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Yours #1
Yours
For the last five years, Mason Whitaker has struggled opening up to people. His parents - who have been loving towards him - aren't known for their affectionate gestures and words. And while he has friends, he has never been able to completely confide in any of them. But on the first night he meets Ezra Heart, he tells him that he loves to write, something he has never told anyone. Soon enough, Mason finds himself engaging in late night chats that go on for hours, day trips, hiking, and going to the theater every week to see Ezra perform. Mason knows he is feeling more than friendship here. He just doesn't see how Ezra could feel the same way. Even if he did, Mason isn't supposed to be into guys. His dad would hate it if he knew.
Ezra Heart sticks out like a sore thumb. Growing up poor on a reservation isn't exactly something his rich peers can identify with and that is apparent whenever Ezra brings it up. He can get past not conforming though. His charisma, looks, and differences get him noticed and he loves having one night of satisfaction and connection, all while having the ability to never sleep with that person again if they aren't right for him. But when he meets Mason, he feels more of a connection than he has ever felt through sex. He knows he would pick a movie night with Mason over a threesome. However, Mason has only been with girls. Mason also seems to have a painful secret - one that causes him to push everyone away. Ezra understands that on a personal level. He has one too.
Yours is a story about self-acceptance, confronting trauma, and finding love in surprising places.
Ezra Heart sticks out like a sore thumb. Growing up poor on a reservation isn't exactly something his rich peers can identify with and that is apparent whenever Ezra brings it up. He can get past not conforming though. His charisma, looks, and differences get him noticed and he loves having one night of satisfaction and connection, all while having the ability to never sleep with that person again if they aren't right for him. But when he meets Mason, he feels more of a connection than he has ever felt through sex. He knows he would pick a movie night with Mason over a threesome. However, Mason has only been with girls. Mason also seems to have a painful secret - one that causes him to push everyone away. Ezra understands that on a personal level. He has one too.
Yours is a story about self-acceptance, confronting trauma, and finding love in surprising places.
600 pages, Paperback
First published January 26, 2022
4 people are currently reading
137 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 13, 2022
A slow burn, friends-to-lovers college romance that ticked all my boxes, and a wonderful debut.
Mason Whitaker (19), economics major, member of the Tri-Kappa fraternity, lacrosse player, closet writer. Raised by a single mum in dire poverty for the first six years of his life. His mum later married his stepdad, a wealthy department store chain owner who adopted Mason. His stepdad has two children from a previous relationship (son Ronan and daughter Moira).
Ezra Heart (22), scholarship student, aspiring actor and playwright of Native American descent (half Lakota). Single child raised in a poor but close-knit family.
The story begins in early March 2014 at Belmore, a fictional college in Hanover, New Hampshire. Mason tags along with his friends to watch a student production of the play Angels in America. He is captivated by Ezra's performance and meets him backstage. They go to a bar with their friends and start up a conversation that ends with Ezra crashing in Mason's room later that night. Mason then seeks out Ezra at work and starts hanging out with him more and more.
Over time, the pair become almost inseparable outside classes, sharing the same bed to sleep, showing physical affection but not taking things further. Ezra, being openly pansexual, is the first to admit (to himself) that he has feelings for Mason but he waits for Mason to reciprocate those feelings. At first, he thinks Mason might be curious and open to experimenting but as he gets to know Mason and sees a mutual interest, he realises for the first time in his life that he wants a proper relationship with Mason, not just a friends-with-benefits arrangement or a one-night stand. He has a reputation as a bit of a "man slut" (he's had 99 sexual partners and he's only 22) but no long term relationships.
Mason, on the other hand, has only slept with women and had three girlfriends in the past. He's not comfortable with the idea of sleeping with someone until he has developed an emotional bond with them so it is probably safe to call him demisexual. He suffers from flashbacks, nightmares and depression due to childhood trauma. He also has self-esteem issues and a fear of abandonment. He is genuinely worried about being rejected by his parents if he were to come out as gay/bisexual. For these reasons, he tries to ignore his growing his feelings for Ezra until about half way through the book, when he acknowledges them internally. Their first proper kiss does not happen until around the 75% mark as they each wait for the other to make the first move.
