I requested this one back in the day as I had every intention of reading it. However, its been years and I still haven't gotten around to it and while I feel guilty at not reviewing a book I think that I need to admit to myself that I won't be reading this one anytime soon....if at all.

At the age of 38, Brian Keppler knows that he’s a workaholic. He didn’t plan it that way, but owning a coffee shop has become a round the clock task as reliable staff is difficult to find. Brian’s relationships have all crashed and burned due to his long work hours and his past girlfriends have seen his business as the other woman. He’s struggling to make ends meet, but his day gets brighter when a gorgeous ginger man with a British accent strolls in for a cup of coffee.

Robert has made Pittsburgh his home as he is CEO for a tech company. He has an instant connection with Brian, the barista who makes him a special sweet and spicy coffee drink. The men hit it off immediately and Robert knows that Brian is flirting with him. But, while Brian has always known that he is bisexual, he has never acted on his desire to be with a man. Brian is completely ready to have a relationship with a man and Robert may just be the one, the only one. But his business leaves him no time for anything else and the pressure Brian is under may push Robert away for good.

This is a warm, sweet, and sexy story all around. Brian is a coffee shop owner and he is reluctant to admit that his shop might be going under. He works all of the time, but cannot get ahead and he’s stressed to the max. He’s never been with a man; the thought has always been there, but comments over the years about being bisexual had him keeping that knowledge to himself and he has chosen to date women. That changes when Rob walks into the shop.

Rob was an only child and his first love was photography. His parents didn’t approve of the arts as a career and he has longed buried his artistic side as a frivolous hobby. He was burned badly in his last relationship, but when he sees Brian behind the coffee bar he would like to order up one Americano.

The guys have an instant connection. There is attraction and common interests and Brian is ready to embrace his bisexual side. They date and Brian shows Robert the side of Pittsburgh he knows so well. The men bike and hike and take photographs and Zabo makes all of their time together visual as well as interesting. The men also cannot keep their hands off of each other. Whether it’s little touches or Brian finally going all in with a man, the two of them are scorching hot together and enjoy each other often in a variety of ways with a sprinkling of dirty talk added in.

Brian has several internal conflicts going on. One of them being that he has to come out to his parents, but his parents are way cool. Bonus! He also has internal conflicts regarding accepting himself as bisexual. There is a lot of internal dialogue, as well as comments with Robert, where Brian compares his encounters with Robert to his last girlfriend. It was a constant thought process and became a bit repetitive for me that he was doing that much comparison all of the time. The main conflict, however, comes from the amount of time that Brian works and the constant anxiety he has over his business. He won’t let anyone help and when Robert tries to ease things, Brian lashes out at him. But, these guys are adults and they start to act like it and when Brian feels like he’s hitting rock bottom, he owns up and the men talk.

The ending pulls this story all together and the epilogue is warm and sweet as the guys fall deeper in love. This is book four in Zabo’s Takeover series, but this is how you make a book stand alone while still offering glimpses of former MCs without losing the reader that hasn’t read the entire series (although I have read all of the previous books). Maybe there will even be more as Brian’s brother sounds like he could really use a story for himself. Daily Grind offers two engaging characters and is a hot and sexy addition to this series.

Brian Keppler the barrister we all adored throughout the series and a new man in town  Robert Ancroft 

Lust at first site for these two but it wasn't that easy especially with Brian never giving in to the male side of his bisexualism 

"You're fucking adorable.  You pound me hard enough to shake the foundations of my house, until I can't remember my name, and make me spurt across my bed, and you ask if it was okay?"

Once Brian was okay to give in these two chemistries' steamed off the pages but with two work alcoholics it wasn't going to be easy, especially because Brian was a too sensitive prick at times pushing everyone away except his the Grround N'at.

Daily Grind is a sweet, hot treat, just like your cappuccino! Daily Grind was my first Anna Zabo, so it can totally be read as a standalone, or you will be like me and have to go back and read Zabo's backlist.  :-)  If you've read Takeover, Due Diligence and/or Just Business, there's considerably less kink in Daily Grind, but it's still a smoking hot story.  I loved Brian and Rob!  Brian and Rob have great chemistry.  This is a gay for you romance by a couple of guys who have been burned by love in the past.  They are snarky and fun and watching them fall is thoroughly enjoyable!   

