CW: death of a family member, sex and discussions of sex.
This is a cute university m/m romance that's sex-positive, emphasises the importance of consent, and has a diverse cast of characters. When Nick moves from his previous university to The Academy, he just wants to make friends and move on with his life. Meeting Sebastian changes that, though, as the two find themselves drawn to each other again and again. What Nick doesn't know is that Sebastian has made a bet with his friends to see who can kiss the 'new kid' first, but as Nick and Sebastian grow closer Sebastian realises that his feelings are real and he doesn't want this to be just a bet.

The narrative is simply-written, but does a good job of building the world of The Academy and cultivates tension in all the right moments. The author avoids using overly cliched language during emotionally intense scenes, which made the romantic moments a lot more engaging and realistic. The story has the usual fight/make up/fight/make up subplot and several of the characters have tragic backstories, but the other generic romance tropes that tend to make the genre predictable are pleasantly absent. There's no love triangle (thank goodness) or emotional manipulation, and the characters treat each other with respect and care. The book maintains a good balance of light romance and deeper social issues, and there's no toxic masculinity in sight (often an issue in straight romance novels).

The Academy straddles the YA/NA line, and while there are explicit sex scenes, they're not overdone and promote safe sex and consent. I don't often read books that fall solely in the romance category, but I really enjoyed this and would recommend it to anyone looking for an entertaining university love story.

What a great college romance story! The angst and chemistry between Nick and Sebastian kept me riveted, and the side characters were just as intriguing. There are surprising twists and turns that kept me guessing.

Sebastian's best friends, Dante and Theo, are fabulous and help to flesh out Sebastian as more than a vapid player.

Nick's roommate, Deen, is sweet and funny, and I enjoyed getting to know him through Nick.

The descriptions of the college campus are rich, and I felt like I was actually there. It was easy to visualize the grounds of the Academy.

And that epilogue...Perfect ending!

Nick is starting his junior year in a new college. He lost his father and is still grieving. He just wants to get acquainted with his new school and possibly make some friends. Then he see the man with gray eyes and can’t get him out of his head.

Sebastian is intrigued with the new guy. Which is unusual for him, he’s a love-em and leave-em kind of guy. He make a stupid bet with his best friends involving getting a first kiss from Nick. Sebastian tries his best but can’t get Nick to kiss him. When he finally gets that kiss he ruins what could of been a good thing.

Neither of the main characters hit the mark with me. Nick wallowed to much and Sebastian was a jerk. The first half of the book dragged a bit. The second half was much better. Dante and Theo’s relationship was entertaining. I definitely didn’t see the plot twist. Very slow burn type of story.

Despite rating both The Long Way Around and The Academy three stars, I will say that I enjoyed The Academy a lot more, so I’d recommend reading that one first if you’re trying to choose! I was a bit worried going into this book that religion would play a big role, since Nick is going to a small Catholic college – and he’s gay. However, it was never much of an issue, as there were plenty of out people on campus. This includes Sebastian Prinsen – who has a lot of gossip surrounding him; mainly that he’ll hook up with anyone and leaves broken hearts in his wake. This isn’t entirely the truth though.

Nick and Sebastian first start their “relationship” when Sebastian places a bet with his two friends on who can kiss the new kid first. Understandably, the friends don’t like the idea, but they can see that Sebastian seems unusually interested in Nick, so they decide to play along, hoping Sebastian will come to his senses…and maybe even get a real relationship out of the whole “bet.”

I really loved both Nick and Sebastian, and while the beginning of the relationship is based on “lies” so to speak, I did root for them. And don’t worry – Nick isn’t as in the dark about some things as you might first think based on the summary. Sebastian’s friends make sure of that – and I really loved both of them too!

I think Nick and Sebastian could really understand each other’s pain and when they were finally willing to be open with each other, it was clear that they could make a good couple if they just tried. While Sebastian seems to have the most issues being in a relationship, Nick has a few things to learn as well, and I appreciated that. Neither of them were perfect. The Academy kept me flipping the pages and wanting more, and sometimes that’s all you can ask for!

The premise is really nice, and the story moves relatively quickly. But the dialogue is really cheesy and the characters are one dimensional. The setting was very fleshed out though!

I received this book through NetGalley. The cover at me at Hello. This was my first m-m book I didn't even read the description. I just really wanted to read this one. I should have read it to know it was about college kids. majority of this book was too YA for me but I understood why. Nick was learning who he was without his family. His dad died and he had to learn how to be on his own and support himself. He was afraid of trusting anyone. He protected his heart a lot so he wouldn't lose another person.

When he walks on campus and sees Sebastian eyes he ended up being dumbfounded. His eyes just pulled him to him. This is where the attraction begins. It was a cute love story. For those of you who are open minded. There are like two sex scenes and its not to descriptive. I actually found myself wanting more and I'm a straight woman.

