Title: Uniquely Us
Author: A.M. Arthur
Series: Us Series, Book 3
- Publication Date: October 24, 2017
Amazon
Blurb
Taro Ichikawa needs his weekly routines. Working from home as a programmer allows him to work around his constant struggle with anxiety and OCD—everything from exact meal times to his weekly dinner dates with his best friend Cris Sable. Openly demisexual, he’s comfortable knowing he’s different from most, and he’s content being single—until he breaks routine to attend Cris’s birthday party and makes an unexpected new friend.
Dell Greenwood moved in with his uncle eighteen months ago to turn his life around, and after a serious setback last fall, he’s finally healthy and heading in the right direction. His full-time job as a porn videographer keeps him busy, so he doesn’t have to think about the fact that while he seriously dated one man last year, he’s not attracted to…well, anyone. It’s easy to assume that his traumatic past is to blame for his lack of interest in dating, but when he meets and gets to know Taro Ichikawa, Dell wonders if there’s a different reason.
Befriending someone mired in strict routines isn’t easy, but Dell is stubborn when he wants something, and being patient with Taro is easy. From emails to tentative lunch dates, what begins as a simple friendship slowly deepens into something much stronger—and completely unexpected. But Dell knows that for him to be all-in with Taro, he not only needs to come to terms with his sexuality, but he also has to be honest with himself and his family about the absolute worst moment of his life.
* A Note from the Author:
This week is Asexual Awareness Week, and by a lucky coincidence, it’s also release week for Uniquely Us (Us #3). I’m so proud of this book, and I know some of you guys have been waiting for Dell’s HEA for quite a while now.
5 of 5 Stars
Oh man this is such a good book. It’s amazing to me there was so much lightheartedness and so many fun times in such a heavy setting. I’m not sure which character my heart breaks for more…they both have been through major tragedies.
Dell is a bit of a mess…still. His self-esteem is very low and his self-loathing is very high. Not a great combination. He’s questioning his sexuality while trying to muddle through what’s going on in his mind which stems from his history…and it’s causing complete chaos in his mind and life. He’s sweet and adorable. He’s a great kid who’s suffered greatly. Thank God for Uncle Charles or we may never have known Dell.
We don’t really find out why Taro is such a mess until very late in the book. Some of the tragedy is hinted at in his mind but we don’t get the full story until we’re about 90% into the book. And d@mn that was a hard scene to read. Taro is surprisingly strong and sarcastically entertaining.
Dell and Taro are perfect for each other – both understanding of the other’s issues and learning the best way for them to work as partners. They make blunders but help each other figure out how to get past them. I absolutely love them together.
I guess this can be read as a standalone. It’s hard for me to say really since I read the first 2 and if you’re like me, you’ll want the history of the characters in the book. I really liked books 1 and 2 so if you have the time, I’d read all 3. This is a spin-off from the Perspectives series which I also loved and highly recommend although that’s not necessary for this series. If you are already a fan of Ms. Arthur’s you know there is series crossover everywhere in her books.
About the Author
A.M. Arthur was born and raised in the same kind of small town that she likes to write about, a stone’s throw from both beach resorts and generational farmland. She’s been creating stories in her head since she was a child and scribbling them down nearly as long, in a losing battle to make the fictional voices stop. She credits an early fascination with male friendships (bromance hadn’t been coined yet back then) and “The Young Riders” with her later discovery of and subsequent love affair with m/m romance stories.
An avid reader of het romance, her first foray into reading published m/m romance (slash fanfic doesn’t count) is thanks to a Dear Author review of K.A. Mitchell’s CHASING SMOKE. After devouring K.A.’s existing backlist, she dove headfirst into other authors. While she prefers contemporary, she’ll occasionally sample an historical or SFF m/m romance.
A.M. wrote her first m/m stories in the guise of Kish fanfic (the Kyle/Fish romance from cancelled soap opera “One Life to Live.” As her stories were met with more and more positive feedback, A.M. was inspired to try her hand at creating original m/m romance. And the rest is history.
When not exorcising the voices in her head, she toils away in a retail job that tests her patience and gives her lots of story fodder. She can also be found in her kitchen, pretending she’s an amateur chef and trying to not poison herself or others with her cuisine experiments.
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