Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Mia Monroe

Genre: Gay Romance

Tags: Contemporary, Age Gap, Friends-to-Lovers, Romance, Series, Small Town

Length: 202 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon

Blurb –

My hopeless crush has a plan to get over his ex by getting under me, and I’m up for the task.

I’ve been pining for Wren since the minute I laid eyes on the handsome man with the perfect mouth, wounded eyes, and my personal kryptonite, ginger hair. Too bad he was hands off from the beginning, not only because he was our new chef, but he’s been tangled in a failing relationship the whole time I’ve known him.

When he finally decides to dump his ex and needs a place to stay, enter me and my big house to the rescue. I want to be respectful, give him time to see me as an option, but one night he offers me an arrangement. My hell, yes.

Powered by need for each other, neither of us thought about what would happen next. We’re two guys without a clue, making decisions with the wrong head, but what we have together is too good for either of us to just walk away. 

Before Wren, I was firmly a beer guy, but now that I’ve tasted the sweet bite of the prettiest ginger ever, there’s no going back. This is one combination that’s never coming off the menu if I can help it.

Tall, Dark, & Ginger is book four in Last Call, a contemporary series set in the New Onyx universe. You can expect a chill guy who’s only down for hookups, a guarded chef trying to find himself again, an impulsive decision that changes everything, a heaping helping of one fell first, the other fell harder, a dash of hurt/comfort with a dollop of sexy shenanigans, plenty of sizzling heat, and all the ingredients for a satisfying comfort dish as two men find themselves navigating the one thing neither expected- love. 

Review –

“The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.”

I’m going back and trying to finish series that I started and never came back to.

Tall, Dark, & Ginger is book 4 of the Last Call series. Wren is the chef at Moby’s, the new and popular gay bar in town. From the minute he walked in the door and applied for the job, Ridley has wanted him. Ridley is one of six owners of Moby’s, lifelong friends who gave up their respective lives and careers to make a go of it as bar owners. He’s watched most of his friends find love, but it’s never been in the cards for him. He’s more of the one and done type of guy. Everybody knows Ridley has the hots for the new chef, except for Wren, who is totally oblivious.

Wren is a relationship only kind of guy. He’s gone from one to another, with each ending poorly, especially his last one. He’s got a great job, is living in a huge house with his employers and their men, and he’s finally getting over the last jerk he was with.

Wren and Ridley both have problems with insomnia, and find themselves in the main part of the house watching bad horror movies together until late into the night. The closer they get, the closer they get. They admit they want each other, and since they’re friends on top of employer and employee, they trust each other to not push for anything more.

Ridley wants Wren any way he can get him. Wren wants somebody temporarily who will help him get over the mistakes from his other relationships. He just wants sex, and Ridley is the man all too eager to give it to him – anytime, anywhere. 😉

A few blow jobs here and there and Wren and Ridley aren’t far from having an actual relationship, though they won’t allow themselves to think the ‘R’ word too much. The next step is when they take their fun time to Ridley’s bedroom. One thing leads to another and they’re spending all their nights together. They fall in love, though they’re scared to admit it because of their little ‘let’s just do it as friends’ arrangement. Wren’s ex, because of course he does, shows up and tries to start trouble. Thankfully, that’s handled quickly, and doesn’t drag on.

“Rid…”

“I want to wake up with you every morning. I want to go to sleep with you every night. I want this thing we have to last.” Now that the words are flowing, I can’t stop them. “I’ve never been in love before, but I’m positive I am now.”

This book has zero angst. Honestly, it’s mostly Wren and Ridley having sex. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but there wasn’t a whole lot of depth to the story as far as their relationship went. It was only 202 pages, but it felt much longer to me. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. I guess I just kept waiting for something other than them hooking up every night with little else happening. Sure, they get closer as a couple of sorts during all the sex, but, again, zero angst or conflict. Even the jerk ex didn’t add much drama.

Also, there’s an age gap mentioned, but no ages. All I know is that Ridley is in his forties, and that Wren is younger.

Overall, I liked the book. I liked Wren and Ridley together. I especially liked seeing all the others from the first three books. I’m eager to read the last one, Love Potion. That’s Bane and Jerryn’s book. They’re best friends and one is head over heels, and the other one is totally clueless. That’s the book I was really waiting on when I started the series because they’ve been dancing around each other forever.

I love the cover.