Bad Company

<b>**WOAH Kindle freebie 11/19/14!!**</b><br /><br />Guys, I think it is time for me to officially come out of the closet. I have hinted at this in the past but now I'm just going to put it all out there. <br /><br /><b>I am a total whore for gay virgin books. </b><br /><br />I am an unabashed, out and proud, virgin-loving addict. A large portion of my favorite M/M books involve gay first-timers and maybe that is part of the reason why this book worked for me. <br /><br />Now, when it comes to this book, I'm most certainly in the minority in my group of friends. Most of my friends dislike this book. I, however, really, really liked it. In fact, had the last chunk of the book been written a little differently, I think I would have 5 starred this one. <br /><br />My friends have called these two MCs, everything from "selfish" to "unlikable", and they are correct. Nate and Kellan are f-ed up and totally wrapped up in themselves. However, they felt <i>good</i> unlikable to me, like I know guys like them that are annoying and bull-headed, so these two MCs felt real. <br /><br />I just loved the sexual tension between these two men. The back and forth didn't even bother me much with them. I felt their chemistry and I was really on board with their relationship. <br /><br />Yes, the set up for this book was unrealistic. Yes, the ending was super rushed and kind of thrown together, but ya know, I don't care all that much. I liked this book way, WAY more than I expected so I'm a very happy camper right now.<br /><br />And yes, I bought the rest of the series while I was still reading this one. <br /><br />Me &lt;----- now addicted to K.A. Mitchell.

K.A. Mitchell is one of my auto-buys, but this was a strange read for me. I don't want to "rank" this book because an arbitrary number will be both meaningless and misleading.<br /><br />There are some basic disconnects in the plotting which make these characters hard to like and impossible to believe. Much of the writing here deserves a 5. The sexy hook of "straight guy pretends to be gay to punish bigoted dad" has solid legs in theory. But some of the illogical events and character arcs literally cripple the narrative almost from page one (more on this below).<br /><br />From the first moment Nate and Kellan reconnect, they prove so mutually unlikeable that I found myself not particularly interested in their problems or wanting them to reach their HEA. It took me a few chapters to figure out why. The truth is, both of them seem like selfish, childish assholes, and they don't actually BEHAVE like logical adult males. Never does the book explain why pretending to come out requires a straight man to fuck his estranged best friend. Never does the story offer a reason for Nate to even meet with Kellan or <b>hear</b> his offer, let alone agree to it. Actually, Mitchell almost sidesteps this by burying the agreement so deeply that I had to go back and find the moment when the "plan" was on. This vagueness makes sense because Kellan's plan itself makes none. That weakness at the core of the book does serious structural damage to the plot and characters.<br /><br />A lot of folks have said that these characters didn't gel for them; for my part, I believe that disconnect stems from the unmotivated logic leaps and preplotted actions that the characters enact without connecting. The sex here occurs because these are characters in an M/M, not because the motivation and stakes make it necessary. That's a shame. That high-concept hook didn't actually force these men to BE intimate, but rather to SEEM intimate. That in itself could have led to <u>becoming</u> intimate if plotted carefully, but this book didn't take that time or that approach.<br /><br />Kellan is straight and selfish; Nate loathes him. They are best friends estranged by complicated betrayal. As a blurb, that intrigues me. "Fireworks!" I think. But the truth is, the book doesn't actually make Kellan straight, any more than it makes Nate loathe him. They're intimate in a matter of <u>pages</u>. So many of Nate &amp; Kellan's interactions orbit the basic "punish homophobic dad by coming out" ruse yet the book never explains why the "straight" Kellan needs to tease and screw his best friend in order to humiliate his father.Or why honorable Nate caves. Moreover, Nate's self-righteous primness wears thin quickly as his own behavior becomes increasingly destructive and bizarre: why "force" sex on your destitute best friend and why perpetuate something that is obviously a hurtful fraud. Very quickly, I got the sense that they were having sex because they were protagonists in an M/M novel and that was their job. Not so appealing or romantic.<br /><br />Most troubling though, is the fact that although the book tells us that these two guys have chemistry, it's not always evident from their interactions. Sometimes they sizzle, but about midway through, the "faking gay" plot germ gets discarded or at least unravels as the nonsense it was from the start. Consequently, there's a narrative looseness to the book. Weighed against characters marching through necessary stages of intercourse like drones, the intense sensuality and sassy banter don't land as they should. Because their behavior is nonsensical, and they are so personally self-involved, I got to where I found them amusing in a detached way, but I couldn't be moved by them. <br /><br />My sense (and this is completely subjective) is that the Pretend-to-be-Queer "hook" may have inspired the writing, but that the characters didn't cooperate. Because they DON'T cooperate and they don't behave logically at any point. Their ruse does not require intimacy, but the entire book is structured as if the ruse DOES require intimacy, as if Kellan's father has implanted gay-sensors in his son's genitals. Even if this book were set in a compressed setting/timeframe (family house, vacation with dad, holidays) the only reason for these men to have sex is to flaunt it so Dad would witness it. Nope. As a result all that smoking sex rings hollow, because there's no reason for them to have it and no explanation for their instant willingness to bridge the chasm between them. I just never got a grasp on the connection between the characters, and their behavior did zero to convince me there was one.<br /><br />There are also strange dangling plot threads. "Honorable" Nate essentially molests Kellan at the start of the book without sense or consequence and (straight?) Kellan keeps demanding sex without clear desire or reason. By way of indicating growth, Kellan gets a couple of jobs, complete with memorable minor characters, only to lose them in a matter of pages; in a 140 page book these digressions felt unnecessary. Nate works at a newspaper but can't seem to navigate the most basic "leak" of a splashy gossip item. Kellan's burgeoning feelings for his friend happen almost immediately and almost without impetus. Kellan decides he's gay almost in passing, and Nate forgives Kellan ditto; the core of the conflict and two of the most dramatic character shifts in the book played as throwaways. The shocking reveal about Nate's father is marvelous, but it's tossed in as the book races to finish. For a book that is about a revenge built with scandal, there actually isn't much scandal or revenge. The 2D homophobic father sends lackeys a few times, and then has a big final gripe before fading into impotent blankness. Exeunt.<br /><br />Funny thing... The writing is gorgeous. All the pieces are here: Snappy dialogue. Hot sex. Interesting minor characters. Intriguing details. Lovely specificity throughout. But the basic structural problem and that central illogic guarantees that Nate and Kellan will seem at best obediant and not memorable. This felt like a book that got rushed and these characetrs would have benefitted from a logic overhaul.<br /><br />So... all in all. A strange read.

