Lessons in Chemistry
by Colette Davison
Cover Artist: Designs by Morningstar
Release Date: July 27, 2023
Genre: Contemporary gay romance
Tropes: MMM, college/university romance (all characters are over 18), slow burn, fake date, opposites attract
Themes: Finding yourself while finding each other
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Length: 96 500 words
It is a standalone book and does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links - Available in Kindle Unlimited
Universal link | Amazon US | Amazon UK
What do a nerd, a jock, and a slacker have in common? Each other.
Blurb
When Auggie’s controlling father threatens to cut short his studies, it’s time to put his life in order. Add one cute nerd and one dedicated swimmer, and he has a new lesson to learn—how to love.
Emory is all kinds of confused. He really, really likes Auggie but is also in love with his best friend, Casey. Then Auggie comes up with a plan to see if Emory and Casey share any chemistry, and nothing will ever be the same again.
Casey lives for swimming and snuggling his best friend, Emory. Except Emory is in love with him, Auggie’s confusing him, and suddenly he has to confront his feelings and his sexuality.
Three men and one conundrum. How can they all get the guy?
Lessons in Chemistry is a slow-burn MMM college/university romance between an inexperienced nerd, an asexual jock, and the slacker who’s been around. There’s a fake date, first times, three guys finding their way in love and life, and a whole lot of snuggling.
Excerpt
“I want to kiss you,” I tell him.
Casey tilts his face up so I can lean down to give him a closed-mouth kiss. It’s long, tender, and soft. His lashes flutter as I pull away and smile at him.
“That was lovely.” He lays his head on my chest again.
I smile and kiss his hair.
“That’s nice too.” He half rolls, so he’s semi-facing Auggie.
Auggie seems to know exactly what Casey wants. He pushes up onto his elbow and kisses Casey. Even though it’s a sweet kiss, watching them still turns me on. They look stunning together, especially as Auggie’s beard scruff creates a red texture on Casey’s chin.
Auggie pushes up farther and kisses me over Casey. I’m aware of Casey glancing up from the movement of his head. Is he watching us as our mouths open and our tongues connect? Auggie lies down again, and the three of us go back to snuggling.
After a while, Casey shifts position and snuggles against Auggie. I turn to spoon his back, which is a new experience. I’ve never spooned with anyone. It’s nice being so close to him, having his back resting against my chest. I loop my arm over him and stroke Auggie’s arm. A thrill runs down my spine. We’re in a three-way relationship. Okay, so it’s brand new and tentative and awkward, but I’m lying in bed, cuddling two amazing and beautiful men.
Copyright Colette Davison 2023
Carra's Review
Emory has never been with anyone before; never been kissed, dated, nothing. His journey is about first times, experimentation, and first loves. He gets embarrassed easily, and has definitely cornered the market on adorable blushes. Being in love with his best friend Casey is hard when he believes Casey is straight. To confuse things more, he has feelings for his new friend Auggie…but he’s confused because he can’t have feelings for both of them, can he?
Casey has never been with anyone before either, but his reason is not at all the same as Emory’s. Casey is the asexual jock, though he’s never realized before what his sexuality was, or why he’s never had any sexual feelings for anyone. Not that he was ever bothered by this; he just went about his life, happy to have his best friend Emory at his side willing to cuddle him at the end of the day. Casey overthinks things once Auggie enters the picture, particularly once he starts to feel happy butterflies not just when Emory makes him happy, but with Auggie as well.
And then there’s Auggie, our once-and-done player who’s just out for a good time with no interest in anything serious. He’s a party guy, not interested in his classes—though there’s a reason behind that—but the more time he spends with Emory and later with Casey, the more his attitude changes as he realizes what he really wants.
All three are young—right about nineteen/twenty—and that shows in their interactions and how they speak. Emory in particular comes across as very naive, a wide-eyed innocent. Each has their own journey to follow, aided by the others, so there is a good deal of self-discovery going on with all three of them. There is plenty of character growth for all three, and even Auggie’s overbearing father (with his unrealistic expectations) gets in on the act. The majority of the book is Emory, Casey, and Auggie finding themselves and how they fit together, with a touch of family drama that I knew was coming, but felt very satisfied with when it happened.
Overall, Lessons in Chemistry was a 4-star read for me. This is the first college-age romance I’ve read in a while that has the characters at an earlier portion of their studies; I usually stick to books with older characters who’ve had time to gain life experience and not sound so young. But the interactions between these three were well written and concentrated on character growth, which I do appreciate and that made this an enjoyable read for me. If you’re a fan of M/M/M, enjoying new adult romance, or representation of asexual characters, this story will tick a lot of boxes for you and you’ll want to add this one to your collection.
About the Author
Colette’s personal love story began at university, where she met her future husband. An evening of flirting, in the shadow of Lancaster castle, eventually led to a fairytale wedding. She’s enjoying her own ‘happy ever after’ in the north of England with her husband, two beautiful children and her writing.
Blog/Website | Facebook Page | Facebook Group: Colette’s Cosy Corner
BookBub | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram: @colettedavison
Mailing List | Newsletter Sign-Up
Giveaway!
Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win
a $10 Amazon gift card
No comments:
Post a Comment