They hate everything about each other, so why do they harmonize so well?Isaiah Nettles wants a chance. A chance to help his family.The prestigious Gage Scholarship will secure his future. He needs this.The competition might be hot, but Darren Gage is a golden child. No way will Isaiah let an entitled rich kid be handed the award.But what if Darren is more than an entitled rich kid?Darren Gage … is more than an entitled rich kid?
Darren Gage wants to be seen. Seen as more than just his name.
The Gage Scholarship will let him shine. He needs this.
Sure, Isaiah is insanely sexy—and right to stand up for himself—but he is the competition.
No way will Darren let just anyone take his legacy.
But what if Isaiah isn’t just anyone?
“Better Have Heart” is an enemies to lovers, slow burn M/M romance with a HEA. This New Adult, college, opposite attract, rich-boy poor-boy novel can be read as a standalone.
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Okay. First off: this is a slow burn. S•L•O•W• burn. Snails are considered faster than the burn in this book. Oh, do not get me wrong, these boys have chemistry. (Fans self) There was just one, teeny tiny thing in the way. No problem. They were just competing against each other for the same scholarship. For Darren, it was an age-old family tradition. He had to win it. For Isaiah, it meant more security for his family, whom he helped out financially. He had to win it. As I said, no big deal.
Way big deal.
The mutual attraction isn’t helping.
This is the second book in this series, and once again, we see a bunch of familiar faces. While it shares characters, it doesn’t overlap timeline-wise. This story takes place after the first book. Darren wasn’t very likable in the first book, until the end when he found the courage to stand up against the fraternity bully. This story brings about the rest of his redemption arc. I find myself really enjoying redemption stories these days, so it was nice to see.
I enjoyed this book. It kept with the same style and feel of its predecessor, both characters were likable, and the storyline was fun. This can be read as a standalone, if you’d prefer, but the first book was as enjoyable as this one. I’d encourage you to start from the beginning. I’m looking forward to Nico’s story. His interactions with Isaiah were a hoot.
***Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure. A review wasn’t a requirement. ***
Better Have Heart is the second book in the Harrison Campus series. It can easily be read as a standalone, although it was fun to see familiar faces from the first book. This book is set in the contemporary world with a college setting.
Darren Gage is the rich boy who just wants his family’s approval. Isaiah Nettles is the working class guy who just wants to make ends meet for his family. Both men figure the best way to get what they want is to become the Gage Scholar, a prestigious position which comes with a guaranteed job and stipend. To win the scholarship, both Darren and Isaiah will have to compete against each other. Except, their competition quickly turns into something more romantic as they both begin to fall for each other.
This was an adorable book that had me completely enthralled. I adored Darren and Isaiah and loved that they became a couple –they are perfect together. There were a lot of obstacles the two men had to overcome, but even with the angst, the book never lost its sweetness. I also really liked that these two men really communicated with each other and misunderstandings did not blow up into something dramatic and beyond repair. It’s always refreshing to see real communication between characters.
Nick J. Russo narrated this audiobook like he did for the first book. Nick was a wonderfully choice for this series. He has a lovely voice that captured the characters perfectly. I really enjoyed his performance and found the audiobook experience really delightful and engaging. The audiobook was well produced which made for an overall terrific audio and storytelling experience.
Better have a heart is book 2 of the Harrison Campus series, It can be read as a standalone.
I adored this book.
Darren is the heir of one of the richest families in the US, Isaiah is struggling between his scholarship and his job to help his mom and siblings.
They don’t evolve in the same world, but they are more in common than what they thought.
I really loved them, but Darren got my heart. He’s so sweet, fair, and sensitive.
Isaiah is a hard worker, he’s a fighter but he’s also struggling with his attraction for Darren and his futur.
I had a wonderful time with both of them, the book and the plot was very good and the authors did a wonderful job again, after the amazing Better Be sure (Harrison Campus#1), they confirmed my crush of this series with this beautiful book.
This the second story in the Harrison Campus story line. Darren and Isaiah are in competition with each other for the Gage scholarship. Darren comes from money where Isaiah does not. Darren has just came out to his father but he shut him out. Isaiah wants/needs the award. His family is isn’t as well to do as Darren’s. They become friends. This was a friends to lovers story, a really good one. Definitely recommend it!!
I am voluntarily leaving a review form an ARC that I received. My reviews are solely based on my thoughts and opinions.
I really, really enjoyed this book. So much so that I’m going to find book one and download it immediately! The writing is crisp, the story arc moves well and the character development is well done.
The character development is so well paced that I was taken with both characters as soon as they appeared and that connection only grew as the story advanced. It was a great change of pace (and a relief) as the last two books I attempted to read were duds in that department. Isiah and Darren are both sympathetic figures and while I admired Isiah for his feistiness and determination my heart aches for Darren and I just wanted to reach into the pages and hug him. The authors do such a job conveying the characters’ emotions without it being too over the top or maudlin. There is just enough sarcasm, snark and misunderstanding to make it seem more real and not as if either of these two are saints. As the story progresses and both MCs are on the same page it is a thing of beautiful to watch it all click.
The crisis point is a shock and so well played. It pushes both characters and the tension and hurt are palpable. My only disappointment is that we didn’t get to see a complete closure to the situation because man, did I want to throat punch someone and see them get their rightful kick in the teeth.
Recommend this book strongly. I am a fan of reading series in order as I hate the FOMO when I don’t understand every reference in a subsequent book so I’d recommend starting with book one (a character from that book plays a key role in this one) as I have to believe it is as well done as this book. I’ll find out shortly!
