There’s not a single likable character in the entire book except for Cas-maybe Martin at first but he was a doormat so that was a waste. I can’t believe the author thought Seb as perfect romantic hero in a romance book when he was more like an annoying villain. I hated him and he deserved the family he got because he was just like them and he was a perfect match for his douchy manager Kenny as they were both assholes. I even disliked Oliver and that was a shock since I loved him in the second book. This was bad and one star is more than enough for the book.

3,616 reviews359 followers

May 29, 2019

3.5*

I struggled for quite a bit of this book. Not with the quality of the writing, that is excellent, but with the characters.

While I could find sympathy for Martin, for the vast majority of the narrative I thought Seb was an utter arse and didn't feel any connection to him as a character I wanted to root for.

This is very clever writing on the part of the author, it bucks the trend in romance to have the reader fighting for the couple over everything else.

But, I wasn't sure really whether I actually wanted them to be together. Even finding out why Seb behaved as he did wasn't enough justification for me. For most of the book he just comes across as a whiny and entitled drama queen [sorry!]

Strangely though, I loved Seb when he talked about his art, when he encouraged his young friend Cassandra with her artwork, when he oozed charm to help the efforts of the fund-raising Blues Festival, I wish I'd seen more of that Seb.

Even when he and Martin get together, he still behaves like an arse and, for me anyway, I just couldn't believe he was justified in it and that took the edge of what could have been a really great slow burn romance.

So, great writing, a good solid narrative, but a character who proved just a bit too unsympathetic to win me over made me drop down a star for my rating. I will definitely be checking out the second book in the series about Seb's brother Oliver though.

ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review

2,140 reviews208 followers

December 16, 2019

Everyone is ghastly or caricature or both.

Martin is written to be pathetic, depression is a serious thing but he never quite added up. Seb is obnoxious and deliberately offensive, happy to stand back and watch others be mean. He also makes lots of money from cutting up books, despite living above a secand-hand shop. While I've seen impressive book-art, the idea of cutting one up repels me! I didn't like either of them as a romantic lead and didn't want to read of them getting together.

There are only a few side-characters and they are either bogged down by their own issues, ghastly or caricature. Oh and there's a lively female friend next-door too. The 15yr old girl at the book-shop was the one interesting character but then she too had issues put on her.

Unpleasant vibe, didn't want to read more so DNF 41% with relief. Would place a bet that the German poet becomes the focus for the grand art show though.

Oh and the quirky shelving - cute idea but how can you categories books 'the dog lives' and 'different name to the movie'...unless you've read/researched every book? They price books via a very basic system that totally ignores actual market value, yet know enough to shelve them by story characgeristics! I don't get it, such things bug me. I've worked in a secand-hand book shop, alphabetised the lot, even placing older books by romance/mystery can cause pause when you're judging by covers.

promo-deals

Author 4 books63 followers

May 20, 2019

One of my favorite things about Temple's books is that they are grand. sprawling adventures that keep me entranced until the last page.

I adored Martin from the get-go. He's one of those characters that you want to roll up in bubble wrap and keep safe from the world...until you get to know him better and realize there's much more to the timid professor. Seb started off as an abrasive character, but grew on me as the story progressed. I love them both.

Another wonderful thing about Temple's is writing the side characters. They are well-developed and add extra interest to the story without taking away the focus from the main characters. Seacroft is filled with quirky people, for sure. And Seb's family members are unique, too.

I loved every bit of Top Shelf and can't wait for Oliver's story.

arc-for-review mm series

7,956 reviews457 followers

May 23, 2019

A Joyfully Jay review.

3.75 stars

The blurb for Top Shelf grabbed my attention, and Allison Temple is an author I’ve not read, so I jumped on the opportunity to read this book. I very much like the author’s style; it’s smooth with chapters that flow, dialogue that is written like an actual conversation, vivid detail/descriptions that allow me to “see” scenes and settings, and obviously well researched situations [especially art]. However, I just didn’t feel very connected to the characters and that got in the way of a good reading experience.

Martin has had a terrible experience at the university. He’s been completely torn down. His brother has rescued him and brought him to Seacroft, but Martin can’t seem to move on. He’s actually ashamed of his situation. I completely understand this. I can absolutely relate, and it made him the only character I made a connection with.

