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A review by booksafety
Hold On by Barbara Elsborg
5.0
Book safety, content warnings, and tropes down below.
It was risky to let hope grow too large, to allow it to take up a disproportionate space in his head, because if something went wrong this time, that flickering flame might go out forever.
I haven’t read too many books by Barbara Elsborg yet, but god do I want to. What I have read has been way beyond amazing, and this book will join The Making of Jonty Bloom as two of my top reads this year without a doubt. I don’t know how this author manages to do it, but the writing is simply brilliant. The dialogue is so organic and funny, and the banter actually feels like it fits the characters instead of being shoehorned in just for some comedic relief. There’s a sweet romance, top notch british humor, and nail-biting suspense. All of this without any of the other bits being sacrificed in quality.
Dominic didn’t try to kid himself that he’d ever find someone who was okay with what he’d done. Even if they said they were, he’d never be able to believe it.
I’ve noticed how a lot of readers keep asking for ‘lots and lots of spice’ lately, and while there’s nothing wrong with a properly smutty book, I tend to like a bit of story with my porn, lol. That’s not to say there’s no spice here. There is, and it’s really good. However, it really means something and it’s important for the characters individually and for the relationship, which I love seeing. The focus of this book is very much on learning to trust again, a second chance at life for both MCs (but for very different reasons), and how they find that in each other. I laughed and cried, and at one point I was at the edge of my seat because of the suspense.
He ran his hand over the space next to him and it was cold. Ren grabbed his phone, made a call and relaxed when he heard a phone ring in the other room. “Hi,” Dominic said. “Black coffee and two slices of toast, please.” “I’m only a few feet away. You could have shouted.”
I need to get started on more of this author’s books ASAP, because even though they can be angsty, the writing is too good to pass on. Very highly recommend.
⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️
⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Ex con
Second chance at life
Sarcastic MCs
Hurt/comfort
Past trauma
Healing after trauma
(There’s probably more possible tropes and tags, but it’s one of those books that can’t really be broken down to a couple tropes).
⚠️⚠️ Content warning ⚠️⚠️
Graphic violence
Stabbing
MC murdered his parents (graphically)
Explicit sexual content
Incarceration (16 years)
Attempted murder
Abusive parents
Psychiatric hospital stay
Child abuse* (past)
*sexual, emotional, physical
Rape (past)
Brief mentions of drug use (off page, past)
Abduction
⚠️⚠️⚠️ Book safety ⚠️⚠️⚠️
Cheating: No
OM/OW drama: No
Third-act breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, dual POV
Genre: Contemporary romance, M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Versatile
MCs age: 31 and 31
“I wanted them to know what it had been like for me all those years, how I’d started to die the first time they put their hands on me, how the pain never ended. I wanted them to feel what I’d suffered. The hurt and the fear, the betrayal. I hated myself because of them. I still do. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to change that.”
But if we let what happened in our past spoil our present and our future, then those who hurt us have won. I won’t let what my parents did define me. I am more than that. We both survived. We’re allowed to falter every now and again but we keep going.
“I’m not going to be happy unless we have a pool, a hot tub, a gym, a media room, a red room of pain, a sauna—” “Now I know you’re fibbing. You hate saunas.”
Dominic chuckled, pulled open the drawer at his side and pulled out lube. “I thought you were nuts when you put those tubes all over the flat,” Dominic whispered in Ren’s ear. “Now I think you’re brilliant.” “You haven’t found them all yet.” “I thought the guy reading the electricity meter had found the last one?” “No.”
It was risky to let hope grow too large, to allow it to take up a disproportionate space in his head, because if something went wrong this time, that flickering flame might go out forever.
I haven’t read too many books by Barbara Elsborg yet, but god do I want to. What I have read has been way beyond amazing, and this book will join The Making of Jonty Bloom as two of my top reads this year without a doubt. I don’t know how this author manages to do it, but the writing is simply brilliant. The dialogue is so organic and funny, and the banter actually feels like it fits the characters instead of being shoehorned in just for some comedic relief. There’s a sweet romance, top notch british humor, and nail-biting suspense. All of this without any of the other bits being sacrificed in quality.
Dominic didn’t try to kid himself that he’d ever find someone who was okay with what he’d done. Even if they said they were, he’d never be able to believe it.
I’ve noticed how a lot of readers keep asking for ‘lots and lots of spice’ lately, and while there’s nothing wrong with a properly smutty book, I tend to like a bit of story with my porn, lol. That’s not to say there’s no spice here. There is, and it’s really good. However, it really means something and it’s important for the characters individually and for the relationship, which I love seeing. The focus of this book is very much on learning to trust again, a second chance at life for both MCs (but for very different reasons), and how they find that in each other. I laughed and cried, and at one point I was at the edge of my seat because of the suspense.
He ran his hand over the space next to him and it was cold. Ren grabbed his phone, made a call and relaxed when he heard a phone ring in the other room. “Hi,” Dominic said. “Black coffee and two slices of toast, please.” “I’m only a few feet away. You could have shouted.”
I need to get started on more of this author’s books ASAP, because even though they can be angsty, the writing is too good to pass on. Very highly recommend.
⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️
⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Ex con
Second chance at life
Sarcastic MCs
Hurt/comfort
Past trauma
Healing after trauma
(There’s probably more possible tropes and tags, but it’s one of those books that can’t really be broken down to a couple tropes).
⚠️⚠️ Content warning ⚠️⚠️
Graphic violence
Stabbing
MC murdered his parents (graphically)
Explicit sexual content
Incarceration (16 years)
Attempted murder
Abusive parents
Psychiatric hospital stay
Child abuse* (past)
*sexual, emotional, physical
Rape (past)
Brief mentions of drug use (off page, past)
Abduction
⚠️⚠️⚠️ Book safety ⚠️⚠️⚠️
Cheating: No
OM/OW drama: No
Third-act breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, dual POV
Genre: Contemporary romance, M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Versatile
MCs age: 31 and 31
“I wanted them to know what it had been like for me all those years, how I’d started to die the first time they put their hands on me, how the pain never ended. I wanted them to feel what I’d suffered. The hurt and the fear, the betrayal. I hated myself because of them. I still do. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to change that.”
But if we let what happened in our past spoil our present and our future, then those who hurt us have won. I won’t let what my parents did define me. I am more than that. We both survived. We’re allowed to falter every now and again but we keep going.
“I’m not going to be happy unless we have a pool, a hot tub, a gym, a media room, a red room of pain, a sauna—” “Now I know you’re fibbing. You hate saunas.”
Dominic chuckled, pulled open the drawer at his side and pulled out lube. “I thought you were nuts when you put those tubes all over the flat,” Dominic whispered in Ren’s ear. “Now I think you’re brilliant.” “You haven’t found them all yet.” “I thought the guy reading the electricity meter had found the last one?” “No.”