THE CHARMER
The Vers Podcast Series - Book Four
by Riley Hart
Blog Tour
Release Date: September 6, 2023
Genre: MM Romance Standalone
Trope: Opposites attract, frenemies to cuddle buddies to lovers, size difference, no-strings-attached cuddling, found family, body positive MC
Synopsis
If you listen to The Vers, a queer podcast I host with my three best friends, you know me as The Charmer. I'm always happy, flirting, and trying to win everyone over. I think most people would be surprised to learn I have a lot more going on beneath the surface.
But ever since all my friends have fallen in love, it's getting more difficult not to feel left out…
Cue my fascination with Spencer, my neighbor who hates me. There's something addicting about getting under his skin, and I blame the combination of my confusing emotions and too many drinks for spilling my guts to him about all my insecurities…and about how much I love cuddling.
Turns out, Spencer doesn't hate me, and my word vomit is the catalyst that makes us decide to be cuddle buddies. When I need affection, I go to him, and he just…holds me. Along the way we become friends, and when I fall for him, it's surprising that he feels the same. Spencer's easy to talk to, fun to be around, and did I mention he's hot? I love how confident he is in his full figure, and there's nothing like being in his beefy arms.
Spencer has me wanting more for the first time in my life, and he's determined to help with my disordered eating, but if I want a healthy future with him, I need to work toward being healthy for myself too.
The Charmer is an opposites-attract romance with a body-positive MC and a cuddle fiend learning to love himself.
The Charmer deals with disordered eating, low self-esteem, and negative talk about weight. While the story is uplifting and none of these are heavy-handed, please see content warning for a full list.
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Other Titles Within this Series
PURCHASE
PURCHASE
PURCHASE
About the Author
Riley Hart's love of all things romance shines brightly in everything she writes. Her primary focus is Male/Male romance but under various pen names, her prose has touched practically every part of the spectrum of love and relationships. The common theme that ties them all together is stories told from the heart.
A hopeless romantic herself, Riley is a lover of character-driven plots, many with flawed and relatable characters. She strives to create stories that readers can not only fall in love with, but also see themselves in. Real characters and real love blended together equal the ultimate Riley Hart experience.
When Riley isn't creating her next story, you can find her reading, traveling, or dreaming about reading or traveling, and spending time with her two perfectly snarky kids, and one swoon-inducing husband.
Riley Hart is represented by Jane Dystel at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret Literary Management. She's a 2019 Lambda Literary Award Finalist for Of Sunlight and Stardust.
[I received a digital arc for an honest review]
The Charmer is a sweet, emotional and steamy romance between neighbors that's low on drama. With a fat MC whose comfortable and happy in his own skin and a fitness nut who makes his pain and disordered eating with humor.
-I loved both our MCs! Corbin broke my heart and his struggles hit me hard. I loved Spencer's confidence in his body and his patience for helping Queer youth.
-Alllll the cuddles, Corbin literally calls Spencer his CB (Cuddle Buddy) and I was here for every cuddle session.
- The found family that The Vers queer podcast boys have together. I love their dynamic so much.
-The positive mental health rep. Spencer knew he couldn't fix Corbin's issues for him and he encouraged him to see a professional but he was there to support him in any way he could. From making sure he ate but not pushing the issue, and continuously showing him that he loved him for who he was on the inside.
-Trigger Warnings are there for a reason and since I'm a glutton for pain I decide to read this anyway because I love a romance with a fat MC. However, as a person with disordered eating and a horrible relationship with food this one wasn't the best for my mental health. I do really appreciate the way the author portrayed and handled the issues. I had to take reading breaks because sometime words would come out of Corbin's mouth and it would be exactly something I've said to my therapist in the past. But I don't regret reading it becuase these characters stole my heart.
Favorite Quotes:
"I'm an excellent cuddler. You're gonna get addicted." Spencer snickered. "Oh, am I?" "It would be understandable if you did." For the second time, he danced his fingers up and down my arm. "Go to sleep, Corbin." "But now I kinda want to talk."
"Do you know how much I want you?" I asked. "Yes, fuck yes." "What does it feel like?" He paused like the question surprised him and he wasn't sure how to answer. "Like… like quiet," he said, those words making my thoughts spin. Was he telling me I kept those negative voices out of his head? If so, I'd do this every day for my whole fucking life. "That's good?" I had to make sure I was understanding him right. "It's everything."
---Written by Amanda ---
[I received a digital arc for an honest review]
The Charmer by Riley Hart is the fourth book in the Vers Podcast series. Corbin is 'The Charmer' of the podcast and in a lot of ways his friend group, The Beach Bums. Corbin has started an unofficial feud with his handsome neighbor, Spencer Chase. Spencer recognizes Corbin from college and realizes he isn't over being slighted by the handsome man. Once Corbin is faced with their history and starts to get to know Spencer he finds himself wanting to be as close to the man as possible. But Corbin has demons that he struggles with as does Spencer. The two want to be together and trust each other but some issues are harder to get over than others.
I really liked Corbin and Spencer both separately and together. Corbin was such a bright and cheerful person even when he wasn't forcing his charming personality out to hide his pain. His struggles were so hard to read and felt very real. Spencer is obviously a caregiver and even when he and Corbin were only being platonic, he just wanted to give him a sense of peace and safety. The two had wonderful chemistry in bed and managed to balance sex with physical intimacy such as cuddling and comforting touch in public.
I nodded, and Spencer let out another laugh and shook his head, then surprised me by tapping the tip of my nose with one of his fingers. It felt so sweet… so comfortable. Strangely and perfectly intimate.
This was an excellent way to end the Vers Podcast series. Corbin needed his happily ever after and found such a great partner in Spencer. I appreciated that Spencer was so willing to blindly accept the closeness of the Beach Bums, especially Corbin's with Marcus. This book took on some heavy material including disordered eating, body image issues and bullying (both online and by family). Hart appears to have taken time to research the subjects and took a respectful approach to telling this story. I loved Gael and hope both him and Morgan get their own books so we can see both men find happiness. The only caveat I had with the book was the repeated reference to their relationship being perfect. I found this to be unrealistic and a little frustrating/repetitive because putting a relationship on a pedestal as perfect is unhealthy.
4 stars for Corbin and Spencer becoming the best CB ever.
--Written by Katie--
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