The world is full of perfectly imperfect people. After being dumped by his longtime boyfriend, Milan finds himself back in the dating scene, and it isn’t anything like he thought it would be. Shamed and ridiculed for how he looks, Milan decides that it’s time to get back into shape, but stepping foot in a gym is harder than he imagined. Everything in Kelson’s life is about fitness. He’s a … fitness. He’s a well-known trainer as well as a fitness model. His focus in life is working out and helping others to improve their lives. As content as he is on a professional level, personally life leaves a lot to be desired. He longs for someone to share his future with.
There’s something about Milan that catches Kelson’s attention right away. Finding excuses to spend time together is easy, and as the friendship flourishes, they find attraction growing with it.
The world isn’t as accepting as it seems, and when some see Kelson with Milan, they attack, convinced that a man like Kelson wouldn’t be with someone like Milan without using him for something.
Reacting to the hate and attacks, Kelson calls out those he works with, reminding them of their pledge to help people and not to shame them.
With the world watching, Milan and Kelson must work through the publicity and hate while trying to hold on to what matters most — each other.
more
I started off the book really enjoying this until about 30% in. It just felt like there was a lot of dialogue. I mean, we got full on conversations between these 2 that aren’t really relevant to the story so much. I mean kinda, it’s them getting to know each other, but it felt like some of the conversations just dragged along.
I also got a bit tired of Milan’s constant insecurities over and over and over. I know that he’s self-conscious about his body and he’s had some pretty shitty experiences with his ex and a random guy he met off an app. I can understand these insecurities because I have gone through them too. But it was just SO much and it felt constant. Every other conversation he had with Kelson was about how he looked compared to extremely fit Kelson, why did he even want someone like him when he could have anyone he wanted, he didn’t deserve someone like him, and then his diet and how much he needed to exercise, etc. etc. Kelson had to reassure him so many freaking times that Milan was what he wanted, he liked him for him, and he actually likes a softer kinda pudgier dude. It just got old real quick.
The last part of the book caught my interest again. I liked what Kelson did at the convention and that he stood up for not only Milan but others who have been bullied because of their weight. It’s just… I was a little confused because Milan went from telling him not to intervene when they saw some overweight girls getting bullied on the beach because it would make it worse to Milan praising Kelson for standing up to people and suggested he should do that consistently to make a difference if he wanted to. I thought Milan was going to freak out and be embarrassed or mad over the situation but he was the opposite and grateful for Kelson standing up for him. Ooookay.
The whole bullying movement thing was cool. I can appreciate that as a big girl and having a hot as fuck muscle dude stick up for us bigger girls/guys is pretty damn nice. So I really enjoyed that part of the story.
I was glad we got a look into a bit of the things Kelson felt insecure about too. Just because he’s a hot muscled up dude doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel insecure about things either. It isn’t about weight but his scars, his sexual performance, etc. I was glad that was thrown in there and I could see it from the other side for a bit.
The sex was also pretty damn hot. Milan and Kelson switched a few times and I always love reading that.
The connection between them as romantic partners was so-so. I kinda wanted to feel more between them but it just didn’t get there for me. I read the words but didn’t feel that emotion so much.
Overall I did enjoy the story but not as much as I would’ve hoped. Still worth reading though.
I liked it, but I so agree with a couple of the other reviews there is, this one was a little too much a self help book, which was a shame, bc it could easily have been a 5 stars for me, if we had more focus on the romance and not just being overweight.