The Step Bet: (Peach State Stepbros #1) Paperback – February 8, 2024

I have long "wondered" about sexual interaction between step brothers. So, thank you Devon McCormack (& Riley Hart) for giving substance to my long held fantasy with The Step Bet. And this is just book 1 of a 3x volume series on Step Brother interaction(s).I immediately felt drawn to Atlas and soon to Troy too. These 2 Twenty Somethings have been at logger heads ever since Atlas's dad & Troy's mom got together and married. Troy is out re his Gay sexuality, and so is his Step Bro, Atlas about his Straightness.To deal creatively with their constant logger headedness, they make dares, bets & challenges. Troy is the near perfect one - former Prom King. Atlas is a "guy's guy"......... not into emotional stuff - or so he pretends. And then one day he takes their betting into very unchartered waters - bisexual waters for him.What happened? You HAVE TO READ THIS AWESOME BOOK, dear reader of this review! I loved every minute of this book, and have also since purchased and read books 2 & 3 in this wonderful series. I will read this awesome novel at least once more!!Buy this book NOW! If you like Gay Romance Novels, you'll be very glad that you did!!

I’ve read a couple books by Riley but nothing by Devon (unless they’re actually the same person with two pen names). I have mixed feelings about this book but overall enjoyed it. I’m giving it a 3.5, rounded up because I read it pretty quickly.I liked Troy and Atlas. I liked their relationship. I’ve been getting into the obsessed relationship trope lately, even though I would run from that red flag IRL.Their friends were fun but the other characters (parents-dead and alive, siblings) all felt very one dimensional. Mom good. Dad bad. Troy’s mom should have had some dimension but in the end even she didn’t.I’m intrigued enough to read the next book though!

Oh gosh, I so enjoyed Troy and Atlas's story. They met at 14 when their parents got married, and they became stepbrothers. They went at each other constantly growing up, throwing jabs and making bets against each other. Most may call it hostility or hate, but deep down, they knew they'd be there for each other even if on the surface it doesn't seem that way. They both had rough childhoods, and going tit for tat with each other seemed like a way to dispel negative emotions, and they probably got each other through some things without knowing it. Now they're both in college, and there's been this weirdness when they think about each other. They start noticing things they never did before, and one particular bet throws them together in a way they never thought would happen. These boys made me so happy, I swear. Their banter and the feelings they had for each other no matter how much they complained was so heartwarming. They really understood each other on a deep level that they've never shared with anyone before. They start to trust each other with their secrets and their demons, and they fight them together and don't let things change between them even though they're in brand new territory. It was new for them both, but from the start, aside from some nerves, Troy and Atlas were so comfortable with each other and so hot and possessive but in the best kind of way. And the way they could read each other is my favorite thing. I also absolutely loved their friends and can't wait to read more about them! But I do despise Glen, and he doesn't even deserve to be a fictional character! But other than that, I highly recommend this book if you love love between 2 hot stepbrothers who can read each other emotionally and physically and are way too spicy and territorial for their own good!

Riley Hart is an incredible writer. I have read many, many, many of her books. Devon McCormack is not my favorite. I don’t want to rag on authors in reviews, because writing is hard and finishing a book is a huge accomplishment in itself. I have not been able to get through a book Devon McCormack has written by himself. To me, it lacks all the depth and character development, and a certain style of writing that Riley Hart has that just hooks you and pulls you into the minds of her characters. I don’t know how they divided the work of writing this book together, and I could be way off base, but it seemed to me that there were clearly sections and parts written by Riley Hart that I was all about, then the tone and language and style would change and I’d find myself skimming through until I got into the story again. There were some great moments in this, but overall it was a tough one to fully enjoy and get through, and I won’t be reading the others in the series. If you want a fantastic book about step brothers, check out Riley Hart’s “Pushing the Limits (Secrets Kept Book 2)”. I’m re-reading it now for the third time as a palette cleanser of sorts of after this one.

Ugh, I loved these two. This was so cute and fun. Atlas and Troy were such sweeties and I loved how they opened up to each other. I really enjoyed this one and I can’t wait to read the next one. I hope we see more of these two as well.