okay let's start with the good: this was a cool love story! i likes how unexpected this felt for both characters, and i loved watching them build something real and meaningful together. I also enjoyed the narrator a lot. What took me out of this was the sex scenes - not that they existed, not how many of them there were, but how repetitive it was. It's hard to mix up your language enough in sex scenes that it feels realistic and still new, and this book got close but didn't quite deliver. Also not everyone can be seven inches 😂 all in all i loved this tho

rep: queer characters, demisexual love interest

spice: i lost track there were so many sex scenes

I cannot believe this is a debut novel!

Netgalley has never been for me, I’ve had an account for years but nothing has ever made me want to click the request button… until now. Special Delivery was my first Net Galley experience and I devoured it in one day.

This book is all good things. Honest. Low angst. Friends to Lovers. Self discovery. Sexual awakening. Healing after loss. It’s wholesome and hot with sharp whitty humor and a comfort level you get with only friends. My favorite part was the sex positive narrative. Not only was the self proclaimed “slutty” guy sexy positive, but the love interest who was monogamous to a fault and a romantic full romantic was not only accepting but supportive and open to his new friends sexuality. The parents? No longer asking about long term relationships and monogamy. But I digress

This book takes place after the Covid lockdown as structure and more importantly, socialization, is allowed once more. Two guys meet, click, become friends but so much more.

Highly recommend.

This was my first book by Arnold Miles that I've read and I really enjoyed it. I read a lot of MM romance but most is written by female authors so this was fun to see the difference. It was very spicy and I enjoyed that aspect a lot! My only minor complaint was the main character going after a man who knew was married. Other than that I really enjoyed this quick read and the narrator was great!

Okay. This book is kind of wild. I've never really read something like it before. It's not your typical romance book, but it does feel realistic to how a lot of gay men live life and approach sex. The main character spends a LOT of time having sex with people that aren't the love interest, and those sex scenes are described in detail. I know some people are going to hate this book just for that fact, because they expect full monogamy from their romance books, even when the characters aren't even dating yet. I didn't mind it though - in fact I found it entertaining bordering on funny. But if you're curious, there are at least 11 sex scenes in this book - the first 5 are with people that are not the love interest, and one of them is a failed attempt at a threesom with the love interest.

The main character is a very believable character - he's a versatile slut that gets a lot of sex and is constantly horny. Honestly I probably know a few men in real life that could write books like this based off their own life-experiences. I liked how sexually open both the main character and the love interest are, and I expected that the book (after the first 5 sex scenes with other men) might just be sex sex sex and not much romance, but actually the way the MC and LI got together was surprisingly very sweet and slower than expected. The LI's backstory was also sadder than I expected, PLUS the love interest has less of a bi-awakening and more of a demisexual awakening, so that's delightful.

Another thing I liked was that the story is set during COVID times. A lot of people just want to pretend COVID never happened, but I'm of the opinion that the pandemic was a really interesting time in history and also creates a lot of scenarios for interesting romance stories.

But I do have some critics of the book. The very first line of the book is "My name is Tom", which just feels very My Immortal. The way the MC describes what he looks like (which he does twice, I think) just sounds so braggy and fake (there's a line where he says something like "my dick is 7-inches long - so not too big, for example). There's a few things that feel inconsistent with the story, like the MC saying about 60% in that he doesn't like having shower sex, even though near the beginning of the book he has shower sex with a (married) man in the gym locker rooms. And while I really liked the narrator and think he did a great job, the book reveals about 80% in that Tom is from Glasgow and both his parents have Scottish accents, but the narrator does Tom's accent as a very neutral southern English accent.

I also don't know if this cover works for the book. It's a beautiful cover, but it gives the vibe that this is going to be a quiet sombre kind of a romance (something like Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall, for example), and that's just not what this is. I feel like a shirtless stock photo cover would make way more sense.

But even with my critics I had a fun time with this book. I found the sluttiness and the lad-iness of the main character refreshing, because it's not your typical romance book, but it does feel realistic to how a lot of gay men live life and approach sex. I would read/listen to it again, honestly.

I had the pleasure of receiving an ARC from Netgalley for the audiobook of Special Delivery, narrated by Nathan Wolfe. Nathan, I was not familiar with your game, I will be definitely listening to more narrations of yours!

I highly recommend Special Delivery to anyone looking for a low-angst, sweet (but not overly so) story of gay and bi-discovery. The relationship between the two MCs is refreshingly mature, they’ve clearly been to therapy and communicate their feelings like healthy adults (at least 90% of the time), which is a nice change of pace from what I usually read. You can typically find me sobbing over angsty and toxic MCs, so this book served as the perfect palate cleanser.