If you are a Zabo fan, then you will love getting Brian's story.  If you are new to Zabo, then feel free to start here or start with Takeover and work your way through.  You can't go wrong either way!

here's the link to our review, it has been shared on all social media

Just like everything else Anna Zabo has written, this story was so full of life and truth that it is hard to imagine that these characters are not flesh and blood. Her men are so real, her relationships so honest and her worlds so clear that it is impossible to believe that I won’t run into these people walking down the street.

All of her past characters have intersected in the coffee shop below Sam’s office, and now we finally get a book on Brian, the owner of the store. As a man who has always known he was bi-sexual but never acted upon it, Brian is struck dumb by Rob, the red haired Brit that walks into his coffee shop, Grounds N’at. With innuendos and naughty jokes flying back and forth regarding ‘strong Americanos’ and ‘room for cream’, the two hit it off and begin a relationship that is as sweet and touching as it is incredibly sexy and smoking hot to read.

At first I thought that this may be a story about Brian struggling with his sexuality, but that was not the issue in his relationship with Rob at all. It was a pleasure to watch Brian embrace who he was and revel in his love for Rob. He didn’t internally question whether it was right. Instead, he knew he was being true to himself and they fell head over heels in love with each other. It really was a pleasure to watch each of them fall so deeply.

Instead of a battle with his sexuality, Brian’s struggle was a professional one: how business worries and spreading himself too thin at work wreaked havoc on his new relationship. Knowing it was the reason for the failure of his past romantic relationships, it was frustrating to watch Brian go down the same path over and over again. It was sad to watch Rob have to stand by and not be able to fight Brian’s battles for him, and my heart went out to these two people that were clearly perfect for one another.

As an added bonus and one of my favorite scenes, I loved watching Brian’s family’s reaction to his anticlimactic announcement that he was bisexual. I found his parents to be the sweetest people ever.

Anna Zabo is truly a master storyteller. Her characters leap off the page with such a life of their own that I feel as if I know them intimately. I want to go on a hike around Pittsburgh with them, I want to have them for my friends, and I want to sit in Brian’s café and have a cup of coffee with them. Her world is so real and so clear that I can’t wait until the next story is released. These are friends that I miss until I see them again in her next book, and I long to sink into her world of acceptance and love again.

I’ve been wanting to try this series/author for a while now.  Those covers are such eye candy I’m not sure how I’ve resisted until now.  So I finally picked up DAILY GRIND and I’m so conflicted because I really wanted to like this book more than I did.  And from the looks of it, I may be in the minority and be an unpopular opinion since everyone has seemed to love it.

There are definitely parts of DAILY GRIND that I really liked.  The characters being one of them.  Both MCs are so endearing in their own ways, and I thought they had such great chemistry together!  I really wanted to see them let loose a bit more.  Both have such tight leash on their self control and the walls they keep around each other, both for different reasons, that I almost feel like it took most of the book for those to come down and when they did it was just so sudden that I didn’t buy it as easily.  However, when they are together, they are more than hot.

DAILY GRIND finds Brian, the owner of a coffee shop, buried in work and basically putting his business ahead of everything.  His relationships, his family, even his health it seems.  And he refuses to ask for help.  This was interesting at first, but after a while and things not changing even one bit, I started to get frustrated with Brian myself.  Honestly, I thought the problem was dragged on for a little too long to the point it got to be irritating to me.  And when I was all for Rob to slowly chip at the barriers, after a while I just wanted him to find an easier guy to be with!

Rob might’ve been my favorite though.  He’s been betrayed and used before, and he still is for the most part a very easy going guy.  When he knows he wants Brian, he just goes for it.  Taking a chance and letting his heart lead the way.  Plus he’s an adorable ginger with an accent.  How could I resist that?  In many ways, Brian is perfect for him and I was happy to see him finally opening his eyes to all the good he had right in front of him.

So while DAILY GRIND was a bit frustrating, it was still an enjoyable and sexy read.

