Name: raven's review of Us by Sarina Bowen
Item: Us
Rating: 5
Author: raven

Sarina Bowen

Elle Kennedy

Can your favorite hockey players finish their first season together undefeated? Five months in, NHL forward Ryan Wesley is having a record-breaking rookie season. He's living his dream of playing pro hockey and coming home every night to the man he loves-Jamie Canning, his longtime best friend turned boyfriend. There's just one problem: the most important relationship of his life is one he needs to keep hidden, or else face a media storm that will eclipse his success on the ice. Jamie loves Wes. He really, truly does. But hiding sucks. It's not the life Jamie envisioned for himself, and the strain of keeping their secret is taking its toll. It doesn't help that his new job isn't going as smoothly as he'd hoped, but he knows he can power through it as long as he has Wes. At least apartment 10B is their retreat, where they can always be themselves. Or can they? When Wes's nosiest teammate moves in upstairs, the threads of their carefully woven lie begin to unravel. With the outside world determined to take its best shot at them, can Wes and Jamie develop major-league relationship skills on the fly? Warning: contains sexual situations, a vibrating chair, long-distance sexytimes and proof that hockey players look hot in any shade of green.

Jocelyn Smith

raven

This was so good. Usually book sequels suffer in quality, even by a bit but damn, this one was just as amazing as the first. I really like how it explored the sensitive side of keeping their relationship secret and how there's still much more that Jamie and Wes had to understand and uncover about each other even after they've known each other for so long. The length of the book is just right as well, and there was not a dull moment from this at all. Just amazing from start to finish!

Wow I love this book and the first one! Truly amazing! I love the growth and everything in this book. This series is amazing! Can’t wait to start the final one! 

Loved this as much as I did the first time 

Cass Paul

Such a cute story and easy read, I read it in a matter of hours! At first I wasn’t sure about the book because the conflict starts pretty early on and it was stressing me out. I pushed through and they tackle a lot of things throughout the book and come out stronger as a pair. I really enjoyed this book and the series so far. I will say I liked the first book a lot better, but this one left me smiling. I think this book could have been shorter, conserving the events covered, but I felt it was a sweet story overall. 

ally cuabo 

cris 🫀

Jamie y Wes son mis hijos, los amo mucho.

sophia n

okay. i really wasn't sure if i was going to read this or not tbh. but i was jetlagged and wide awake in the middle of the night so i opened this up and blew through it in about 4hrs. i think if i hadn't, this book would've been awful for me. 

it's not a secret that i absolutely loved the first book in this series, and part of me didn't want to read any more because the end of the first book was perfect. anyway i think this could've been better, i enjoyed some parts, but the baseline of miscommunication soured this entire book for me. i get why it was used. but i just wish they'd gone in a different direction. 

one of these stars goes entirely to wes' team, including blake, all their scenes melted my heart. another star goes to wes' televised interview, and the subsequent scenes after all the way up to the end. absolutely killed me. and honestly i don't think i'd ever NOT enjoy reading about wes and jamie. anyway, i would 100% recommend the first book. this one, only if you'd read the first and were bored with 4hrs on hand. ah well. apparently there will be a 3rd book ... which i'm sure i'll read. i can't really let go of these two idiots. "how hard is it?" :')

The first book was a five star for me. But this sequel felt so unnecessary. It has its moment but overall I don't understand the point 

Akansha

** spoiler alert **
           Soy fácil de complacer, lo admito.

Este libro podrá tener todo el drama del mundo, momentos que ni van al caso, entre otras cosas; pero ha logrado conmoverme de la mejor manera posible, incluso lloré un montón, y claramente también me reí.

Es que… WES Y JAMIE SON LOS MEJORES FRIENDS TO LOVERS DEL UNIVERSO. en serio, me encantan, los adoro mucho y los quiero cuidar de todo mal.

