Book Review of BAMF, by S.J.D. Peterson

BAMF

I borrowed a copy of S.J.D. Peterson‘s novel, BAMF. (Thanks, S.)

Description from Goodreads:
With his fauxhawk, sleeve tattoos, and visible piercings, Ridley Corbin has the whole bad ass vibe going on in spades. The image serves him well as the self-proclaimed protector of the underdog, and he wants nothing more than to be Alex Firestone’s hero.

Alex, a mild-mannered library assistant, has moved to Slater, a quiet college town, hoping to hide from his past. He keeps to himself, but that doesn’t save him from catching the unwanted attention of the campus bully. But not all is as it seems. Alex’s past comes calling, and it’s time he becomes top dog.

Review:
I have to be honest, BAMF and I didn’t become BFF, or BF, or even just Fs. I think the only part of the BAMF acronym I’d call accurate was the B. Yeah, it was B. Confused? You probably should be. 

Now, the writing was fine. The editing was fine. Individually, the characters were fine. But the story…the story sucked BAMFing lemons. The reader is presented with a pierced, tattooed, supposedly BAMF guy, who then immediately turns into a clumsy, flustered, stalker bottom. The geeky librarian wasn’t a geeky librarian for more than a chapter or so.

Then we’re given a whole false plot arc with the campus bully that is pretty quickly dropped for something more (that was pretty obvious, to boot). But even that only lasts a couple chapters and then we’re all tossed off into cheesy domestic bliss-land, as the men turn into BAMFing saps, flirt, fall in love, have a lot of unrealistically rough sex, etc. Then when that finally comes to it’s predictable anticlimactic conclusion, they drop their previous BAMF dispositions to start spouting of “I love you” left and right. (And all this love stuff started before there was really anything for them to love. It came out of nowhere, only later being supported.)

I know some people like this kind of thing, but I’m not one of them. The book felt cobbled together, with the plot jumping from one drama to the next such that it just felt like an excuse to throw the characters together. Nothing felt solid or consistent. Plus, after about 60% it really drug and I just found myself bored. 

Again, this is all just a matter of what one prefers in a story. But I didn’t care for this one.

If you need a clue, BAMF = Bad Ass Mother Fucker

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