Read Kenna’s review in its entirety here.

kenna

822 reviews38 followers

June 3, 2019

I had no expectations when I started reading this, and I was pleasantly surprised. Martin starts the book off by being timid and nervous, avoiding contact with people but slowly starts to come back to life, he's easy to like and as he grows more confident I really enjoyed his character. Seb was more complicated and conflicted, he had a pattern of behavior that he relied on when life became difficult [ he was a bolter] and struggled not follow this, hurting people on the way. The love between them was a slow burn, and very lovely, with enough friction externally as well as internally to stop it being too sweet. I found the ending a little contrived but the epilogue was excellent.

contemporary lgbtq m-m

1,613 reviews85 followers

August 7, 2020

Apparently I missed something with this book. There are a ton of great ratings and reviews. When I still didn't like it at the halfway mark, I kept going, thinking [hoping?] it would get better. By the time I got to the end I was kicking myself for not doing a DNF.

It's over 300 very long pages.

I'm just going to throw out some thoughts and then move on to another book.

Seb uses humor and his obnoxious personality as his way to keep from showing too much, of being vulnerable. This has a lot to do with his family. That's all fine and good if it's just aimed at himself. It wasn't. It was always aimed at Martin. Some of his comments were funny. Most were rude and hurtful.

I liked Martin well enough at first but his fumbling personality and constant woe-is-me got old pretty quick.

I couldn't stand any of the secondary characters except for seventeen-year-old Cassie, a coworker at the bookstore.

I thought I'd like Kenny, Seb's agent and longtime friend, but that lasted just long enough for him to be on-page for a paragraph and that was it. That dislike grew later in the book after Seb had something horrible happen in his life.

I liked Martin's brother a lot at first. I got over that when he took out his anger at his ex on Martin and said some hurtful things. His coming back and trying to make good later didn't matter to me.

The first thing that really bugged me about this book was something Seb did. Martin opened up to him about things he'd not opened up to anybody about. What does Seb do? He shared this information with Kenny. Kenny, of course, had to use that information to hurt Martin. Oh, he wasn't trying to hurt him. He just thought it was all funny and cute to throw out all Martin's failings - in a public place, I might add. Remember, these were things that Seb never should have discussed with anyone, especially loud and obnoxious Kenny.

That should have been it for Martin with Seb. It wasn't.

Nothing actually happens with these two guys until WAY into the book. Martin was skittish around Seb. Seb never even acted attracted to Martin. Not really anyway. When something did happen it happened fast. They went from barely speaking to each other to Seb inviting Martin to go home to see his family [that he's not seen in years for reasons mentioned in the book] for a weekend. He didn't invite him because he wanted to spend the weekend with Martin. Oh, no. He did it because he wanted to throw Martin - an academic - in his father's face.

Okay, so they finally come together and are doing 'couple' things - holding hands, playing a little in the bedroom, staying close to each other. I was thinking, "Finally! Geez." But of course there has to be MORE drama that pulls them apart. That drama lasted WAY too long and I swear I almost DNF'd even that close to the end [85% to 90% or so].

I won't even get started on what happened at a family dinner. Sure, Seb's family was horrible, but come on! I kept thinking, "And how old is Seb?" because he acted like a bratty teenager who had to have the last word.

When I read a romance I expect to end it at least feeling a little good. All I felt with this book was blah, and I was kicking myself for reading it to the end.

I'm curious about Oliver, but it's highly unlikely I'll be reading his book. I read the blurb for that one before I started this one. It sounded good but not now, not after seeing why he's the 'hipster' described in his blurb. At almost 300 pages, I'm thinking no.

I did like the author's writing. I just would've liked to have felt like smiling at least once while I was reading this book. I guess Seb was supposed to be funny. If so, it all fell flat to me.

I'm really wishing I would have DNF'd this because it's not common for me to rate books I don't finish. Because I did keep going, 2 stars.

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.

2020 m-m series

2,547 reviews38 followers

March 21, 2021

I really liked Martin as a character. He was flawed, and that was kind of refreshing. Seb has a lot of family baggage that he covered up with snark and bad attitude. I liked them together, and I liked the slow burn of this for Martin and Seb. They really connected as people and friends before their relationship, and I think that was a good thing with how off the rails Seb could be. It was a slow paced book, but I enjoyed it.