As impatient as I was for Mason and Ezra to openly declare their feelings for each other, I really enjoyed the slow progression from friends to lovers because the journey was as important as the destination. They both had traumatic experiences in the past, and had to overcome so many insecurities and feelings of inadequacy in order to become more than friends.
Ezra is such a witty character, always managing to lighten the mood whenever Mason was feeling low. Having experienced his own share of trauma in the past, Ezra could recognise when Mason was feeling overwhelmed by dark thoughts. He never pushed Mason to reveal more than he was comfortable to share but always reassured Mason that he was there to listen and nothing Mason said would ever scare him away. He created special moments to show Mason how much he meant to him and encouraged Mason to continue writing.
Mason was adorable in the way he kept seeking out Ezra, expressing himself with physical affection, blushing as Ezra complimented him. I also loved the way he brought out his intellectual side, especially when he convinced the college to provide funding for Ezra's play.
The story is told from both Mason and Ezra's point of view, and concludes in July 2014 with a happy ending. I will now start savouring the next book, Fall Into Winter .
Trigger warning for references to child abuse and suicide.
Mason Whitaker (19), economics major, member of the Tri-Kappa fraternity, lacrosse player, closet writer. Raised by a single mum in dire poverty for the first six years of his life. His mum later married his stepdad, a wealthy department store chain owner who adopted Mason. His stepdad has two children from a previous relationship (son Ronan and daughter Moira).
Ezra Heart (22), scholarship student, aspiring actor and playwright of Native American descent (half Lakota). Single child raised in a poor but close-knit family.
The story begins in early March 2014 at Belmore, a fictional college in Hanover, New Hampshire. Mason tags along with his friends to watch a student production of the play Angels in America. He is captivated by Ezra's performance and meets him backstage. They go to a bar with their friends and start up a conversation that ends with Ezra crashing in Mason's room later that night. Mason then seeks out Ezra at work and starts hanging out with him more and more.
Over time, the pair become almost inseparable outside classes, sharing the same bed to sleep, showing physical affection but not taking things further. Ezra, being openly pansexual, is the first to admit (to himself) that he has feelings for Mason but he waits for Mason to reciprocate those feelings. At first, he thinks Mason might be curious and open to experimenting but as he gets to know Mason and sees a mutual interest, he realises for the first time in his life that he wants a proper relationship with Mason, not just a friends-with-benefits arrangement or a one-night stand. He has a reputation as a bit of a "man slut" (he's had 99 sexual partners and he's only 22) but no long term relationships.
Mason, on the other hand, has only slept with women and had three girlfriends in the past. He's not comfortable with the idea of sleeping with someone until he has developed an emotional bond with them so it is probably safe to call him demisexual. He suffers from flashbacks, nightmares and depression due to childhood trauma. He also has self-esteem issues and a fear of abandonment. He is genuinely worried about being rejected by his parents if he were to come out as gay/bisexual. For these reasons, he tries to ignore his growing his feelings for Ezra until about half way through the book, when he acknowledges them internally. Their first proper kiss does not happen until around the 75% mark as they each wait for the other to make the first move.
As impatient as I was for Mason and Ezra to openly declare their feelings for each other, I really enjoyed the slow progression from friends to lovers because the journey was as important as the destination. They both had traumatic experiences in the past, and had to overcome so many insecurities and feelings of inadequacy in order to become more than friends.
Ezra is such a witty character, always managing to lighten the mood whenever Mason was feeling low. Having experienced his own share of trauma in the past, Ezra could recognise when Mason was feeling overwhelmed by dark thoughts. He never pushed Mason to reveal more than he was comfortable to share but always reassured Mason that he was there to listen and nothing Mason said would ever scare him away. He created special moments to show Mason how much he meant to him and encouraged Mason to continue writing.
