{"id":13959,"date":"2021-02-10T19:55:18","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T00:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=13959"},"modified":"2025-05-05T21:05:56","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T01:05:56","slug":"candy-hearts-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13959","title":{"rendered":"Candy Hearts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Candy Hearts<\/a><\/em> (2000) Erin McLellan<\/a> (So Over the Holidays)<\/p>\n

\"Candy<\/a>If you’re read this blog for more than a handful of months, you know that casual sex doesn’t work for my in stories. It’s a me thing, and I’m ok with that.<\/p>\n

But I’ve been struggling, and needed something that was over-the-top sweet, and remembered this story, which although it is very much about casual sex, is so over-the-top I realized it was just what I needed.<\/p>\n

Benji was over it. Over the dating scene. Over unsatisfying sex. Over the romantic-industrial complex called Valentine\u2019s Day. <\/p>\n

Well, actually, he wasn\u2019t over it at all, but he was trying to be. He was trying very hard.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Benji is adorable. He is frank and open and has decided that he is going to be who he is, and stop trying to make himself into what the guys he dates want.<\/p>\n

And that’s I think why this story works for me, despite the premise of casual sex. Benji is almost heart-breakingly honest, and that just works<\/em> for me.<\/p>\n

William dropped the duffle bag, and it thumped loudly when it hit the ground, making them both jump. \u201cWhat\u2019s in that thing?\u201d <\/p>\n

Benji swallowed hard. \u201cSex toys and lingerie, mostly.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is unapologetically pro sex. And very much about being who you are and to hell with anyone who doesn’t accept you for that. And he also sees William for who he is, and wants William to be happy as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you eat for lunch every day?\u201d <\/p>\n

William sighed. \u201cA turkey and avocado wrap from the deli across the street from my office. Also carrot sticks.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cTomorrow, we\u2019re eating candy for lunch.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cOh my God, we are not.\u201d <\/p>\n

Valentine\u2019s Day candy. It\u2019s like regular candy, but in pink wrappers and sold at a markup. Super-special stuff.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So although there is a ton of sex in this story, it’s also so much about acceptance that it was just what I needed to read anyway.<\/p>\n

Publisher : Erin McLellan
\nRating: 7.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Candy Hearts (2000) Erin McLellan (So Over the Holidays) If you’re read this blog for more than a handful of months, you know that casual sex doesn’t work for my in stories. It’s a me thing, and I’m ok with that. But I’ve been struggling, and needed something that was over-the-top sweet, and remembered this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[194,668,292,204,196,148,41,26,56],"tags":[50,857,738,544],"class_list":["post-13959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-5-10","category-comfort-read","category-ebook","category-good","category-novella","category-queer","category-reread","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-boinking","tag-erin-mclellan","tag-holiday","tag-mm"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-3D9","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21859,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21859","url_meta":{"origin":13959,"position":0},"title":"Candy Hearts","author":"Michelle","date":"April 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Candy Hearts (2020) Erin McLellan (So Over the Holidays) Because I wanted all the positivity and self-acceptance of this story. Benji was over it. Over the dating scene. Over unsatisfying sex. Over the romantic-industrial complex called Valentine\u2019s Day. Well, actually, he wasn\u2019t over it at all, but he was trying\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Candy Hearts","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Candy-Hearts.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12507,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12507","url_meta":{"origin":13959,"position":1},"title":"Candy Hearts","author":"Michelle","date":"February 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Candy Hearts (2020) Erin McLellan (So Over the Holidays) Benji Holiday is over Valentine's day, and so has accepted his sister's invitation to join her friends for a Valentine's weekend, but when he shows up, he discovers that the party was delayed due to a power outage. William O\u2019Dare is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Candy Hearts","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Candy-Hearts.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23767,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23767","url_meta":{"origin":13959,"position":2},"title":"Where the Dead Lie, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"July 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Where the Dead Lie, Audiobook (2017) C.S. Harris narrated by Davina Porter (Sebastian St. Cyr # 12) Set in England in 1812 Content warnings: rape and torture of teenagers (off page) the brutalized body of a 15-year-old boy dumped into a makeshift grave on the grounds of an abandoned factory.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Where the Dead Lie","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Where-the-Dead-Lie-e1511011862423.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9151,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9151","url_meta":{"origin":13959,"position":3},"title":"Where the Dead Lie","author":"Michelle","date":"July 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Where the Dead Lie (2017) C.S. Harris Set in London in September 1813. In case you've lost track, this is book 12 in the Sebastian St Cry series. Sebastian is becoming used to fatherhood, and although his sister still hates him, Sebastian's father has been reaching out to Sebastian, to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Where-the-Dead-Lie.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18411,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/18411","url_meta":{"origin":13959,"position":4},"title":"Open Hearts","author":"Michelle","date":"October 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Open Hearts (2020) K. Evan Coles (Stealing Hearts) Jae-seong Bak love his job as a Nurse Anesthetist, but the swing shifts are starting to get to him as he gets older. For now, he's back in Boston, where he grew up, and getting ready for his brother's upcoming wedding. What\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "eBook"","block_context":{"text":"eBook","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/ebook"},"img":{"alt_text":"Open Hearts","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/open-hearts.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19722,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19722","url_meta":{"origin":13959,"position":5},"title":"Frog","author":"Michelle","date":"January 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Frog (2012) Mary Calmes THis story doesn't open with a sex scene--but it comes close. If it hadn't had the opening scene of the phone call I would have put it down and not looked back, but I was curious, so I skimmed and read on. Weber Yates has spent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "eBook"","block_context":{"text":"eBook","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/ebook"},"img":{"alt_text":"Frog","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Frog.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13959\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}