Collect Our Way Depicted By T.L. Swan Shown As Softcover

out

I am so hot and bothered by this book,


I want to start off by saying that I hardly ever get triggered by anything in either books, movies or TV shows.
I don't go crazy if I read something about men not acting properly, or if there is a hint of any type of "ism" or "phobia".
If I feel like there's something wrong in a story, I will give it a low rating or eventually DNF it/stop watching.
I don't often rant or boycott writers for telling the story they want,

But this book, oof, it got on my nerve from start to finish, I don't even know how to begin this review I actually opened up a note on my phone and wrote down what annoyed me the most.
I think I hadn't done that in years

The plot: Eliza is a nurse who one day meets a gorgeous man named Nathan on their first day of work.
She is instantly attracted to him, but as they go out for lunch one day, she finds out that he is into men and that there are zero chances for them to ever get together.
Fast forwardyears and they are BFFs, He has been hung up on his first love for years, she's been casually dating around, but nothing serious, Then one day, as Eliza goes shopping for bathing suits with Nathan, he suddenly gets a boner for her and comes to the realization that he is attracted to her and is also developing feelings.


Are you still with me Starting to understand why I'm annoyed and weirded out by this story Ok, so long story short, she always had feelings for him anyway and they decide to start dating.
They screw around like crazy and then a ton of shit is going down, Which I will quickly try to list below:

Nathan is an controlling jerk of a guy, who constantly yells at Eliza like an idiot, for no good reason if you ask me.
He's also crazy jealous, possessive, a bit aggressive and an overly manly man who has been into men for all his life, but doesn't identify as gay.
He actually doesn't like labels, which of course is fine, But later we learn that he is actually pansexual,
Eliza is sort of a strong, independent woman, but more often than not she didn't come off believable to me.
She tries to control Nathan and is kind of the only one who at times succeeds to keep him in check.
Thing is, I felt like that was only to show the reader she's tough and in control, . . but I as I said, I never quite believed her,
Eliza's two best friends are the worst! One of them falls for a guy who shows them videos of him having sex with random women in the most random places.
SHE FINDS THIS HOT and will not stop until he screws her brain out, even though her friends tell her how wrong this is but she actually pursuits him and is okay with eventually ending up as one of the taped girls.
I don't know what else to say about this, I'm just shocked,
Oh, and both are non supportive when Eliza tells them she is together with Nathan, They're judgy as hell and bitch about it,
Then one of them tells Nathan something Eliza told them in confidence, which leads the two to break up.

Worst. Friends. Ever.
everyone is calling everyone either babe, baby or bitch, And let me clarify, there are no teenagers here, only full grownass people, I don't know if this is something normal in the San Francisco area for women to call each other bitch all the time in their friend circles, or even babe and baby.
I have zero friends I would ever call that, This seemed forced and fake throughout the book, I'm sorry if anyone actually does this, . . I also thought it was very forced every time Eliza and Nathan would call each other "baby",
Eliza is also a pretty terrible person for not trusting Nathan, I get that she thinks he could leave her for either a man or a woman, that the threat is basically double in this case.
But she often overreacts and is a bit paranoid,
Nathan is basically stalking her at some point and the author brushes over this, as if it's something very ok and a normal thing to do.
IT IS NOT ok for him to stalk her formonths through the "find my phone" app!!! Also, he's an idiot for giving up on her so easily and for refusing to read her letter.
Had he done that the same night she wrote it,of the book could have been avoided because again, communicating is EVERYTHING in a relationship! : I cannot say this enough.

I knew the "plot twist" with Robert was coming, I saw it from a mile away, from the first time his name was mentioned, Hated that whole kerfuffle. So unnecessary.
I was also sure they would be breaking up, stay that way for a while, only to realize that both were in the wrong and end up back together at some point.
So god damn predictable and overused in almost every single stupid romance novel, UGH.
I was also very annoyed by the fact that he slept around a bit why they were broken off I feel the need to mention that he hadthreesomes because if we're being dramatic, we gotta do it real good , while she didn't even go on a date for six months, until right before they got back together.