I am hard pressed on whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. So, I say it's a solid 3.5

This is a book taking place in a small, catholic college where everyone is so engrossed in everyone's lives its hard to be the new kid on campus. Which is where Nick finds himself in his junior year. While here, he meet's a small group of friends centered around Sebastian-current campus heartthrob and man with so many issues in his head he might need to be in therapy. Sebastian is not the most mature character, but then again, of this small group and Nick-you would be hard pressed to find one to say they are the most mature.

The vast majority of this story is about Nick and Sebastian, with some glimpses to other character's which made the book more enjoyable. Nick and Sebastian were, for the most part...what you would expect out of a couple who were trying to be together yet, holding back and basically lying since...the bet....but once that comes out and they work past their misplaced anger with the other, they reach that hard earned HFN.

It's tricky rating fanfiction-style romance writing, because it really isn't trying to be high-brow literature, so you want to evaluate it on its own terms. And this book, like any good fanfic, manages to be fun and engrossing, and there are certainly some cute moments and the author is particularly gifted at writing sex scenes.

Unfortunately the writing is pretty bad in just about every conceivable way. The plot involves a bet made about who among a set of cool boys can kiss the new, shy kid first, and you can already see it's going to be a "10 Things I hate about you" situation (admittedly, the author introduces a twist in the end regarding this, but it's too little too late by then tbh). But more than the plot, the characters have no depth at all, and instead all just embody some lazy trope (the shy kid, the cool-seeming but actually hurting guy, the brown geek roommate whose only job is to be supportive to the hero). Which again isn't too bad, sine how can you get away from tropes, but the author really doesn't capture any of the distinctness in their voices. For example, I just never bought the idea that Sebastian was sophisticated and cool, he talks and sounds exactly like everyone else, so the fantasy never takes. And the plot is the boilerplate one about how boys with same-sex attraction are attracted to each other, but hate themselves and self-sabotage because they're in so much pain, until they lean in to their fears and find redemptive love. Yawn. I think erotica gets a bad rep as being a disreputable genre, but when the work is this derivative, you start thinking that maybe the critics have a point.

(The sex scenes really were great though)

A fan of Anderson's Murmur Inc. series, I was excited to read her new title. Unfortunately, The Academy was a miss for me--the pacing was sloth-like and I found the constant friction between Nick and Sebastian too grating.

Nick moves to a new town to attend college with a gull ride scholarship. Sebastian hits on him right away. The mutual attraction sets off sparks right away.

Sebastian is used to getting what he wants. What he wants now is Nick. Nick, however, is a serious student who wants to do well and not let anything get in his way.

This book was a serious slow burn, and was almost too slow. I liked the characters interaction itself but wish the pace had been a little bit faster. I loved the ending and was thrilled this author once again gave me an HEA.


***This ARC copy was given in exchange for an honest review only, by Netgalley and its publishers.

The Academy was written by Quinn Anderson. This is a contemporary m/m romance novel. I don’t read a lot of contemporary m/m, but I was intrigued by the premise.

Nick has come to a small suburban Catholic university in search of a fresh start, and he hopes that “The Academy” can offer just that. He plans to focus on his studies so that he can keep the generous scholarship that the school has offered him. His plans do not include attracting attention by being “out” at what he perceives to be a conservative milieu.

Sebastian, however, has other plans. He is drawn to Nick from the moment that he first sees him on campus. Sebastian devises a wager with Theo and Dante, his two best friends: whoever kisses the new kid first will win a cheesy trophy they’ve had since high school.

Nick and Sebastian do not have the most auspicious introduction, and Sebastian finds that he needs to prove to Nick that he is neither a spoiled rich kid nor a shameless player. Likewise, Nick needs to learn that he is not the only one with problems.

This book was cute. It’s definitely a slow burn, as Nick and Sebastian dance around whether or not they are going to get together. But when they finally get together, boy, wow! Sparks fly! I also liked the cute subplot with best friends Theo and Dante trying to sort out whether their feelings for each other transcend friendship.

I would recommend The Academy to fans of m/m romance. The characters did come off as emotionally immature at times, but it’s not entirely unrealistic for their age. Their inability to communicate correlated to their age and their personal issues, so it came off as very organic. After all, the book wouldn’t have been nearly as enjoyable if they just spoke frankly with each other! This book had the perfect blend of humor and angst. I would definitely seek out more of Anderson’s books in the future!



I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

I had a bit of a love-hate relationship with this book.

I found both MC's, Nick and Sebastian, hard to like. The constant pull and push betwettn the two with actions that were just mean and childish got irritating quite quickly. It honestly felt like I was reading about characters in high school not college.

However it was a quick and fun read, and all the characters both main and side were complex and well rounded. Overall entertaining.

This is the first book by Quinn Anderson that I read and it might not be the last one.

Overall I liked The Academy. The beginning was a bit lengthy and I didn't really like Sebastian at first. I was a bit more interested in the relationship of Dante and Theo than the main relationship.

I personally liked the whole drama at the end of the book, compared to a few other reviews I've read.

The chapters were a bit long - I like shorter ones better, but this did nothing to the rating, just my personal preference.

