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Favorite MM Romance Books: Caught Running

Caught Running by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux was my first foray into proper published MM that did not read completely like bad fanfiction, and I have to say, I could not have made a better pick.

Spoiler free review:

The book follows Jake and Brandon - former schoolmates, who years later ended up teaching at their old school. In youth, Jake was the popular jock, while Brandon was a typical nerd, but beneath their cliche exteriors both men had more to them than the stereotypes they appeared to embody. Nonetheless, the strict social dynamics of highschool life kept them from discovering each other. Until now.

The characters of Jake and Brandon were an absolute joy to read. They were definitely based on tropes, and even the way they weren’t really as one sided as they seemed was a bit on the cliche side. However, their little personal quirks and *gasp* actual personality traits really did make them extraordinarily compelling characters. At least for the genre. And they seemed to adapt to their situations in realistic patterns, which definitely added to the raw feel of the book.

Jake especially surprised me. That man felt alive. The way he portrayed himself, as well as his rather dark struggles, it all seemed like a real person’s life, a real person’s story. This may have been because his motivations did not merely make logical sense, but psychological sense as well. You could tell why he acted the way he did, why he made the choices he did, even if some of them weren’t exactly optimal, and that definitely added to the realism of his character.

Brandon had a similar charm as well, even if I didn’t feel the same connection to him. He was also a person in his own right. Just maybe not quite as interesting as Jake, in my opinion. Either way, both MCs were extremely likable.

The side characters, though, could have used a bit more work. Don’t get me wrong, the story was by no means set in a vacuum, and I was actually rather impressed by how the teacher’s jobs didn’t take a complete back seat as their romance came to the forefront. But there was definitely a lack of important side cast. Though Jake’s friends were cool and the limited characterization they got was enough to make me feel at least a smidgen of connection with them (nice job to the authors on that one), one character in particular stood out as not only a complete cliche, but an unnecessary headache as well. She was only there to build cheap tension the book really didn’t need and I would have honestly preferred the book without her. It’s quite ironic, actually. She seemed to be written in as the biggest nuisance in the story and ended up the biggest nuisance to my enjoyment of the book.

Another qualm I have with the writing, especially prominent and rather distracting in the beginning, were the POV shifts. They were constant and had no warning whatsoever. This made some parts rather confusing and required me to reread paragraphs just to understand who was talking more than once. I wish the author had done a better job signaling these, as that would have made the book flow 100x smoother. That being said, beyond the first couple chapters, where you still don’t know the characters or their situation, and that one absolutely incomprehensible scene where the MCs are each talking to a different set of extras across the room from each other (why, authors, why did you do this), the book flows fine later on. It’s just a matter of getting used to it, and though it can be hard to slog through the first fifth because of it, trust me, it’s worth it.

Before we move on to talking about the romance and the smutty smutty times in the second part of the book, I want to quickly address something else that could turn away some readers, and that is the baseball talk. A lot of this book is centered on highschool baseball. Now, I have never played baseball and know nothing about the game, so if I enjoyed this book, anyone can. That being said, if you’re a newbie like myself, you’ll either have to do a lot of googling, or just accept that you won’t be able to understand some parts in full. The story does still make sense and you can understand a lot from context cues, but do be aware of this.

Okay, now we can move on to something more exciting: the ROMANCE.

Brandon and Jake were super freaking sweet. You could really feel their connection build organically from the very first page and the way it shifted from colleagues to friends and finally to something more was just an absolute dream to read. One of my favorite things about their relationship was how clear it was why they liked each other. This wasn’t a case of Twilight-esque instalove. No, these men were both amazing in their own right, and only when they saw each other for just how amazing they were did they start having feelings. And that was simply perfection. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to have the reason people fall in love be because they see something great in one another that others cannot. I love that. It’s almost like an acknowledgement, a validation of their character, and it creates an extremely deep bond. You can really feel that they were special and different to each other because the reason they fell in love was due to understanding, knowing, and appreciating the other more than anyone else could. It’s honestly beautiful.

