Rating: 4
Steam: 2
PoV: dual, 3rd person
Series: Running in Circles #4
Genre: contemporary romance, MM
Tropes / tags: ace rep, age gap, slow burn
When he grew up, he wanted to be loved—in the crushing, romantic kind of way, but he wasn’t brave enough to say that out loud because every time he did, he had to face the consequences that came with his sexuality.
Less Than Three was a slow, slooow burn story, but oh so sweet and rewarding once these two stubborn, perfectly flawed characters finally stopped resisting each other!
Dmitri and Raphael both nestled themselves into my heart and their stories were tugging hard on my heart strings. The portrayal of these men was emotional, honest and raw, and I loved their little moments together, their friendship and connection. Their connection was beautiful, and there was so much tenderness in their interactions.
As they were both hesitant to share their feelings for each other, there was a lot of pining and crushing from afar. It was almost sweet at times, but there were also some heartbreaking moments where it was difficult to see how they’d get to be together. I loved the slow burn though, it really felt like the right kind of story for these characters.
“I don’t know how to be asexual and also be in love.” Dmitri really knew how to make my heart ache, and while it hurt to see him struggle with it, I loved the ace rep and how his asexuality was written. It was very interesting to follow Dmitri’s thoughts and feelings, and his character growth was just fantastic.
Less Than Three was an emotional read, full of pining and pain – but also love, support and friendship. The writing was gorgeous and there was a lot of diversity and representation – as per usual in E.M. Lindsey’s stories. Raphael and Dmitri were definitely worthy of their HEA, and it was so heartwarming to finally see them together!
He knew someday someone would love him as he was—for the person he was, without wanting to fix him or change him or shape him into something new.
Book links:
Amazon | Goodreads | BookBub | StoryGraph
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