I really liked the writing style of Quinn Anderson and I will probably pick up another book by this author.

I didn't really feel the love between the two MCs, but that's probably due to the fact that the whole relationship took place in two weeks. I felt it in the epilogue though.

Rating: 3,75 stars

*~~*ARC kindly provided to me for an honest review *~~*

- Review to come

Review originally posted on my blog with added content on Mikku-chan / A world full of words

Nick Steele can’t help but feel as if he’s fallen into the cast of Mean Girls, he’s seriously drawn to popular boy, Sebastian Prinsen, and his small group of friends but wants to keep a low profile. Somehow he has to resist Seb who just keeps piling on the charm in response. I really loved the interplay of characters and was intrigued to find out what was going to happen next. Not predictable despite the setting. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It's always a pleasure to soak myself in Quinn Anderson's words, regardless of what the story is about.

In this case, the premise was beyond interesting, and the excecution was fantastic. TRUE, I had some trouble sympathizing with the main characters, and the whole pull and push, the comings and goings and whatnot got old quite fast. But even then, this still made for a delightful read. It was packed with tension, exquisite, slow-burnish tension, the way I tend to appreciate. Although I could have appreciated it even more if the tension came in a different package, because I felt that the general idea for the situation was slightly unfitting for people the age of our protagonists. There were more issues to sort out in there- of the emotional variety- than there could have been in a "bring your parent to school" day involving Marvel characters. It all made it difficult to root for the characters individually, and much less as a couple.
Or maybe it's my own trust issues talking.

Even when Sebastian and Nick were hard for me to like (and I wasn't particularly Deen's biggest fan, either), I can say I deeply enjoyed Theo and Dante. They were a super fun addition, and I really liked them as people as well, even when they were enablers to Sebastian's unhealthy indulgences.

Another element I found myself enjoying a great deal was the aspect of the Academy, the descriptions of the environment were vivid and colorful in a way that was enriching for the whole reading experience (and this is worthy of noticing because I usually can't be bothered to care about "nice descriptions").

So, to nobody's surprise, I loved this. It was quickly paced and engaging, very easy to read and to keep the reader invested.

What else could I have expecter from one of my favorite authors?

The Academy is an intriguing YA romance by Quinn Anderson.

Nick starts his junior year of college at a new school, and is both excited and terrified. He is currently alone in the world after his father died the pervious year. He is on scholarship, need to keeps his grades up to maintain the scholarship,

During his first day of campus, he sees three guys, and is mesmerized by the one with the gray eyes. A little later, he meets up with the flirting gray eyes again. As gray eyes, aka Sebastian continues to flirt with him, Nick has no idea that the flirting is part of a bet.

Things get confusing when Sebastian starts having real feelings for Nick. While he ever confess about the bet? If so, will Nick be ok with it?

The Academy is a quick, fun read. We follow Nick as he learns to heal, re-discover himself, and falls in love. We read of deceit, misconceptions, and pain. It is a fairly simple story, but written in a very entertaining way. I recommend to YA fans.

This book was something that I didn't hate but didn't wow me either. I was sort of in the middle. I loved the side characters and small town feel. I even enjoyed the MC's. What I wasn't the biggest fan of was the whole bet and the way it turned out. I could've done without that and that they were at odds with each other over half the book.

While I enjoyed this book a lot, I didn't exactly want to pop a ring on its finger, throw my legs in the air, and have its babies.

The strange thing for me about this book was that, since the vast majority of the story had Nick and Sebastian at odds with one another, all of the on-page time with the side characters, I found myself engaged as much with them as I was with the primary MC's.

The story took place over the first three weeks that Nick and Sebastian knew one another, but in that time, it *felt* as if they had maybe a half dozen'ish real conversations with one another throughout the entire book. There may have been more, but it didn't feel that way to me. : (

The remainder of the pages included tons of internal monologues and interactions between one of the MC's and the side characters, all of whom I loved, BTW.

Sebastian's best friends, Theo and Dante, they totally stole the show for me. I was honestly just as happy to see them work out their issues as I was to see Nick and Sebastian finally get their shit together.

I was actually enjoying the story much more before the bet was revealed and Sebastian allowed his douchey, insecure side to roam free. I got that he was emotionally vulnerable, but duuuuude, you choose *that* to say to a guy that you have feelings for? Nuh uh.

In regards to steam, there were only really two sexy scenes, but they were well-written and pretty hot.

Overall, I think I just needed a lot more "getting to know you" scenes between the MC's and less internal monologuing for me to have been fully convinced that the feels were due to budding love than flaming sexual attraction.

Also, fewer instances of the MC's lashing out, at times a bit brutally, while trying to protect their fragile psyches wouldn't have made me the least bit mad.

I'd rate this story at around 3.5 *big-ole-baggage-laden* stars.

Honestly, I’ll read anything by Quinn Anderson. She has a way of making you fall in love with the main characters and side characters and this book was no different. The book was trope-y but I love tropes so it’s all good. Nick and Sebastian were likable and perfectly flawed. I really enjoyed their story.