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Unrequited/Requited #1
Unrequited
Andy Montgomery is an artist and a dreamer. It isn’t long before the person he’s dreaming about is his college roommate, West Baxter.
West is cheerful and popular, a jock and a genius. Despite Andy’s best intentions, he develops a maddening crush on West. As their friendship deepens, so does his crush. It changes from an innocent flutter to the type of longing that defines a lifetime.
The problem? West is straight, so this epic love is unrequited…or is it?
West is cheerful and popular, a jock and a genius. Despite Andy’s best intentions, he develops a maddening crush on West. As their friendship deepens, so does his crush. It changes from an innocent flutter to the type of longing that defines a lifetime.
The problem? West is straight, so this epic love is unrequited…or is it?
182 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 6, 2021
36 people are currently reading
1563 people want to read
About the author
Jesse H. Reign
19 books1,482 followersI'm Jesse, and I write contemporary and paranormal MM romance.
Whether my characters are born magical, or whether magic is something they make between the sheets, I strive to take the reader into the mind of the narrator. My ultimate goal is to leave the reader feeling like they’ve made a new friend or have spent a few hours flirting with a brand-new book boyfriend.
I love coffee, chocolate and daydreaming, in no particular order. I love conflicted characters, lust at first sight and angst – no seriously, ALL the angst. Give it to me!
Whether my characters are born magical, or whether magic is something they make between the sheets, I strive to take the reader into the mind of the narrator. My ultimate goal is to leave the reader feeling like they’ve made a new friend or have spent a few hours flirting with a brand-new book boyfriend.
I love coffee, chocolate and daydreaming, in no particular order. I love conflicted characters, lust at first sight and angst – no seriously, ALL the angst. Give it to me!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 224 reviews
January 20, 2024
3.75 - great one-sided pining! Free on the author's website if you sign up for the newsletter.
This was fun. By fun I mean, you get to sit and watch someone fall in love, obsess, pine, angst, and get hurt. 😂 Carefree sunshine/uptight judgemental obsessor pairing. Match made in heaven, those two!
What I loved about the book:
Simple straightforward thoughts, no messy metaphors. College-age roommates who became best friends. Talk about unfuckingrequited.
Bonus points for a great woman as a side character. The straight guy is hooking up with women and it isn't done in that typical defiling way, and it isn't out to make the women sleazy or petty, or the Enemy. Not really on-page, it happens, but you aren't getting details beyond moaning.
This is what I call fun pain, you know it's going to keep happening, and you know how much the MC is hurting, but neither MC is a dick, just real-life regular stuff. College kids hooking up, partying, being goofy, having a good time. Accidentally pulverizing someone's heart.
The book does age up the characters because it wouldn't be real torture unless it went on for TEN years. 😅
If you aren't a fan of idiots who refuse to communicate, and MCs having sex with other people, this book will absolutely not work for you. One gets married, the other goes through a fuck everyone phase and eventually has a nice relationship, etc.
It was worth the wait. Explosive sex scenes, fear and anxiety, love confessions, obsessive we don't want to leave the house situation once they are together. Both MCs had their idiotic moments, mistakes, and small painful stuff, but really at the end of the day, it was just two guys who didn't know what they were doing. I can relate!
So many highlights, but I've narrowed it down to:
• “Oh,” he says simply, “in that case, d’you want to come cruising for cock?” I must do a double take because he adds, as if to clarify, “Or trawling for ass?” I’m absolutely positive I do a double take at that. I can feel my jaw drop open slightly. He just smiles and shrugs, “Whatever you prefer.”
• Okay, fine. So he’s not homophobic. So what? He’s still a complete nightmare, that’s for sure.
• “Uh, um, West, this is, um, this is gay porn.” He looked at me as if I was mad. “No shit, Sherlock. I’ll just block out the dick and focus on the ass.” He had a big grin on his face. “After all, an ass is an ass.”
• Afterward, I hear him whispering to her. This is different, too. This time, he’s not asking her what she likes in bed; he’s asking who she is. He wants to know her. He wants to know everything about her. Fuck. This one is different. He wants her.
• “Andy,” says West, “this is Ashleigh.” He looks about as happy as someone who has just been announced as a Nobel Peace Prize winner. He motions to her proudly, as if she’s the trophy.
• “I’m telling you, West, this girl is bad news. She’s crazy.” He smiles at me patiently. “She’s all kinds of crazy. She’s totally wild,” he says it as if it’s some sort of special talent. I hate the way he looks when he talks about her. He looks like a fool. His green eyes glaze over as a helpless, toothy grin takes over his face.
• I stand back and take in the painting. It’s the best work I’ve ever done. I say that without ego. It’s just a fact. It’s the practical piece for my portraiture class. It’s a self-portrait. Though the face and body are purposefully blurred out, I’ve captured my likeness. You can see at a glance that it’s me. My expression and posture are perfect. Every nuance is there. I’m standing straight with one hand at my side. The other is raised in front of my gaping chest, holding my heart in my hand. I’ve painted the organ in a hyper-realistic style. The blood and membranes around the heart seem so lifelike that anyone looking at it is likely to feel that slight clench, that slight sense of dread you get when you see a car crash. I’ve named it Heart.
• She stands beside me. Not speaking for a while. I think she’s about to move on but then she looks at me. Her eyes are as sympathetic as mine are sad. “Unrequited,” she says softly. “There’s no worse way to love.”
• “You need a shower." He looks at me sheepishly, shrugging a little, showing me his bandaged wrist apologetically. “Uh, I think I might need a little help.”“Sure.”
• I spray the side of his face. I stroke his cheek with my thumb. Running my finger along his scar. Tracing the shape. Memorizing every minute detail. Trying my best to keep my mouth shut. Clenching my teeth. Trying my best not to lean down and run my tongue up the side of his face. It isn’t easy. I want him so much, I’m shaking inside.
• Everything hurts. There’s pain everywhere.
