Winner Take All by Ellie Roth (Longview Book #2)

TITLE: ⟫ Winner Take All

AUTHOR: ⟫ Ellie Roth

SERIES: ⟫ Longview Book #2

RATING: ⟫ 4/5

BLURB: ⟫ “You cannot just send me a text with the words ‘I think he’s in love with me’ and expect me not to come over.”

When the most powerful magic user in the tristate area loses his powers, Shiki Gonzalez’s ranking goes from third place to second place overnight. Unfortunately, the one thing holding him back from finally claiming the title of grand champion is taking down his old enemy Michael Vernon, and despite eight years of trying, that’s the one feat Shiki has never been able to accomplish. This time, though, Shiki has a plan.

Mehmet Argitakos is thrown for a loop when his longtime crush Shiki approaches him with a Shiki will help Mehmet climb his way up the ranks of the advanced Blizzard tournament if Mehmet teaches Shiki how to fight like the former titleholder, Mehmet’s best friend Chris. But taking down Vernon is a cause Mehmet can definitely get behind—and Shiki’s notorious penchant for casual intimacy doesn’t hurt, either.

As the cold days of training blur into long winter nights, Shiki’s and Mehmet’s worlds slowly start intertwining. But guarded Shiki doesn’t let down the walls around his heart for anyone, and Mehmet wants to be something more than just the next warm body in Shiki’s bed. With the Blizzard on the horizon, will their partnership crack under the strain or evolve into something more?

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Winner Take All is a contemporary LGBTQ+ romantic fantasy that features a modern world imbued with magic, a slow-burn friends-with-benefits romance, found family vibes, tragic backstories, mild to moderate steaminess, major angst, and a happy ending for our protagonists (with a few plot threads left open for later books). Can technically be read as a standalone, but is best enjoyed after Just Like Magic.

REVIEW: ⟫ I actually struggled with reading this up until about 56%. I was enjoying it but because it was heavy on the training aspect of things and only alluding to the tragic backstory that would make sense of things, I felt that something was missing. I couldn’t connect well with either Mehmet or Shiki and was struggling. Miscommunication isn’t one of my favourite tropes and there was miscommunication aplenty in this story.

However, after 56%, this story flew by! The actual magical tournament, the relationship difficulties between Shiki and Mehmet, Vernon and the consequences of his actions – all of it flowed quickly and efficiently, with some hard-hitting emotional impacts that took me off guard. I remember reading the first Longview book and being a little disappointed in the romantic storyline – this time, I took notice of the ‘mild steam’ warning and wasn’t expecting more. However, the emotional aspect of things was really beautifully handled.

Seeing Mehmet come into himself – truly blossom into the competitor that he should always have been was so satisfying, as was the support from his friends. I enjoyed this story overall more than the first Longview book, with prickly, grumpy Shiki turning into my favourite character! The series seems to be getting better as it goes along, so if you enjoyed the first book then I heartily recommend reading this one.

I received an ARC from GRR.