Ugh, I really didn't enjoy this book. Realistically, I should have probs DNF'd it, but I have read and loved almost all of Saxon James' catalogue, including her books with Eden Finley, so I was pretty determined to give this author a solid shot. Every now and then in SJ's joint books there are lines that make me cringe because they're a bit too eek problematic and pull me out of the enjoyment of the book -- and now I'm like "ah, I see where the problem is" because this book felt like one big problematic line after another. A lot of it wasn't explicitly problematic, but made me uncomfortable nonetheless and isn't the kind of writing I want to spend my time immersing myself in.

There's a lot of explicit biphobia, and while a lot of it gets challenged, it wasn't fun to read. There was a  joke that read as transphobic to me (or at least as parts = gender; "If my balls shrivel up any more, I really could become a woman"). The book doesn't give space for any sexualities beyond gay, straight, and bisexual (the gay MC flat out says "When it comes to sexual orientation, to me, it's either gay, bi, or straight"). The other MC, who has the bi awakening, is very uncomfortable with the bi label even though he acknowledges that the definition fits him; it would have been nice to see him explore other labels (maybe pansexual???) that better resonate with him.

I also really hated the way this book talks about adoption. I don't want to spoil too much, in case anyone reading this actually wants to read this book, but many of the characters seem to carry a blood trumps all kind of attitude about adoption, and it perpetuates the idea that adopted kids are inherently and insurmountably different from their adoptive families. Yes, the adopted person ends up having a better relationship with their family, but there's a lot of uncomfortable lines that just didn't need to make it into the book in the first place.

There's no official third act breakup (yay), but there is some incredibly contrived relationship drama  87% of the way in -- and I always hate when authors wait to have relationship drama until the last 20%, because it doesn't leave enough space to have characters recover from it healthily and move past the drama in a satisfying way. 

Overall, I felt like the characters and most of the plot were incredibly flat. I can't tell you much about these characters, and they certainly didn't feel "real" to me. There were a lot of plot points that had potential but weren't fleshed out well. There were some plot points that were completely random and seemed to serve no purpose. And there were some plot points that seemed to exist solely to allow the author to reference/set up other books in the same universe.

More minor, but: the pranking aspect of the book grew tiresome and annoying; it was somewhat fun in the beginning but became a well-worn plot point by the end, even adding in some completely unnecessary drama at like 94%. 

TW: Biphobia, unnecessary HP reference, not great attitudes about adoption, transphobic joke, a background character has MS that is progressing quickly (though there's very little on page discussion of it, misogyny (ex “leave the dishes, that’s what moms are for”)