• I imagine the sound he’d have made. Like the sound he made that first time with Ashleigh. Better, though. I imagine he’d have made an even better sound, because it would have been him and me.
• “How long are you going to keep doing this to yourself?”“Dunno,” I say, suddenly angry. Furious, even. “I do not know. Okay? I guess I’ll just keep doing it until it stops being such fun. I guess I’ll just keep doing it until I can’t take the pain anymore.” I’m speaking a little too loudly.
• I can’t tell you how much time I spend lying on my bed, shaking, staring up at the ceiling, thinking, What fresh hell is this? I must have been a mass murderer in a previous life to deserve this type of torment.
• I love him just as much as ever. I don’t want him to feel any pain. I only wish him well. I want everything for him. I want him to have everything he’s ever wanted, even if that leaves me with nothing at all.
• Dare I say it? I’m happy.
• “It will be fine. I’m ninety percent over West,” I say, with a determined nod. “Ninety percent, huh?”
• Shit, I think, as I pull away, I’m only eighty percent over West.
• It feels so good having his arm around me that I have no choice but to acknowledge, I’m less than fifty percent over West.
• “You’re no gentleman, though.” He’s slurring seriously now. “You’re just hard to get.” What did he just say? What the hell did he just say? “What was that, West?” I whisper. He doesn’t reply. He just breathes heavily through his mouth. He’s passed out cold.
• “Since when have you not been straight?” I demand. For some reason, I'm starting to feel annoyed.
• “I don’t know if I’ve ever been straight. For me, it’s not that cut and dried. I think in some ways, it’s always been there. I just didn’t know what it was. For me, I guess, it hasn’t been that easy to know what this thing in me is. It’s not that simple when you’re easily and often attracted to women. Because that’s the case, I guess I just thought, well, great. I’m into girls. That’s one less thing to worry about. But I think it’s always been there.”
• My lack of judgment might just have cost me the most important person in my life.
• I’ve cleaned up my act a lot and that’s all well and good, but when the chips are down, I’m still capable of making spectacularly idiotic decisions. There's no getting away from that fact.
• Wave after wave of panic hits me. It’s hot and it’s pure.
• I pace up and down the loft frantically. When that does nothing to help, I take to my bed. Lying down on my back, my arms and legs spread out like a starfish. For some reason, that makes me feel even worse. I feel like I’m being crushed. Suffocated. Like I can’t breathe.
This was fun. By fun I mean, you get to sit and watch someone fall in love, obsess, pine, angst, and get hurt. 😂 Carefree sunshine/uptight judgemental obsessor pairing. Match made in heaven, those two!
What I loved about the book:
Simple straightforward thoughts, no messy metaphors. College-age roommates who became best friends. Talk about unfuckingrequited.
Bonus points for a great woman as a side character. The straight guy is hooking up with women and it isn't done in that typical defiling way, and it isn't out to make the women sleazy or petty, or the Enemy. Not really on-page, it happens, but you aren't getting details beyond moaning.
This is what I call fun pain, you know it's going to keep happening, and you know how much the MC is hurting, but neither MC is a dick, just real-life regular stuff. College kids hooking up, partying, being goofy, having a good time. Accidentally pulverizing someone's heart.
The book does age up the characters because it wouldn't be real torture unless it went on for TEN years. 😅
If you aren't a fan of idiots who refuse to communicate, and MCs having sex with other people, this book will absolutely not work for you. One gets married, the other goes through a fuck everyone phase and eventually has a nice relationship, etc.
It was worth the wait. Explosive sex scenes, fear and anxiety, love confessions, obsessive we don't want to leave the house situation once they are together. Both MCs had their idiotic moments, mistakes, and small painful stuff, but really at the end of the day, it was just two guys who didn't know what they were doing. I can relate!
So many highlights, but I've narrowed it down to:
• “Oh,” he says simply, “in that case, d’you want to come cruising for cock?” I must do a double take because he adds, as if to clarify, “Or trawling for ass?” I’m absolutely positive I do a double take at that. I can feel my jaw drop open slightly. He just smiles and shrugs, “Whatever you prefer.”
• Okay, fine. So he’s not homophobic. So what? He’s still a complete nightmare, that’s for sure.
• “Uh, um, West, this is, um, this is gay porn.” He looked at me as if I was mad. “No shit, Sherlock. I’ll just block out the dick and focus on the ass.” He had a big grin on his face. “After all, an ass is an ass.”
• Afterward, I hear him whispering to her. This is different, too. This time, he’s not asking her what she likes in bed; he’s asking who she is. He wants to know her. He wants to know everything about her. Fuck. This one is different. He wants her.
• “Andy,” says West, “this is Ashleigh.” He looks about as happy as someone who has just been announced as a Nobel Peace Prize winner. He motions to her proudly, as if she’s the trophy.
• “I’m telling you, West, this girl is bad news. She’s crazy.” He smiles at me patiently. “She’s all kinds of crazy. She’s totally wild,” he says it as if it’s some sort of special talent. I hate the way he looks when he talks about her. He looks like a fool. His green eyes glaze over as a helpless, toothy grin takes over his face.
• I stand back and take in the painting. It’s the best work I’ve ever done. I say that without ego. It’s just a fact. It’s the practical piece for my portraiture class. It’s a self-portrait. Though the face and body are purposefully blurred out, I’ve captured my likeness. You can see at a glance that it’s me. My expression and posture are perfect. Every nuance is there. I’m standing straight with one hand at my side. The other is raised in front of my gaping chest, holding my heart in my hand. I’ve painted the organ in a hyper-realistic style. The blood and membranes around the heart seem so lifelike that anyone looking at it is likely to feel that slight clench, that slight sense of dread you get when you see a car crash. I’ve named it Heart.
• She stands beside me. Not speaking for a while. I think she’s about to move on but then she looks at me. Her eyes are as sympathetic as mine are sad. “Unrequited,” she says softly. “There’s no worse way to love.”
