Sweet – Howl Avery

Will wants to meet the perfect man, but it’s easier said than done in such a small town. His crush of over a year has no idea he even exists, and ignoring his best friend’s advice has only made the problem worse. Rather than limiting himself only to who’s available locally, Will turns to the digital world.

Cas is ready to move on after his last relationship ended in death. Right away, he meets the perfect candidate through a new anonymous chatting app, with only one problem—he quickly learns his new friend’s identity in the real world. If this budding relationship continues, it’ll only be a matter of time before Cas is recognized for who he is as well.

As Will and Cas steadily become closer, their attraction cannot be denied. Nor their similarities. Cas embraces the darkness in Will like no one ever has, creating a mutual obsession that needs to be satisfied in the real world. Maybe Will has finally found the perfect man for him—if he can look past Cas’s homicidal tendencies.

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Sweet, a dark romantic thriller by Howl Avery, might change how you see honey. Needless to say, it comes with a long list of TWs, including rough sex, toxic codependencies, humiliation and degradation, consensual non-con, sounding, fisting, and murders.

Will has been crushing on Bailey, a fellow Farmer’s Market vendor, for a long time now. He and his best friend Jesse manage the store for the farm they both work for. Will also just started talking anonymously to a guy on a dating app. Later, he learned his name was Cas.

Will felt an instant chemistry with Cas right away, and he’s tentatively exploring their connection to see if Cas wants to take it further. Meanwhile, Jesse confessed he has feelings for Will, and they begun sleeping together. Will is still crushing hard on Bailey, whom he started stalking, and also pining like hell for Cas.

The love geometry should make this a DNF for me but strangely enough, it didn’t bother me. Will’s connections to these men worked their magic, holding the plot together and fueling the mystery.

In a typical MM romance, the MC would only be sleeping with the love interest, which is a dead giveaway. So even if I figured out Cas’s identity early on, the red herrings effectively had me second-guessing, especially since Will had on-page sex with all three.

Both Will’s and Cas’s POVs were shown.

Cas is a psychopath who uses a convenient, if novel, way of cleaning up evidence. He’s a demisexual who had his awakening because of Will. Cas couldn’t find it in him to kill the man, nor could he get him out of his mind. In other words, he’s obsessing and stalking.

And that’s all we know about Cas because he’s an enigma till the very end.

Will’s characterization was confusing. The opening chapters showed him with crippling social anxiety, barely able to say a word to Bailey. My image of him was that of a short, skinny guy who’s a bit geeky. With Jesse, he was hella toppy and dominant, and I was surprised to learn he’s actually taller than Jesse.

I don’t mind a shy character who likes to take charge in the bedroom. However, Will’s personality was all over the place, sometimes acting like a different person entirely. I chalk this up to the writing. Cas wore different masks depending on who he was talking to, but it still felt cohesive.

One thing’s for sure: Will falls hard for his mystery man and wants to be the end-all and be-all for Cas. Will is the farthest from vanilla, systematically testing Cas’s limits, hence the trigger warnings. Their relationship is a fuck-up codependency of crazy meets insanity, so better get out of their way or burn! It was fanfuckingtastic!

Some aspects, especially the latter parts, were rushed, which is unfortunate because this is a story worth savoring. The ending was so abrupt I was left with my mouth hanging open. This book badly needed an epilogue. It is not perfect, but I was completely hooked and finished it in one sitting.

Sweet explores the complexities of human connection, and the interplay of sweet personalities and darker desires. Overall, a thrilling story of mutual obsession, depraved, alluring, inescapable.

Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits

Soundtrack: Got You (Where I Want You)
Artist: The Flys
Album: Holiday Man

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