3 and 4 Stars for Remarkable Restraint (Grad School Guys #1) by Devon Rhodes #MM #Romance @devonrhodes @Totally

Title: Remarkable Restraint (Grad School Guys #1)
Author Name: Devon Rhodes
Publication Date & Length: March 20, 2015

This is book one in the Grad School Guys series.

When Justin gets fed up with his best friend Chaz avoiding him, he decides it’s well worth sacrificing his favorite T-shirt to try to save their relationship.

Chaz is finding it impossible to hide his attraction for his straight roommate, so he tries avoiding Justin until he leaves for the summer. He just has to get through a few more days, then he’ll be home free—at least until Justin comes back in a couple of months. Still, he firmly believes space between them is the best answer for now.

But Justin is not a man to be ignored. He’s known Chaz for almost a decade, and can tell when something is weighing on his mind. And being shut out is not acceptable, especially just when he’s finally ready to commit to more than friendship. When closer than usual proximity just before his trip to Central America turns up the heat between them, he takes matters into his own hands by restraining Chaz’s hands—and feet—until he gets some answers.

The results are explosive and more than either could have dreamt, but the abrupt shift in their relationship is almost impossible to reconcile in the short time they have left together. It will take remarkable restraint from both to find a way to weather the separation, stay friends…and to grow into something more.

Reader Advisory: This book contains light BDSM elements and bondage.

Publisher’s Note: This book was previously released in the Games In The Dark Anthology. It has been considerably expanded for release with Totally Bound Publishing

Justin and Chaz are such a cute couple even when they don’t know they are a couple. I really enjoy how you get to see their relationship develop and despite them both being slightly stupid when it comes to love and themselves, they have a great relationship.

Justin is one who is not to shirk his responsibilities and I really like that about him. Chaz is an easy-going, lovable character. He’s almost naiive and innocent, but the thoughts he has about his best friend are less than pure.

The exchange and development of their relationship is gradual, but not so slow that it makes the book drag, which I appreciated.

While I wish there were more written when they were physically together, I can appreciate their long distance relationship too.

I hope there will be a continuation of their story.

AvidReader

This is a hot new adult short story. Justin and Chaz have been best friends forever, but it is only well into graduate degrees that Justin finally finds the courage to admit his attraction to Chaz.

Chaz has always fancied Justin, but he assumed his friend was straight.

As a dominant, Justin takes the lead initiating submissive Chaz into a sexual relationship with him. Unfortunately, he has to leave the country for two months, so much of this story focuses on the two men’s long-distance relationship.

For me, the story lost stars because of the long-distance relationships. This is a short story. The focus is sex, but the two lovers aren’t even in the same country for much of the book. Yes, there were sexy presents, toys and phone calls, but I felt more actual sex was needed.

That’s not to say the story was only about sex. There were some very sweet passages as Justin and Chaz worked through the dramatic shift their relationship makes as best friends become lovers and partners.

Sarah

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