For a follow-up novella, a remarkable amount of points were left unresolved. I'm left wondering if it was on purpose to convey realism - to say something about what it means to actually move on - or if it was simply a means to an end.

Things I enjoyed:

• Chris was chaotic in an interesting way
• Joq was a sad sack, which he should be after what happened
• Chris's relentless pursuit of Joq,
• The cat
• Joq's parents
• Brenden, I know he was annoying but I liked him anyway
• The way Chris was portrayed to be a much better fit for Joq than George, without Joq explicitly thinking it.

Things I didn't like:

• Chris' "disfunction". Like what was that. Dude, just describe it as a panic attack, why do you have to make it weird. And telling us it turned into a humiliation kink but not actually showing us... 🚫🙄
• The time jumps. Look I usually love how Avice's books take place over years, but this book skipped over the part where Joq started to actually like Chris back.
• If the book is born of Joq apologists and sympathisers then I atleast expect George and Finn to be humbled just a little bit 🤏 The biggest portion of Joq's hurt comes from 12 years of partnership going down the toilet, unacknowledged and forgotten. Why couldn't we just have one moment of George honoring that? Just a moment of George accepting that his own avoidance and denial created a monster of a problem that drove Joq to desperation.

Anyway, as a trilogy of books, I'll probably think about them for a long time to come because it truly was a unique experience even if I think some parts could have been done better.

My lower rating is more about my "satisfaction" rather than my actual level of enjoyment.

If continuing with the TV episode analogy, then this felt a lot like filler... And maybe it's a "can't see the forrest for the trees type situation" but still.

Our murder mystery progresses a little but only from the audiences POV, not SJ+M.

Sade and Min Zhe are intimate but ultimately end the episode the way they began.

Its status Quo for Anjulie, Adelaide, Cara and Gabi.

Aanga still pining over Seong-Jae and antagonising Malcolm. Stilling giving off weird vibes though.

Sila gets a message out but we already knew he had plans.

I'm looking forward to seeing what clues and red herrings were in this installment that I just can't grasp right now. As always I love the writing and am a happy passenger on McCade's criminal journey.

This prequel novella follows Dash and Archie, parents of Charles, the MC from Frat Wars #3.

I read the above book a year ago but I remembered enough about these characters to be invested in their story.

This was a cute, low-angst, college romance full of first-times and a big coming out moment.

Things I enjoyed:

• The contrast of Dash being a confident playboy who doesn't resist falling in love with Archie
• Archie making a point not to waste a single moment with Dash
• Dash and Archie not letting Archer's inexperience with men get in the way of their chemistry 🔥
• Their banter

Things I didn't enjoy:

• obviously the novella length meant things needed to move quickly, but sometimes Archie's assertiveness felt like pure plot convenience
• I wanted to see more about Dash making something of himself given his poorer background.
• Really wanted a stronger commitment to the 00's setting.

This could have easily been a 4⭐ with maybe an extra 20 pages of depth in the 3rd of the book.