I spent college worrying about responsibilities and earning my teaching degree, so before graduation and moving to Atlanta with my best friend, Ross, I figure I deserve a little fun. I’ve never been with an older man, but the guy at the bar grabs my attention and doesn’t let go…for multiple rounds, all night long.
The next day, when Ross introduces me to his dad, the last thing I expect is for him to be my hookup from the night before, in town from Atlanta for his son’s graduation.
The best thing would be to pretend it never happened, which is easier said than done. The more I talk to Harrison, the more I like him. We enjoy teasing each other, spending time together, and despite how successful he is, we both know what it’s like to have nothing. Neither of us wants a relationship, so when Harrison suggests a no-strings-attached fling, it’s perfect.
But between bills, worrying about Mom, and wondering how I thought I had what it takes to be a good teacher, Harrison’s always there, even when it’s hard for me to accept help.
Falling for Harrison wasn’t part of the agreement.
I don’t know how to trust, there’s a seventeen-year age difference, and he’s my best friend’s dad.
No strings attached has never been so difficult, because I’m pretty sure I want to be tied to Harrison for good.
Riley Hart is the girl who wears her heart on her sleeve. She's a hopeless romantic. A lover of sexy stories, passionate men, and writing about all the trouble they can get into together. If she's not writing, you'll probably find her reading.
Riley lives in California with her awesome family, who she is thankful for everyday.
one would think that after my 4th read from this author i would learn my lesson by now and stop reading her books because clearly, none of them have really worked for me, but nope. my little heart still has hope.
I'm always here for "falling for my best friend's dad" stories. Strings Attached is unusual in that Harrison (the dad) and Zander tell Ross (Harrison's son and Zander's good friend) immediately that they slept together not knowing who the other was.
And Ross is pretty cool about it. He's doesn't want to hear about his dad's sex life, of course, but he doesn't freak out.
The rest of the story is Zander (age 24) and Harrison (41) hanging out and becoming closer, first as friends and jogging partners, and later as "no strings attached" fuck buddies.
Zander has always wanted to be a teacher and is excited to start his first teaching job in the fall. He's broke and has a second job as a barista, but he's fiercely independent and doesn't like to accept help (which he views as charity).
Harrison was once a single dad who worked his butt off to provide for his son. He's now well-off and likes to give back.
While there were far too many jokes about Harrison being "old," the age gap really wasn't a big deal. The chemistry between the men was scorching, and the steam was plentiful.
I felt like something was missing, though, and I'm not sure what. Maybe there wasn't enough tension? And the epilogue felt like it was more of a HEA for Ross than the MCs.
Sadly giving up at 24%. Everybody is cliché. The poor guy is hardworking and responsible. The rich guy is giving and generous. They are all wonderful and incredibly selfless. Yawn. I’m bored out of my mind.
I never really talk about whether or not these shirtless dude books get me hot & bothered because a lot of the times they just bother me. This book though? Well, let’s just say-
�Stacy’s dad, has got me down ba~ad�
�
The other parts of the story are pretty good too. Every character is probably a little too nice, a little too sweet, like in The Outsiders. And also, nothing really happens the whole book. But honestly, I’m a pretty big fan of books about nothing sooo�
[3.5] i seldom read best friend's dad romances so i'm completely unqualified to tell you how this compares, but i can make an educated guess which plot elements tend to be par for the course.
....so imagine my surprise when Ross the BFF puts two and two together before we even hit the 15% mark! *jaw drops* i was fully expecting said best friend to be kept in the dark until the Big Dramatic Reveal tore everyone apart, so what a pleasant surprise 🤣
the story is very much character driven, so don't go in expecting OTT plot twists and the like. as a result, some may call it slow/uneventful, but i tend to enjoy these types of slice-of-life stories where we focus primarily on the mcs' interactions.
Zander (24) and Harrison (41) are a playful and increasingly schmoopy pair as their relationship grows. age gaps are a hit-or-miss for me, as while i understand generational gaps exist, if it's ceaselessly hammered in with reminder after reminder, it becomes too much. luckily that wasn't the case for me here because most of the mentions were Zander acting like the "older" one, and i could relate since i'm often told that irl as well (full-on grandma on the premises 🤣).
i really appreciated the author's inclusion of Zander's motivations for becoming a teacher via his backstory, touching upon the very real impact of ADHD on learning, and peppering tidbits throughout the book about how he stays on track with his schedule, takes medication, etc.
now my attention did start to wane around the thanksgiving scene when Zander's mom and little sister make an appearance. the whole subplot with his father was necessary to sell Zander’s near unbending reticence to accept help from others (entirely understandable given what he's gone through but i guarantee it'll grate on some people's nerves nonetheless 😆). however, because of the extent to which his character is eaten up by the shadow of his dad's lingering presence, the resolution felt incomplete? it was probably a creative decision to keep the focus on our mcs in the moment, but the way the conflict with his father was dealt with off-page left me feeling a bit unsatisfied by the end.
that being said, i still recommend this to anyone who likes the trope, and i hope it works for you! 💖
Sometimes stories slap you in the face with an emotional rollercoaster. And sometimes they ease you into it like a warm hug. This one felt like the cuddliest bear hug.