I read this with high hopes, since I have loved the rest of the series so much. However, I could not like Brian at all. I liked him previously. In this book, I didn't like him at all. In fact, I disliked him so much, I didn't want a happy ending, I wanted Rob to go find someone else. Brian was whiny, and angry. His actions didn't make sense. And his big blow up at Rob? I was so mad at him, I couldn't continue to read for a while. I also read this with a friend, and we were in the same place at the same time, and texting each other regarding our anger. I'm not sure I can read again in this series after that. And I truly love Anna's work, this one just hit so far off the mark for me.

Running an independent, neighborhood coffee shop has been slowly breaking Brian Keppler for years. After a key employee is hired away by the consulting firm upstairs, he’s been taking on more and more of the work himself, spending less time on the other important parts of his life—and exorcising his frustrations on his remaining employees and anyone who tries to love him. Being bisexual and closeted isn’t helping things, either. “Miserable” sums Brian up pretty tidily these days, and having his world turned upside down by the arrival of the sexy CEO of a successful robotics company wasn’t at all on his to-do list. So, why does the idea of losing him seem like too high a price to pay?

Robert Ancroft fought long and hard to make his company a success. And nearly lost himself in the process. Fortunately, he was able to find a balance that didn’t drain him to the marrow day in and day out. Watching the man who has started to mean so much to him sink into the same, endless exhaustion is heartbreaking, but Robert is trying his best to help Brian see what life could be like for them if he were willing to devote even a small part of himself to the relationship they could have. Still, everyone has their limits, and this fight may be one he just can’t win.

Written in the third-person from both Brian and Rob’s perspectives, Daily Grind was a highly enjoyable read that I think definitely has a place on my “keeper” list. Both main characters are complex and I appreciated that they were able to get a chance to pursue an authentic kind of happiness after the age of thirty-five.

Although the trials Robert and Brian face are the primary force driving the narrative, there are many wonderful scenes written against the backdrop of Pittsburgh (and the surrounding area) that have me itching to visit there myself. Some of my favorites are seen through the lens of Robert’s camera, and I thought it was especially sweet that their connection deepened most profoundly during these moments. Their relationship is an intensely sexual one, but the added depth provided by the other parts of the story, particularly Robert’s own complicated history and his introduction to Brian’s family, made Daily Grind all the more enjoyable for me.

While Daily Grind works well as a standalone, I deeply regret not reading the entire series from the beginning. Aside from the fact that, based on other reviews and excerpts, the other stories seem to be just as thoughtfully written, I enjoyed the secondary characters very much, and would love to have known their backstories better. There’s obviously a lot more going on beneath the surface in many of their scenes, and the temptation to delve into those narratives is proving too great to resist. This is a series I’ll have to go back and pick up from the start, and I don’t think that existing fans will be disappointed in the least.

One last note: the author also has quite a few very interesting links on the “Thoughts” page on their website, some of which I wasn’t able to read through in time to finish this review, but I’ll get to the rest of them as quickly as possible. There’s lots to think about there, which is always a good thing.

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Omar    

We first met Brian Keppler for short instant during Justin and Eli’s story, Just Business, but this time he is the main character and is his time to find love. Brian has been having problems keeping his baristas, not since his best barista, Justin, started his new job and love life. Then the most handsome guy walks into his shop, Rob, and start a conversation with him. Rob is sort of new in town, his company moved to Pittsburgh over a year ago, but he hasn’t had time to look around. He was recommended Brain’s shop from his friend Todd, and after one coffee, he now like his with a lot of cream. What starts as small flirting, grows into an intense need and attraction for one another that cannot lets them forget the other. The problem is that will Rob is openly gay, Brian is bisexual and this will be his first relationship with a guy, and the place they met place a big part of their relationship.

I liked Daily Grind, as the other books in the series, this story also centers around a specific topic or problem that the reader can relate to. In this case, the story centers around work and coming to terms with the fear of rejection from those we love. Many can relate to these types of topics and a believe they were well handle.

The story of Daily Grind was fun to read, the characters were easy to relate and understand where they came from, but most of all it was romantic as hell. The interaction between Brain and Rob was so sweet, making the reader yearn for a love at first sight relationship like theirs. But like all stories, we see them get to know each other, and find out that this time they want more in their life than just a casual hookup.

