New Release: Starting Over
Book Title: Starting Over
Author: Rob Browatzke
Publisher: Rob Browatzke
Cover Artist: AJ Corza
Release Date: November 15, 2020
Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance
Trope: Second chances
Heat Rating: 5 flames
Length: 51 000 words/ 210 pages
Buy Links: Amazon US
Fourteen years ago, Dylan and Kent became something more than friends, but it didn’t end well. Now, they’ve run into each other again. This time, they’re both adults, they’re both out, and they both know what they want.
Will that long-ago teenage heartbreak stand in the way of what’s happening between them? Life doesn’t often give second chances, but maybe this is theirs, to start over.
My Review
3/5 stars
What drew me to doing an ARC review of Starting Over was the premise of a romance taking place in the immediate aftermath of Corona, especially since Kent is a nurse. He and Dylan literally meet the day pandemic restrictions are lifted. This presented an enjoyable emotional roller coaster at the beginning of the book, the manic energy of finally being able to interact with people again only to run into an ex from ten years ago that did not end well. I had hoped this would continue throughout the book, but unfortunately once our main couple gets together, the post Corona setting is mostly forgotten except for the occasional reminder about it.
The other thing that drew me to reviewing the book was the nonlinear timeline. Throughout the story, the narrative jumps back and forth between what is happening to the main characters ‘now’ and what happened between them in their childhood. This is a fun way to review things about a characters, especially when the events in the two timelines line up and play off each other to reveal why characters are the way they are. Unfortunately, about halfway through the story this jumping between timelines stops, and the second half of the story takes place entirely in the ‘now’. There are hints about events that happened later in their childhoods that would have been interesting to see, like their high school experiences or Dylan’s relationship with Lea.
I was not expecting for my favorite character to be one of the side characters. Duncan was a delight of sage-like wisdom every time he was on the page, and I was glad the story went back to him several times. Starting Over is part of a series, so I hope that this character will feature more in future books, and maybe even get his own story.
Overall I rated this a three start because while there were interesting plot points, it felt like a lot of setup with little payoff. Some of these might pay off later in future stories (I haven’t looked at future stories to know) but just on its own merit, this left the story rather underwhelming. There were several plot points that seemed to be promising drama, and would take the time to build up anticipation for what was going to happen, only for either nothing to happen, or for what did happen to never get addressed. While I enjoyed the setup of the story, and the anticipation for the drama I thought was coming, the lack of payoff in the end made for a reading experience that was less satisfying than it could have been.
About the Author
Rob Browatzke, 43, is a storyteller and club owner in Edmonton, Canada.
This is his ninth published work, his second mm romance.
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