Zander and Harrison met in a gay bar where they decided to embark on a one night stand. The following day at college graduation Zander was introduced to his best friend’s dad � Harrison, duh! 😉
It’s awkward, so freaking awkward especially when Harrison’s son Ross figured it out from the get go. Which was highly refreshing, no secrets, no condemnation. Ross only asked that they not hurt each other or put him in the middle because he wouldn’t choose.
So they decided to just be friends but that was never gonna be enough, not when their attraction sparked, so they decided on a no strings attached friends with benefits.
We all know reading these stories that that’s never the case. Not gonna lie though, there were point where I wasn’t actually sure of these guy’s HEA.
As always Ms Hart gave me some hot ass steam, seriously. Oooph that photo session! One of the hottest things I’ve read in a while.
But it was also adorable! God they were cute together, made me smile so much my face hurt. Plus the surrounding cast of characters was magical as well.
The chemistry was always there but the growth of their “no strings� relationship was perfect. The culmination when it took the shit hitting the fan for it all to come to light was beautifully broken. I shed a tear or two when the words came rushing out of Zander’s mouth. Ugh my heart!
4.5 Loved it Stars!! ❤️😍 I'm genuinely surprised by how much I loved the story. This is an MM romance with an age-gap but it did not feel that way. The MCs were not cliche' that is so typical in age-gap stories (Daddy etc. 🙄) Yes, Harrison was Zander's best friend's dad, but I think even without the age gap and the daddy factor, they would have bonded due to their similar struggles albeit at different times. And these challenges and struggles has made Harrison the wonderful father and friend that he is and Zander; the passionate and driven teacher who loves his family. The plot is heavy at times, not angsty but loaded with real-life situations where one needs the support of family or a friend.. and at the those times, I really felt for Zander. There were many moments in the story that I could put myself in place of Zander 😢. But his positivity and drive blew me away and I think that is what Harrison felt too. No wonder he fell head-over-heels in love with him despite their "no strings attached" relationship. 😍 The chemistry between them is mind-blowing as well and since the plot is sort of in the realm of lust-at-first-sight, the intimate scenes are super-duper hot🔥🔥. Highly recommended for all fans of age-gap romances who are looking for a story with more depth👍👍
“I wanted more about him, wanted to find all his secret hiding places and for Zander to want to open them for me.�
So I have mixed feelings about this. Strings Attached has a lot of cute moments and is a fun read. It’s well-written and entertaining. But although I enjoyed the best friend’s dad and age gap tropes, the heavy-handed use of clichés detracted from my enjoyment.
The characters are such stereotypes. Zander is an idealistic, freshly minted teacher and the first from his family to graduate from college. He’s passionate about teaching, uber responsible, selfless, and fiercely independent. But he’s also broke, twenty-four-years-old, has a ton of emotional baggage, ADHD, and takes care of his mom and younger sister.
Meanwhile Harrison, the father of Zander’s best friend, Ross, is an unrealistically perfect character who’s overcome a disadvantaged background. He is a devoted father who brought up his son on his own as as a young, single parent and went on to become a self-made businessman. He is also incredibly generous and kind.
While I loved Zander’s and Harrison’s banter and their teasing manner, I found it hard to believe that Ross could be so laidback about his best friend and father getting together. I love how caring and supportive Harrison is of Zander’s dreams. But Zander’s independence (often stupid pride) and unwillingness to accept help is so extreme that it gets annoying and downright stupid.
Loved: Relationships development: from random hook up to growing friendship, Zander lowering his walls and Harrison realizing he wants more, falling in love. Lovable MCs, chemistry and connection between them, banter, fleshed out secondary characters. No secret keeping which was so different from the majority of the books with the same trope. No unnecessary drama - the concerns both men had were valid and addressed with maturity and actual conversations! Such a wonderful feel good story of falling in love with depth and no drama
Hart and I have an inconsistent relationship, but when I saw the summary for this--best friend's dad!?--I couldn't pass it up. Sadly, it wasn't mean to be. Despite the age difference they characters acted the same age/there was nothing identifying the age gap other than being repeatedly told about it. Also, everybody is good and kind and hardworking and the son doesn't care that his best friend and dad are banging, and it was all too nice and boring.
Light & sweet age-gap/best friend’s dad romance, with minimal angst. Great to see ADHD represented accurately & empathetically. Also good to see the reality of chronic pain accurately portrayed without falling into the “they’re all drug addicts� clichè. Well written as always from Riley.