Aaaaaand I think I ranted enough for one review, I only want to mention a few positive aspects as well, such as the writing style which I enjoyed and the fact that Eliza stood up to Nathan and wouldn't take his shit even though as I've said before, she wasn't always very believable.
Then there's the fact that this is a friends to lovers story, which is my favorite trope and what attracted me to this book in the first place: the ridiculously hot guy on the cover Uhhhh, and the sex scenes were steamy af! But to be honest, aftertimes reading about them going at it, it does goes a bit boring! Here, we have a gay hero who starts to have feelings for his female friend afteryears of being best friends.
It starts when she wears a gold bikini!!! Well, hmmm, . . Ok.

He later realizes that he is in fact pansexual because his therapist says so,

Their relationship is full of silly fights and he fcks his way around during their separation ofmonths.


Nope, thanks but no,

Read this review for detailed information:

sitelink goodreads. com/review/show This book ripped my damn heart out, . . as usual Swan, you have done me in,

So, right off, I'm not Pansexual, So any thoughts on that aspect of this story is not going to be from a person repping that community.
However, from friends of mine who are, and from what I have gathered, That means that you are a person who falls in love with a soul, not a body type or certain sex parts on your partner.
That is my understanding of that, at a very rudimentary and simplistic level,

Okay, that's out of the way

Awesome,

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!!!

I think it was so original in some ways, gut wrenching and painful in others.
Somehow TL Swan just knows how to get to me and tear me limb from limb, The two friends in this novel don't know what's about to hit them and it is so beautiful and painful to watch it unfold.


I feel like it is just as realistic to see someone come into their sexuality one way Nathan didn't say his was gay, so I don't want to say that about him only sleeping with men, and then start having feelings for a woman, then if he had been hetero and had feels differently as an older man.
So That is where I thought this story was so original, And in a lot of ways it still just felt like a Friends to Lovers, but with even more angst put in.


Also, I found it interesting that even though Nathan didn't want a label as gay, he was so resistant to thinking he would be attracted to a woman, let alone his best friend.
But because they are best friends, she is so comfortable around him, Changing, being naked, and talking about sex, . . it was so fun to watch all that backfire on him, It was almost like reading a Kresley Cole novel where a vampire gets blooded for the first time and gets a boner.
That is how surprised when he got an erection looking at her for the first time ever, So sexy!!!

It was also so relateable, even more than with a Hetero couple, that he was worried about fucking it up.
Nathan had never slept with a woman, He thought men were the only ones he could be rough with, what if he can't please Eliza What if he hates it It made my heart hurt, because while I understand his fears, I just wanted shake him for not talking to her.


Then we have Eliza, who has liked Nathan since she first met him, and loves him at this point.
She is crazy attracted to him, but so is everyone and she would never want to make a pass at him and have it ruin what they have.
It definitely does help that no one believes he could love her that way,

They immediately start to sow doubts in her and say she is just wishfully thinking and that he only wants children and it will all come crashing down.


So yeah, the biggest and most frustrating part of this book is the miscommunication, But that isof romance novels and it is very believable to me in this situation, It feels to good to be true to Eliza, that all her wildest fantasies are coming true and she does listen to her friends and confide in them instead of Nathan.
He, who is her true best friend, she now can't talk to because they are dating It is so heart breaking, but I may have done it as well.


The other complaint, that some may have, is the toxicity of parts of their relationship, As soon as they start going romantic, they start fighting, A LOT. Also, Nathan is a wee bit controlling, He gets a tiny bit stalkery can't believe I just typed that and bossy, However, I have to be honest, I possessive shit like that, so I'm not a good judge about that, I love that all of Nathan's feelings just overwhelm him and he goes bananas,

One final note, . . I do love that Nathan goes to therapy pretty early on in this book, Even though his first shrink gives him HORRIBLE advice, . . He gets a better one later That was so cool to see that he reached out that way when he was struggling and didn't just suffer alone.
Very important.