Me parece chistoso como al principio plantean que Blake será el enemigo de Wes y Jamie, y lo ponen como un chico medio petulante, que se auto-invita a todo, y que de paso es de lo más cotilla. Y resultó ser EL MEJOR PERSONAJE N ESTA HISTORIA. BLAKE, MI REY, NADIE TE AMA COMO YO. En serio. Tremendo chico, tremendo amigo, tremendo todo. Ahora quiero saber qué onda pasó entre él y la hermana de Jamie, Jess. Un chisme inconcluso que necesita respuestas.

Entre tantas cosas que me gustaron. ¿Podemos hablar de cómo Jamie apareció en Dallas y le propuso matrimonio a Wes? ¿Y su reacción? omg, Wes no podía creer lo que estaba sucediendo, y literal se largó a llorar ahí mismo. Los quiero tanto😭

Minutos después… ¿Wes diciéndole a Jamie que no se lo iba a follar esa noche, sino que le haría el amor? 🥺 a mí no me van esas estupideces floridas y ajá, pero viniendo de ese par de tontos, lo sentí como si estuviera leyendo la mayor expresión de amor nunca antes vista.

¿Blake enterándose de que sus dos amigos se comprometieron y cómo eso terminó en una cama rota de hotel que terminó en las noticias? Qué risa que les dejaran el daño exonerados porque la gente de relaciones públicas, tras leer el correo que le mandó Wes explícanos qué no fueron ellos sino Blake, creyeron que sería de mala publicidad que se difamara la noticia de un posible TRÍO. Wjjsjsjs amo a esos tres 🥺 

Y claramente, la escena que me rompió mi corazón, fue esa donde el chofer de la familia de Wes lo llama y le dice que su padre nunca le pagó por estar en sus juegos, sino que él lo hacía porque realmente disfrutaba de verlo jugar y se sentía orgulloso de todo lo que había hecho. Lloro.

Además también tengo que agregar el hecho de cómo Jamie se fue de Toronto dramáticamente, y dejó a Wes solo, y como luego de varios días (y tras hablar con su mamá) entendió lo solo que estaba Wes en el mundo, y cómo había sido tremendo imbecil al dejarlo, sabiendo que él era lo único que tenía. O sea, lloro por Wes y sus inseguridades de que él nunca sería suficiente para Jamie y cómo nunca lo reconocería como su familia como él lo hacía; pero a Jamie se le gustaron muchas cosas y agradezco que haya podido poner su mente en orden antes de cualquier cosa.

En fin, pensé que habría epílogo 😭 me siento triste y estafada.

Kailey Rios

i couldn’t believe how dumb wes and jamie were being for the majority of the book and it was pissing me off but the ending was so cute and heartwarming it made up for all the angst.

also i want to see a picture of The Shirt please and thank you.


  4 stars

Megan Lowe

Love this book! Love Jaime and Wes. Love Blake! I love that things aren't always perfect but these two are great!

cute almost cried a couple of times at the end

Stacy

3⭐️ 

This was a fun read but I liked the first one better. 
I think this one had way too much happening at the same time and it wasn't as well explored as the previous one. 
I absolutely love Blake though!

Ryiel

Absolutely adored this just as much as the previous! It was interesting to see Jamie’s feelings and struggles more throughout this book. Taking into note the type of personality it had, it felt refreshing (in a sense?) to watch him go through that and his process to it, you’d barely expect it with how usually carefree he is. It was also really heartwarming to see Wes sticking to his side through it all, even with the amount of fear he had on whether they’d break up/Jaime would leave. The ending! Got to love, it warmed my heart a ton. These two have my entire heart, really glad I came across these two books. 

