As the third book of TJ Klune’s At First Sight series, Until You is another wonderful dip into the fun, laugh-out-loud funny, and full-of-feels world of Paul Auster, Vince Taylor, and the bevy of other fascinating characters found in the first two books. It’s definitely a shorter book than either of the first two (by half and then some), but it works nicely as a continuation of their story. Besides, who doesn’t love a wedding in a romance novel/series?

First things first. If you are unfamiliar with this series, these books are not standalones, so take the time and read through the first two before you pick this one up. And though I’m making an effort to avoid spoiling anything found in the earlier books, there is at least one thing that can’t be avoided. The blurb basically says it all: “Together with their families and friends, Paul Auster and Vincent Taylor request the honor of your company at the celebration of their marriage.” So there, my hands are clean even for that earlier-book spoiling (or as clean as they can be anyway *smirk*).

Until You puts the narration back in the point-of-view of Paul, the early-thirties, chubby, and somewhat insecure man (on a scale of ten, he considers himself “a soft five”) who, in the first book of the series (Tell Me It’s Real), was relentlessly pursued and caught (and Freddie Prinze Juniored hard—don’t ask, read it!) by one of the “homo jocks,” Vince (who is definitely a ten), from the gay bar they both frequent. It’s now the final month leading up to Paul and Vince’s wedding. As I’ve grown to expect when reading a TJ Klune book, there is hilarity (ranging from some truly eyeroll-worthy goofiness to giggle-inducing snark to impossible-not-to-laugh-aloud antics) to be found on nearly every page. Beneath that, as I’ve also grown to expect, the story is the sort of simple, mushy sap that I love so much and keeps me reading romances.

But the characters are what make me a fan of Klune’s work, not just the main ones either. They all leap off the page to make the story as great as it can be. There’s a big underlying thread in the three books of the series about family and belonging. All of the prominent characters in this novel essentially form the best sort of cobbled-together family that I can imagine. And that includes Paul’s grandmother’s parrot. (Don’t ask, read it!)

Take this next thing with a grain of salt, because I think it might be a product of how I read the books more than anything else. Although I interspersed my reading of the three books of this series during the two weeks I read them with some non-Klune books, I think it became too much of a good thing when read in such close proximity. I say this because I had a similar issue when I read another of his series back-to-back-to-back (the Bear, Otter, and the Kid series—which I strongly recommend to fans of this series, because they have a lot in common stylistically and thematically and because the gender-fluid character in this series is important in the third book of that series as well.) What I mean by this is that the humor in this story wasn’t quite as fun to me as in the previous two, but I suspect it’s because I had grown accustomed to it so that I was expecting it to some degree, like it didn’t shock me or something. I think those of you who read the first two books back when they were released will not have this problem.

Based on the six stories I have now read by TJ Klune, along with the assertion from one of my smut-buddies that his books often have the same sort of feel, this author is firmly lodged as one of my go-to authors when I’m in the mood for a warm-and-fuzzy and hilarious romance. Until You may be only a relatively brief continuation of the existing series, but it puts a wonderful cap on it in the event that he decides this is a good place to stop. That being said, the book’s epilogue hints strongly that there could be one more book in this series, or possibly a spin-off to start another series. Either way, I’m looking forward to it whenever it does happen.

The author and/or publisher generously provided me a complimentary copy of Until You in exchange for this fair and honest review.

TJ Klune
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