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Tied Together ZB Heller 9781517086220 Books

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Tied Together ZB Heller 9781517086220 Books

I started this book in the Audible format, which I received through AudioBoom. The narration was fine, but I basically hated the story. I stepped away from it for a while and then finished it in ebook format. I can read faster than listen and I just wanted it done.

Mechanically, the writing is fine. But Ryan is a total douche bag and he never redeemed himself. I was further infuriated that he was so horrible, but it was Brandon put in place to apologize before they got their happily ever after. Sure, Ryan, had a minor apology too, but it was too little too late for me. He was horrible, start to finish and I hated him so much it ruined the book for me.

Then there is the pacing. OMG, the pacing. The book starts out pretty well. It's funny and Ryan had an interesting voice. But it quickly devolved into forced humor and actions that MADE NO SENSE. Then 12 years pass. 12 years people! Two characters who have known each-other and been best friends for years, who are in love with each-other have one fight (because of one does something that I couldn't believe he would actually do) and they walk away without ever speaking again. WTF? They still go to the same university, you'd think they might pass on campus. And who gives up love that easily? No one, that's who. (Not that Ryan deserved any better.)

But 12 years pass. From a literary point of view, that's a lot of important time to lose. Then when the two get back together, the reader isn't given the getting to reknow each-other scenes either. They go from 0-bed instantly, then 3 weeks pass. What? More important lost time? They have another ridiculous fight, make up and 3 years pass. MORE TIME GONE, time that I as a reader needed to see.

At 65% new characters were introduced, characters who became important but the reader is not invested in because they are new at 65%. Apparently they are characters from other books, but that doesn't help much in the grand scheme of things. There is slut shaming, the characters are vile towards women in general and the representation of the nice, accepting, middle class family versus the poor, homophobic trailer trash family was cliched and predictable.

This was an all around fail for me.


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Tied Together ZB Heller 9781517086220 Books Reviews

Sassy, sexy with a dash of Moxie. The vibrancy of this story is amazing. The sass and banter between all characters is snort laugh worthy. Yes I can admit I did that quit frequently. While it pained me to see the break between Ryan and Brandon it was an integral part of the story. Seeing how the characters grew over the years yet remained very much who they were was perfect. The inclusion of moxie made for fun quirky interactions, and her potty mouth hasn't changed. This story definitely brightened my day, let it brighten yours.
Tied Together by ZB Heller
3.5 stars!!

“How was it for you? Thanks for the spooge facial; my skin feels so renewed.”

This was a real fun yet emotional and angsty M/M read. I am a sucker for M/M, for some reason I can get really emotionally invested in these stories and this one was no different. While the humour made light of some of the issues it was needed to break the tension and the humour literally was Ryan’s form of emotional defence, he was hilarious as were his angel and devil that sat firmly on his shoulders.

“Sugar, spice and all things nice. If you have a schlong, you belong. If you have a cooch, you can scoot along.”

Ryan was the epitome of the guy that every girl wanted to date, he was hot, he was well off and he was incredibly popular, he was cocky, self assured and just a general Mr Nice Guy, shame that he didn’t bat for their team. He was always confident in his sexuality and while his coming out didn’t quite go to plan he had the most accepting parents; he was lucky, extremely lucky. He had a great emotional support system and a fantastic family.

Brandon was the total opposite, he was the boy from the other side of the track, he was dirt poor, lived in a trailer and had parents that just saw him as a mistake. His mum did work but didn’t care for Brandon at all and his dad was an out of work drunk that took all his frustrations out on him both emotionally and physically. He really did have a crap life; he was bullied at home and at school. He kept his nose stuck in his books, he was adamant that he was going to make something of himself and get the hell out of there, and he couldn’t wait.

“Stress is oozing off you like jizz running down a guy’s leg. Go get your pickle tickled, burp your worm, and crank the shank…”

Ryan and Brandon meet when Brandon is being bullied and Ryan literally becomes his knight in shining armour and from there a friendship was born. Ryan felt the gay vibes from Brandon, but Brandon was firmly in the closet, not even really admitting to himself his true feelings, he was scared too, his dad had been calling him all the “gay” names under the sun and he didn’t want to draw anymore attention to himself, he needed to stay alive to get out.