I loved the puns that this story has, and the perfect moments where they were used. Also, that all of Brian’s family used them against him.

It was bittersweet story in the case of learning about both characters; for one side Rob’s past was sad, it gave me the need to be his friend and tell him that perusing his hobbies was not wrong, I would love to see the photographs that are described in the book. But reading him interacting with Brian’s family was the best thing for him. The scenes with the Keppler family addition to this love story, it all was good to read about a supportive family for a LGBT person.

I was happy to see Justin and other characters from the previous book make their cameos, and help when they could. I want to know more a but Brian’s brother, Len.

The only thing that I didn’t like, was that for the first quarter of the book felt like it was too long and took a while to get to the problem to be solved.

Because this is a M/M romance the sex scenes are between two male, if you are not comfortable with this then you should skip the book. If you are okay with this genre, the sex scenes are in the same level or less vanilla that the previous books in the series.

If you are fan of Anna Zabo or her Takeover series, the I recommend Daily Grind. Here to men meet over cup of spicy and cream coffee, and start a relationship that will change them for the better, but find out that coffee can be everything in life, there are things more important.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

Review by Michele

Warning! Contains steamy scenes, frothy fluff, two roasted until almost burnt (out) businessmen, one very hot British Ginger and all the ridiculous coffee-related puns you could possibly imagine.

Daily Grind is the fourth book in the Takeover series, which centres around businessmen and their partners and features cameos from other characters but no prior knowledge is needed to enjoy this standalone story. Instead of the tech firm featured in the previous novels the action revolves around Grounds N'at, the coffee shop on the ground floor of the building where the tech company is located, and its owner Brian Keppler. Brian is a beloved local fixture dedicated to providing the best tasting, highest quality coffee related experience in Pittsburgh. He’s also overworked, underfed, stressed beyond the breaking point and in danger of losing the business he adores. To top it off Brian is lonely, closeted, and unsure how to, or even if he should, do anything about either.

And then Rob Ancroft enters his shop like a burst of red haired, freckled, intensely charismatic sunshine, and Brian knows exactly what he wants, and it’s making terrible coffee puns that shouldn’t make him swoon but absolutely do. Rob is patient and kind, funny and supportive, everything Brian needs – and deserves. If only he would let himself have it all.

The chemistry between Rob and Brian is immediate and tangible, and even though they spend a majority of the novel near but apart, the passion and playfulness they share when together is delightful and often exhilarating to read. Brian’s self-realisation that he was ‘allowed’ to be bisexual felt believable and, certainly to me, relatable – the stigma against bisexuality even in the LGBTQ community is real and many of the feelings of self-doubt and uncertainty were similar to what I have wrestled with as well. I also liked that despite being a romance cliché CEO Rob isn’t an alphahole dominant (thank god), nor is Brian’s less powerful status treated as inferior to his own; they are both equal in all the ways that matter, which is also demonstrated both in and out of the bedroom. Brian’s frenzied determination not to accept assistance and demonstrate his worth by doing everything for his shop alone is the main conflict between them, and while his refusal to ask for help was occasionally very frustrating as a reader (and made the middle third drag on a bit longer than it had to) at least it felt like a real-world issue, rather than drama created solely for the purpose of keeping a couple apart in a novel.

With a well rounded cast of supporting characters, much needed emotional catharsis and a believable contemporary plot, there’s a lot to enjoy in this story, so if you’re in need of some meet-cute fluff that subverts romance novel clichés and is also hotter than a freshly made americano, I can definitely recommend Daily Grind off the MMmenu. ;-)

This was a very nice surprise. I haven't read the other books in this series, so I had no idea what to expect. Thankfully this book didn't dissapoint.

Brian is the owner of Ground N'At, a coffeeshop located beneath SR Anderson Consulting. He is a very hard and dedicated worker....a bit too hard one might say.

Rob is the CEO of a robotics company. And for those who are into Gingers....you lucked out with Rob. They have instant chemistry when they meet.

Brian has always known he was bi, he just never acted on it. That is until he gets to know Rob. These two men were very sweet, funny and very very HOT together.

