3.5 Stars

This story is a wild ride. Crime, cars and a dash of romance to keep everything moving at a fast pace. The cars, and feelings towards the cars for both Meeko and Ben, are palpable, and the love they have for the shop is clear and also an integral part to the entire story.

Meeko’s love for cars and Ben prove to be the catalyst that sets the dominos tumbling into themselves. His desire to become something more and get his mechanic certificate, while also showing Ben he is useful and not a kid, clouds his judgement and he jumps in with both feet at an opportunity that clearly would put him in a bad situation. And that is why Meeko’s character really stood out for me. Some people could say his actions and reactions were unrealistic. But me? I don’t quite believe that. I have known many people who fail to think about consequence, people who are looking for friends, acceptance and are so desperate to prove themselves that they don’t often think about the path they have taken and what the more-than-likely result will be. Meeko is such an individual. He does not contemplate possible endings or the penalties for his actions. He doesn’t consider those who may get caught up in the repercussions for his decisions, he just doesn’t get it—not because he is a bad guy but because he is so focused on wanting to be of use, getting friends, and to have Ben see him. Meeko is clearly naïve on top of being impulsive, and is holding on to a singular goal without thought of the consequences. His inability to quite understand what others are capable of, including the truth that there are those who will manipulate and take advantage of someone they see is looking for somewhere to belong. He doesn’t realize he is their prey, and he falls right into their web.

Ben is quirky and odd in his own way. He has little ticks, nervous laughing, slapping of his thighs, and talking to his deceased brother when things just seem too much. I don’t know if he has an actual diagnosis that the author used when writing him, and for a moment I found myself wondering if he was OCD in some ways, or maybe has some form of movement disorder. But then I realized, maybe that’s the point. I don’t know if that was actually the intent, but while trying to diagnose Ben with what little understanding I have of different disorders, I realized that people aren’t cookie cutter and not everyone knows if there really is something that has a diagnosis, or it’s habit or is part of their intrinsic make-up. Did it really matter in the end? He was a law-abiding, successful businessman who really was just trying to do right by everyone around him. In the end, that’s what really matters.

I’ll be straight-up honest and admit it’s probably a ‘me thing’ on this next part, so take it with a grain of salt as I am clearly in the minority here: I didn’t quite connect with the romantic portion of the story. While I found both characters to be remarkably well written and fully fleshed out, I didn’t feel for them as a couple. This is one of those weird things that I can’t fully explain, but I’ll try. Individually I felt for and empathized with them both, but not quite as much together. The level of angst and failure by both of them to really open up to each other just didn’t work for me. Despite caring for each other, they both held back constantly, up until the book was almost over. Meeko’s rash decision-making repeatedly put Ben in difficult positions, and his failure to communicate with Ben on what was really happening to him and his feelings continued to cause more angst in an already tension-filled book. Then there was Ben’s scattered feelings for Meeko and on relationships in general; the information he kept from Meeko, especially about Grant, made it even worse. For years he never let Meeko know anything personal about him, but he was somehow upset to find Meeko hadn’t trusted him with his personal life and struggles during that time. He ignored Meeko at the shop and barely talked to him outside of it, yet Meeko was supposed to go to him when things got bad? When it came to Meeko, Ben came off as a hypocrite while Meeko seemed to be in a constant state of guilt. Ben wasn’t ever, IMO, held accountable for doing exactly what Meeko had done, so I just wasn’t feeling them together all that much.

Now, on to the criminal crazy happening all over these pages…wow. There is a convoluted plot that took the guys on quite a few twists and turns, and there are definitely some unexpected surprises along the way. I found it interesting how Meeko’s desperate attempt to get money by becoming one of the lowest men in a criminal enterprise ended up snowballing into being smack-dab in the middle of something so complex. It kept me glued to the page as more and more aspects and the deviousness of the different players revealed themselves while the danger got closer and closer. I kept wondering how it would all play out; I was definitely not disappointed in the ending. In fact, I was actually impressed with the cleansing aspect it seemed to create.

While I can’t say I was Meeko and Ben’s biggest fan, Love It Like You Stole It is a stimulating, action packed, and emotionally charged story with plenty of twists and turns to keep it exciting. While in some areas I didn’t quite connect, the total experience was one wild ride.

Reviewed by Lindsey

I've spent quite some time since reading 'Love It Like You Stole It' mulling over what rating and review to give it.

On the one hand, I think the author has quite a talent for describing how their characters are feeling, the premise for the story was interesting enough for me to request it (despite the car/garage/mechanic theme, which isn't particularly on my list of positives when it comes to novels - I think the fact that it rather reminded me of the film 'Gone In 60 Seconds' probably helped, as I do like that.).....and I didn't actively dislike any of the main characters.

On the other hand, generally speaking, I wasn't particularly enamoured of the authors writing skills/style, I found some of the plot somewhat unbelievable and just a bit annoyingly bad.....and, while not exactly disliking any of the main characters, I didn't really develop any fondness for any of them either.

Overall, an ok read, I wouldn't say I feel I wasted time reading this story, buy I can't say I would be inclined to recommend it to anyone else.