**I voluntarily read an ARC and this is my unbiased opinion.**
This is such a fun new age, enemies-to-lovers college romance. I liked both Isaiah and Darren and the depth with which they were written was very well done. They both have family issues that they’re dealing with and the way they grow together is so sweet. Their connection is undeniable and the more time they spend together, the clearer this becomes. I especially liked Darren because he had a rocky start from book 1, but he is such a sweetheart and is so kind. Isaiah and Darren are just perfect together and this is a very comforting read!
Goodness me, but how I adored this story! I’ll be honest, I was kinda-sorta-maybe wary of Darren because of how he’d acted in the first book, although there were pockets of time back then wherein he did make me wonder just how much of bad guy he really was. In this second book, readers get a better understanding of who Darren J. Gage V really was beneath the spit and shine persona, and I found myself wanting to actually give him a hug a time or two. Meeting Isaiah was a game changer (but then so was what happened in book one), and while they went into this as competitors who deemed themselves the worthiest to receive the Gage Scholarship, they came to realizations that maybe, just maybe, someone else (cough, the other person, cough) someone was just as or possibly even more worthy than themselves. I loved the connection these two shared, and the whole angle regarding family was as endearing as it was in the series starter. Also, you can jump into this wouldn’t having read the previous book, but I quite liked it and have no hesitation in recommending it. I’m giving Better Have Heart 4.5 stars.
Both Isaiah and Darren want to win the contest and I could actually feel the intensity of their dreams. They were amazingly complex characters, too, and I really enjoyed discovering their layers at the same time they discovered more about each other and about themselves. They were hot together, but so, so sweet also. Two young men that couldn’t help but be attracted to one another and slowly learn that they could be better as a couple than apart.
Better Have Heart was fun, sweet, romantic and moving. A great addition to this series and I can’t wait for the next book.
oh wow Isaiah and Darren were so cute in there almost bumbling around each other and the scholarship competition. Super glad they had a happy ending and really enjoyed this read as part of this series.
Isaiah and Darren
They are each other’s rivals, both want the prestigious Gage scholarship. Isaiah because this is an opportunity to secure his future, Darren because even though Gage in his surname he deserves it, he’s more than only a golden child.
They have to work together and that goes better than they expected. Darren isn’t the rich snob Isaiah thought he was. Darren is kind, caring with a lot of musical talent. Music does great things to a heart because Isaiah is a musician too. Family matters are an obstacle on their love path.
A lovely story, well developed. The music had a great part in this story and was well woven into this story.
I expected more of the enemies to lovers part. That wasn’t really it. Very quickly they were friends. The slow burn was thank goodness less slow than I was afraid it would be.
The build-up tension was palpable and delicious to follow.
Isaiah and Darren had both wonderful characters. The family matters and the whole story felt plausible and close to the heart.
Needless to say but the writing was magnificent (of course)
A very enjoyable and lovable narrative!
I loved this so much!
Boy did this book hit me right in all the feels. I don’t know what there is about New Adult romance that I like it so much, but I really do love them. Better Have Heart really got to me in several places but especially when both guys gave up something they wanted so the other could have it, but they didn’t tell each other.
Darren and Isaiah start out as competitors, both after the same prestigious Gage Scholarship. Darren wants it because it is his family legacy and Isaiah needs it because it will help his family by securing his future with the opportunities it will bring him after graduation.
It doesn’t take long for the attraction they feel for each other to help them overcome the rocky beginning they had when they first met. Unfortunately, someone wants to prevent Isaiah from having a fair chance to win the scholarship. If I had one criticism of the story it’s that we didn’t get to find out what happened to the person trying to keep Isaiah from having that chance. Still, this wasn’t enough to prevent me from giving it 5 well-deserved stars.
My heart hurt so much for Darren and his relationship with his father; I just wanted to wrap him up and hug him and try and take away some of the hurt. And Isaiah… he is such a sweetheart. He sacrifices a lot to try and help his mom and his brother and sister.
I truly could not put this book down once I started reading it and I can’t wait to read the next one in this series.
A copy of this book was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.
***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***
Just enough angst and obstacle to this college MM romance
4.5stars
I found this a smooth and easy read with a good plot, a couple that I liked, a slow-building romance and differences that made their common passions, like their shared love of music, shine. The steamy bits are well-written and logically placed. I think authors Andy Gallo and Anyta Sunday really came up with a strong and seamless collaboration.
Darren’s bumpy relationship with his father and Isaiah’s family financial situation helped build the drama of their head to head competition for the prize Gage Scholar Program. I only wish the story had provided a more definitive result for Harrison University President and all-out wheeler-dealer Jenkins!
I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
These are two of the most lovable characters I’ve had the pleasure of reading about!
They are sweet to each other and always put the needs and wishes of the other before their own.
Plus their physical connection is hot!
Gaining family support is a major part of the story line.
I really wish the authors had let us know how ‘Mr.’ Jenkins’ future played out!
He needs an intervention…
Plus I’m thinking there is going to be some romance ahead for Nico. He needs his own story. But so does Jack.
So, I liked this even more than book one! Darren and Isaiah are competing for the same award, and come from super different backgrounds, but none of that compares to the sweet chemistry they have. Music connects them, and Isaiah brings out the best in Darren. He got a bad rap in book one for being friends with a jerk, but he’s really a sweetheart. I loved all the little moments between these two.
I also liked the side story about Darren and his dad. You could read this without reading book one and not be lost. It does mention those characters, but not in a huge way. I really enjoyed this and am now super excited about the rest of the series.