A review by ladymacbeth2024
Taming Tyler by E.L. Ough, A.E. Jensen

3.0

3 stars
I didn't want to rate this book so low because these two authors are really really good (I adored Christmas In Heaven). But I'm always honest in my reviews, so this is what I think about this story.

The three MCs are amazing and I liked them all.
Mitch and Callum are relationship goals: devoted to each other, supportive, caring, they love deeply, they both could see beyond Tyler's facade of a bratty young man who doesn't care about anything and takes everything lightly. They saw him for what he really is, a broken guy who's been emotionally negletted for a long time, the young man who felt like he wasn't enough for the man he loved to stay.

In the first part of the story, their feelings are all over the place: Callum is scared to lose his husband by admitting his attraction to Tyler, Mitch feels like he's not allowed to think about Tyler in a sexual way, while Tyler is sure he doesn't deserve neither of them because he knows he's not worth their love.

What didn't really work for me was Mitch and Tyler's relationship development: they had loved each other for too long and too deeply to get over their father/son feelings and dive into a sexual relationship just a few weeks after meeting again.
The parts from the past, when we can see all the things they did together, how Mitch took care of him, how he loved him like a son, how Tyler was in awe of his dad... all of them didn't help me to see them as lovers.
Moreover, Callum and Mitch have a strong and solid relationship, they're mature and accomplished men and I can't picture Tyler as an equal in that relationship.
I think this story would have worked beautifully with Mitch and Tyler reunited and the two husbands adopting the boy for real. For me, Mitch and Callum aren't Daddies, but real Dads.

There are also a couple of plot holes that bothered me, for exemple the explanation about Mitch abandoning Tyler that was very much glossed over: Mitch said very superficially that Dale threatened him with a restraining order, but when? How long has passed since Catarina divorcing Mitch and her starting dating Dale? Why Mitch didn't keep in touch with Tyler in that time? Why Mitch didn't reach out to him when he was 18?

I also didn't like at all that Mitch kept saying that Tyler came back to him, because it should have been him the first to reach out to his son. Not waiting to him to fall on his lap.
Callum says more than once that Tyler was like a ghost between them, that Mitch was broken over the loss of his son, but it's very much clear that Mitch didn't do anything at all about that, he didn't even check if his son was doing well.

Lastly, it didn't seem too much of a concern that Mitch was Tyler's parole officer and that their relationship during the six months of community service was very forbidden.

So, I'm a little bummed this story didn't work for me, but I'm sure other readers will appreciate it more.