Review: Let’s Go Out by Kelly Jensen

Let’s Go Out (Let’s Connect #2)
by Kelly Jensen

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MM

Blurb:
Being dumped is oddly freeing.

It wasn’t as though Robin could have met Dan in the real world, anyway. To do that, Robin would have to leave his house. But uploading his picture to the dating app Let’s Connect, only to have Dan let him down, is still disappointing. Now Robin has run out of excuses not to look outward, and for the first time in three years, he’s seeing many of the things he’s been hiding from—including his next-door neighbor, Sean.

The very same obstacle remains, however. Sean lives in the real world too. And if Robin wants to get to know him better, to move beyond friendship to something more, he’s going to have to step outside his front door.

Robin will have to go *out*.

My Review

I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.

After reading Let’s Connect I was curious about Robin’s story and Let’s Go Out is that story. This book really resonated with me and I appreciate how it dealt with some heavier topics while also keeping the overall tone quite light. Robin has anxiety and hasn’t been outside in three years, he likes his next door neighbor and slowly finds motivation to outside.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought Robin felt realistic and relatable. It made sense why he didn’t go outside for so long and how he could afford to do as he worked from home and many of his hobbies also could be done inside of his home. He has no reason to go outside and is afraid to do so, until he starts wanting more with his next door neighbor. I liked how he slowly gets further and decides to deal with his anxiety. I also liked that while love definitely helps him, it doesn’t fix his anxiety.

There is a bit where I got a bit annoyed at Sean, the love interest, with how he pushes Robin. In the end tough I realized that maybe Robin needed that push. And getting Sean’s point of view in the epilogue was great as it got me to see things from his perspective and the struggle of loving a guy with anxiety and how he has his own struggles and fears as well. And how it’s totally valid for him to sometimes not be as accepting and just hope Robin could overcome his fears. It also made him feel more real with how he also struggled and was afraid. I really like the epilogue and seeing things from Sean’s perspective was just the perfect wrap up.

Sean and Robin make for such a great couple. I like who they are and how they are together. I like the way they communicate and they way they accept the other how they are. I also liked the scenes with Sean’s son and seeing how Robin and Sean both interacted with them. I also liked how they both had such an unique work situation. Robin developed game environments and they way those scenes are describe makes it obvious the author knows a bit about games. Sean creates art with tiles and other physical object and I enjoyed reading about his creations.

Something about this book felt really powerful and heartfelt. The struggle of Robin with his anxiety and his determination to go out. And that scene later in the book with the traffic light really showed his struggle. I liked how Robin’s struggle was never made light of, but the book itself still had a light and upbeat theme. And the way these two characters are together was just beautiful. This story his me emotionally and I think it’s a very beautiful story.

To summarize: I really enjoyed this book. It’s a heartfelt and realistic romantic story that despite dealing with some heavier topics mostly had a light feel. Robin has been stuck at home for three years and now slowly is trying to make his way outside. His struggle with anxiety felt realistic and was hard to read at times, but the overall tone stays light while still packing an emotional punch. I enjoyed reading about Robin and how he managed to go outside. The romance between him and Sean is great to see and I liked how understanding they were and how they are determined to work together and make things work. I really liked the epilogue from Sean’s point of view and it felt really powerful to see how he also had his own struggles and fears and how he viewed things. It’s a heartfelt and sweet romance with some emotional undertones. All in all this was a beautiful story that resonated with me and I am so glad I read this one.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.