I felt everything between these two. The friendship, the conflict of emotions and the constant push and pull of affections. Brandon really was confused and conflicted, he knew what his heart wanted but his head was not on the same page, until it was, then it wasn’t.

“This is not a mistake, Ryan. I’ve wanted this for a long time. I just didn’t know how or when. I don’t want to be scared anymore. You make me want to be brave.”

This does have its fair share of angst and yes I did have a few tears while reading, my heart broke multiple times for these two as you could really tell that these two were meant to be together. There are elements of our trusty favourite “mis-communication” but understandable none the less and really brings this story together.

Sometimes you just meet someone at the wrong time and your time will come and that is definitely the case for these two, being older and wiser and more mature definitely makes a difference and I loved the new “Brandon,” the banter between these two was fantastic and the change in Brandon makes for some smoking hot scenes.

I loved ZB Heller’s writing style, her wit flowed throughout and I felt that she really nailed the male POV. My only niggle was this needed a proofread. There were a lot of errors and while this was an ARC, I have since looked at the final copy and there are still quite a few in there. While a few I can let slide when it is a fair amount I have to bring it up. This would have been a solid 4 star had it not been for that element.

“So that’s it, then. We’re tied together.”

This is my first read by ZB Heller and it won’t be my last.
This book needs a rewrite. First to go is the idiotic Brad Pitt/Steve Busceni angel/devil nonsense. The whole story needs tightening up. The plot had holes and the characters were just awful. The only character I liked was Brandon until the time skip. Then I lost all faith in him. To take the guy back so easily, after all that time and after what Ryan did? I couldn't believe it. If the book focused on Brandon and followed him over the years it would have been better. Starting with the bad childhood, to meeting Ryan, to their break up. No back up, let them actually date for a while before Ryan blows it. Then follow Brandon as he restarts his life sans boyfriend and family. I would have loved to see how Brandon recovers from that low point. Maybe a chapter with Ryan, showing his life without Brandon and maturing into an adult. Because he needs a personality transplant. They get to the happy end somehow. Let's face it Brandon is just too forgiving. The only way they would work in reality is if Ryan got to be a really nice guy too.
I started this book in the Audible format, which I received through AudioBoom. The narration was fine, but I basically hated the story. I stepped away from it for a while and then finished it in ebook format. I can read faster than listen and I just wanted it done.

Mechanically, the writing is fine. But Ryan is a total douche bag and he never redeemed himself. I was further infuriated that he was so horrible, but it was Brandon put in place to apologize before they got their happily ever after. Sure, Ryan, had a minor apology too, but it was too little too late for me. He was horrible, start to finish and I hated him so much it ruined the book for me.

Then there is the pacing. OMG, the pacing. The book starts out pretty well. It's funny and Ryan had an interesting voice. But it quickly devolved into forced humor and actions that MADE NO SENSE. Then 12 years pass. 12 years people! Two characters who have known each-other and been best friends for years, who are in love with each-other have one fight (because of one does something that I couldn't believe he would actually do) and they walk away without ever speaking again. WTF? They still go to the same university, you'd think they might pass on campus. And who gives up love that easily? No one, that's who. (Not that Ryan deserved any better.)

But 12 years pass. From a literary point of view, that's a lot of important time to lose. Then when the two get back together, the reader isn't given the getting to reknow each-other scenes either. They go from 0-bed instantly, then 3 weeks pass. What? More important lost time? They have another ridiculous fight, make up and 3 years pass. MORE TIME GONE, time that I as a reader needed to see.

At 65% new characters were introduced, characters who became important but the reader is not invested in because they are new at 65%. Apparently they are characters from other books, but that doesn't help much in the grand scheme of things. There is slut shaming, the characters are vile towards women in general and the representation of the nice, accepting, middle class family versus the poor, homophobic trailer trash family was cliched and predictable.

This was an all around fail for me.