By the Rules Evergreen Grove Book 3 edition by Elisabeth Staab Romance eBooks
Download As PDF : By the Rules Evergreen Grove Book 3 edition by Elisabeth Staab Romance eBooks 
He thinks I want him because of the rumors around town. Because I think he’s easy. I want AJ, because he’s AJ.
No liars. No suits. Absolutely no straight guys…
AJ Fabin’s list of rules keeps him safe. Since getting kicked out of his parents’ home and attacked by a former escorting client, his rules and his life in the tiny town of Evergreen Grove provide a quiet haven. He may be lonely, and he may stick out like a sore thumb, but the folks like him well enough. When he’s not dodging his old pimp, things are peaceful.
Hayden Price is having a quarter-life crisis. Engaged to a woman he can’t connect to and working a job he secretly hates, he comes to Evergreen Grove to help his mother through a health scare. Returning to his childhood home makes Hayden reevaluate a lot of things, including himself. When he meets AJ and finds he can’t stand the mouthy jerk—almost as much as he can’t stop thinking about him—he has a lot more to change than his career.
To be together, they’ll both have to break all of their rules.
By the Rules is book 3 in the Evergreen Grove series, but reads as a standalone.
By the Rules Evergreen Grove Book 3 edition by Elisabeth Staab Romance eBooks
This book!AJ and Hayden separately are compelling. Together... I have never seen so many messes that left me lost - because each one has his reasons! The supporting was also good. Some m/m treats women in particular like a name and a dismissive attitude are enough. Not here. They're not all fleshed out, but the important ones are, lending Evergreen Grove a nice three-dimensional sense. (I suppose, had I read any of the series, that would be even more evident.)
Highly recommended. Because yes they fail at communication, but given their issues? They were always going to have to fight for this.
(There's one startlingly garbled sentence in one of the last chapters (editing is HARD, y'all) but otherwise the formatting's good.)
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By the Rules Evergreen Grove Book 3 edition by Elisabeth Staab Romance eBooks Reviews
I know, this isn't our usual read, but...Elisabeth Staab is one of my favorite authors. She wrote The Chronicles of Yavn (vampire PNR) and the Lone Wolf series (werewolf PNR) then she went off the rails and started writing contemporary romance. I really don't enjoy F/M contemporary romance. I got my reasons and most of them have to do with the female leads. My exception is gay (M/M) contemporary romance. No time to go into all the reasons, but I love the dynamics and emotional conflicts more than F/M stories. So when Elisabeth wrote a M/M book for her Evergreen Grove romance series I was all over it!
First off, the town of Evergreen Grove is set in NC! That's my state, so right off the bat I was happy. It didn't take long after that for me to fall in love with A.J. and Hayden's story. The story alternates between A.J. and Hayden's first person POV. This kind of threw me before I got a handle on their personalities. But A.J. is a beautiful technicolor unicorn onion! Okay, stay with me on this one...by onion, I mean he has many layers that get revealed as the story progresses. While we get equal POV time from both guys, A.J. is the star of this story. You could tell Staab had a strong connection with this character and was very comfortable with him.
The story has just about every gay and straight romance troupe out there...but they are all my favorites and avoid being cliche. Just when I thought I knew where the story was going, it went the other way. Sometimes in subtle ways and a few times in the "BAM, didn't see that coming" way. Plus there is a lot of humor. By the Rules pushed all my buttons! The good ones...
Don't want to spoil all the subplots and relationship highs and lows, but the story left me with all sorts of warm and fuzzies. If you've been M/M romance-curious this is a good one to try.
Here are some of the ways Hayden describes A.J. before he really gets to know him
"The coffee that I nearly spilled on that bullet train masquerading as a colorfully-dressed [censored]."
"Are you some kind of rainbow ninja or something?"
"The technicolor jerkoff is killing me."
4.5 "Curious" Sheep
When I read through some of the other reviews of this book, it was amusing to see quite a few of them mention – “if you don’t usually read m/m books you should still read this one” – or something along those lines. However I’m coming at this from the opposite direction and I’m going to assure you that despite the fact the first two books in the Evergreen Grove series are m/f, if you don’t like to find vagina popping up in your books, you can very safely read By The Rules as a standalone gay romance. That’s how I read it, and I didn’t feel that I was missing out on any backstory from previous books.
I liked AJ instantly. He had depth and he was complex, there were so many different facets that made up his character. I loved the way his voice came across as we heard the story from his perspective. His vulnerabilities were endearing, yet his snark made him entertaining. He has a set of rules that he has created, put in place to protect himself from getting involved with a man who could potentially hurt him. The fact that he operates a run down hotel as more of a shelter for those who need help rather than a business was the icing on the I-love-AJ cake, as far as I was concerned.
Hayden on the other hand, well I was kinda prepared not to like this guy. I thought he was going to be the one with all of the usual “but I’m not gay” relationship issues, but instead that was AJ, and it made so much more sense coming from him. Hayden first presents as a bit of an uptight, serious, non-compromising kind of guy but in fact he’s exactly the right sort of person for AJ. He’s non-judgmental, patient, and most importantly brave enough to talk about feelings!
All of the secondary characters were well developed, even those who haven’t had their story told in previous stories. Mrs, Choi was a particular favourite, because though she’s only in a few scenes, her personality just bursts onto the page. Hell, she picked up an abused, young prostitute and carried him away to safety. That woman has a huge heart and some serious balls.
The chemistry between AJ and Hayden was scorching. The fact that they hate each other during their first few meetings just adds some extra spice to their encounters. Hayden broke through all of the boundaries that AJ had erected to protect himself, and when they finally hit the sheets I may have squealed just a tad. I liked that despite AJ having much more practical experience at sex than Hayden, he was the one who came across as nervous and awkward. The author does a great job of using the sexual relationship between the two characters to further highlight just how damaging AJ’s past was, and how Hayden’s affection is helping to heal him.
I think that most readers will like this story. It’s distinctly mainstream, and by that I mean there isn’t anything that requires content warnings. The angst is low and the awww moments are liberally scattered throughout. On top of that the writing is polished and the story flows at a perfect pace.
I won’t say that I’m going to rush out and pick up copies of the m/f stories in this series, but I definitely hope that we see another m/m romance pop up in the town of Evergreen Grove. Perhaps Deputy Haas could get his happily ever after?
Original review posted at Love Bytes Same Sex Book Reviews
I became invested in AJ's story reading the first two books in this series. I wanted him to find someone to love him as he so deserved. I became so wrapped up in the storyline that I spent the last 20% or so of the book dreading the knowledge that it was coming to an end. This straight girl wanted the story to continue forever.
I
I had never read this genre before (M/M contemporary romance), but these characters were very well developed, sympathetic, funny, and sexy. I enjoyed the Evergreen Grove sub-plot, and went on to read Piece by Piece, the story of LeAnn and Ethan. This author has a great sense of humor and sarcasm. A satisfying page-turner with a happy ending. My fave.
This book!
AJ and Hayden separately are compelling. Together... I have never seen so many messes that left me lost - because each one has his reasons! The supporting was also good. Some m/m treats women in particular like a name and a dismissive attitude are enough. Not here. They're not all fleshed out, but the important ones are, lending Evergreen Grove a nice three-dimensional sense. (I suppose, had I read any of the series, that would be even more evident.)
Highly recommended. Because yes they fail at communication, but given their issues? They were always going to have to fight for this.
(There's one startlingly garbled sentence in one of the last chapters (editing is HARD, y'all) but otherwise the formatting's good.)
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