Show Me: Extracurricular Activities, Book 3

4.5 stars.Well, this was CUTE. Neve just excels at writing college-aged men, sexual exploration, easy humor, and characters that feel like a warm blanket. They almost make me cry with how much I want to be friends with them at times...or you know, bang them.What stands out so much for me and this series is how each book and its characters are very much their own. While you might go into this series knowing you'll get a book about college-aged men and sexual exploration as mentioned above, that's for the most part where the comparisons end.If you haven't read the previous two books in this series, Want Me and Try Me, you must read them now. Go on, you will not regret it. I've already gotten four of my friends who do not read m/m romance books to read them, and they are now obsessed with Neve and these characters.Nate and Eric from Want Me are all about the new. It's shiny, sticky, unsteady. They are on edge waffling from a myriad of emotions, often speaking through the sex. Mark and Chet from Try Me have long-standing emotions from a broken friendship, first love, jealously, and re-connecting.Those guys are not this book. Neve swerved and adapted to the times and what felt right. This book is light like cotton candy and just as sweet. It's that glowy feeling when the guy you like wins you a stuffed animal at the fair or stands grinning at you with the sun behind him. It's that tremulous feeling where you're on the edge of feeling so right, but almost crying at how good some people can be.Jesse loves caring for people, no matter how much he may pretend he doesn't at times. He cares so much, but he struggles with finding someone to reciprocate in a way that feels meaningful to him. He hides behind humor and his whip-smart sarcasm; he's not miserable, he does love his life, but there are deep hurts there that he doesn't want to be truly seen. He can have sex easily and casually finding a norm in compartmentalizing that sex is just sex, and he may not experience what his other friends coupled up have with each other. Sam is just a big, fluffy bear. You know that video that went viral a while back of the bear waving to the people in the car? That bear is Sam. He's not stupid or simple because he's kind. He just lives his life in a way that he recognizes that being kind costs nothing and that we should celebrate the differences in each other. This attitude towards finding joy in uniqueness and the wonder of all types of people out there allows him to slip easily into his attraction to Jesse understanding that even a past experience with a man may not be the same experience he gets with a new man/person.Reading how Jesse is finally seen through Sam's unwavering kindness, care, and protection is pretty swoonworthy. Sam may not be the guy you end up with, but he's probably the one you should. While many (ha, most) readers will speak of all the sexy times in this, for me the best parts of the book weren't in the sex. Shocking, I know. With a premise of sex videos, the most intense moments between them were when they dropped the camera and just let themselves feel and let go. It was Sam doing all the things that Jesse does for others; it was Jesse seeing behind the big, lug stereotype and seeing the gentle soul in there that wants to love.Of course seeing all of the other guys and familiar side characters is special, too. You feel at home with these characters, and it's one of the few series where you will see them at different times of their relationships depending on the novel. You understand why Nate loves Eric, and if there was ever any doubt, Eric loves Nate a whole lot. Like a lot. Mark and Chet are my boos, and Ansel is my wonderful private enigma.Almost 5 stars, but I prefer a bit more angst. All in all a wonderful addition to the series.