Mason was adorable in the way he kept seeking out Ezra, expressing himself with physical affection, blushing as Ezra complimented him. I also loved the way he brought out his intellectual side, especially when he convinced the college to provide funding for Ezra's play.
The story is told from both Mason and Ezra's point of view, and concludes in July 2014 with a happy ending. I will now start savouring the next book, Fall Into Winter .
Trigger warning for references to child abuse and suicide.
February 7, 2023
I feel conflicted about this book rating. It's not easy to just assign a number of stars to it.
I did enjoy it. For a little while, I thought this was an amazing romance. And don't get me wrong, it is, in its way. It's a story with two good MCs that fall in love sincerely, slowly, and discover what this means for them. But it felt amateurish. So amateurish. It would have benefitted from a good developmental editor, and by that I mean a really cruel one. It probably would have made all the difference.
What in particular felt amateurish to me?
- The HUGE presence of all the friends. I understand how important it is to create side characters; they give life to the story, and fill the MCs' reality. But in here they were WAY TOO MUCH. Not only they take ahold of many many pages and entire narrative arcs, but they also move forward BY MEDDLING some pretty important plot points. By MEDDLING. Sometimes I just wanted to scream MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS to each of them. Plus, they were not particularly endearing so I didn't care for any of them, but maybe for Zane. He was ok.
- I would have cut entirely the section with the fortune telling. That just was a no, for me. After reading it, I had to forcibly remove it from my mind to carry on, and I actually thought to DNF more than once straight after. Why? Because I can't care less about the predictions (accurate ofc) about our MCs' future. Nor I want to read silly hints meant as foreshadowing for their past traumas. Find an organic way to ease those into the narrative, please. That was too much. Plus, I like reading contemporary romance because I like reading about ordinary people falling in love. What makes them special in their normalcy. What I got was just a tale of how INCREDIBLY successful Mason and Ezra were going to be, like, ridiculously. Mason is the best writer to ever write. Ezra is the best actor to ever act. And they will be incredibly recognised for their talents. Lucky them I guess.
- Way too much miscommunication. I get we like slow burns, I get the traumas, I get everything. But in more than once point towards the end it looked the like the author was forcibly pulling them apart.
- Last, way too much drama. These poor boys are the most unfortunate souls. I'm talking like avalanche of traumas, abuse, destruction, serial killers murdering a close relative, adoption, parental homophobia, siblings estrangement, I could carry on! It just felt way too much. Like, I could care about one or two of these themes when well delved into in a character. To just shovel all of them on the boys for the sake of what, compassion? Empathy? didn't work for me. Actually the opposite.
Anyway. The prose is pretty good. And for a good 60% I was really invested in them. I felt something especially for Mason, because I do have a preference for athletes with a soft heart. I was happy when they finally got together. I liked how they explored sex together, that was the best part of the novel, and it was a shame to see it relegated to the last little bit in favour of a lot of unnecessary drama.
bye now
I did enjoy it. For a little while, I thought this was an amazing romance. And don't get me wrong, it is, in its way. It's a story with two good MCs that fall in love sincerely, slowly, and discover what this means for them. But it felt amateurish. So amateurish. It would have benefitted from a good developmental editor, and by that I mean a really cruel one. It probably would have made all the difference.
What in particular felt amateurish to me?
- The HUGE presence of all the friends. I understand how important it is to create side characters; they give life to the story, and fill the MCs' reality. But in here they were WAY TOO MUCH. Not only they take ahold of many many pages and entire narrative arcs, but they also move forward BY MEDDLING some pretty important plot points. By MEDDLING. Sometimes I just wanted to scream MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS to each of them. Plus, they were not particularly endearing so I didn't care for any of them, but maybe for Zane. He was ok.
