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Tuesday, June 4, 2024


Review: UNDER THE STARS WITH YOU by Jaime Clevenger

 


Book Details

Title: Under the Stars with You
Author: Jaime Clevenger
Publisher: Bella Books
Publication Date: March 21, 2023
Genre(s): Adult, LGBT, Romance, Contemporary
Pages: 302
Bookshop Affiliate Purchase Link: https://bookshop.org/a/67041/9781642474398
     

Reading Details

Finish Date: January 2, 2024
Format: Physical
Representation: Nonbinary, Sapphic, Pansexual
Trigger/Content Warnings: None I remember


Rating: 5

Favorite Quote/Scene: 
The babysitting scene

Review: 
This book took me a lot longer to finish than I thought it would have. For some reason I just kept starting it and then hitting a wall with my reading. Thankfully I finally finished, and I am so happy that I did. This book was definitely worth pushing through and sticking with it.

Jaime’s ability to write two characters who were so realistic and distinctive but also meshed together so well was amazing. There was never a moment where I got the characters confused or forgot who had what hopes and dreams. They were both gorgeously distinctive. The two characters originally met on a website where they discussed their kinky desires. Ty and Leslie both had distinctive reasons for joining the site and those reasons are revealed during the book. I thought that the reasons were quite interesting. Ty and Leslie are both realistic characters with hopes and dreams and fears. They’re both flawed characters who may sometimes jump to the wrong conclusions but never for cruel reasons.

The way that these two characters mesh together is amazing. The best type of romance to me is one where I can feel the brimming relationship and connection between the two characters. Where the attraction is palpable even if it’s through a page. From the very beginning there was a connection between Ty and Leslie. This isn’t an insta-love book. There’s a bit of instant attraction and the relationship might move a bit quicker than expected, but there’s also a reason behind it. It was glorious and I think Ty and Leslie might rank as one of my favorite couples.

We also get a few side characters that I also love. There is Paige and Seren who are friends of Ty and Leslie. They are absolute sweethearts and I’m going to have to make sure to read their romance at some point. They both also work as guides and soundboards for Leslie specifically. Ty often uses their cousin, Zoey, as their main person to talk to during the book. Zoey is honestly my favorite of the side characters in this book. I absolutely adored her and I wish she had been, or will be, given a full romance of her own.

One of the main reasons I was drawn to this book is because Ty is nonbinary. I adore books with nonbinary main characters and I try to read as many of them as I can. Jaime’s handling and description of Ty being nonbinary was fabulous. They were confident in their identity, but they also had some lingering insecurities from a previous ex. They know who they are and they’re lucky to be surrounded by friends and family who accept them for who they are. Ty just felt very authentic.

There was also a slight kinky element to this book. As mentioned before, the two met on a site where they got to discuss some of the kinky things they’d like to do. They didn’t really get into a bunch of that during the book because the book seemed more focused on their reconnection and the problems they still had to address. But there were hints of it. I believe even a scene or two as well. I don’t get to read too many books with kinky elements in them because either I don’t know they exist or I just find the books when I’m not in the mood to read sex scenes. So getting to read this book with that underlying element but also not feeling overwhelmed by it was very fun for me!

It took me well over 6 months to finish this book because I kept picking it up, hitting a reading slump, and putting it back down. It was definitely worth the wait though. Jaime did an amazing job at writing two characters that had such a strong and earnest connection between them. They were flawed characters so there was drama from that, but it never felt forced or out of place. It felt like two people still learning to heal from previous experiences and still trying to figure out how to communicate properly with each other. The side characters were amazing and I’d love to have an entire story devoted to Zoey! I don’t think there was a single part of this book that I didn’t enjoy. It was just a great time for me. I especially loved Ty being nonbinary and how Jaime handled that in the story. It flowed really well while also touching on some of Ty’s insecurities regarding their body. It was wonderful!




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