How is the smut do you ask

Really damn good, As always for TL Swan,
As I said, I loved when Nathan started having feelings for Eliza and he just kept getting hard around her.
These friends were sleeping together on the regular same bed trope here! so it was a shock to him and he now feels kind of pervy getting fantasies out of being around her.


I love when they kiss a few times when they are drunk and when Nathan teases her about teaching her some naughty things.
Boy likes it rough!

I love their first time together and I love that Nathan did his research so he could be a good partner to Eliza.
swoon

They definitely don't lack chemistry and I really loved their journey together,

It was still jarring how it all ended, After drawing out the conflict forpages and then BOOM! We skip forwardyears, . . Dang it, I wanted a bit more, but I think the point is we know they will be good now.


I hope you give this unique story a try,

/Stars This was, Well where do I start First, this was a long ass book, I didnt know much about the plot and jumped in because of the sexy coverart, The writing was good but I could have cut half of this out especially the unfun bickering, circular arguments and the whiplash the H and h exhibited throughout.
Second, I couldnt believe this gay to straight premise and how it was executed, Lastly, I just didnt like the H, At all. I tried to like him, I tried to like h like her slightly better, I tried with this story, It started actually pretty good and had an interesting plot, Then it torpedoed once the romance portion began, I was hoping it would be much better than the delivery and its all because of character development and story arc/execution/explanation.
The H and h exhibited predictable character traits: Nathan was a selfish territorial, jealous asshole I believe partly due date to he being a doctor and so very entitled and Eliza was a whinny, insecure bubble head not dumb but poor judgement.
She states throughout the book what a jerk H is but still gets back with him with open arms and hes the best friend.
“Im not even kidding. Nathan Mercer really is an asshole”, Her words. Multiple times. I agree. I had a hard time liking Nathan, Even when the character should become likable toward the end, no bueno, Its complicated. They are complicated. And very stupid. And confusing. And selfish. And had no real conviction,

Nathan is a gay man who is totally in the closet, He doesnt identify as gay even though hes only been with men and only attracted to men his whole life.
He suddenly notices his best friend Eliza in a sexual way and has a full on meltdown and becomes confused.
I can understand his struggle and confusion with his sexuality, however his personality is not pretty hes mercurial, selfish, a total jackass.
Oh and a cheater. And a liar. Its all justified because he was confused about his sexuality or who he lives or what he regrets, Sigh. She is supposedly very kind and sweet, however we didnt get much on account of all the screaming and whining she does.
She is also lying to him, They were both terrible at talking to each other or using kind words, Frankly Im not sure how they continue to be best friends foryears, I couldnt get on board with him and just didnt like him, Their relationship was very toxic, Again so much damn fighting, Im exhausted by this story and it wasnt because of some emotional sad misaligned thing, but because of the selfish and stupid nature of their relationship, judgement and decisions as supposed smart people.
And again, this book was sooo long, Theres threesomes, exes, bdsm, dirty sex, By the end, you really dont give af who either one ends up with, Nathan was an asshole through and through and he doesnt deserve anyone in the end, He used his sexuality and confusion to get away with cheating, lying, and remaining a jerk, Eliza was just annoying. I sympathized with her but she needed to stick to her instincts, The author and every side character wanted us to believe they are so perfect for each other but their relationship was just miserable.
Really hard to believe the outcome, I give up and moving on, DNF in chapter


Dios! No puedo con tanta babasoda, este libro es tan ridiculo a mas no poder, al menos los de escritores como Alexa Riley, Jessa Kane, Ella Goode, etc, son cortos y puedes aguantarlos porque sabes que no duran mucho, pero esto tiene mas depaginas de puras estupideses, ya no puedo, me rindo.




PS, In my way this book is so bad,