- I would have cut entirely the section with the fortune telling. That just was a no, for me. After reading it, I had to forcibly remove it from my mind to carry on, and I actually thought to DNF more than once straight after. Why? Because I can't care less about the predictions (accurate ofc) about our MCs' future. Nor I want to read silly hints meant as foreshadowing for their past traumas. Find an organic way to ease those into the narrative, please. That was too much. Plus, I like reading contemporary romance because I like reading about ordinary people falling in love. What makes them special in their normalcy. What I got was just a tale of how INCREDIBLY successful Mason and Ezra were going to be, like, ridiculously. Mason is the best writer to ever write. Ezra is the best actor to ever act. And they will be incredibly recognised for their talents. Lucky them I guess.
- Way too much miscommunication. I get we like slow burns, I get the traumas, I get everything. But in more than once point towards the end it looked the like the author was forcibly pulling them apart.
- Last, way too much drama. These poor boys are the most unfortunate souls. I'm talking like avalanche of traumas, abuse, destruction, serial killers murdering a close relative, adoption, parental homophobia, siblings estrangement, I could carry on! It just felt way too much. Like, I could care about one or two of these themes when well delved into in a character. To just shovel all of them on the boys for the sake of what, compassion? Empathy? didn't work for me. Actually the opposite.
Anyway. The prose is pretty good. And for a good 60% I was really invested in them. I felt something especially for Mason, because I do have a preference for athletes with a soft heart. I was happy when they finally got together. I liked how they explored sex together, that was the best part of the novel, and it was a shame to see it relegated to the last little bit in favour of a lot of unnecessary drama.
bye now
January 6, 2023
3.5 ⭐️
I was enthusiastic to read Yours. I went in with a good feeling and it wasn’t bad, don’t get me wrong. But it wasn’t even what I was expecting.
It had such a big potential. And I think it could’ve been one of my favourite books, but it had too many things that annoyed the shit out of me. But, hey.. it was a debut, so..
Something little about our main characters I liked:
Ezra - I am absolutely devoted to characters like is Ezra. So outgoing and loud, confident, not scared of being himself at all and not apologetic about it (especially about his past slut era). He is the most encouraging friend you could’ve asked for. He’s witty and sassy and so beautiful and hard working. And I especially liked how he was so open about so many things.
Mason - he is.. I going to be bold and say he’s one of the most honest and kind hearted characters I have ever read about. His soul was so innocent. Even if he got through what he got through. And I adored how one second he was flustered, blushing, not confident at all and the next he was all confidence. And he was the cutest, wasn’t he, Ezra? *wink*
Pros and cons of Yours:
(!minor spoilers!)
Pros
▪️ The representation. It got me salivating! We got here - pan, gay, bi, lesbian, character of Native American descent, Hispanic character, demisexual, asexual, character on the autistic spectrum. We all can say that the representation was RICH.
▪️ The sex positivity and communication before, during and after sex was BRILLIANT! You can clearly see that they truly cared about each other. And I appreciate how they talked openly about their past sex lifes. It was very refreshing to see and seemed more mature for me.
▪️ The sex itself. Well.. let’s just say the sex scenes were perfect *double wink*
Cons
▪️ I’m not a fan of 3rd person POV, but that was solely my problem.
▪️ Their friends and their constant pushing and being nosy shits. The BIGGEST con for me. It annoyed the living shit out of me. And I’m not kidding. If I was a side character in this book I would definitely choose violence. And I wouldn’t be sorry at all. Characters I would slap first are Yas and Deidre. But I have to say Yas got more sense in the second half of the book. Deidre? Not so much. But they weren’t the only ones. ALL their friends very constantly pushing them and asking personal and sometimes inappropriate questions. And this is what I HATE in books and even in real life. It got me SO frustrated throughout the whole book. Couldn’t they just let them be and let them develop their relationship on their own way and own time? And I’m not even talking about the psychics. That was interesting to read about and it got me thrilled, but.. wasn’t that too revealing? Especially, when they weren’t together at all?
▪️ The miscommunication. Okay, I understand why they were chicken shits and so hesitant. But later on, when everything was SO obvious, it was just drawing the book on. We could got the kiss around 50% of the book. Not 75%. And then there would be more time and space for the part when they’re finally in relationship.