Reread - May 2022<br /><br /><b>Audiobook- 3.5 stars<br /><br />Story- 3.5 stars rounded up</b>

<br><b>**3.25 awkwardly endearing stars**</b><br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1396240570ra/9105690.gif" width="320" height="240" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>It's so hard to rate and review this book. For every yin that I loved, there exists a bad yang. The banter between Nathan and Kellan was hilarious....add in Eli and I was seriously cracking up. However, at times (ok, many) the dialogue felt forced and unnatural. And sometimes I didn't even know what they were talking about?!<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1396240570ra/9105691.gif" width="500" height="375" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>The pacing was awkward. Lots of great sexual tension, but within that sexual tension the MC's would sometimes act like they'd been together for months. <br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1391648214ra/8425433.gif" width="400" height="225" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>But once the barrier was breached everything was wrapped up and the book was over. <br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1396240570ra/9105692.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>So there you have my spotty review, for a spotty book.

This book was a fail. Both the characters and the plot are weak. Kellan is spoiled and selfish and Nate is a know-it-all with no personality. There was absolutely no chemistry and zero build-up to their relationship. Their actions and reasons for being together made no sense and this is where all the holes in the plot began. To get back at his bigoted father for cutting him off from the family money, Kellan devises a plan to pretend he's gay. He then decides to ask his ex-friend Nate (who he hasn't seen in years) to help him with his little scam by posing as his boyfriend. <br /><br />What didn't make sense to me was why Nate would even agree to Kellan's plan without first hashing out what happened in their past. Also, Kellan's reasons to go to Nate after all these years of being apart fell short. They were friends and Nate is gay but they never went into their history until later in the book. So after all this time Kellan decides to look up Nate just so he can piss off his father. Plus, he needed a place to stay and of course there are no other friends that he can stay with or that can help him out. It all felt forced. <br /><br />Another thing that bothered me was that Kellan kept looking to go further in the relationship for what felt like no other reason than to experiment. They're thrown together and fake a relationship but they really never had to go any further than a few pecks in public. Plus, it felt like Kellan only wanted to be with Nate for the experience not for the intimacy. All Kellan wanted was to show up his father. Oh, and then all of a sudden he wants to have sex with Nate? It was all very clinical and detached. Then there's Nate. He was attracted to Kellan but you never felt it. We're told this but unfortunately his actions, words, and thoughts do not support it. I got sick of his attitude real quick especially when he knew his actions were messed up and went along with everything anyway. <br /><br />You get the idea that these two men were close as kids but you never feel them become anything more throughout the story, except when it pertains to "the plan". <br /><br />There were glimpses of Mitchell's writing that I liked but basically there was no depth to the characters or the story. <br /><br />Oh and as Kate reminded me, Eli gets his own star!<br />