• “You need a shower." He looks at me sheepishly, shrugging a little, showing me his bandaged wrist apologetically. “Uh, I think I might need a little help.”“Sure.”
• I spray the side of his face. I stroke his cheek with my thumb. Running my finger along his scar. Tracing the shape. Memorizing every minute detail. Trying my best to keep my mouth shut. Clenching my teeth. Trying my best not to lean down and run my tongue up the side of his face. It isn’t easy. I want him so much, I’m shaking inside.
• Everything hurts. There’s pain everywhere.
• I imagine the sound he’d have made. Like the sound he made that first time with Ashleigh. Better, though. I imagine he’d have made an even better sound, because it would have been him and me.
• “How long are you going to keep doing this to yourself?”“Dunno,” I say, suddenly angry. Furious, even. “I do not know. Okay? I guess I’ll just keep doing it until it stops being such fun. I guess I’ll just keep doing it until I can’t take the pain anymore.” I’m speaking a little too loudly.
• I can’t tell you how much time I spend lying on my bed, shaking, staring up at the ceiling, thinking, What fresh hell is this? I must have been a mass murderer in a previous life to deserve this type of torment.
• I love him just as much as ever. I don’t want him to feel any pain. I only wish him well. I want everything for him. I want him to have everything he’s ever wanted, even if that leaves me with nothing at all.
• Dare I say it? I’m happy.
• “It will be fine. I’m ninety percent over West,” I say, with a determined nod. “Ninety percent, huh?”
• Shit, I think, as I pull away, I’m only eighty percent over West.
• It feels so good having his arm around me that I have no choice but to acknowledge, I’m less than fifty percent over West.
• “You’re no gentleman, though.” He’s slurring seriously now. “You’re just hard to get.” What did he just say? What the hell did he just say? “What was that, West?” I whisper. He doesn’t reply. He just breathes heavily through his mouth. He’s passed out cold.
• “Since when have you not been straight?” I demand. For some reason, I'm starting to feel annoyed.
• “I don’t know if I’ve ever been straight. For me, it’s not that cut and dried. I think in some ways, it’s always been there. I just didn’t know what it was. For me, I guess, it hasn’t been that easy to know what this thing in me is. It’s not that simple when you’re easily and often attracted to women. Because that’s the case, I guess I just thought, well, great. I’m into girls. That’s one less thing to worry about. But I think it’s always been there.”
• My lack of judgment might just have cost me the most important person in my life.
• I’ve cleaned up my act a lot and that’s all well and good, but when the chips are down, I’m still capable of making spectacularly idiotic decisions. There's no getting away from that fact.
• Wave after wave of panic hits me. It’s hot and it’s pure.
• I pace up and down the loft frantically. When that does nothing to help, I take to my bed. Lying down on my back, my arms and legs spread out like a starfish. For some reason, that makes me feel even worse. I feel like I’m being crushed. Suffocated. Like I can’t breathe.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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July 23, 2023
I swear I blinked and next thing I know the two MMCs are together romantically after years of Andy being so hopelessly in love with his bff—West—and never saying or doing anything about it bc he thought West could never want him/be in love with him since Andy believed he was straight, but whole time through their friendship West drops all these ‘hints’ to Andy that Andy had no clue about/never picked up on and West just expected Andy to know from that, that West wanted him so badly?!🙄
How about just communicate, but ofc not, so all these years go by where they love from afar and move on from each other while still being friends. Then, West is all of a sudden divorcing his wife and making a move on Andy. It just made it hard for me to believe in their relationship and felt once they got together it lacked depth and just progressed WAY too quickly, and then wrapped up in a HEA. Felt very unsatisfying.
Good spicy scenes tho, but definitely not a memorable read and couldn’t care less for the characters and their love story.
How about just communicate, but ofc not, so all these years go by where they love from afar and move on from each other while still being friends. Then, West is all of a sudden divorcing his wife and making a move on Andy. It just made it hard for me to believe in their relationship and felt once they got together it lacked depth and just progressed WAY too quickly, and then wrapped up in a HEA. Felt very unsatisfying.
Good spicy scenes tho, but definitely not a memorable read and couldn’t care less for the characters and their love story.
December 18, 2025
I was avoiding this book because I didn't want Jesse to hurt me and c'mon- a name like Unrequited is a pretty huge hint to how the book is gonna go! Turns out it did hurt but it was worth it 😍
“I thought I saw fireworks once, but it was just a smile.”
August 6, 2024
4.25✨
oof, this hurt.
oof, this hurt.
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December 30, 2022
MM Romance
PINING-Best Friends To Lovers
4.25 Stars ⭐️
A To Z Book Title Challenge: U
🤡🤡🤡🤡 Not me LOVING a book that takes place over 10 years, has multiple scenes with other partners and is in only one POV after bitching about all these things in a different review. Nothing to see here folks. 🤡🤦🏻♀️🙄
I was planning to read AH’s Unnatural for my ‘U’ book because I’ve been putting it off forever but then this guy appears when I’m looking at all the choices in my kindle and I already owned it. “Oh I’ll just read the first bit, see if I like it.…”🤡 I couldn’t put this book down and it has so many things that usually bother me but the pining was just so fucking good that I couldn’t stop reading it.
This actually gave me what I wanted from my ‘R’ book, ‘Rare’, because instead of bypassing the 10 years it takes for these idiots to get their shit together like in that book, we see it in all its angsty glory. It’s what I was missing from my ‘R’ book and probably why I appreciated it so much in this one no matter how hard it was to read at times. This starts off in college with West and Andy being roommates and Andy falling madly, hopelessly in love with West. Trouble is, West is straight, always has girls in his bed, always dates women but he’s perfect in every other way and the two become the best of friends. But Andy has it baddddddd and even though he tries to move on, he’s just so hung up on West and since the entire book is from Andy’s POV, it’s so damn angsty.