We also get quite the "dirty talk", which made me a very happy camper :)

There is not a lot of angst in this one, except for Brian working himself to the ground.

All in all, I really like this one and I will go back and read the other books in this series :)

An ARC was kindly provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

This review has been posted on Dirty Books Obsession

Mini List Review:

~ Bi coffee shop owner (Brian)
     Though this is his first time acknowledging and acting on his attraction to men
~ Tech CEO (Rob)
     Ginger
     British
~ Both are older -- 38 and 40
~ Such great banter and flirting, especially in the first few chapters, but really throughout the book
     All sorts of coffee/cream puns and such
~ So. Damn. Sexy. UNF
~ The angst/conflict comes from Brian's struggle to balance the overwhelming load of running a business and having a life/relationship
     Things at work are not going well and he won't accept help, won't listen to anyone -- not even Rob
     Causes some fights
     Eventually he realizes it's okay to ask for outside help, or at least opinions
~ I actually really wanted to go to Brian's coffee shop. Or work there. Or both. The setting just drew me in and his coffees sounded delicious
~ Enjoyed Zabo's writing will DEFINITELY be back for more!


4 1/2 STARS

I absolutely love this series but I must say that Daily Grind has been my favorite so far. I was so excited to 've finally getting Brian's story & I loved that he was paired with the sexy Brit, Robert. These two men were perfect together & this was a wonderfully sweet & sexy romance.

At the age of 38, Brian Keppler knows that he’s a workaholic. He didn’t plan it that way, but owning a coffee shop has become a round the clock task as reliable staff is difficult to find. Brian’s relationships have all crashed and burned due to his long work hours and his past girlfriends have seen his business as the other woman. He’s struggling to make ends meet, but his day gets brighter when a gorgeous ginger man with a British accent strolls in for a cup of coffee.

Robert has made Pittsburgh his home as he is CEO for a tech company. He has an instant connection with Brian, the barista who makes him a special sweet and spicy coffee drink. The men hit it off immediately and Robert knows that Brian is flirting with him. But, while Brian has always known that he is bisexual, he has never acted on his desire to be with a man. Brian is completely ready to have a relationship with a man and Robert may just be the one, the only one. But his business leaves him no time for anything else and the pressure Brian is under may push Robert away for good.

This is a warm, sweet, and sexy story all around. Brian is a coffee shop owner and he is reluctant to admit that his shop might be going under. He works all of the time, but cannot get ahead and he’s stressed to the max. He’s never been with a man; the thought has always been there, but comments over the years about being bisexual had him keeping that knowledge to himself and he has chosen to date women. That changes when Rob walks into the shop.

Rob was an only child and his first love was photography. His parents didn’t approve of the arts as a career and he has longed buried his artistic side as a frivolous hobby. He was burned badly in his last relationship, but when he sees Brian behind the coffee bar he would like to order up one Americano.

The guys have an instant connection. There is attraction and common interests and Brian is ready to embrace his bisexual side. They date and Brian shows Robert the side of Pittsburgh he knows so well. The men bike and hike and take photographs and Zabo makes all of their time together visual as well as interesting. The men also cannot keep their hands off of each other. Whether it’s little touches or Brian finally going all in with a man, the two of them are scorching hot together and enjoy each other often in a variety of ways with a sprinkling of dirty talk added in.

Brian has several internal conflicts going on. One of them being that he has to come out to his parents, but his parents are way cool. Bonus! He also has internal conflicts regarding accepting himself as bisexual. There is a lot of internal dialogue, as well as comments with Robert, where Brian compares his encounters with Robert to his last girlfriend. It was a constant thought process and became a bit repetitive for me that he was doing that much comparison all of the time. The main conflict, however, comes from the amount of time that Brian works and the constant anxiety he has over his business. He won’t let anyone help and when Robert tries to ease things, Brian lashes out at him. But, these guys are adults and they start to act like it and when Brian feels like he’s hitting rock bottom, he owns up and the men talk.

The ending pulls this story all together and the epilogue is warm and sweet as the guys fall deeper in love. This is book four in Zabo’s Takeover series, but this is how you make a book stand alone while still offering glimpses of former MCs without losing the reader that hasn’t read the entire series (although I have read all of the previous books). Maybe there will even be more as Brian’s brother sounds like he could really use a story for himself. Daily Grind offers two engaging characters and is a hot and sexy addition to this series.