01/22/24 re-read and upon re-read, I bring my rating up from 4 stars to 5. I'm giving some serious side eye to my original review though (see below the line). I don't like the best friend's father trope? Huh? Who even I was when I read this book for the first time? That untrue comment aside, present me fully agrees with past me. I personally find Zander incredibly relatable. His actions (and overreactions) made a lot of sense to me. I felt pretty seen by this book tbh. _____________________ This one was unexpected. While I love May-December romances, I don't usually enjoy the best friend's dad trope, but somehow it worked for me here. I also valued that Ross, the best friend, was not a jerk about it. Often it's the best friend/son who protests the loudest and often stands in the way of the relationship, so here I appreciated that Ross was (mostly) accepting from the start.
I also thought that Hart handled the impact of a (I'll say this colloquially because it's how I refer to my own father) deadbeat dad can have on a family's life in an authentic way. I think when a dad is a disappointment in childhood others sometimes expect that disappointed child to get over it in adulthood. In my experience, that's just not how that works. A father incapable of being a father can haunt a child for the rest of their life. And I think Hart handled that well here.
And finally, I enjoyed the way this one very pointedly did not end in marriage. In so many books marriage is the HEA. And while I usually don't mind, it's nice to see a representation here of a couple who ends the book very much in love without needing a marriage to cement that love.
A+ five stars!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I've been looking forward to reading this book since it first showed up on my GR feed. I've loved some of this authors books to pieces and when I saw that they'd written a book with the best friends dad trope (one of my biggest guilty pleasures), I was sold. Well, that excitement quickly turned into disappointment.
First of all... the whole best friend's dad thing was over too quickly and accepted too easily. Like sure, Ross is supposed to be this chill, go with the flow kind of guy but still. His only reaction was "That's ok". I needed something more than that.
Second, and this is a big part of why my rating is low. I hated Zander. Seriously, couldn't stand him. It got to the point where I just needed his chapters to be over so I could get Harrison's perspective. Zander was arrogant and rude. I'm sure the author wanted us to feel for him because of his story but all I wanted him to do was to get his stuff together and start acting like a person worth of Harrison's time. Which, really never happened.
I did love Harrison though and these two stars are for him and his chapters alone.
I also kind of struggled to find the plot. Nothing really happened here and when something interesting finally did happen it was quickly glossed over. I can't believe I'm saying this but everything was too smooth.
This was an excellent age gap story. I read a lot of them. It’s probably my favorite trope. My new favorite trope is best friend’s father. SO hot! This was perfect AND I’m very difficult to please. lol 😆
Zander and Harrison hook up and both don’t realize who the other one is until� Ross, Harrison’s son AND Zander’s best friend meet up for dinner. Oops! Ross figures it out pretty quick AND I’m SO glad that was NOT the main drama driving the storyline. Ross was super chill about it which I really appreciated.
Harrison was a very open and honest person. I think Zander needed a person like that in his life. Also,Harrison was very reliable. Zander’s home life was volatile. Harrison was a stable influence.
They strike up a friendship that leads to more. Their chemistry was molten hot and I LOVED their banter. PLUS, they had conversations. They were adults! It was very refreshing. There’s not a lot of drama either just two people falling in love. It was fun to be the fly on the wall to their relationship. AND the end was SO perfect! Love! ♥️♥️
Communicating adults � No cliche drama � Swoony romance � Scorching hot chemistry � Excellent relationship development �
There were two points in particular mentioned above that I want to highlight.
1. I love that she steered clear of the usual drama involved in Friend's Dad romances. The relationship is kept a secret from the son/friend, they get caught, and the sh*t hits the fan. Not here, and it was so refreshing!
2. The relationship development. So well done; it was shown, not told. Hart took her time developing their feelings for each other.
Strings Attached is a well-written love story about family, friendships, and trust.
1.5 this was an almost full 2 star read that tried really fucking hard to be a 1 star read by the end there jesus h christ.
i don't know if this book was cringey the whole way through and I just didn't notice until the last 10% or if it actually got exponetially worse by end.
and how many times can one reference the book's title? idk but this one definitely pushed the damned envelope too fucking far
my least favorite RH to date. probably only exacerbated by my disappointment given that this sounded so great smh.
Nope. Hell no. We have three guys, Zander (gay, 24), Ross (straight, 22), *bestest* friends, and Ross' daddy Harrison (41, bi). One is nicer than the other. Zander accidental hooks up with Harrison for the "best sex in his life". Oops. But they tell Russ, who takes it in stride. So no harm done, literally. And so it goes, working double jobs, not taking charity (like accepting a dinner invitation from your *bestest* friend), helping in animal shelters and - and here I am all in!!! - giving cars away! These people are so nice, it makes me feel like Scrooge. Except Zander, who annoys me with his chip on his shoulder about treating every favor as charity.
Very good story! Zander and Harrison were sweet and hot together!! They were also good for one another! I would have liked to seen them get engaged at the end, but no mention of that, just that they know they’ll be together forever�..maybe down the road!!❤️
Many LOL moments in this book, which always boosts the rating of a book for me. ⬆️