So this book starts in college and then spans about 10 years and through that we see the boys graduate college, go on to have careers, have relationships that aren’t with each other and everything else that life throws at them but through it all West and Andy are best friends and Andy just can’t seem to get over him no matter how hard he tries. Around the 10 year mark things in both their lives have changed and Andy learns that maybe West isn’t all that straight, maybe he’s just been waiting for Andy to make a move all this time BUT there’s the pining and the angst and the years Andy has spent with sad eyes and an empty soul and maybe it’s too late.
So, while this had a lot of things I normally wouldn’t like, like detailed sex scenes with other partners or it only being in one POV or the fact it spanned over such a long period of time before these two idiots were on the same page, THE ANGST & PINING WAS FANTASTIC. And when these two get their shit together and talk about the past and the future and everything else, it was perfection. I loved it especially the sex scenes with each other. And to know there’s a sequel from West’s POV makes me deliriously happy. It’s too damn bad it doesn’t start with the letters I still need to read or I’d pick it up right now.
PINING-Best Friends To Lovers
4.25 Stars ⭐️
A To Z Book Title Challenge: U
🤡🤡🤡🤡 Not me LOVING a book that takes place over 10 years, has multiple scenes with other partners and is in only one POV after bitching about all these things in a different review. Nothing to see here folks. 🤡🤦🏻♀️🙄
I was planning to read AH’s Unnatural for my ‘U’ book because I’ve been putting it off forever but then this guy appears when I’m looking at all the choices in my kindle and I already owned it. “Oh I’ll just read the first bit, see if I like it.…”🤡 I couldn’t put this book down and it has so many things that usually bother me but the pining was just so fucking good that I couldn’t stop reading it.
This actually gave me what I wanted from my ‘R’ book, ‘Rare’, because instead of bypassing the 10 years it takes for these idiots to get their shit together like in that book, we see it in all its angsty glory. It’s what I was missing from my ‘R’ book and probably why I appreciated it so much in this one no matter how hard it was to read at times. This starts off in college with West and Andy being roommates and Andy falling madly, hopelessly in love with West. Trouble is, West is straight, always has girls in his bed, always dates women but he’s perfect in every other way and the two become the best of friends. But Andy has it baddddddd and even though he tries to move on, he’s just so hung up on West and since the entire book is from Andy’s POV, it’s so damn angsty.
So this book starts in college and then spans about 10 years and through that we see the boys graduate college, go on to have careers, have relationships that aren’t with each other and everything else that life throws at them but through it all West and Andy are best friends and Andy just can’t seem to get over him no matter how hard he tries. Around the 10 year mark things in both their lives have changed and Andy learns that maybe West isn’t all that straight, maybe he’s just been waiting for Andy to make a move all this time BUT there’s the pining and the angst and the years Andy has spent with sad eyes and an empty soul and maybe it’s too late.
So, while this had a lot of things I normally wouldn’t like, like detailed sex scenes with other partners or it only being in one POV or the fact it spanned over such a long period of time before these two idiots were on the same page, THE ANGST & PINING WAS FANTASTIC. And when these two get their shit together and talk about the past and the future and everything else, it was perfection. I loved it especially the sex scenes with each other. And to know there’s a sequel from West’s POV makes me deliriously happy. It’s too damn bad it doesn’t start with the letters I still need to read or I’d pick it up right now.
July 31, 2022
2.75 ⭐️
Absolutely adored and LOVED the first half so much. Pining was wonderful, full of love and passion, descriptions of Andy’s feeling were amazing and MCs personalities was written perfectly. And then Idk what the hell happened with the storyline. Everything changed. The pace of the story suddenly felt too fast and everything that happened seems unnecessary and tooo out of place. The attempt of Andy’s character to cope with what happened felt rushed and forced too. I didn’t like that a LOT. Felt like the story focused on the pining and friendship beforehand, but not so much on the feelings and story after the disaster.
I can’t pinpoint which part I dislike the most. All of the things I loved from the beginning just vanished. Everything from there felt so forced and so much so, lack of depth. It was so hard to love this back after the disappointment. It had a lot of potential though and my fav tropes. Well damn *sigh* Probably wouldn’t read West’s POV on the second book.
All in all, I loved that their friendship didn’t deter their relationship and they actually talk about feelings and discuss things at the end there. I adored that so much. I do believe they are perfect together, it was just the changed of pace and plot were messing with me and my mood :’)
Absolutely adored and LOVED the first half so much. Pining was wonderful, full of love and passion, descriptions of Andy’s feeling were amazing and MCs personalities was written perfectly. And then Idk what the hell happened with the storyline. Everything changed. The pace of the story suddenly felt too fast and everything that happened seems unnecessary and tooo out of place. The attempt of Andy’s character to cope with what happened felt rushed and forced too. I didn’t like that a LOT. Felt like the story focused on the pining and friendship beforehand, but not so much on the feelings and story after the disaster.
I can’t pinpoint which part I dislike the most. All of the things I loved from the beginning just vanished. Everything from there felt so forced and so much so, lack of depth. It was so hard to love this back after the disappointment. It had a lot of potential though and my fav tropes. Well damn *sigh* Probably wouldn’t read West’s POV on the second book.
All in all, I loved that their friendship didn’t deter their relationship and they actually talk about feelings and discuss things at the end there. I adored that so much. I do believe they are perfect together, it was just the changed of pace and plot were messing with me and my mood :’)
March 27, 2025
i’m so thrown off over the fact that this is the same author who wrote romeo falling. that book actually had some good pining, whereas this was just awful. i wasn’t invested in the characters whatsoever, and i found myself skimming the last 20 pages. the writing style annoyed me so much that i felt like chucking my phone across the room. why. are. we. putting. periods. after. what. feels. like. each. word? there was so much unnecessary punctuation that it kind of got ridiculous after some time. also, why were the characters constantly repeating themselves? there are different ways to rephrase a sentence, so i’m not understanding why the characters were doubling down on stuff they had already said. idk perhaps this may be jesse’s debut book or something like that..