Generally, I did enjoy Yours and will probably read more books by Langan, because, as I said before, there was potential and there is talent.
But a thing I’m curious about is - will all the books in this series be solely about Ezra and Mason? Or would we get to read about Ronan’s, Moira’s and even Pedro’s story too?
(Sorry for typos. I’m trying)
I was enthusiastic to read Yours. I went in with a good feeling and it wasn’t bad, don’t get me wrong. But it wasn’t even what I was expecting.
It had such a big potential. And I think it could’ve been one of my favourite books, but it had too many things that annoyed the shit out of me. But, hey.. it was a debut, so..
Something little about our main characters I liked:
Ezra - I am absolutely devoted to characters like is Ezra. So outgoing and loud, confident, not scared of being himself at all and not apologetic about it (especially about his past slut era). He is the most encouraging friend you could’ve asked for. He’s witty and sassy and so beautiful and hard working. And I especially liked how he was so open about so many things.
Mason - he is.. I going to be bold and say he’s one of the most honest and kind hearted characters I have ever read about. His soul was so innocent. Even if he got through what he got through. And I adored how one second he was flustered, blushing, not confident at all and the next he was all confidence. And he was the cutest, wasn’t he, Ezra? *wink*
Pros and cons of Yours:
(!minor spoilers!)
Pros
▪️ The representation. It got me salivating! We got here - pan, gay, bi, lesbian, character of Native American descent, Hispanic character, demisexual, asexual, character on the autistic spectrum. We all can say that the representation was RICH.
▪️ The sex positivity and communication before, during and after sex was BRILLIANT! You can clearly see that they truly cared about each other. And I appreciate how they talked openly about their past sex lifes. It was very refreshing to see and seemed more mature for me.
▪️ The sex itself. Well.. let’s just say the sex scenes were perfect *double wink*
Cons
▪️ I’m not a fan of 3rd person POV, but that was solely my problem.
▪️ Their friends and their constant pushing and being nosy shits. The BIGGEST con for me. It annoyed the living shit out of me. And I’m not kidding. If I was a side character in this book I would definitely choose violence. And I wouldn’t be sorry at all. Characters I would slap first are Yas and Deidre. But I have to say Yas got more sense in the second half of the book. Deidre? Not so much. But they weren’t the only ones. ALL their friends very constantly pushing them and asking personal and sometimes inappropriate questions. And this is what I HATE in books and even in real life. It got me SO frustrated throughout the whole book. Couldn’t they just let them be and let them develop their relationship on their own way and own time? And I’m not even talking about the psychics. That was interesting to read about and it got me thrilled, but.. wasn’t that too revealing? Especially, when they weren’t together at all?
▪️ The miscommunication. Okay, I understand why they were chicken shits and so hesitant. But later on, when everything was SO obvious, it was just drawing the book on. We could got the kiss around 50% of the book. Not 75%. And then there would be more time and space for the part when they’re finally in relationship.
Generally, I did enjoy Yours and will probably read more books by Langan, because, as I said before, there was potential and there is talent.
But a thing I’m curious about is - will all the books in this series be solely about Ezra and Mason? Or would we get to read about Ronan’s, Moira’s and even Pedro’s story too?
(Sorry for typos. I’m trying)
February 14, 2023
I really enjoyed this author's shorter work on a writing website I frequent and decided to read their book. I loved the MCs, the focus on trauma and healing, and the diversity in the book. A little long and drawn out at times, but I loved spending time with the characters, so I didn't mind. That's another thing to note: the MCs have distinct voices and felt very easy to connect with. I'm going on to read the second book and hope to enjoy it just as much.
February 16, 2023
excellent read from cover to cover, couldn't put it down! intriguing love story with coming of age, coming out, falling in love, romance and passion...loved it!
September 20, 2023
DNF @ 50%. There’s slow burn and there’s time wasting and this book was definitely the latter. So sad to see cos this book had so much potential to be a cute best friends to lovers romance.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews