Idol Minds

KT Salvo's Idol Minds rises above the steamy gay romance genre with its complex characters, open communication, and healing narrative.

This debut novel from the talented queer romance author caught me by surprise. I expected nothing more than a collection of sizzling intimate encounters between a group of attractive gay men. But Salvo exceeded my expectations with a story that focuses just as much, if not more, on the relationship between the two main characters, Jason and Tae Hyun. Both men are damaged, but both are also redeemable. They stand at a crossroads in their lives and careers, and neither seems ready for a serious commitment.

Salvo has written each character with care and attention, imbuing them with depth and nuance. Jason is a swoon-worthy bad boy, while Tae Hyun is straightforward to a fault. Watching their layers unfold is a true joy. Salvo's love also extends to the secondary characters, with no one-dimensional personas among the major players, including the several well-written women in the main characters' lives.

Set against the high-fantasy worlds of Hollywood and K-pop, Idol Minds follows the traditional romance formula. They meet, fight, fuck, fall for each other, and so on. But Salvo deviates from the norm by leaving out some of the more frequently-used gay romance tropes in favor of communication and healing. This is most evident in how Jason and Tae Hyun pause to talk during their steamy encounters, checking in with each other, offering support, and ensuring enthusiastic consent is given. Salvo even includes a few meta-moments, openly poking fun at BL and K-drama tropes with a winking nod.

Be warned, things move swiftly between Jason and Tae Hyun, so if you're looking for a slow burn, you'll have to look elsewhere. But if you're looking for a sizzling gay romance with heart and depth, look no further than KT Salvo's Idol Minds.

This book contains brief descriptions of mild physical violence and mentions of homophobia, racism, emotional abuse, abusive parents, and teen suicide.

The premise of this book was pretty easy: A former k-drama star falls in love with a former k-pop idol and their forbidden romance causes a lot of trouble. So far, so good but “Idol Minds” is so much more than meets the eye. I’ve to admit that I was a little bit sceptical at first because in the first couple of chapters Jason isn’t exactly the most likable character and Tae Hyun seems to be a little bit standoffish. But then, then those two meet and right from the very first chapter they are in a room together you can feel that sizzling chemistry the blurb spoke about. The interesting thing is, they don’t like each other and hate each other’s guts which made for a very intriguing baseline for their future relationship. They just rub each other the wrong way but at the same time they can’t deny that they are attracted to each other and want to give in.

I really loved their chemistry and the way they interacted. They might have started off at the wrong foot but they were reasonable enough to try to make things work. At first just job-wise but the more they talk with each other, the more they begin to understand where the other one is coming from and this was really so nice to see. They communicate and they open up and learn to speak about their past and most importantly they allow themselves to heal. Both of them have been hurt and while Jason hid it behind his Hollywood bad boy image, Tae Hyun dealt with it by never letting anyone get too close to him.

Both their character arcs were well written and I had a good time finding out what happened before. Interestingly the author didn’t shy away from going for steamy scenes either and I think if I had to define their relationship it would be insta-lust that gradually turns into more. I mean they both were aware of each other before they met, they are both public figures after all, so insta-lust seems to be an adequate way to describe what happened between them. The more they get to know each other the more they start to flirt as well and I personally lived and breathed for their easy banter. Jason is a direct, unapologetic and extremely flirty character and Tae Hyun might be reserved and sensitive but he still knows how to handle Jason’s antics. So you can bet I had a field day reading their conversations and enjoyed them immensely.

Another thing I have to mention in my review is that I absolutely adored the women in this book. No matter if it was Yoo Mi, Tae Hyun’s best friend, or Naomi Jason’s manager who is like a young mother hen that watches out for him, they both were amazing and added so much to the story. It’s always nice to read about strong women and those two definitely fell into that category. Plus I think the author did a very good job of portraying the k-pop industry as well. Jason and Tae Hyun have to learn to navigate its deep and cunning waters and there was a little nice mystery element in the story that had me guessing and wondering who the culprit might be. I’m not going to spoil anything about this here though, so you’ll have to read the book yourself if you want to find out what I’m talking about. ;-)

This said, I really enjoyed “Idol Minds” and whilst the first 20% or so made it a little bit hard to like the characters the rest of the book definitely made up for it. I guess you could say Jason and Tae Hyun are good for each other and bring out each other’s better qualities, which in all honesty, makes their love even more believable in my eyes. All told I’m pretty sure that everyone who loves k-pop and steamy m/m romances that feature strong female side-characters will have a good time with this book. I definitely did.