Review: Love, Hypothetically by Anne Tenino

Title: Love, Hypothetically
Series: Theta Alpha Gamma, #2
Author: Anne Tenino
Published: August 27, 2012
Pages: 94
Genre: M/M romance
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Rating: D
Reviewed by: Marq

summary from Goodreads
Paul's been called many things—graduate student, humanities tutor, jock-hater, even broke—but "forgiving" isn't one of them. When the new women's softball coach at Calapooya college specifically requests Paul to tutor his athletes, Paul's forced to put aside his strict "no athletes" policy for the sake of his paycheck.

Enter Trevor Gardiner, former Major League Baseball player and Paul’s high school boyfriend. Yeah, that one—the guy who sacrificed Paul for the safety of his closet and his future career. But Trevor’s come out and retired from baseball, and now he’s looking for forgiveness and a second chance.

There’s no earthly reason Paul should give him one, but he keeps letting the man state his case. And touch him. And take him sailing. The waters are far from smooth, though, and Paul says awful things to Trevor he isn’t sure he means. Now Paul has to decide: apologize and forgive Trevor for everything, or chalk it up as revenge and move on.

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Marq's thoughts:
I loved Frat Boy and Toppy and was immediately interested in Sebastian's grumpy roommate, Paul. I wanted to know why he hated jocks so much!

Love Hypothetically is Paul's story. In high school, he had a secret relationship with the star baseball player, Trevor. When Trevor humiliated and outed Paul in order to save his own ass, Paul was devastated. To Paul, athletes are not to be trusted and are only good for hurting people. Ten years later, Trevor is now the coach for the women softball team at Calapooya college. Trevor needs a tutor for some of his players and he wants Paul to be that tutor. Trevor also wants to apologize to Paul and to ask for his forgiveness. And if Paul's willing, to give their relationship another chance. Paul doesn't want Trevor's apology and nor does he believe Trevor deserves his forgiveness. Paul's been burned by Trevor once. He won't let it happen again.

I really liked Paul in Frat Boy and Toppy and found his grouchiness endearing and at times funny. Unfortunately, that grumpiness lost its appeal in Love, Hypothetically. Paul was too grumpy and angry, even with his own friends and it wore thin really fast. I didn't feel like any of the issues between Paul and Trevor were resolved and other than a few lackluster sex scenes, felt like not enough was spent developing the relationship. Ten years had passed, I wanted more emotion when they got back together. I felt a disconnect between the two characters and was not invested in their happiness.  Paul does own up to his own crap in the end but by then it was a little too late. also this book wasn't hot.

Overall I found Love, Hypothetically lacking the heart and the heat and the humor that made Frat Boy and Toppy so great. I found the sex scenes lacking heat and imagination and the romance to be underdeveloped.