Can your favorite hockey players finish their first season together undefeated? Five months in, NHL forward Ryan Wesley is having a record-breaking rookie season. He’s living his dream of playing pro hockey and coming home every night to the man he loves—Jamie Canning, his longtime best friend turned boyfriend. There’s just one problem: the most important relationship of his life is one he needs to keep hidden, or else face a media storm that will eclipse his success on the ice. Jamie loves Wes. He really, truly does. But hiding sucks. It’s not the life Jamie envisioned for himself, and the strain of keeping their secret is taking its toll. It doesn’t help that his new job isn’t going as smoothly as he’d hoped, but he knows he can power through it as long as he has Wes. At least apartment 10B is their retreat, where they can always be themselves. Or can they? When Wes’s nosiest teammate moves in upstairs, the threads of their carefully woven lie begin to unravel. With the outside world determined to take its best shot at them, can Wes and Jamie develop major-league relationship skills on the fly? Warning: contains sexual situations, a vibrating chair, long-distance sexytimes and proof that hockey players look hot in any shade of green. "I read HIM in one sitting--it's so, so good! If I had to pick two authors who I'd have team up, it would be Bowen and Kennedy" -- #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover "HIM is my favorite read of 2015! Hot, sexy, romantic, funny, and full of heart. I LOVED Jamie and Wes!" -- NYT Bestselling Author Lauren Blakely "The way that Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy spun the tale of these two men falling and staying in love was absolutely timeless and beautifully real." --Audrey Carlan, #1 New York Times Best Selling Author Keywords: MM, male/male, hockey romance, hockey mm, sports romance, contemporary romance.For fans of: Alexis Hall, Roan Parrish, Avon Gayle, Riley Hart, Ella Frank, Lucy Lennox, Devon McCormack, Kindle Alexander, NR Walker, Damon Suede

Tanya 

Alright now this is what I’m talking about. This was sooooo much better than book 1 & THANK GOD bc I was gonna be seriously pissed off if it turned to shit.

What I’ve come to realize is that in the romance books I read I need endless passion, love, lust, pain even to make me feel connected to them. To let me know just how deeply and strongly they feel about each other & I got that in this book.

I didn’t see it going this way though I never anticipated Jamie being the one that would have struggled because he was carefree and happy. So to see him go through what he did and Wes stuck by him through it all was so sweet to watch. Which brings me to Wes there was so much character building for him in this book. He went from running from his problems in book 1 to facing them head on and not cowering away in this one and I LOVED it.

I also feel like steam was kicked up a notch in this one, I might be wrong but both of them are so freaking hot steam is there regardless. Omg I freaking LOVE Blake I kinda wish he was my neighbor but not really lmao

Anyways this was a fantastic story and I’m happy I pushed through to the end.

Caitlin 

This is such a good sequel! I love it just as much as ‘Him’. It was so nice to see their relationship develop more and get see them get their HEA🥰

Nia Kharebashvili 

Well... I have some things to say and they’re gonna be incoherent so bear it with me for a sec.

I LOVED “Him”! But the dynamic of “Us” is so fucking different from the first book. It was expected of course, considering how book 1 ended, but I didn’t expect it to change that much. 

The first half of this book was just Jamie and Wes fucking nonstop; barely exchanging a single meaningful word. And the second half was just Jamie being bitter.

The miscommunication between Wes and Jamie in “Us” was taken too far. The book was filled with unnecessary angst, drama, Jamie’s bitterness and Wes’ sadness. (Have I mentioned that I love Ryan Wesley like a lot???) And all that stemmed from these two idiots, failing to exchange two words that weren’t expletives. For me, that just screams “lazy writing”. 

There were some cute moments, of course; like Jamie’s and Wes’ relationships with their respective teams and Blake fucking Riley and Wes calling Cindy “Mom” and his worry for Jamie and Jamie’s big gift and all that jazz, you know? There was also Wes’ backstory that broke my heart and Reggie’s phone call that brought a tear or two to my eye, but that cuteness wasn’t enough to outweigh the issues I had with this book.
The shift of the dynamic was so stark and sudden for me... I just wasn’t ready, dude. One minute they’re chilling at Lake Placid and the next they’re in Toronto having a pity party, not even mentioning the lake—supposedly their absolute favorite place that shaped and defined so many things about their relationship, a place that supposedly means a lot to them—at least once. Nope, that ain’t what I wanted!

I love Jamie and Wes to death, but book 2 didn’t do it for me the way book 1 did. I am gonna read “Epic”, though. Because despite all these stupid and unnecessary situations the authors put Wes and Jamie through, I still can’t get enough of them. And honestly, I don’t think I ever will.