February 13, 2025
5 ⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️.5/5
Format: ebook
Holy pining.
This book hurts. I thought Bent hurt, but this HURTS.
I love Andy and West so much. Their chemistry from the very beginning, even as just friends, was so obvious and palpable. They’re just a couple you’re rooting for from the start. All their little moments together, building and building and finally coming to a head, was everything.
You can just feel Andy’s pain so viscerally. I don’t know how to describe this story other than painful. I have a feeling West’s POV is going to hurt even more.
Honestly, I have no words. Jesse’s writing always breaks me apart and then slowly puts me back together. I truly wouldn’t have it any other way.
Spice: 🌶️🌶️.5/5
Format: ebook
Holy pining.
This book hurts. I thought Bent hurt, but this HURTS.
I love Andy and West so much. Their chemistry from the very beginning, even as just friends, was so obvious and palpable. They’re just a couple you’re rooting for from the start. All their little moments together, building and building and finally coming to a head, was everything.
You can just feel Andy’s pain so viscerally. I don’t know how to describe this story other than painful. I have a feeling West’s POV is going to hurt even more.
Honestly, I have no words. Jesse’s writing always breaks me apart and then slowly puts me back together. I truly wouldn’t have it any other way.
March 11, 2022
...“tell me a story in twelve words or less.”...“I thought I saw fireworks once, but it was just a smile.”
That last 5% almost had me sobbing my eyes out. This novella definitely satisfied my craving for some ultimate pining (I'm talking 10 years of pining 😩)
That last 5% almost had me sobbing my eyes out. This novella definitely satisfied my craving for some ultimate pining (I'm talking 10 years of pining 😩)
March 11, 2022
This review might be spoiler-y.
So, I love Andy and West and that’s what made this book enjoyable for me. When they finally get together it’s an explosion of fireworks but there are things that really annoyed me.
It is not actually a college roommates romance like the blurb makes it seem, as they are college roommates for like 16% of the book.
This follows Andy, sad and pining with a capital P for West for TEN YEARS! Then we find out West has been pretty much pining for Andy the whole time too and that just frustrated me. For best friends, there was zero communication. One tiny drunken conversation could have saved them both ten years of misery.
The ending was very satisfying and made up for it.
So, I love Andy and West and that’s what made this book enjoyable for me. When they finally get together it’s an explosion of fireworks but there are things that really annoyed me.
It is not actually a college roommates romance like the blurb makes it seem, as they are college roommates for like 16% of the book.
This follows Andy, sad and pining with a capital P for West for TEN YEARS! Then we find out West has been pretty much pining for Andy the whole time too and that just frustrated me. For best friends, there was zero communication. One tiny drunken conversation could have saved them both ten years of misery.
The ending was very satisfying and made up for it.
March 13, 2024
This book Its pretty bad. The writing is bad, the story is bad, the time jumps are bad and makes little sense, you end up lost like "shouldn't this be more years in the future?"
The author may be good and I'd just had bad luck but this book is definitely bad, I couldn't find one single think I liked about it and that's a rare to me.
She seems pretty popular so maybe I will give another book a try.
This one? I definitely don't recommend!
The author may be good and I'd just had bad luck but this book is definitely bad, I couldn't find one single think I liked about it and that's a rare to me.
She seems pretty popular so maybe I will give another book a try.
This one? I definitely don't recommend!
July 15, 2025
I really enjoyed this. It was fast paced and spanned almost a decade of Andy's pining for West.
Honestly, when West came out and said what he said I was like, bro, you are the problem! It was totally down to him to say something 😂😂
I feel like I want to read Requited, but I'm not really wanting to read anything MF right now and I don't see how West's side of the story doesn't have that in it because of Ashleigh...
Honestly, when West came out and said what he said I was like, bro, you are the problem! It was totally down to him to say something 😂😂
I feel like I want to read Requited, but I'm not really wanting to read anything MF right now and I don't see how West's side of the story doesn't have that in it because of Ashleigh...
January 14, 2026
The devil couldn’t reach me, so he gave me an angsty Jesse H Reign book where the down bad best friend had to watch the *straight* love of his life marry someone else.
TROPES & VIBES:
- Ouch
- *I’ve only ever loved you*
- omg they were roommates
- Jesse is so funny. I love her unhinged internal monologues more than life itself.
- “Pirating books doesn’t hurt anybody”. Let me hold your hand while I say this. This book was pirated so much when it came out, Amazon took it down because they couldn’t trust Jesse *owned* it. If you love authors, please don’t share copies of their books online. It really does hurt them.
4🌟 3🌶️
TROPES & VIBES:
- Ouch
- *I’ve only ever loved you*
- omg they were roommates
- Jesse is so funny. I love her unhinged internal monologues more than life itself.
- “Pirating books doesn’t hurt anybody”. Let me hold your hand while I say this. This book was pirated so much when it came out, Amazon took it down because they couldn’t trust Jesse *owned* it. If you love authors, please don’t share copies of their books online. It really does hurt them.
4🌟 3🌶️
September 21, 2024
A real yearner, our Andy. Can't see the forest for the trees, but hey. When it comes to yearning??? No one has him beat.
This is one of those books where the decision to go single POV was absolutely the right call.
Because honestly there were so many moments when I thought.....there's something about this that's not quite adding up. I loved the twist.
I loved that there's no third act breakup. We had enough pain in the first half, didn't need it in the second. See how you DON'T need to break up a couple to cause angst in the final chapters?
'It’s not just the fact that I love him that’s always been my problem. It’s not even the fact that I lust after him like a man who is possessed. It’s the fact that above everything, I like him. I like him more than anyone else.'
