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A review by booksandmeforevermore13
Top Secret by Elle Kennedy, Sarina Bowen
4.0
3.75/5⭐️
I picked this up after I finished US by the same authors and I was really looking forward to it given how much I enjoyed the HIM series. I enjoyed this a bit less than that series though.
Keaton is college a jock who comes from a wealthy family and is working on his campaign to become the president of Alpha Delt to uphold the family legacy. He has been in a relationship with Annika for the past six years and she also happens to be his best friend. When Annika suddenly brings up the idea of trying something new to spice things up between them and proposes having a threesome for her birthday, Keaton agrees and starts doing his research about how to make this work. He has never really questioned his sexuality until he ends up on "Kink" - the app he uses to find someone for the threesome. When he strikes up a conversation with SinnerThree about what is on and off the table, he realizes that he might not be truly opposed to the idea of getting physical with a guy. As their conversation progresses, he slowly gets more confident with the idea of experimenting with a guy to figure out what it is that he's feeling, but at the same time, he also starts forming a genuine bond with SinnerThree that goes beyond sex.
Luke has never had it easy, with an ex-con brother and a mother who only reaches out to him when she needs something from him. He is struggling to make ends meet, working as a stripper to make enough money to survive but has kept it hidden from everyone. So when he finds out that the president of Alpha Delt gets a room in the frat house rent free for the next year, he drops his name to run for it. The only issue is to beat Keaton, who he absolutely can't stand and who already has the support of most members of the frat. Now he just has to make sure that his campaign can turn that verdict in his favor. Luke is bisexual and has been using the Kink app to dabble in different sexual experiences from time to time which is how he comes across LobsterShorts and his request of having an interest in having a threesome.
While they are enemies who want nothing to do with each other in real life, they also happen to connect on the app without knowing each other's identity and start exploring something new. Question is will they go through with their plans once their identities are revealed or will they pretend like it never happened?
I liked how these two were so different with each other when they were face to face as Keaton and Luke and then while chatting as LobsterShorts and SinnerThree. Once they figure out who they were, they slowly start blending both these versions to understand the other better and see how much they misjudged each other in real life.
I also liked how Keaton kept giving signs about wanting more but also gave Luke his space to come around given what he knew of his past and what holds him back from trusting someone or taking their help. Keaton did this right till the end where he let Luke take things at his own pace but also showed him that he cared and that he truly wanted him for him and was willing to wait. This was heartwarming cuz no one had ever made Luke their priority or just wanted him for him and not what he could do for them.
Keaton's relationship with his family also progresses gradually, where he eventually gets to the point where he opens up to his parents about not wanting to go down the path that is expected of him just to maintain the legacy, but to follow his own dreams and make his own choices. His sexuality was also handled well by his parents who accepted the fact that he was bisexual.
It was also, nice to see how Keaton stood up for Luke throughout all the drama that happened with his brother and did everything he could to get him help.
What I has an issue with is that while they were texting on the app and trying to figure out what works and what doesn't, they kind of got into this routine of slowly sexting which I didn't like since Keaton was in a relationship with Annika and that was cheating (even if everyone tried to make it look like their relationship was more on the platonic side later).
I also didn't like how Keaton tried to push Annika to agree for the threesome when the time came and she refused only cuz he was more interested in having that experience. When she said no, he should've understood and dropped it cuz it's okay to change your mind of you aren't comfortable with it.
The whole breakup situation between Keaton and Annika seemed rather abrupt and silly given how it was her idea. So to say that she only did that to get him to realize that their relationship was dwindling was kinda stupid and also seemed rather convenient given what happens next.
I picked this up after I finished US by the same authors and I was really looking forward to it given how much I enjoyed the HIM series. I enjoyed this a bit less than that series though.
Keaton is college a jock who comes from a wealthy family and is working on his campaign to become the president of Alpha Delt to uphold the family legacy. He has been in a relationship with Annika for the past six years and she also happens to be his best friend. When Annika suddenly brings up the idea of trying something new to spice things up between them and proposes having a threesome for her birthday, Keaton agrees and starts doing his research about how to make this work. He has never really questioned his sexuality until he ends up on "Kink" - the app he uses to find someone for the threesome. When he strikes up a conversation with SinnerThree about what is on and off the table, he realizes that he might not be truly opposed to the idea of getting physical with a guy. As their conversation progresses, he slowly gets more confident with the idea of experimenting with a guy to figure out what it is that he's feeling, but at the same time, he also starts forming a genuine bond with SinnerThree that goes beyond sex.
Luke has never had it easy, with an ex-con brother and a mother who only reaches out to him when she needs something from him. He is struggling to make ends meet, working as a stripper to make enough money to survive but has kept it hidden from everyone. So when he finds out that the president of Alpha Delt gets a room in the frat house rent free for the next year, he drops his name to run for it. The only issue is to beat Keaton, who he absolutely can't stand and who already has the support of most members of the frat. Now he just has to make sure that his campaign can turn that verdict in his favor. Luke is bisexual and has been using the Kink app to dabble in different sexual experiences from time to time which is how he comes across LobsterShorts and his request of having an interest in having a threesome.
While they are enemies who want nothing to do with each other in real life, they also happen to connect on the app without knowing each other's identity and start exploring something new. Question is will they go through with their plans once their identities are revealed or will they pretend like it never happened?
I liked how these two were so different with each other when they were face to face as Keaton and Luke and then while chatting as LobsterShorts and SinnerThree. Once they figure out who they were, they slowly start blending both these versions to understand the other better and see how much they misjudged each other in real life.
I also liked how Keaton kept giving signs about wanting more but also gave Luke his space to come around given what he knew of his past and what holds him back from trusting someone or taking their help. Keaton did this right till the end where he let Luke take things at his own pace but also showed him that he cared and that he truly wanted him for him and was willing to wait. This was heartwarming cuz no one had ever made Luke their priority or just wanted him for him and not what he could do for them.
Keaton's relationship with his family also progresses gradually, where he eventually gets to the point where he opens up to his parents about not wanting to go down the path that is expected of him just to maintain the legacy, but to follow his own dreams and make his own choices. His sexuality was also handled well by his parents who accepted the fact that he was bisexual.
It was also, nice to see how Keaton stood up for Luke throughout all the drama that happened with his brother and did everything he could to get him help.
What I has an issue with is that while they were texting on the app and trying to figure out what works and what doesn't, they kind of got into this routine of slowly sexting which I didn't like since Keaton was in a relationship with Annika and that was cheating (even if everyone tried to make it look like their relationship was more on the platonic side later).
I also didn't like how Keaton tried to push Annika to agree for the threesome when the time came and she refused only cuz he was more interested in having that experience. When she said no, he should've understood and dropped it cuz it's okay to change your mind of you aren't comfortable with it.
The whole breakup situation between Keaton and Annika seemed rather abrupt and silly given how it was her idea. So to say that she only did that to get him to realize that their relationship was dwindling was kinda stupid and also seemed rather convenient given what happens next.