Kellan needs a boyfriend because he wants to stick it to his overbearing homophobic father. He looks up his childhood bestfriend in the hopes that Nathan will be a pal and fake being in love with him. <br /><br />Kellan and Nathan aren't really likeable men so this really affected my enjoyment here. Kellan spent most of this story being sexually confused and in his own words an "internalized homophobic". It was just an odd read because of it. Once the relationship got past all the posturing it really could have worked for me as Nathan's edges began to smooth out but Kellan's attitude towards his own sexuality didn't seem to want to cross the line where he could be honest with his emotions and feelings for Nathan. <br /><br />There was too much back and forth with Kellan for me to really settle down and enjoy the read which is too bad because there was a lot of potential there and I love a good GFY and friends to lovers story.<br /><br />I love Nathan's employee Eli quite a bit. I'm looking forward to his book. <br /><br /><br /><br />

I enjoyed this book more than the three stars would lead you to believe. It has two of my favorite tropes: GFY and Fake Boyfriend. <br /><br />It just felt a bit flat and shallow, this could be due to the fact that I had an old Samhain version of the book and maybe it’s been better edited since then. Maybe. <br /><br />Both MCs were asshats much of the time due to past and current feelings and actions. One wanted to screw his rich father over by pretending to be gay. The other, his old friend, wanted dirt on the rich father to publish and take him down in the press. <br /><br />Pretending leads to real feelings, although Nate, the journalist, has always loved Kellan. Kellan has buried feelings for Nate. <br /><br />The bones of this story was good, I just wanted more depth fleshed out and less assholery from Nate. <br /><br />Bonus for you all: cherry popping goodness!!<br />Trigger: dub-con bj

<br><b>3.5 stars</b><br><br>So I did this weird thing.  I was told that the Bad in Baltimore series could be read as standalones (confirmed) and I read book 2, Bad Boyfriend, first.  I really adored Eli and Quinn's relationship, but to be honest, in their tiny supporting roles, Nate &amp; Kellan were insignificant.  Nate was way too intense and Kellan was a bit boring.  And thus, I decided to just skip book 1 altogether.<br><br>Hasty, hasty decision.  Months later, I jumped into a buddy read spearheaded by Heidi Cullinan, who almost never steers be wrong.  And so, I bought, downloaded, and read Bad Company...in a day...ending with a smile.<br><br>I've said it before, but I just really like KA Mitchell's broken MC's.  They're imperfect, easy to dislike, they have issues...and they entertain like no other.  By the end, I've never NOT rooted for the happy ending, even with her most pain-in-the-ass characters! This holds true for Nate &amp; Kellan.  Nate is ...well, he has a stick up his ass.  He's uptight. And he's hurt. And he doesn't trust.  And then there's Kellan, his childhood best friend who betrayed him, grew up to be a playboy, and oh yea, isn't gay.  Circumstances with Kellan's gajillionaire dad make it such that Kellan is looking for a <i>boyfriend</i> and he comes back to Nate.<br><br>True, this story's been done in het books forever and probably even some M/M GFY books (RJ Scott's Texas series).  But KA Mitchell just is my cup o' tea so I liked her take.  The journey...the escalation from former-friends back to acquaintances then to lovers was fairly believable and I was curious how the final 'aha' moment would play out.  I was surprised to find that Kellan, a bit of an arrogant douchebag in the beginning,  started to grow on me as he matured through it all.  Nate, well...I still have some warming up to do for some reason.<br><br>I'm actually kinda addicted to Mitchell's books and characters...and so looking forward to book 4 of the Bad in Baltimore series, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18742420-bad-influence?from_search=true" rel="nofollow noopener">Bad Influence</a>!  Book 1 was an entertaining-enough read, not the best of her books, nor the best of the series (Bad Boyfriend, in my opinion), but still a recommended.<br><br><a href="http://boysinourbooks.com/2014/04/13/review-bad-company-by-ka-mitchell/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1379801192i/680750.jpg" alt=" photo 78a31e15-a8d3-46a9-9088-cbb9656dff10_zpsd43ac4b1.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a>

Somehow these characters never quite clicked for me. Kellan was casual and obnoxious and then suddenly he was the romantic one. Nate just seemed totally confused throughout the whole story, and his lines were convoluted and I don't think even he believed half of what he was saying. Kellan's father just didn't seem realistic in any of his incarnations. Eli was the best character in the book. The GFY sex was well done and yet even that felt like the pacing was wrong for the characters. I like K.A. Mitchell but usually her characters seem alive to me, and this time they didn't.

*** 3.5 stars *** <br /><br />Friends to enemies to lovers -- that's a setup I find completely irresisitable.<br /><br />This was a pretty solid story, at least once I bought into the dubious rationale for why Kellan was seeking a boyfriend. His miscommunications with Nate seemed not only realistic, but inevitable, because their differences were established convincingly from the earliest pages. Still, there was something missing, some indefinable spark that could have lifted this up to the next level. But I enjoyed it enough that I bought the next book in the series.