Andy is so far GONE for this guy, it's comical. The time he convinced himself that enough time had passed and he was at least ninety percent over West, then spent a few hours in his company and left knowing he wasn't even fifty percent over him? I CACKLED.
The irony in this book, though.
Anyway.
The first thing Andy thought when he laid eyes on West for the first time was, 'ugh'. And given the heartache these two put each other through, that was some pretty accurate foreshadowing on his part.
I love these two so much but they're incredibly stupid about each other and I don't mean that in a good way.
This book is so amazing and I feel alive again. There's something about angst that's just so delicious.
This is one of those books where the decision to go single POV was absolutely the right call.
Because honestly there were so many moments when I thought.....there's something about this that's not quite adding up. I loved the twist.
I loved that there's no third act breakup. We had enough pain in the first half, didn't need it in the second. See how you DON'T need to break up a couple to cause angst in the final chapters?
'It’s not just the fact that I love him that’s always been my problem. It’s not even the fact that I lust after him like a man who is possessed. It’s the fact that above everything, I like him. I like him more than anyone else.'
Andy is so far GONE for this guy, it's comical. The time he convinced himself that enough time had passed and he was at least ninety percent over West, then spent a few hours in his company and left knowing he wasn't even fifty percent over him? I CACKLED.
The irony in this book, though.
Anyway.
The first thing Andy thought when he laid eyes on West for the first time was, 'ugh'. And given the heartache these two put each other through, that was some pretty accurate foreshadowing on his part.
I love these two so much but they're incredibly stupid about each other and I don't mean that in a good way.
This book is so amazing and I feel alive again. There's something about angst that's just so delicious.
November 24, 2025
3.5 stars
I started this thinking it was an easy 4-star read — fast-paced, smooth, honestly very addictive. I finished it in no time and thought, “Okay, cute, satisfying.”
And then… I started voicing out my problems.
And the more I remembered, the more my rating kept slipping like a wet bar of soap.
So hello, 3.5 stars — because wow, some things bug me too much to ignore.
❌ Problem #1: A DECADE of miscommunication
Not a month.
Not a few messy weeks.
A DECADE.
Why?
Because neither of them could open their mouth and say, “Hey, I like you.”
Ten whole years of unnecessary heartbreak, suffering, and wasted youth — all because nobody could be bothered to speak in full sentences.
This wasn’t slow burn.
This was slow torture.
❌ Problem #2: Third-party sexual interactions
Instant no.
No matter the reason, no matter the circumstance — I do not enjoy reading about the main characters being physical with other people.
I’m not here for guest stars in the romance.
I’m here for them.
Nothing kills my mood faster than these scenes.
⭐ When it worked, it worked
The writing? Addictive.
The pacing? Perfect.
Their chemistry when the story actually focused on them? Delicious.
I ate those moments up.
But the two major issues dragged my enjoyment so much that my rating dropped straight down to 3.5 the moment I processed my feelings.
If those parts didn’t exist, this would’ve been an easy 5-star read.
But here we are — and my annoyance refuses to be ignored.
I started this thinking it was an easy 4-star read — fast-paced, smooth, honestly very addictive. I finished it in no time and thought, “Okay, cute, satisfying.”
And then… I started voicing out my problems.
And the more I remembered, the more my rating kept slipping like a wet bar of soap.
So hello, 3.5 stars — because wow, some things bug me too much to ignore.
❌ Problem #1: A DECADE of miscommunication
Not a month.
Not a few messy weeks.
A DECADE.
Why?
Because neither of them could open their mouth and say, “Hey, I like you.”
Ten whole years of unnecessary heartbreak, suffering, and wasted youth — all because nobody could be bothered to speak in full sentences.
This wasn’t slow burn.
This was slow torture.
❌ Problem #2: Third-party sexual interactions
Instant no.
No matter the reason, no matter the circumstance — I do not enjoy reading about the main characters being physical with other people.
I’m not here for guest stars in the romance.
I’m here for them.
Nothing kills my mood faster than these scenes.
⭐ When it worked, it worked
The writing? Addictive.
The pacing? Perfect.
Their chemistry when the story actually focused on them? Delicious.
I ate those moments up.
But the two major issues dragged my enjoyment so much that my rating dropped straight down to 3.5 the moment I processed my feelings.
If those parts didn’t exist, this would’ve been an easy 5-star read.
But here we are — and my annoyance refuses to be ignored.
May 3, 2025
I love Reign's writing so much, that this book was just too short. I wanted MORE! It also felt as though there could have been so much more build up to the boys' relationship. One minute they've just met and then pretty soon after, the full blown crush is established. I mean I get it. IRL that's how those things happen, but in the literary world, more specifically in the Reign universe, I'm used to build up and I'm realising I'm a bit of a slut for it. 😉
Reign loves a good 'breaking the 4th wall' and I love that vibe here.
Despite the length, I still enjoyed the fuck out of this story. But then Reign could probably write a shopping list and I'd love it.
We retreated back into the "guys are idiots and therefore can't communicate" trope. Which I think is my least favourite theme. Especially when we know Reign does heartfelt men that are beautifully articulate about their feelings. So when I knew that's where this one was heading, I think i switched off a little.
Their final realisation of their feelings for each other had me in equal parts shouting for joy "it's about fucking time!" to "I'm so angry at you two for being such idiots!"
But there's one scene that was one of the hottest proposals for sex I think I've ever read. I can't tell you exactly why it's so hot but it just is. I felt it in my toes! I can still feel them tingling. If I could run a book club, I'd love to describe it in minute detail. But I don't want to do spoilers.
But if you know the scene I'm talking about. Let me know 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Reign loves a good 'breaking the 4th wall' and I love that vibe here.
Despite the length, I still enjoyed the fuck out of this story. But then Reign could probably write a shopping list and I'd love it.
We retreated back into the "guys are idiots and therefore can't communicate" trope. Which I think is my least favourite theme. Especially when we know Reign does heartfelt men that are beautifully articulate about their feelings. So when I knew that's where this one was heading, I think i switched off a little.