I picked this book solely because of the title. I had not read this author before and was hoping for a new gem. Unfortunately this didn't work for me at all.

My first issue was early on in the prologue. We meet Ben who is an adult who owns his own business. He sees some teens picking on another teen and goes to break it up. He is immediately sexually attracted to the one being picked on. The one he thinks is about 15 years old. I was immediately creeped out. I'm not down with adults perving on kids. This might have not been an issue for me if we knew how old Ben was. Maybe he was only 18 or 19? I don't know because the author never told us. We have a story about an age gap romance and we NEVER find out how old one MC is. It jacked up the entire romance for me because I didn't know. When they got together were they 20 and 25? 20 and 30? 20 and 50?? Those numbers make huge differences for me in how I perceive a story and if I'm going to enjoy it or not. I decided that since Ben was such an immature mess I was going to just make him a few years older and go with that. Even with that Ben still felt like a creeper in many places. His relationship with an adult fails because he can't stop thinking about "his Meeko". His frail, dependent, virginal, child like Meeko.

My next issue was I didn't like any of the characters. Ben was just so bleh and boring. No depth to his character. Michael was such a victim. Everyone is his entire life picks on him. No one likes him. (Literally NO ONE in the entire book except Ben). There is no explanation for this. It made no sense. Then, I'm also expected to believe he's going to be able to run a bunch of chop shops? With what social skills? It made zero sense. How could he be the boss of anything when no one listens to him or respects him and we he can't even meet people's eyes when he talks to them? The side characters were all really terrible people. Michael's "friends" were horrible. They were the kids who used to bully him. No logical explanation was made as to why they were now friends. Ben's teenage niece was such a rotten, disrespectful shit. His parenting could not have been worse. Pineapples parent better than he did. I see no humor in teenagers telling adults they'll "fuck whoever they want". I wanted to beat her butt every time she came into a scene. (I legit would have been happy if her character got killed off.) And Ben's ex Grant. What a big, giant gay stereotype he was. That relationship also made no sense and was not a bit believable. I have no idea why he was even there. It totally took away from Ben and Michael's romance and it felt like it was just a tool for more drama. A big part of my dislike of the characters was because they were so poorly developed. There was no substance to any of them. (And did I express strongly enough that they were all terrible, terrible people?)

Their romance made no sense. They don't talk to each other, they don't even meet each other's eyes. Michael cuz he's scared and Ben cause apparently looking in Michael's eyes will make him lose all control and confess his love. (It's a good thing no one's looking at my eyes cuz they're rolling so hard). They say they're best friends yet they tell each other Nothing! Michael didn't even tell Ben when his grandfather died. Years before. What??? As the plot goes on they start telling each other all kinds of things about their lives but by then I wasn't buying it. How were they best friends for 5 years yet knew nothing about each other?

The overall plot with the bad guy made no sense. (are you sensing a theme here?) It was a convoluted mess that you have to suspend giant amounts of reality to buy even just a little. So, so many things that were unbelievable to me. By the last 25% I couldn't even take it anymore so I just started skimming.

This story was drama llama drama on steriods. And crack. And every substance in the world that would make a story even more dramatic. Soap operas and telenovellas have less drama than this book did. I was so sick of it by about the 60% mark. I would not have finished this book not it have not been a review book.

The thing that made this book catch my eye came around to bite me in the ass. The title was catchy and creative when writing about car guys. The author didn't stop there though. Every single chance they got to use a car reference or metaphor they did. Every. Single. Chance. I thought I was going to throw my Kindle if the phrase "it's cherry" was used one more time. It just went on and on. And on. I went from "this is kind of cool" to "oh my god I will slice the throat of the next character to make a car pun".

ARC Review: Love It Like You Stole It by Ki Brightly

I couldn’t even finish this book. I strongly disliked both MCs. I spent most of this book distracted, trying to figure out what disability Ben has. Asperger syndrome is the one I finally settled on because it is basically high functioning autism with “repetitive behaviors,” which would explain his constant hand-clapping and hand waving. Who claps their hands that often for absolutely no reason? Ugh, it was so annoying and so was he.

Meeko actually managed to be more annoying than Ben. What is his deal? Why is he so incapable of defending himself? Why is he so afraid of everything? What happened in his past to render him so utterly and annoyingly helpless? And what kind of idiot actually thinks you can chop cars to pay for training and licensure and not get caught?

I tried to persevere. I tried to find something redeemable, but then I read the phrase “so cherry” for hundredth time, and I couldn’t read another word after that.

I really enjoyed this book! It was different from what I expected. Ben is a great character, stable, smart, and a mentor to the younger Michael who he shares a love of cars with as well. Michael is trying to stabilize himself and his career by getting his certification in auto mechanics and start his own garage. Unfortunately he falls in with the wrong crowd and gets in a ton of trouble with the mob and being put in charge of their local chop shops. Ben desperately wants to help Meeko (his nickname for Michael) and they are both actually really in love with each other but neither of them have said anything for a long time. They finally do and they are SO sweet together. Meeko needs help and Ben tries to help him and get him out of trouble, the mob and prison. It is really a great story, well written and kept me interested from page one! Def worth your time!!