MMarte

** 2,5 stars ***

I really tried to like this book. But I didn't. It had some good moments, but...

I didn't exactly love #1 [b:Broken Pieces|18874773|Broken Pieces (Broken Pieces, #1)|Riley Hart|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1385998416s/18874773.jpg|26875233] either. I made a bit of a ranty review *cough*.

My main problem with Broken Pieces was the time span, not the story in particular. So now when reading Full Circle I find I liked Broken Pieces more. I gave Broken Pieces 3 stars. I need to differentiate between them, so that's why Full Circle gets 2,5 stars.

Full Circle wasn't bad per se, it just didn't work for me.
I mean, I'm usually easily moved to tears, but I only got teary (not cry, but teary) once in this book okay. It was when Josiah got the pictures Mateo made, of the queen and the bird which he could hang in his coffee shop. That tells me that I'm not quite feeling the characters. It's sad, but it's true.

I've read several reviews before writing this, and I always end up thinking "that's exactly how I felt!". But when I try to write myself I feel like I can't express myself the way I want. Dani's review and Momo's review hit the nail for me. I agree with what they said. I've taken the liberty to quote them:

Quote from Dani's:
"Mateo was all, "I'm a criminal, and I'm not worthy." Tristan was all, "I used to hook, and I'm not worthy." The tone was weirdly somber and oppressive, and even the sex scenes felt a little scripted. I wanted these three to be more spontaneous and give in to JOY every once in a while."

Yes!

Quote from Momo's:
"The repetition got to me. I didn't necessarily need anything earth-shattering to take place, but I needed more than the author telling me that Mateo felt he didn't belong, more than telling me Tristan felt the need to protect, more than just saying over and over how they'd do anything for Josiah, anything to keep everyone safe and happy. I just felt like I was told a lot. And often."

Yes!


Also.
I had a realization when reading Full Circle.
I realized what bothers me, or why the story doesn't work for me.
Hang on, I'll just brace myself first, okay, because maybe I'll get yelled at for saying this, but I'm saying it anyway, because honest review and stuff..

First though, understand where I'm coming from. When I started reading romances, I read MF books. 99% or so are told by a female POV. After a while it got boring, repetitive and irritating. All the women were the same! They where all just "perfect", but didn't know or believe it themselves. So when they got attention from a hot hunky man, they just couldn't believe it, you know? They were all "I'm not pretty enough, I'm not thin enough, I'm not good enough, I'm not worthy, why does he even like me?"
*rolls eyes* Me: "Would you like some cheese with that whine?"
AND let's not forget; just a flick of that magical "button" and there is crashing of waves! And fireworks! And all kinds of rainbows and unicorns and crap.
*snort* Suure. Not!
Anyway, I digress. A lot. Sorry.

So I tried MFM. Surely adding a bit more testosterone would balance out the whining?
This time I got tired of both men doting on the woman. Like all the time. I kept thinking "Don't the men have a mind of their own?" It was all "her this" and "her that" all the way into the bedroom too, where there was more "her, her, her". Come on guys, can't you at least admit that you're having sex for you own sakes, as well as hers?

So I tried MMF. Everyone gets some, not just the woman! *yey*
I'm thinking both relationship wise and sex here btw.
And I finally scored! The focus was suddenly on all the characters, not just the woman. The characters felt more equal, they shared between each other both outside and in the bedroom. Reading MMF was enjoyable, but I noticed I liked the interaction between the men more than with the woman.

In the end I kicked out the woman of the stories. Because I am one, I don't need to read about one.

So MMF became MM, and sometimes MMM. Which leads to Full Circle.
Ha, I got to the point in the end!
Here it is:

Reading both Broken Pieces and Full Circle, but especially Full Circle brought back the MF/MFM feeling as I described above. And before you yell at me, I am NOT saying Josiah or any of the others is a woman or feminine or something okay! I'm saying their relationship reminds me of the countless MFM stories I've read in the past where the dynamic is unequal in my opinion. Mateo and Tristan are both doting on Josiah too much for me to feel they are all equals (the three of them) in their relationship. I cannot feel the love between Mateo and Tristan no matter how many times the author tells me they love each other.

Anyway... yeah...
That's my view and review of Full Circle.
My favorite character is still Mateo.

Oh and btw, I really don't think you need DP to feel complete or full, okay. Well, you probably would feel full, I give you that. If you want to include it, please do it with a bit more prep, would you? Because, I'm thinking: Teo did then, moving a little, sliding his dick in and out as Tristan also worked him (Josiah) with a finger. “I’m going to take my finger out and slowly work my cock inside, baby, okay?” is not really sufficient. O.o


I didn't mean to come over all ranty in this review (too). Damn.
All I'm saying is, Full Circle wasn't bad per se, it just wasn't that good for me.
I still want to read Ben's story, though. No matter how much I may rant, I'm not anything but optimistic.