Their final realisation of their feelings for each other had me in equal parts shouting for joy "it's about fucking time!" to "I'm so angry at you two for being such idiots!"
But there's one scene that was one of the hottest proposals for sex I think I've ever read. I can't tell you exactly why it's so hot but it just is. I felt it in my toes! I can still feel them tingling. If I could run a book club, I'd love to describe it in minute detail. But I don't want to do spoilers.
But if you know the scene I'm talking about. Let me know 🔥🔥🔥🔥
March 9, 2022
2.5 stars
The characters are very one dimensional, even Andy. There are time jumps that happen very quickly but we never get into the characters. We know Andy who is in love with his best friend and then West, the best friend. All the other characters are there but are never fully formed. And West is just too perfect. Of course this is in Andy’s POV so to him he’s perfect but I couldn’t help rolling my eyes at times. I also felt like Andy had no backbone most of the time, he never distanced himself from West until he started partying hard. Years go by in a flash and we’re told of events but never shown these events. I felt like it was the shortened version of a story at times and I wish it was more flushed out.
The first time Andy and West have sex was my favorite part of the book. It was written so well and relayed the emotions Andy was feeling. I just wish I saw more than them having sex while their relationship was building. I felt like it was all physical and I knew that wasn’t the case but once again we’re told and not shown.
I liked the end when they finally talk. I still wish that the story wasn’t so driven by sex. There’s a great story under all of that but I felt like it wasn’t told fully. I am hoping the next book, from West’s POV, has more substance than sex.
*ARC via Gay Romance Reviews
*All thoughts and opinions are my own
The characters are very one dimensional, even Andy. There are time jumps that happen very quickly but we never get into the characters. We know Andy who is in love with his best friend and then West, the best friend. All the other characters are there but are never fully formed. And West is just too perfect. Of course this is in Andy’s POV so to him he’s perfect but I couldn’t help rolling my eyes at times. I also felt like Andy had no backbone most of the time, he never distanced himself from West until he started partying hard. Years go by in a flash and we’re told of events but never shown these events. I felt like it was the shortened version of a story at times and I wish it was more flushed out.
The first time Andy and West have sex was my favorite part of the book. It was written so well and relayed the emotions Andy was feeling. I just wish I saw more than them having sex while their relationship was building. I felt like it was all physical and I knew that wasn’t the case but once again we’re told and not shown.
I liked the end when they finally talk. I still wish that the story wasn’t so driven by sex. There’s a great story under all of that but I felt like it wasn’t told fully. I am hoping the next book, from West’s POV, has more substance than sex.
*ARC via Gay Romance Reviews
*All thoughts and opinions are my own
January 12, 2022
ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!! Epic!! How is it possible for a story to be so exasperating and riveting at the same time??!! The realism of the narrative is remarkable. Lovely book!!
July 30, 2022
I am seeing real sparks over there
March 6, 2023
Yes I finished this a week ago but we have more troubling matters to discuss.
The fact that I did not AT ALL mind the FUCKING ANGSTTTT!!!!!! and WITH MORE STTTTTTTTTTTT like at ALL is very, VERYYYYYY worrisome people.
But yeah, classic pinning in its most bastard and heartbreaking ways. I think I teared up once or twice while reading this so I might have SOME life (but I'm associating that with my . so idk)
Really enjoyed this. Kinda wish the next book wasn't an alternative pov 😭😭😭 I want sequel damnit!
3.5 stars
This book woke up my desire to have a best friend who'll break my heart like Wes to Andy and it'll be the best kind of heartbreak.
Also, THIS!!!!! ↓!!!!!!!!
The fact that I did not AT ALL mind the FUCKING ANGSTTTT!!!!!! and WITH MORE STTTTTTTTTTTT like at ALL is very, VERYYYYYY worrisome people.
But yeah, classic pinning in its most bastard and heartbreaking ways. I think I teared up once or twice while reading this so I might have SOME life (but I'm associating that with my . so idk)
Really enjoyed this. Kinda wish the next book wasn't an alternative pov 😭😭😭 I want sequel damnit!
3.5 stars
This book woke up my desire to have a best friend who'll break my heart like Wes to Andy and it'll be the best kind of heartbreak.
Also, THIS!!!!! ↓!!!!!!!!
“I thought I saw fireworks once, but it was just a smile.”
July 3, 2023
5+++ stars!
My first thought after finishing this book: Holy crap that was good!
The angst & pining between best friends West & Andy was done extraordinarily well. The tension was taut as a wire for most of the book. It was great! I love stories like this. I will be reading this one over & over
My first thought after finishing this book: Holy crap that was good!
The angst & pining between best friends West & Andy was done extraordinarily well. The tension was taut as a wire for most of the book. It was great! I love stories like this. I will be reading this one over & over
August 22, 2025
i borderline hated this. the writing style was not for me and the all dialogue felt so off. couldn’t get into it enough to root for the MCs to get together, did not feel any of the angst advertised. by 40% i just wanted it to be over, and yet it kept going.
i’m so confused because is really liked “romeo falling.” the writing was beautiful and the angst level and the pining was almost perfect. i don’t know which of the books came first, but something changed in the writing that did NOT work for me.
i’m so confused because is really liked “romeo falling.” the writing was beautiful and the angst level and the pining was almost perfect. i don’t know which of the books came first, but something changed in the writing that did NOT work for me.
April 7, 2023
Rating - 3.5 Stars
If you like pining, angst and pain then this one is for you 🤡 Although there is a wonderful HEA, the road to get there is not easy.
Andy is in love with his straight best friend West. They meet in college as roommates and Andy has been gone for West since day one. The start of their friendship is adorable and the amount of angst and pining was just perfect. But then we move past their college years and Andy is still pining HARD and it gets more and more painful to witness.