The story is told from the perspective of Tom, a 20-something gay man who is confidently sex-positive. He meets Matt, a package delivery driver who is recently widowed, and their friendship quickly blossoms into something more. What I enjoyed most about this book was its positive approach to sexuality, Tom’s patience with Matt as he navigates his newfound attraction to men, and the absence of fear and anxiety in Matt’s self-discovery. I feel these aspects were handled really well by the author.

A heads-up: there’s an MMF scene towards the end of the book, so be aware if that’s not your preference.

This book would be a great introduction to MM romance for those who haven’t explored the genre before. Bonus points for the stunning book cover!

I want to thank Netgalley for an advanced ARC of this audiobook

This is an M&M romance story and I enjoyed listening to the freestyle lifestyle of one of the characters showing he knows who he is and not ashamed about it which was nice to read, you hear about his attraction to the delivery guy who he finds attractive & in time they become friends having open conversations and also jokes which is also lovely to see. In this book, we see a healthy friendship form and in chapter 15 I loved the conversation both characters have after Mat stays around and they sleep in the same bed (the morning talk they have was both comforting and also showing a healthy friendship forming - explaining that them cuddling, hugs etc can be just a close friendship but also if he wants to explore then he can and it won't be seen negative but showing confidence and comfort in what they have - this is very rare to see in books about finding urself in a safe space and that's what is given to Mat in this book.)

The connection that we see gradually begin to bloom is nice to see and also was not too but not under descriptive ever which made this a very enjoyable read, I have not read many M&M books but this was a well-written and well-done book.

4.5 stars

Looking to read a book that's horny? This book is *really" horny. We follow Tom, a gay man feeling relatively isolated as he's been working from home a lot during the pandemic and finally being more social again and adapting to that. One unsuspecting day, Matt shows up - a delivery driver completely unaware that he's now become the object of Tom's affection.

What I liked about this book was the open acceptance of all different expressions of sexuality and the emphasis being on what a person is comfortable with, and even then they are allowed to change their mind. There were definitely some times when these discussions were too on the nose or cringy. For example Matt stepping in as Tom's savior from his friend's homophobic remarks. I felt like the author was just explaining things to the reader rather than telling Tom and Matt's story sometimes. That kind of writing can be insulting to the reader, especially if it remains consistently. It ends up feeling like a lecture.

This book is about Tom and Matt getting to know each other and the culturally relevant conversations that emerge as a result of Matt being "straight" and Tom being very liberal about sex. But this book mostly consists of, well, porn. I read a lot of erotica, especially in the gay romance genre, and this book just did not work for me. The sex was perfunctory and not hot. The same language was used in every encounter that made it repetitive ("shot my load"). And frankly I'll be happy if I don't have to hear the term "load" in reference to an orgasm ever again. It was a bit crude and not at all erotic. There was not a great transition between Tom and Matt forming a bond and suddenly Matt being into a man for the first time in his life after a couple of conversations.

So unfortunately this one did not work for me on the whole. I did really like the audiobook narrator. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for an advanced copy.

Interesting read. It was way more about connection and intimacy with than romance, which for me was a super effective approach to erotica. The connection between Tom and Matt sets the reader on fire and I loved the non-judgmental views on sexuality. Audiobook note: Excellent narration !!!

OBSESSED! 4.5⭐️
This book shocked me a little bit with how quickly the smut started, but once I just realised that’s how the MMC thinks and started listening to his story I fell in love, the way how the sexual journey for the love interest is explored and how he can feel safe and the relaxed demeanour or the MMC with his sexuality. I wish I knew these characters in real life. LOVED THIS!!!

This review is for the audio version which is narrated by Nathan Wolfe. Nathan does an incredible job with this book and I really enjoyed his performance.

This is a debut gay erotica novel and it's got a lot of great things going for it. It was very spicy, very sex positive, and the exploration with someone redefining their sexuality was done with care.

It's a short and easy listen that's told from Tom's POV. I wouldn't have minded it being longer and having the POV from Matt, with a little more of his feelings about everything.

Overall I enjoyed it and the spice was great, but I would have liked more feelings, more emotions, more communication. The end was also a bit rushed and I would have enjoyed a more defined HEA for these guys.

Thanks to NetGalley for the audio ALC!

Surprise, surprise! I got this NetGalley ARC/audiobook (ta very much!) for free, and being ga-ga for the narrator (one of the best I've ever heard) was quite shocked to find out this is a porno in disguise! Ooops! not my sort of book but loved the narrator so much that altogether it gets 4 stars. I learnt things I never knew before too. Happy days.

