The Animosity Equation by J.R. Gray (Love Equations #2)

Title: ⟫ The Animosity Equation (Love Equations #2)
Author: ⟫ J.R Gray
Blurb: ⟫ Have you ever loathed a person so intensely the sight of them made you contemplate homicide?

First day of college, everyone is settling into their rooms, and in walks Jeff Woods—the blond bastard. He's arrogant and smart and an elite swimmer and worst of all everyone loves him. Only he's insufferable and flirty, and a sex god. He pushes every button I never knew I had, all with an air of indifference, like he doesn't know the affect it has on me.

Did I mention he's the hottest guy I've ever laid eyes on?

I'm just some closeted red-neck from the south who's more comfortable on a horse and in a pair of boots than trying to figure out this Ivy League stuff.

There's no way a guy like him would ever look at me twice.

Hate is the only equation.

The Animosity Equation is a stand-alone enemies to lovers, room-mates, forced proximity, wild ride of teasing, lust, and so much more.

Review: ⟫ I’m starting to realise that with this author, I either really love what they write, or it leaves me cold.

This one left me cold. I didn’t feel a connection between Jeff and Mason at all – not even a hate connection. I didn’t like their dynamic and apart from their first meeting, the chemistry (for me) just wasn’t there. I was looking forward to reading this, but I feel like the blurb is very misleading and I was disappointed.

The writing is solid (as it always is) so I think this was just a case of it not gelling for me. I would recommend the first Love Equations story, and I am still looking forward to further instalments.

I received an ARC from GRR. 

The Forbidden Equation by J.R. Gray (Love Equations #3)

 

Title: ⟫ The Forbidden Equation: Love Equations #3

Author: ⟫ J.R. Gray
Blurb: ⟫ My father's the president and my brother's the golden boy which leaves me the black sheep. The son who never wanted to be here at all. The white house my gilded cage, and the secret service my prison guards.

I'm nearly twenty-one and nothing about my life is normal.

The only thing giving me life and any motivation to get out of bed is the way he looks at me. The stolen glances across the West Wing. Heated gaze in the private dining room.

He's my father's best friend, which isn't even the worst part, he's also the vice president. Utterly off limits and I can't bring myself to care. Can't bring myself to stop encouraging his flirting, dreaming, and hoping he won't be able to resist me forever.

Review: ⟫ I am so ambivalent about this one. The writing style seemed different – each chapter was a little bit of a time-jump, which I actually quite enjoyed. It made the writing more spare, removed extraneous details. The political stuff was interesting to read as well as the history of the White House and all that surrounds it.

The relationship between Matt and Liam was – hard to describe. Just from the basics, with the age difference and Matt being in Liam’s life from the time he was born, it would be really easy to think that Matt was grooming him. But Liam was such a definite character – he knew what he wanted, what he needed, and to some extent he was most definitely the more dominant partner. I understood and sympathised with Matt’s dilemma and could well understand his reluctance, but I kinda hated the fact that he didn’t pull away. He had given up so much for Liam’s Dad that him finally being selfish and grabbing something for himself made sense, but there was a feeling (for me) that he perhaps should have left Liam alone.

And then there was Lucas. I sometimes felt like there was more chemistry between him and Liam, and there is a part of me that wished that they had got involved. Liam made some points that I hadn’t ever considered – about how he had never had a normal life because he had always been part of his father’s political life. It made me feel so sad for him, never to experience some things from a normal perspective with no choice in it because of what his father had chosen as his career path.

It might not seem like it, but I really enjoyed this book. I was fascinated, involved and hurt by the events and I read it in one sitting because I really wanted to know how this doomed relationship could possibly work out. This one gave me a lot to think about and for that reason alone, I would recommend it. It turned a few of my ideas about age-gap relationships on their head and opening myself up to a different viewpoint can only be a good thing.

I received an ARC from GRR.