Work for It by Talia Hibbert | Holiday Mashup
Romance at a Glance is a podcast where hosts Bridget and Shani review romance novels and interview some of romance’s biggest authors diving into candid conversations about life, relationships, and sexual desires. Expect 100% honest reviews, spontaneous singing, life lessons, indecent anecdotes, and bawdy humor. Leave us a rating and review on iTunes.
Full transcript available below.
Book Review at a Glance
Worth the Read?
Shani: ⭐⭐⭐
Bridget: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Heroine Rating: Olu
Shani: 🍆🍆🍆
Bridget: 🍆🍆🍆🍆
Hero Rating: Griff
Shani: 🍆🍆🍆🍆
Bridget: 🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆
McDreamy to Mc Steamy:
Shani: Mc Steamy Mc Steamerson.
Bridget: MCSTEAMYYYY in the sheets
Classy to Nasty:
Vanilla but steamy
Romance at a Glance Reviews Work for It by Talia Hibbert
AKA Slow starter heated up the feelz
A city boy falls for a farmer in this angsty romance. The beginning was definitely a slow start for us, and hard to get in touch with Olu, but Griff stole our hearts in a big way.
If you didn't listen to our awesome interview with Talia Hibbert, make sure you go back and check out that episode! So amazing to talk to her and there is a full transcription of the podcast on the website.
Also - we teased our new chibi coloring book, Color Me Romance and it is SOOOOO fucking cute we can't even. Make sure you check out the website or IG to get your copy for yourself or your loved ones.
Things we talked through in this review:
Olu's depression and anxiety and how it made it hard for us to get into his character but had a great payoff in his evolution as a character
Griff and Rebecca's friendship
Griff being into all people - doesn't like to define it
Griff being a sexy farmer who doesn't know his worth
Olu telling Griff to stand up for his ideas
Their mutual anxiety over whether the other person is happy with them
Rebecca staying in the tiny town because she doesn't want to leave Griff
Griff's slow courtship with Olu until he was ready
Their great sessions!! Talia writes sex scenes with emotion so well
Griff immediately deciding he would leave the town to be with Olu
Olu taking his medication and asking for help from his friends and family
Quick Guide Review of the Book and Notes
Book Title: Work For It
Author: Talia Hibbert
Audio Narrator: Shane East, Chance Thoreau I listened to the audio version of this book and it was narrated by Shane East and Chance Thoreau. I absolutely love Shane West’s narration and accent. He did an amazing job voicing Griffin. Chance is a new to me narrator and he did a good job, but something about him narrating Keynes didn’t quite work for me. I’m not sure if it was the accent or his tone, but at times his chapters took me out of the story. It’s one of those books I would rather have read than listened to.
Part of a Series: Yes Just for Him Book #4
Genre: Contemporary Romance, MM Romance, Queer Romance
Cover Art: LOVE IT. So hot, the flex, the flowers in the back, the downturned face. The beard.
Synopsis: [Content Note: this book includes depression, anxiety, references to past sexual trauma and forced outing, references to a parent who died by suicide.]
Work for It is 80,000 words of hot, angst-filled, M/M romance featuring a cynical city boy Olu and a gruff, soft-hearted farmer Griffen, and a guaranteed happy-ever-after. No cheating, no cliff-hangers, just love. (Eventually.)
Heroine Rating: Olu
Shani: 🍆🍆🍆 I understand that detachment from self but it got boring in the story fast.
Bridget: 🍆🍆🍆🍆 It took me a minute to get into Olu because she wrote his detachment so well, but he was so sweetly surprised by Griff and so dirty that I had to love him.
Hero Rating: Griff
Shani: 🍆🍆🍆🍆 big sweet heart
Bridget: 🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆 What’s not to love.
McDreamy to Mc Steamy:
Shani: Mc Steamy Mc Steamerson.
Bridget: MCSTEAMYYYY in the sheets
Classy to Nasty:
Vanilla but steamy
Favorite Lines in the Book:
Shani:
I fucked a dr. in med school...Do you think knowledge travels from body to body through cum.
“Doesn’t he know no-one’s ever made me feel so many things at once in my whole life?
Bridget:
I’m still laughing when he falls back against the bed, dragging me with him. Even when we kiss, I’m laughing. Even as I add more lube, slicking his hole until it drips onto the sheets, I’m laughing—if a little breathlessly. But when I push the head of my cock against him and feel that slow, easy give, the laughter stops. When he takes it so fucking good with his fist shoved in his mouth and his face twisted with pleasure… oh, I’m not laughing then.
“Fuck,” he groans, his hips shooting forward. “Fuck, Griff.” I grunt around a mouthful of him and suck harder, wetter, deeper, until his next breath sounds more like a sob. Then I release his swollen shaft and lick down to his balls. Grab his arse with both hands and push, lifting and spreading until I see that tight little hole. I thrust my tongue between his cheeks, pushing as deep inside him as I can.
Then he rises up, up, up, until just the tip of me is inside him, and sinks down again. I don’t even know who I am anymore. Suddenly, all I know is Olu. I push him back onto the bed, following until my weight’s sprawled over him. Then, when he’s pinned beneath me, spread open around me, begging for me with every breath, I fuck him hard and deep.
Favorite Review:
Shani’s from Goodreads:
Tanja rated it liked it
I love angsty romances, but this one exceeded my taste for angst by far. And a lot of this angst results only from a lack of communication. That got boring the more I read. On the positive side: The smut scenes were exquisite.
My problem was the storyline. I found it boring and I ended up skimming a bit, that's my signal to give up. It's weird coz the writing is good. It shows instead of telling which is something I am picky about, besides the characters have a lot of personality another positive thing. However, sometimes this is not enough. The storyline didn't grab me, as a result, I felt totally disconnected. Pointless, to carry on.
Basically two dudes have some issues, want to bang, dislike each other and decide they don't want to bang, accidentally like each other again and then they bang, then they remember they still didn't fix the issues, then some stuff goes sideways. Also, there is Lizzie from Undone by the Ex-Con.
Bridget’s from Goodreads:
Talia Hibbert
I am reading this right now (because it's literally my book and unfortunately I have to edit it) and wow, it bangs. Well done me. Cracking effort.
&
Valerie rated it 5 stars
A Perfect Cinnamon Roll Romance
Griff and Olu consumed me from the first page. Talia Hibbert’s writing is absolutely brilliant. She takes two broken and neglected hearts that’ve been struggling in the shade, and brings them into the sun. The romance that blooms between them is sweet and sassy and sexy. The way these beautiful men find their HEA is perfection.
Worth the Read?
Shani: ⭐⭐⭐ Not really - it started slow and I don’t love reading books that have a lot of depression and anxiety since I struggle with that in my daily life.
Bridget: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Full Podcast Transcript
Recommendations:
Welcome to Romance at a Glance, a podcast that uses romance novels to dive into candid conversations about life, relationship dynamics, and sexual desires.
As hosts Bridget and Shani review books and interview some of romance’s biggest authors, they explore the breadth of the genre, openly embracing the sex, diverse couplings, and taboo in order to create a safe space for listeners to be exposed to different lifestyles, fantasies, and to pique their naughty curiosity.
Expect 100% honest reviews, spontaneous singing, life lessons, indecent anecdotes, and bawdy humor.
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