When they finally get together the chemistry between them was amazing and there were plenty of super sweet moments to make up for everything that came before.
My main issue with this book was the lack of communication. These two told each other almost everything else. They were so connected and I just can’t get over how they could let things go for a decade before smartening up and communicating and realizing what was there all along. Some very simple different choices could have saved them both a lot of pain and it was hard to get over.
In the end I still adored West & Andy and they had a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love.
If you like pining, angst and pain then this one is for you 🤡 Although there is a wonderful HEA, the road to get there is not easy.
Andy is in love with his straight best friend West. They meet in college as roommates and Andy has been gone for West since day one. The start of their friendship is adorable and the amount of angst and pining was just perfect. But then we move past their college years and Andy is still pining HARD and it gets more and more painful to witness.
When they finally get together the chemistry between them was amazing and there were plenty of super sweet moments to make up for everything that came before.
My main issue with this book was the lack of communication. These two told each other almost everything else. They were so connected and I just can’t get over how they could let things go for a decade before smartening up and communicating and realizing what was there all along. Some very simple different choices could have saved them both a lot of pain and it was hard to get over.
In the end I still adored West & Andy and they had a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love.
June 5, 2024
So... I skimmed. A LOT in this one. I enjoy a bit of angst now and then, trust me, but this angst? For someone like me, a mostly demi kind of person, the kind of angst that results in the main characters having sex and falling in love with other people for ten fucking years while pining after each other? This kind of angst is painful for me. Very, very unenjoyable pain. It makes me depressed. Especially when I got toward the end and found out West had had feelings for Andy the entire time, as well. I could have handled it better if West had just been a dumbass and not realized how he felt about Andy until they were much older, but the fact that he was pinning his hopes on Andy "picking up on his flirty hints" when Andy thought he was straight? And West never did anything to disabuse Andy of that notion???
Gross and stupid. It always feels like a copout to me when an author uses this plot device. Because, you see, it has to be an EPIC LOVE, and in order for me to be EPIC LOVE, the characters both have to feel it almost instantly. But then we need the ANGST, I tell you, THE ANGST!
Just stop it.
Gross and stupid. It always feels like a copout to me when an author uses this plot device. Because, you see, it has to be an EPIC LOVE, and in order for me to be EPIC LOVE, the characters both have to feel it almost instantly. But then we need the ANGST, I tell you, THE ANGST!
Just stop it.
August 7, 2022
Love love love ❤️
February 15, 2025
that was so freaking good 😭😭😭😭
i’m not usually someone who loves that amount of pining but holy shit, i ate that up. the dynamic between these two is chefs kiss & i need west’s pov right this second, onto book two 🫡
i’m not usually someone who loves that amount of pining but holy shit, i ate that up. the dynamic between these two is chefs kiss & i need west’s pov right this second, onto book two 🫡
May 1, 2023
This was a short, blistering read that I enjoyed very much. I don't have to explain it - the plot is in the title. Andy falls in love with his straight college roommate (West) and proceeds to suffer. It was really painful to watch, actually. I felt it acutely, but we've all been there, am I right? It has a satisfying resolution, but don't expect instant gratification, this shit goes on for years. I've basically already started reading the sequel, hopefully it holds up.
June 5, 2023
I can’t believe I got to read this for free (author’s newsletter).
The PININGGGGGGG good christ!!!
The PININGGGGGGG good christ!!!
January 2, 2024
Unrequited is the first novella in the Unrequited/Requited duet.
Jesse H Reign is quickly becomming one of my favourite authors. Her style is very unique. I love how her words feel like a rhythm. They beat like a heart.
Speaking of hearts, mine is still in shambles after reading this novella. I'm not sure I have the words to explain my feelings while I read because West and Andy's story pushed me over the edge and I'm still down there trying to pick myself up.
Told from Andy's point of view only (West's point of view, with a twist, is in Requited), Unrequited is the story of two college roommates who... i want to say miscommunicate... like... really badly. Ha! Andy is an artist. He is gay and falls madly, desperately in love with his straight roommate West. The story spans over a decade+ and I loved that it did, allowing us to see Andy's highs and his rock bottom.
Andy's broken heart was my broken heart. I fell in love with him so bad, I could feel my chest constricting reading about his unreturned feelings for West. I could not put this book down. I loved how the author stayed away from a regular love story. The miscommunication trope was just sooo well done. It had purpose and worked and it made West and Andy's HEA so much more special. Now I'm just dying to read West's side.
Jesse H Reign is quickly becomming one of my favourite authors. Her style is very unique. I love how her words feel like a rhythm. They beat like a heart.
Speaking of hearts, mine is still in shambles after reading this novella. I'm not sure I have the words to explain my feelings while I read because West and Andy's story pushed me over the edge and I'm still down there trying to pick myself up.
Told from Andy's point of view only (West's point of view, with a twist, is in Requited), Unrequited is the story of two college roommates who... i want to say miscommunicate... like... really badly. Ha! Andy is an artist. He is gay and falls madly, desperately in love with his straight roommate West. The story spans over a decade+ and I loved that it did, allowing us to see Andy's highs and his rock bottom.
Andy's broken heart was my broken heart. I fell in love with him so bad, I could feel my chest constricting reading about his unreturned feelings for West. I could not put this book down. I loved how the author stayed away from a regular love story. The miscommunication trope was just sooo well done. It had purpose and worked and it made West and Andy's HEA so much more special. Now I'm just dying to read West's side.
March 5, 2022
Ah wow.. I loved this book. I mean, there’s pining and then there’s PINING . Anyway, they were both idiots and when the book ended I wanted to throttle someone . But It was such a good book. Best friends to lovers with angsty pinning and heartbreak. Lovely side characters and Andy was great but because we only get his POV I found West plain and colorless. BUUUT , I heard a second book is about to come out that it will have West POV and it will develop like this one should have if one of them had opened the freaking mouth. Can’t wait!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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