Sahi K

It’s always awesome to read about your favorite characters again after their supposed HEA... This book shows how circumstances can affect even the relationship between two people who are so adorably in love with each other .. For a while, things looked bleak and this book broke my heart many times but at the end, it was just what I hoped.. Such a beautiful couple Ryan and Jamie are... I wish there could be so many more of their books!!!

Linda Quintanilla

Oh, I just love reading about Jamie and Wes that I was overjoyed when Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy release a second book for Jamie and Wes. We will get to read about the journey Jamie and Wes will face as they navigate bwing together in the NHL world.
Jamie and Wes are enjoying their time together but things will get complicated when they have to struggle to keep their relationship under wraps. It will become very complicated for them to keep their relationship under wraps because one of Wes teammate moves into the same building as Wes. Jamie and Wes struggle to keep their relationship under wraps because Wes teammate is very budding that he will always wants to hangout. While they struggle to keep their secret a secret, they are also having communication problems between them that it will become tense while they avoid to express their feelings.
However, something unexpected happens to Jamie that it forces Wes to out come, just as Jamie too that they will face the world. The pressure is on for them when they relationship is out in the world but together they can make it work if they communicate. Communicate is key to every relationship that Jamie and Wes will need to make their relationship work!
Us is another fantastic read that everyone will every minute of it! Five Stars.

Sophie Elaina 

Loved the completion of this story. At first I wasn't sure where this was going which is why I didn't quite enjoy it as much as the first book, but slowly it got better and I loved the second half of the book. Bowen and Kennedy are so good at creating characters you route for and a more in-depth storyline than the usual romance. Definitely recommend trying them out if you haven't already. 

Rating: 4 Stars

abbey

Cat Nunez 

Cada vez los amaba más aunque sufría cuando peleaban o no conversaban las cosas y sufrían:( Pero en general me encantó saber más de ellos y su relación <3

Find this review and more at 
  kimberlyfaye reads.


ALL THE STARS! 

I can't tell you just how happy I was to learn that Sarina and Elle were writing a sequel to Him, one of my favorite books of 2015 and one of the best M/M romances I've read so far. I loved Wes and Jamie and I felt like there was more story there. I'm glad the authors agreed. :) This was utter perfection. I couldn't have been happier with it. 

Him was about the start of the relationship between Wes and Jamie – and all the messy things they had to deal with to get together. Us tackles what happens after. Life gets complicated for these guys, but in a very realistic, non-trigger warning kind of way. They're dealing with Wes's pro career and Jamie's coaching career and the fact that they're away from each other more than they're together. Which is tough on any relationship. Add in the fact that Wes wants them to keep the true nature of their relationship hidden until he gets through his rookie season, and there are potential land mines all over the place. You know, especially considering they live together and one of Wes's teammates just moved into the same building... and he is a bit of a clinger. (But in the best way possible. I ADORED Blake.) 

So yeah, this was a bit of a bumpy read at times, but it still had all those things that made Him so spectacular when I first read it. Wes and Jamie are just SO RIGHT together. I loved the humor – their banter is so, so good. They had me laughing out loud one minute, swooning the next and fanning myself soon after. Their sexy times were, as you would imagine, hot as hell.

Us was the total package. It gave me feels, funnies and ... sexy times. ;) But it did it all with a dose of realistic issues couples face, without being overly dramatic or angsty. I never felt like my favorites were being put through the ringer or dealing with things that just wouldn't happen. (Which meant I didn't feel tortured either. Ha!) I loved the addition of Jamie's sister, Jess, and Wes's teammate, Blake, in this book. *wink wink* I see good things for them in the future, too. Hopefully. This was just a fantastic read from start to finish. I couldn't put it down once I started and I still wanted more when it was all said and done. I love these characters so damn much. 

If you loved Him, you have to read Us. You won't be sorry.

Oh, for the record? I'm totes claiming Blake. So hands off, ladies. 

I received a copy of this book from the authors in exchange for an honest review.

