Playing Through Every Choices Book, In Order (Part 90: Untameable)

Hey! Today we help our brother out on the ranch after coming home from college, and help our brother's friend out in a much more interesting way!

Next time, we take a job at the Martinez Ranch after escaping our abusive ex. Can we fake it till we make it?

Link to previous reviews: https://www.reddit.com/user/stresseatingdog/comments/sj3s3m/all_choices_reviews_megapost/

Untameable

M/C: Vincent Chang

Final Love Interest(s): Kit

Favorite Characters: Kit, Mandy, Tate

Least Favorite Characters: Austin (kind of), Colt

Rating: 6/10

Review:

This book was the second ever GOC smut book, and I will always appreciate it for just that alone. However, I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the noticeable flaws this book has.

First off, the plot. We get a very basic plotline of needing to save the ranch from financial distress, and...that's about it. It's not all that engaging of a plot, but hey, this is a smut book, and stuff like The Nanny Affair didn't have all that engaging of a plot either. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that while I do think a more entertaining plot would have been nice, the one we get is just enough to make the book not utterly dull.

Onto Kit, who I think is overall a pretty good LI. I love their sprites, and the whole "brothers best friend" thing is at least a pretty novel take on a LI. The whole "player" reputation Kit has isn't fleshed out enough, I think. We barely see them even glance at another guy/girl the minute they lay eyes on M/C, which goes directly against what half of the other characters are hammering into us about them being borderline easy. I also wish we got more couple-y moments or just sweet moments with Kit? My main issue with so many of these smut books is the utter lack of romance in favor of constant sex (as you saw in my scathing review of Surrender). I wish we got to be more romantic with Kit...we have seventeen chapters to work with, and yet I feel like M/C and Kit's relationship is nowhere near as intimate or sweet as it could have been.

Mandy is really fun, and she brings some much needed energy to this book. I can see why they chose her to be a LI in the sequel/spinoff.

And then there's Austin. I am so very mixed on Austin as a character, and unfortunately that mix is about 90% negative. I just don't understand what his deal is with preventing M/C and Kit from getting together. It's borderline insane that he thinks he has any control over M/C (who is A GROWN MAN/WOMAN) and their dating choices. And M/C and Kit tread on eggshells around him and pacify him? Why? The book tries to justify him at the end by giving him a bit of backstory in how he had to take care of M/C when he was still young, and thus felt more like a parent to them rather than a brother. While this somewhat makes me feel for him, I still feel as though the way he acts regarding M/C and Kit is entirely over the top and weird. His apology just isn't good enough for me, and M/C and Kit bow down way too quickly for my taste.

...And that's about it. Overall, this book is a low-stakes cowboy smut, and it does that decently well. I think the whole "forbidden" aspect just harmed the book, and made Austin seem like a total a-hole. However, being a GOC book will always earn flowers from me. Thus, I'd have to say this book is simply average - certainly not amazing, but not near the depths of awfulness that Surrender reached.