Furthermore, the way they approached each other felt more real than I had ever experienced in a book (or fanfic) before. It was so real. So, so real. I cannot explain to you just how raw and realistic the romance in this book appeared, so I will just leave you with this: they didn’t act like toddlers and they didn’t act like robots. They acted like real people with real worries, jobs, responsibilities, and absolutely irresistible feelings they just had to act on, even if cautiously, even if they had to feel each other out beforehand, and oh man it was a fantastic read.

And there was definitely some sexual tension there as well, which turned electric in the later chapters, and that brings me to a part we’ve all been waiting for: the SMUT

OH BOY THE SMUT

OH MAN

OH JESUS

The smut was glorious.

There wasn’t a lot of kink or anything like that, and for my taste it was all pretty vanilla, but the sheer amount of tension and emotion built up slowly throughout the whole first half of the book (yes, this baby’s a slow one) definitely paid off in spades. It was shiver-inducing. And there was a lot of it. Like, a lot. If you feel like the book isn’t sexy enough in the first half, do not fret. The second half is smut after smut after smut, and oh boy do we love to see it. Those men are smexy and lovely and Jake was so seductive and passionate and fiery and ajksdhgkjshdka and Brandon was also cute and took initiative and imma stop talking but just know it’s really good.

So yeah *clears throat* final thoughts.

Go read this book.

Fan of MM? Go read this book.

Fan of sweeter than life romance? Go read this book.

Fan of compelling characters? Go read this book

Fan of fun and passionate smut? Go read this book.

And if you have read this book, or perhaps want it spoiled for you for some God-forsaken reason, here are my thoughts including spoilers.

Spoiler-filled thoughts:

Jake’s pill problem was resolved a bit cheaply. I do think it was handled well in the beginning of its resolution, but they kind of dropped the ball later on, or should I say they dropped the storyline. I did find the way Brandon helped him handle it quite sweet and not too far-fetched. But the fact that it was never really addressed again shows either a lack of importance that is inappropriate for something so serious, or implies the issue was solved just like that, which is plain unrealistic.

Furthermore, the resolution with Misty was just kind of sad. No, scratch that, Misty’s whole storyline was sad. I thought she was going to be a genuine problem at the start. I thought she would find out and expose them at a terrible time or something, and I was waiting for her to actually become an effective villain, but she just... never did. I have no idea why they put her in the story.

Finally, the ending was too smol. I wanted more. I really, truly wanted so much more than one friend of Jack’s finding out about them. I mean, homophobia was a bit of a theme in this book, so to have the whole resolution be that was just unsatisfying. Paired with the supremely easy and kinda stupid plot with Misty that went nowhere, as well as the weak resolution with the pills, the story almost feels like it was cut off abruptly in the middle. Nothing really got resolved outside the romantic and sexual tension. And don’t get me wrong, it could have been much worse, but it’s just a little annoying is all.

Personal thoughts (ft spoilers):

I am a HUGE sucker for the “we knew each other in childhood, didn’t meet for years, and then rediscovered one another and fell in love” trope. And while this story wasn’t exactly that, considering Brandon and Jake weren’t that familiar with each other back then, it still brought some delicious reminiscence and slight, almost rueful angst into the mix. Loved it.

Loved the descriptions of how Jake saw Brandon from his POV and the way Jake moved in Brandon’s POV (eg. stalked, prowled...). Made him seem super ultra passionate and instantly brought a vibrant image to my mind. Brandon calling him “Thundercat” was also great. It was freaking cute and worked for the characters.

Liked that there wasn’t a too obvious fem/masc dynamic. Made the boys feel real and unique.

Loved Jake far too much and Brandon was adorable. This whole book was just fantastic and they carried it on their broad shoulders with ease.

Do I recommend: YES

Score: 8.5/10

Verdict: Great book with fantastic characters, a sweet and realistic romance, smexy smut, and some not insignificant, but not insurmountable issues specifically to do with side characters and certain plots. Worthy of a READ IT ASAP

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