towards a relationship but each being guarded and prepared for everything falling apart again makes this story also emotional and sweet. But there IS a lot of k!nky spice in there as well.

I needed less than 24 hours to finish this amazing story.

Toby and Laurie are everything and more. I was afraid the age gap would scare me off, but nothing like that happened.

Toby is young and so is his heart. Laurie is 37 with a heart full of scars. Their relationship starts with lots of hiccups and miscommunication but they are like magnets. They can’t without each other. Together they grow and they have their happily ever after.

But in between, oehlalalala 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️. This is the most spicy novel from Alexis Hall I’ve read and it’s so good. Toby is a natural dom with no experience and Laurie is an experienced sub. Together they explore each other and all the options. If spice isn’t your thing you better skip this book. Otherwise enjoy 🥵

**Thank to NetGalley and SouceBooks for the ARC **

For Real is a contemporary romance. It is a gorgeous coming together and opening up of two people who are, in their own ways, stuck and feeling broken. This is a theme across the Spires series and makes for grumpy, defensive, wonderfully lovable characters.
For Real involves an age gap and kink, and both of these themes are handled so interestingly. They’re not just trope hats that sit on top of the narrative, but are integral to the arc of the story. For Real challenges the mainstream tendency to conflate and simplify action, role, strength, and masculinity. In it Toby is a dom who is younger (GASP!), smaller (OMG!), inexperienced (SHOCK!), and is penetrated, not as an opposite day hilarious scene, but in the regular course of his sex life with Laurie. As readers we’re asked to look at our preconceptions and, perhaps unconscious, associations. In what way is their experience invalidated because Toby is young, or Laurie is tall, or the direction of penetration runs counter to one’s assumption based on their role designation? It’s important and so satisfying to see characters that exemplify the inescapably unique world created by each new relationship, and see those characters either bypassing or struggling against their own assumptions and expectations. Their relationship is what it is, and we can use common terms to describe it - age gap, d/s, etc - but those terms should not and can not define, limit, or dictate the shape and feel of that relationship.

I absolutely love this book and this series. Highly recommend.

I've read this in both its old and updated version and truly FOR REAL is one of the smartest romance novels re: using sex to deepen the understanding of emotional stakes in a relationship. Smart, sexy, and emotionally deep.

3.75 / 5 stars !!

okay... i have a lot of thoughts about this book to the point that i am not entirely sure i even know how to craft a proper review so... bare with me. i was not sure of this book at all going into it, but i do truly enjoy hall's work, so i wanted to give it a go even if it wasn't my typical sort of read.

with that being said, i did truly enjoy this more than i anticipated... to the point that i read it fairly quickly in five days and kept wanting to read it. i don't usually read things dealing with bdsm dynamics, and i don't usually read age-gap romances, they're just simply not my thing but this book kept my attention the entire time, truly.

my only sorts of "complaints", i wouldn't even call them that but little things i wasn't the most fond of was that it did seem like toby and laurie just kept circling back and forth with the same issues between them for quite some time, given, they did work it out at the end but it seems like a large majority of the book was that, i kind of wished maybe it wasn't so much of that and you got to see more of them as they had sort of settled. and as i said, i am not the most fond of age-gap romances, so that was always sort of an eh thing to me throughout the book as it is a large part of their plot. however, i did enjoy how their relationship sort of existed? how their dynamic and their love and those connections between the two, i think that was very beautifully written, not that i'm particularly surprised, hall's work always enthralls me.

thank you very much to netgalley and the publishers for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!!

This book stirred a mix of emotions within me. The palpable tension between Laurence and Toby, coupled with their vulnerabilities and desires, evoked a sense of raw intensity and longing. At times, I felt swept away by their passionate connection, rooting for them to find solace and fulfillment in each other. However, the underlying tension stemming from Laurie's reluctance to fully surrender his heart left me with a twinge of melancholy, underscoring the complexity of their relationship. Ultimately, the book left me introspective, pondering the intricacies of love, power dynamics, and the pursuit of authenticity in the face of uncertainty

I absolutely love Alexis Hall’s writing. He has a way of writing just the most interesting, unique characters and making them so lovable… even when you want to slap some sense into them. Laurie and Toby are two of my favorite of Hall’s characters. While their age gap doesn’t take away from their compatibility, it does mean they have different ways of communicating and different expectations of what they want from a relationship. It’s so enjoyable to read the *exquisite* smut, the different POVs, and the growth of each character throughout the novel.

Yeah this whole series will just be a 5 star streak for me I guess. Alexis Hall just knows how to write the perfect combination of realistically flawed characters and complicated life situations paired with a good amount of hilarity.
I barely read any BDSM stories before and so I went into this with no expectations at all.
The main theme of this series seems to be “moving on/healing” and this story was just as beautiful as the others.
Laurie has been in a long term relationship since his teens, …..his kink only with this one partner. But since their relationship broke up he doubts he could ever find that sort of connection and trust in another person, giving his complete submission again. Until he finds Toby, a man almost two decades younger and maybe twenty pounds lighter than him at a fetish club.
I love it when authors play with the expectations people have for what certain MCs have to look/be like and this was perfectly done here. A young, tiny, soft Dom who’s a complete newby, working in a café because he’s a little lost and an older Sub, who’s a doctor and owns his own house.
Both of them have their own issues to work through in this, be it trust, self doubt or faith to be enough for the other person. It was a little messy, but totally believable and just right for these two. And in the end they both found exactly what they were looking for in each other.
This was definitely the steamiest Alexis Hall book I’ve ever read, and I’m glad it wasn’t as “hardcore” as I’d expected. The steamy scenes were beautifully written and gave an insight about what this fetish really means for people who are into BDSM.

This book was surprisingly fantastic in the best way. I was hesitant about For Real because I’m not a much of a fan of age gap romances, and then I learned that I didn’t know what “the scene” referenced in the summary actually was. Bdsm isn’t normally my thing, I kept reading anyway. I learned that I should try other genres and tropes more often. When a story is written well enough, the things you normally don’t care for don’t matter as much. I became engrossed, those age gap and bdsm aspects didn’t matter as much. I wanted to know more about these two characters. I really appreciated how Laurie and Toby complemented each and I enjoyed their dynamic greatly. It definitely left me wanting more. The writing style was great; I will read more from this author in the future.

It would have easily been a five star read, but the chapters seemed to be quite long and I found my attention waning at times because of it.