I saw a review for this title on NetGalley and wanted to give it a try. I mean, smut with a plot? Sign me up. The narrator was good and the story was cute. Definitely what I expected, but without the third act break up that tears at your heart strings.

One thing that bothered me after awhile was how often they called each other mate. Especially when they're in intimate scenes. It was almost as much as Jay Gatsby calling Nick "old sport" 42 times in such a short novel. Someone please listen to this and count the amount of times they called each other "mate". I understand that's a British thing to say. I get that. My ex is British and I've spent time in England, and I don't ever recall anyone using the word mate as much as Matt and Tom.

All in all this book was cute and a fun little read between books.

I adored this - the audio was incredible - the narrator brought the story to life and I loved the relationship between Matt and Tom and how it developed.
Highly recommend!

3.5 STARS

Special Delivery by Arnold Miles is a smutty MM novel that brings us the start of Tom and Matt.

While short, I really struggled to connect with the characters. Tom is a very sex positive character who seemingly wants it 24/7. While Matt is a widowed straight man who is finding that he may not be as straight as he thought that he was.

The two of them form an unlikely friendship and things get heated from there. This book was filled with so many sweet moments and a lot of spicy ones as well! It definitely balanced out.

The narrator Nathan Wolfe did a great job voicing these characters - I love that he was able to bring out the different personalities of each of them.

I think that my biggest qualm was that this book was a bit repetitive and choppy, especially in the beginning.

Thank you Audio ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and NetGalley for the ALC of this title.

Thank you netgalley and Audio ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the free ALC. My opinions are being left voluntarily. I rwally enjoyed this super steamy novella and during peak covid and hooking up as a queer person. Looming for a full steamy novella check this one out!! It had me sweating!! It was that hot!!

Definitely recommend to mm open door romance readers! Phenomenal

3.5 stars

Special Delivery gives us all the MM smutty-smut-smut. If that's what you're looking for you will enjoy this one. It's lighter on the romance and plot outside of the relationship and sexuality-awakening, so if you're looking for something more plot focused, this might not be for you.

The book is written from Tom's point of view. Tom loves and frequently enjoys no-strings-attached casual sex. He meets Matt, a straight ally, and they immediately hit it off and become great friends. Matt has never been interested or attracted to men before, but as his friendship with Tom grows and deepens he finds that for the first time, he is curious about and attracted to a man.

Tom is incredibly respectful and patient as he allows Matt to explore and discover his own sexuality. Tom introduces him to the idea of possibly identifying as demi, because Matt seems to struggle with having a physical connection to anyone he does not have a personal connection with.

This entire book was presented in a very sex positive light. There was no stewing in feelings of shame or negativity during Matt's self-discovery and Tom was nothing but supportive and open with him.

The narration was great. Nathan Wolfe delivered an enjoyable performance I had no qualms with. I did notice an audio editing error in the epilogue, and I believe there was one other editing error I noticed, but I cannot remember which chapter it was in. Given this was provided to me as and advanced listener copy, I hope they catch those errors before the audiobook is published, but it definitely happens!

Thank you to NetGalley and Arnold Miles for the audio ARC/ALC.

A refreshing story and very sex positive book. We have one gay man who knows what he wants, does not have a committed relationship but doesn’t allow that to deter his sex life. A delivery man who has only been with women discovering who is he, what he is comfortable with and what he enjoys.

This was a very smut heavy book so I was not expecting the amount of plot that came with it. The book is in one persons POV (the man that is sex positive and very open about it). This is the first book I have read with this mindset where it is not belittled or used as a troupe to “heal” because of trauma.

This is a perfect read for heavy smut but enough plot to keep you interested in the character development. This is not the same old miscommunication, over-dramatization, or magical awakening story, it really was a great new take (with all the very hot, and sexy scenes!)

The narrator did a great job. His cadence was faster than most so speed at 2 was perfect for me. The book had more of a vocal performance than vocal acting. (The story led the book, and there wasn’t over the top dramatics)

A wonderfully sweet and spicy romance between a tenant and a delivery driver. Lots of spicy scenes but also lots of heart and earnest conversations about identity and sexuality and sex positivity. This was honestly much cuter than I expected it to be for an erotic novel (in a good way). I listened to the audiobook and recommend it. The narrator did a fantastic job.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Super hot and sweet book!
Tom is gay, extremely comfortable in his skin, but somewhat closed off emotionally. Matt is a straight widow who was married to his first love and only sexual partner at a young age.
The two of them feel a connection after meeting and become friends. It’s clear Tom is attracted to Matt and they even joke about it.
I liked this book a lot and would’ve liked it even more if it was a slower burn.
Narration was great although the recording was a bit choppy at chapter changes.
If you like spice I highly recommend this book.