FAVORITE QUOTES:

  "You look fucktastic. Like J-Tim after he left NSYNC and got hot. But I want to feel it on my balls before I weigh in."

The way I feel about Ryan Wesley... it's something I thought only existed in the movies. He's my other half. We complement each other in more ways than I can count. When he's in the same room, I'm focused on him, and when he's gone I walk around missing him.

“I have no idea how Eriksson and the other guys do it,” Blake continues. “I’m exhausted during the season, and I’m single.” He mock shivers. “Imagine having a wife and kids. That’s, like, terrifying. Do you think that’s how zombies are created? Like it’s not some craz-o virus, but just being so dead-ass tired that eating brains suddenly seems like a good idea?”

"Stop fucking teasing me and start fucking fucking me," I rasp.
"Fucking fucking you? Did you really need two fuckings?"
"One's an adverb and one's a verb." My voice is as tight as every muscle in my body. I'm about to go up in flames if he doesn't make me come.
His laughter warms my thigh. "I love the English language, dude. It's so creative."

Lacey

Originally posted at Booklovers For Life

4.5 STARS

Jamie and Wes are back and better than ever!!


  Love is friendship set on fire.


Us was a highly anticipated sequel to a book I adored last year, and if you can believe it, I loved Us even more than Him! Going into this, I had no idea what direction Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy would take Wes and Jamie’s story, but I had faith in these two authors, and they didn’t disappoint. Us is another sexy, hilarious, heartfelt read, but what’s different about it from its prequel is that it felt a lot more meaningful to me. Parts of Us made me freaking tear up, and I almost never cry for books! If you loved Him, you will no doubt love Us, so make sure to get your hands on it as soon as you can!

I fucking long for the day when I can proudly introduce Jamie Canning as my boyfriend. When I can talk to my teammates about my personal life and tell them about Jamie’s amazing family, or invite them over for drinks without having to see Jamie duck into the guest room when he has to go to bed. Because he’s not a guest in our condo, dammit. It’s his home. And he’s my home.

Ryan Wesley is living his dream – playing professional hockey and living together with his best friend and love Jamie Canning in Canada. Except… he can’t live his dream out in the open because he’s keeping the fact that he’s gay and has a boyfriend a secret from the hockey league. Jamie goes along with it, because he doesn’t want to be the reason Wes’s rookie season doesn’t go well – until things start spiraling out of their control. Nosy people start invading their lives, their relationship becomes strained from the time apart when Wes is away at games, Wes and Jamie are put on the spotlight… and life just gets too hard.

But I chose happiness over other people’s skewed opinions and cruel judgments. I chose Wes.
But now I have to hide that choice. I have to pretend that Ryan Wesley isn’t my soulmate.

This book was everything. I seriously loved it, even when I hated the fact that these two wonderful, sweet, sexy, adorable men had to hide their love for one another. Their relationship gets rocky and strained in a way I didn’t expect, and everything feels raw and real, but I honestly couldn’t put this book down. My heart hurt for Jamie and Wes, for the loneliness and depression they face, but these two are the type of characters who will put a smile on your face even when everything seems down. The bond and love they share is beautiful, and I have to say, I love these two even more now after the trials and challenges they had to overcome to make their relationship work.

I loved being back with Wes and Jamie. And I loved the new secondary characters who are introduced. Blake is a hilarious, crazy teammate of Wes’s, and I can’t help but hope he’ll have a book of his own (with a certain someone). I really loved Us even more than Him, because this sequel made me FEEL so much more. I’m so happy that Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy decided to write more Jamie and Wes, and I’m praying that they’ll collaborate on more books!

Thanks to the authors for generously providing me an ARC to review.

Quotes are taken from the ARC and are subject to change in the final version.

Amazon Ebook: http://amzn.to/1T4WC4G

Liked this review? Subscribe to Booklovers For Life for more!

Jocelyn Smith &
Us by Sarina Bowen

Reviews

Join the club

Jocelyn Smith &Us by Sarina Bowen

Reviews

Join the club

Jocelyn Smith &
Us by Sarina Bowen