My Review:
I've loved this whole series, and this installment was just as good as the others have been. Ground N'at has almost been its own character in this series...the coffee shop on the ground floor of Sam's building. But in this book, the coffee shop isn't quite the mecca of happiness it's been up until now. No, now the story is told from Brian's point of view. Brian owns Ground N'at and running it and making the coffee shop a priority is slowly killing him. Too many hours and not enough reliable help has Brian stretched to his limits. 

But in the midst of all the stress is Rob. Rob is CEO of a huge tech corp. He understands stress and being overworked. He's been there and it's only been through necessity that he's not there anymore. Rob is gay and completely attracted to Brian. 

For Brian, the relationship is a bit more complicated. While he's always known he's bisexual, he's never met a man worth breaking out of his heterosexual mold...until Rob. Like I said, Brian is fully aware that he's always been attracted to men, too, but he's never dated men or told anyone about that attraction. When he meets Rob, he's ready to explore their chemistry. I like that once Brian commits, he never really questions what he's doing. This isn't an experiment. He's all in. That full-out commitment even surprises Rob. I liked that it's not this huge thing. I also really LOVED Rob's family's reaction. OMG, I was so cracking up through all that...some of the funniest scenes in this book. 

Brian is under a ton of stress and NOT handling it well. That causes problems between him and Rob. While they are wonderful when everything is smooth, that isn't a reality of life. The thing is...Rob knows what's happening. He recognizes the signs, and still isn't able to save Brian from himself. Even Brian is aware of what is happening, but his first priority is to his business. He has to make the coffee shop survive and he gets caught in a downward spiral. The harder he tries, the more stressed he gets. The more stressed he gets, the worse the situation at the shop becomes. 

No spoilers, but I do love how it was all resolved. So perfectly executed, especially in lieu of the entire series. I enjoyed the book and loved getting to watch Rob and Brian find their HEA.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for an honest review.

4.5 stars - Woohoo, this book put me back on track with the series. This one is about Brian, the coffee shop owner where the other guys all get their coffee and where Justin used to work before he left to work with Sam in the office.

Brian is having a bit of a hard time with things at work. He has never been able to replace Justin, his best barista, and other employee issues having him working extremely long hours and trying to find ways to keep things working financially. He has lost past relationships due to his commitment to his shop, but when Rob shows up, he brings the sunshine with him. They start with lots of flirting but it is clear they hit things off right from the start.

Brian is bisexual, though he has only been with women up until this point. However, he is more than ready and fully embraces his budding relationship with Rob. It was very refreshing to see someone be so open about it all, and of course, the chemistry between the two was off the charts. There is lots of delicious dirty talk, fabulous flirting and it was a joy to watch these guys grow together.

Rob is all too aware of Brian’s workaholic tendencies. He just about worked himself to the bone at one point but pulled himself out of it before things went too far. So, he knows what Brian is going through, understands his commitment, etc., yet sees the warning signs and tries to help. This is the biggest struggle these guys face here. Brian’s struggling business, Rob’s good intentions in trying to help and the ramifications of it all.

These guys were fabulous together. They had a maturity about them that was basically drama free, low on the angst and family issues. While Rob did have some issues involving his parents, Brian’s family was fantastic, open and loving, taking Rob into their fold with ease. Rob was his own biggest enemy here, but luckily he figures things out before it is too late. I definitely recommend this wonderful series and look forward to seeing more of these guys again!

The forth book in the Takeover series is the first book for me that I've read.

I actually requested this book by accident but wound up reading it because I didn't like it being left unread.

While M/M romances aren't really my thing I can tell its a decent book for those who do enjoy them. Its written well, the characters are intriguing, and the sex scenes are explicit for those who enjoy a well detailed love scene. Just wasn't my favorite genre.

Coffee enthusiasts will probably love this book. There’s coffee everywhere - the shop, Brian and Rob’s own love for coffee, and the numerous coffee-related puns and jokes. I thought it would get stale at a point, but I didn’t mind the coffee-mania.

