I enjoyed this story quite a bit! Why the excitement? I have not been a huge fan of male centered relationships, especially those written by men simply because my narrow perspective was tarnished several years ago when reading a poorly written book. Martin Delacroix has redeemed the entire genre with this one novella.

Maui is the heartfelt story of what happens to the hero, Ishmael, when his longtime partner abruptly ends their relationship leaving him for another man. Heartsore, Ishmael decides that he needs a change, and going to extremes moves from one side of the country to the other, ending up in Hawaii. Once there, he eventually adapts to the locals, the more relaxed pace and starts to heal. With healing comes the capacity to love again, and naturally Ishmael being the sensitive guy that he is, is receptive to whatever life has to offer.

Mr. Delacroix is adept at depicting Ishmael's feelings throughout his book: from his painful ansgt at the broken relationship, to the feelings of loneliness he experiences when he arrives in Hawaii, alone with no friends or family. The natural progression would seem to be opening his heart to love again, and as a reader almost feeling that hopeful elation with Ishmael as he believes new love could be his was enjoyable. Watching this new relationship develop, all the steps forward and the mistakes pulling them back at times pa in full to read. The connections Ishmael forms while finding his "one" offer the reader a lesson in male/male relationships, but in a tasteful way that seems more softly erotic, rather than graphic and vulgar. All told, this was a nice little novella, and good way to pass the time.

I received a copy of this book for an honest and unbiased review.



Sent from Samsung tablet.

Uh, so, this was not what I was expecting, at all. Is it just me or was this more erotica than romance? It wasn't what I was expecting... ^^;

The story felt so rushed and the characters just fall into bed so quickly, there was no time to enjoy anything romance-y because there was nothing romantic about their meetings etc. I don’t have a problem with that, or insta-lust, but it wasn’t what I was hoping for and since the sex fell super flat for me there wasn’t much to enjoy overall. Maybe it’s the narrative that made it feel rather clinical, the sex more robotic than hot.

Sadly, I didn’t care much for any of the main characters, which made it all the more difficult to enjoy their story. Ishmael Was okay, a bit wishy washy and whiny. Corey was cute but didn’t talk much except about surfing so I can’t really say a lot about him. The same goes for Spencer only he acted like a jerk at first - I didn’t get WHY Ishmael jumped into bed with him, other than he probably was a sexy bastard and Ishmael horny af. I mean, there wasn’t enough time to start liking the characters before they messed around and then the book was already over. Huh.

The narrative didn’t click with me, he described so many things I found unnecessary and that slowed the pace, despite it being a relatively short novella!

I'm sorry for not being able to give this the raving review I wish I could give it.

Still, I appreciate the time and love the author put into creating this book and its characters. I’m certain there are the right readers this book, it just wasn’t me :(

This is my first book by this author. And I have to be honest here. I’m not sure I would read another book by him. I wasn’t feeling the way this story was written.
I’ll just dive right into my review.

Ok.... I was all for Corey and Ishmael. Because I started to feel the connection with them in the beginning of this novella. So when Spencer kinda popped in when he did. And everything they started doing from the first night. It was a no brainer who I felt the biggest connection with.

Once Corey popped back in the picture. I just wasn’t feeling the whole Corey thing anymore. It seemed out of place. Then what Ishmael did to Spencer!

“ It’s a compatibility thing.”

You’ll understand what I mean by that if you’ve read this book! Omg... I was so upset!

Ishmael was horrible. The whole time he was with Corey I felt disgusted. He just treated Spencer the same way his ex treated him. And Corey was horrible too! Their was nothing good about him.

This book didn’t do anything for me. I just felt bad for poor Spencer. And I wasn’t even feeling the sex scenes. I have a foot phobia! (I know... I’m weird!) So when Ishmael started to lick Spencer feet and between the toes... I was out! Hahaha

Yeah... that’s not my thing!

This book was not for me.

First, I will say this. I did request this book to review because the description of the book peaked my interest. However....the story itself was a major let down for me. On all fronts The MC (Ishmael)of this book came across as…needy? desperate?flighty?

He's hurt because his partner of many years dropped him like a hot potato, so, to heal he starts anew in Maui. Here he meets a man (Corey) who...IMO, is in no way shape or form likable. Not even when he half assed comes out to him in an attempt to get him into bed.

Through Corey, he meets Spencer-who from all appearances, is a jerk. Underneath it all, he’s jealous because he’s gay, he has a friendship with Corey and until most recently, he and Corey were sleeping together. But…Corey refuses to come out and wants all his side pieces to remain just that-but he wants them to remain there and not choose to be with someone else.

So, Spencer and Ishmael begin a relationship and within a matter of DAYS they are in love. They say the words to each other. But wait! Corey comes back and “what about me?” This is when he gives that poor pitiful pathetic what about me speech to Ishmael and Ishmael eats it up like no bodies business and drops Spencer like a hot potato.

The author lost me well before this point in this novella, but for me, this sealed the deal. I could not stand Ishmael. He deserved the treatment and toss away he got from Corey and in no way should Spencer have ever given him another chance. But of course, he does.

I didn't hate this book but there were so many UGH moments for me for some reason. Not a 2 star but not quite a 3 star for me either. It was def short and that's not a problem...not really sure I can pinpoint what my problem with it is. I love reading MM and I thought it was really going to go somewhere deep with the relationships but somehow it was just to "surface-y". I did like how Ishmael saw that he was treating Spencer like he was previously treated and glad that he got an HEA.
Book provided by Netgalley for an honest opinion.

When I first saw this book, I thought that maybe the summary wasn't doing it justice. Maybe it might be good and it was just the marketing that was faulty. But then I started reading it and discovered that no, the book is pretty awful too. But don't take my word for it, here's the quote that officially killed it for me:
"I couldn't help but look at his creamy snake."
He's talking about a dick by the way. While he's watching the guy take a leak. And I don't know why I'm even bothering giving you context because it's not like that's going to help. And the entire book is like this, weird awkward phrasing and dialogue that no one would ever actually say.It's largely exposition, everyone is over dramatic, and I couldn't get into it at all. Also, if I have to read the word "pucker" one more time I think I might scream. Seriously. It's in here a million times, I swear. Mix it up a bit, jeeze.
I give the author kudoes for finishing a book at all, but that's about it. It's getting 1 star, because that's the lowest I can go, but if I could give negatives I would. There are so many good books on this website alone, don't waste your time (or God forbid your money) on this one.