Summary: Jesse wants a swoony kind of love. But after his first boyfriend cheats on him, and after every crush ends in nothing, he decides that for his senior year of college, he’s going to just keep things casual. Now Jesse’s roommate Sam’s NFL football dreams are over, Sam’s looking for ways to make sure he’ll be able to afford all of the healthcare he’s going to need in the future, so he starts making sex videos. Pretty soon, Jesse is helping Sam. And while Jesse struggles to not fall for Sam, Sam is starting to question his sexuality because the more they do, the more attracted he is to Jesse.Review: 4-4.5 Stars--This is a good addition to Wilder’s Extracurricular Activities series. It reminded me a bit of The Dating Disaster—roommates, size difference, demisexual jock and jaded romantic twink, but I liked this one a lot more. The Dating Disaster was cute, but its conflict was mostly fueled by miscommunication which is a little annoying. Show Me felt more meaningful—the obstacles to a real relationship between Jesse and Sam felt more meaningful. Maybe it’s Sam’s seeming straight but in actuality probable demisexuality that makes a difference. You can communicate all you like, but if you think someone is straight, and they’re not sure themselves, then it definitely leaves both people in uncertain territory. And that’s wha happens for Sam and Jesse. Even when Sam expresses enough of his questioning that Jesse suggests he might be demisexual, it doesn’t leave either of them confident enough to actively pursue a relationship with each other. Add on to that Jesse’s issues with having been cheated on and then never finding anyone else, he’s kind of given up on love, feeling like his kind of romanticism just isn’t compatible with college life. So here it’s understandable that it takes them a while to understand their feelings and to know how to move from friends who make sex videos together to boyfriends.But they are so sweet. And so funny. I like how we get to see them learn to really appreciate each other as people. Sam sees that Jesse would make a good director, but recognizes Jesse’s love for cooking goes beyond just liking to treat himself and his roommates, so he encourages him to pursue that as a career. And Jesse sees that Sam isn’t just a “dumb jock,” in fact sees that he’s not dumb at all. And I love that they have no shame or qualms about making the videos aside from recognizing that making them isn’t something most people would easily understand. It’s a cool premise for making all of the steamy scenes relevant to the plot.One of my favorite things about the book though, having read the previous two books in the series is the times when Nate and Eric (from Want Me), and Chet and Mark (from Try Me) show up. Those are actually some of my favorite scenes. I love how it makes it feel like they all really are good friends who are active in each other’s lives. And I truly appreciate Show Me’s epilogue for giving us a glimpse into the future that’s not just a couple of months later (as in Want Me) and doesn’t only show Show Me’s MCs (the way Try Me only showed Mark and Chet), but we get to see all of them a few years later. I love that glimpse into all of their lives and the reassurance that not only did the couples last, but the friendships lasted too.All in all, this is a really good, very steamy, mm college romance. I definitely recommend it and the entire series.

This was such a great series. This one and the first one were my favourites, though really, all 3 were enjoyable, the characters were great and plenty of steam. I admit, when I read the synopsis for this story I put off reading it for quite a while, I wasn’t sure how it would work. But it really did. I laughed out loud, the characters were so fun and their antics really got me. I liked that there was uncertainty about how their arrangement would progress, but overall low angst. And the 2 mc’s were definitely hot together. Enjoyed the characters from the first 2 books making appearances. Light, fun, easy read, hard to put down.

Every time I read a Neve Wilder book, I have issues to find a new one when I'm done. It's like they all pale. Woman, you outdid yourself.I thought no other couple could top Nate and Eric, but Sam and Jessie? Totally take the cup. They're awesome. This book was all of shades of hot. And sweet. And great. All around great.

This book is not just incredibly hot, it also contains a beautiful lovestory and adorable main characters. They were both so sweet and still so different from each other that it was easy to remember from whose point of view the story was told. With a dual point of view that's usually an issue in other books. Definitely a book to read again and again.

There's magic between Jesse and Sam. That kind of magic that flows effortlessly, that wraps you in a wonderful blanket of contentment. I love their chemistry, their banter, and their sweet moments. Two pieces of a perfect puzzle: Jesse is talkative and often histrionic; Sam is calm and subtle, but not beating around the bush; both of them generous and with a heart of gold. Love, love, love it

(Received an ARC for honest review)So I have been with the Extracurricular Activities series since Neve started Eric and Nates book as a one off episode in her newsletter. I fell in love with them from the beginning and thought no couple could be better then them.I was wrong, so wrong. Jesse and Sam have an unusual start to their relationship with Jesse helping Sam out with his side hustle. Sams happy, chill vibe combined with Jesses I am who I am personality you get some steamy pages and some adorable ones.Warning make sure you have a free day to ready this book. You will not want to put in down. It is definitely a book I will reread again and again.Thank you Neve Wilder I love your writing.