I had no trouble connecting with either Brian or Rob. Though it was clear from the beginning that Brian’s business troubles would lead to problems, he’s a genuinely likeable person who cares about his friends and customers.

I really appreciated that the author didn’t bury Brian’s bisexuality, which is often too common in MM romance. There’s definitely no bi-erasure here.

Rob, a ginger-haired techie, was smooth and suave from the first time he stepped into Ground N’At, Brian’s coffee shop. But underneath the polished exterior was a lonely man looking for someone to love who would love him back.

The connection between Rob and Brian is immediate. They have similar interests and both are happy to explore where the spark between them goes. What I liked most was that they instinctively understood one another.

Plus, they were killer in the bedroom. Brian jumps right into the joys of man-on-man sex. And if you like dirty talk, you’ll be pleased.

The relationship moves along very quickly. It’s not insta-love, but it’s close. I thought the “I love yous,” which pop out in the middle of a sex scene, came way too soon. It made me wonder whether that was just the great sex talking, particularly because Brian and Rob had both been alone for so long.

Also, I didn’t really like that Brian’s coffee shop was the third party in the relationship. It was certainly realistic, as a failing business can definitely impact relationships. But it was always there. It got to the point where I started feeling the stress myself.

The drama with the coffee shop ended up distracting me from the actual romance. At a certain point, I just didn’t care what happened to the shop, so long as Brian and Rob could move on.

Even so, ‘Daily Grind’ was quite enjoyable. The business drama took up way too much of the book in my opinion, but Rob and Brian’s romance still delivered on the sweet and sexy. If you’re looking for a contemporary relationship-focused MM book, give this a try.

If you like coffee, cute british redheads and excellent bi-rep then this is your book! That’s pretty much all you should need to decide to read Daily Grind. Though I guess it doesn’t make for a good review. ;)

Let me start with the coffee then. Don’t read this book if you don’t have coffee anywhere close to you (if you’re a coffee kind of person, of course) because Anna Zabo will make  you thirst for a little sip of the liquid goodness.
Seriously, I think this book should come with a barista to make all the different kinds of coffee for you. 😉 Or at least have the recipes for it so you can make them on your own.

It all starts when Rob, who recently relocated to Pittsburgh, comes in to buy a cup of coffee. And while it’s not love at first sight, there’s definitely an instant connection between him and Brian.
Rob makes Brian’s head spin and the flirting! *swoon* I never thought you could make so many coffee/cream related innuendoes without sounding corny or artificial. But whew.. Anna Zabo managed that perfectly. Even that Rob calls Brian his “Americano” was just so sweet and adorable.

Brians coffee shop is everything to him, it’s his whole life and because of that he’s afraid to let go of the reigns even a little bit.
The coffee shop hasn’t been running as well as it used to before and Brian becomes more and more desperate to save it. He’s working more and more hours to try to get by without hiring a help he so desperately needs. And doing everything else to save money – without changing anything. Changes him from the overall easy-going and laid-back guy people know him to be, to a grumpy, stressed-out coffee shop-owner.
The stress takes its toll not only on his relationship with Rob but also with the people around him. He’s overwhelmed, lost and too afraid to lose it all so when Rob offers advice to help Brian in any way, Brian lashes out at him.
It takes Brian a bit to realise what he really needs but I was thoroughly satisfied with the solution.

So I mentioned the coffee before, the delicious creamy coffee. But what’s probably the best thing, other than the awesome chemistry and attraction between Rob and Brian, is the awesome bi-rep Daily Grind features.
It was so refreshing to have a bisexual character who knew he was bisexual. Who wasn’t weirded out by being into a guy or who questioned it overly. Not to say that I don’t love the coming-out books, people just figuring out they are bisexual. Some of my favourite books feature that story-arch but there’s little books with characters that always knew they were bi, even if they never were in a relationship with someone from the same-sex. So to see that in Daily Grind was delighting. Brian is completely fine when he’s attracted to Rob. No earthquake or Armageddon happening.. He just goes with it.

Anna Zabo delivered another fantastic and highly entertaining story with love and friendship, this time with added delicious coffee and awesome cream-puns. Daily Grind is not to be missed and most definitely recommended!