ARC Review: Dix by Emmy Sanders (Elite 8 Studios #1)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I liked this more than I thought I would! This story about two porn stars having to film a series of "boyfriend"-type scenes while not getting on IRL ended up being way sweeter than I expected. I've been having trouble finishing books lately, but I read this in one sitting. I really felt the emotional connection between the two MCs and it gave me the "Aww", swoony type of feels I've been missing lately.
I was impressed by the writing and how the whole "porn stars" thing was handled. I thought the premise called for some OTT plot gimmicks, but the result was more refined and subtle than that. During the filming of the sex scenes, the focus is really on the characters and not on the technical, behind-the-scene aspect. Is it realistic that the actors would forget everything around them and that the scene would go on with almost no stoppage or cues? Probably not, but it's way less cringy to me this way, and I just love the ~drama~ of those two just zoning out because they're so into each other. Those scenes were long and on the vanilla side, but I was never bored. The author made the tension between them so believable, I could really believe they were falling in love while dicking each other down in front of the cameras. The fake Christmas scene in particular even made me a little emotional.
One of the strong aspects of this book is the characters. I loved Dixon, the big grumpy bear, who's really the most loyal and attentive friend one could ask for. Niko is his opposite, outgoing and flirty, and loves to tease Dix. This might seem like a dynamic we've read over and over again, and I'm not saying it isn't. But I loved how their chemistry wasn't reduced to antagonistic banter and how their interactions with each other made them both self-reflect. Especially, I appreciated the moment Niko turned down his teasing in an effort to respect Dixon's boundaries. How often do you see that?
There are so many little things I appreciated in this. Dixon's nicknames, the "only one bed" situation, Niko's wooing and "Ghost"-ing, the not-dates dates, all the little tender moments between them, how soft they ended up being with each other one they got together, how they communicated about their issues.
The "enemies-to-lovers" aspect is pretty light, for those who care about that, it's more of a one-sided dislike on Dixon's part, and he wasn't too much of an ass about it. He was mostly being overtly defensive, which makes sense to me. I hate when people are rude and petty to each other with the only reason being "well, this is an enemies-to-lovers romance". I could have done without all their friends and families calling them out on their feelings for each other from the first chapter though! Why are people so perspective about their friend's romantic feelings in romance novels?
With that said, I still loved the supporting cast in this. Niko's family, Dixon's friends, the whole Elite 8 gang. I appreciated that Dixon cut his homophobic family off in the past and that's that, there's no forgiving storyline, no last-second appearances. The queer found family theme is very present in this without being too in your face.
I will definitely read more in this series as I'm very curious about what is going to happen to the Elite 8 gang. I know Malibu is the next one (and his arc was set up well in this one), but I also want to see more of Alex! While waiting for the next book, I will definitely check out Mateo and Hawthorne's story.
I received a free copy of this book and am providing my honest review voluntarily.
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