From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

Catalysts (Scientific Method Universe, #1)

Kris Ripper

Start date: October 1, 2020

Finish date: October 31, 2020

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

Why we're reading this: This will be our October 2020 read!
[close] This will be our October 2020 read!

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Book of the Month Club

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What Members Thought

Nov 06, 2020 Jordan Lombard marked it as unfinished

Shelves: a-own, a-own-ebook, g-bdsm, bom-jl-group, y-2020read, g-romance-poly

I started out really liking this. I appreciated the conversations and the psychology behind the D/s that doesn't always happen in romance novels. I think I would have read to the end were it not for a few things that didn't work for me, listed below. I stopped somewhere in the 60% range. Right now, during the pandemic, my reading time has become very precious as I seem able to read less and less. Eventually I just have to put something down if it's not working for me, even if I would normally ha I started out really liking this. I appreciated the conversations and the psychology behind the D/s that doesn't always happen in romance novels. I think I would have read to the end were it not for a few things that didn't work for me, listed below. I stopped somewhere in the 60% range. Right now, during the pandemic, my reading time has become very precious as I seem able to read less and less. Eventually I just have to put something down if it's not working for me, even if I would normally have read to the end.

A lot of folks really liked this, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt, I guess. Also, most of this is just personal to me and probably not a big deal to most folks. I put this under spoilers as there are some.
(view spoiler)[
1.) There were times when the writing was not clear about what was happening, who was in the scene, where they were, or who was speaking. This had me confused several times. Just enough to be really annoying.
2.) The background/side characters are not fleshed out enough for me to remember who some of them are and occasionally names get tossed around and I have no idea who the name belongs to. And some are just annoying.
3.) Truman showed up too late in the story for me. By this point Hugh and Will are pretty much already in a tight relationship and Truman shows up out of nowhere and Hugh is suddenly besotted with him when it took 50% of the book for his relationship with Will to grow. I don't see the connection there. It was too easy with Truman.
4.) I also don't know much about Truman, why is he always happy? Does he ever have a bad day? He's too chill with the BDSM he's never encountered before. What are his hobbies?
5.) To that end, what are the hobbies of Will and Hugh? All I really know about them is they're into yard work and D/s. Will went to college for fun, and has no job. He moved with his brother to another location just because that's what he and his brother do, but he's in a good relationship he's willing to leave behind? He's also still claiming to be straight. He doesn't make sense to me. His brother just drops out of the story after being annoying for the first 25% or so. Why is he no longer annoying? (I know, real humans don't make sense. I get it.)
6.) I didn't realize these characters would continue their story into more books. Not sure I'd be into that. They seem to have had their story and we're done. At least Hugh and Will need to get themselves together and stop being blind to their relationship. I'd really like to see Truman introduced earlier so he has a chance to grow with them. I do appreciate that this is realistic in that real relationships work this way sometimes, I think I really just wanted them to grow together as a threesome. I kept wondering, isn't there supposed to be another guy? Where is he? There ARE three guys on the cover... And then there's more relationships for them in the future. It's realistic, but I feel unprepared for it. lol. And Will keeps claiming he's straight, but he's not acting straight, not even bi, since he sorta avoids women and hates having sex with them... So, I'm not sure what's up with that. (hide spoiler)]

Anyway, I feel like I'm ranting for nothing, because this book doesn't really deserve a rant. I think I'm just in a reading slump/mood and I really just need more Murder Bot.
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Dec 26, 2019 Lakerkat rated it liked it

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and it’s currently (12/26/2019) free on Amazon.

I liked the story of Will and Hugh. Interesting dynamic and awakening for Will. Time was spent building their D/s relationship. I don’t know where they’re headed but I’m giving their story four stars.

I didn’t feel the same about Hugh and Truman. Their meet cute was the only emotional connection I got from them. I thought - great! Let’s get to know Truman. In my opinion the character lacked depth. I d ...more

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Feb 04, 2018 Antonella rated it liked it

3.5
Definitely above average, excellent dialogues, at times a bit long and/or repetitive. I liked both Hugh and Will, and I felt that Truman didn't have enough time on page to get the readers attached to him. ...more

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