I am voluntarily reviewing an ARC provided by LesCourt Author Services

mm own-amazon own-prolific-works

333 reviews76 followers

September 4, 2019

A really cute strangers to friends to lovers story :] 3.5 stars.

849 reviews11 followers

June 25, 2020

The story was not bad, but it takes a bit to grow on you. For the first third Martin is really neurotic and pathetic, while Seb is an ass to him without a good reason.

But as Martin gains a bit of confidence and footing and as Seb looses some of that prickly defense mechanism, the relationship actually comes together pretty well. Though the book had a bit of a pacing issue. The romance starts out slow, then jump-starts very suddenly, then languishes again. I mostly liked the book from 40% to 80%. After that there was some obligatory drama and separation that just annoys me in romance books. I think it adds so much more to the relationship when couples actually get to the hard stuff together, but apparently that's just be, because this trope happens way too often.

All in all it was pretty readable, but I'm not sure I'm sold on the next part of the series or the author in general.

angst-dark contemporary drama-central

Author 6 books14 followers

May 11, 2019

This was a very pleasant surprise.

I loved Martin & Seb, even though my first impression of Seb wasn't the best. I think that was intended. Martin was so charmingly awkward at first, but definitely had some surprises up his sleeve. Both characters had their own internal struggles and they grew together beautifully. Their relationship was a slow burn with surprisingly hot chemistry when they did get together. While there were some parts that felt a little slow, it was never enough to bore me.

This was my first Allison Temple and it definitely won't be my last. Hopefully Oliver's story will be the next in the Seacroft series. He has so much potential!

*Received in exchange for an honest review

charmingly-awkward-mc netgalley-or-arc

Author 14 books33 followers

May 30, 2019

The saying ‘good things come to those who wait’ definitely applies to this book. What started out so slow I almost lost interest, Seb and Martin’s story suddenly turned on the speed at about the halfway point and it was couldn’t put it down, full speed ahead until the very end.

for-blog

Author 15 books101 followers

October 6, 2022

So good.

I adored this book. I love a damaged hero and here we have two. At first it seems that Seb is saving Martin but Seb isn't as put together as he first appears. It takes place in a second hand bookshop, how good is that. And Seb's artwork sounds amazing. Well written with a lovely relationship, I wept but there is a glorious happy ending and the promise of another book. I can't wait.

artistic-types bookshop-librarian filed

900 reviews

December 20, 2019

I enjoyed it. However, I don't see the main characters didn't interact much in the book except for the last part. They seemed to jump from strangers to friends to a date accompanying the other back for a dreaded family reunion so soon.

I loved the epilogue though.

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.

956 reviews29 followers

May 27, 2019

Unfortunately I had to dock one star for blatant and pervasive fatphobia.

448 reviews21 followers

May 19, 2019

I eagerly anticipated this next full-length novel by Allison Temple. I loved The Pick Up, her debut novel, and the subsequent [unrelated] short stories, and couldn't wait to jump back into a longer story by this author. Top Shelf is the beginning of a new series with new characters, but some of the themes I loved in The Pick Up are present in Seb and Martin's story. And they're themes that Allison Temple does so well.

Seacroft wasn't home to Seb or Martin; both come to the town at different times searching for something, for a place to belong. Though Seb has been around longer and is seemingly more settled than Martin, his life more together, their positions are actually quite opposite to what they assume. The beginning of the story finds Martin still climbing his way out of deep depression after his professional life fell to shreds. He takes baby steps in finding a job at a used book store, hoping to find his way back to his feet. Instead he finds Seb, the artist upstairs who seems to have it all together. Twists and turns in the plot bring the two together and show them that nothing is as it seems on the surface.

Martin stole my heart from the first page with his shy anxiety and love of books, and desire to get back on his feet after being knocked down by life. He is so sweet and shy and I just wanted to bundle him up in a blanket and give him hot cocoa and tell him everything is gonna be alright. Watching him grow throughout the story and become more confident in himself was like watching a flower bloom. The friendship, then relationship with Seb allowed him space to rediscover himself and I was cheering him on til the end of the book. Seb, on the other hand, had to crumple before he could bloom. I didn't know how I felt about him at times; he was like a prickly porcupine always on the offensive. But these two just clicked so well and complemented each other so well at every turn in the story. No matter what the plot threw at them, I had no doubt they'd make it through to the other side.

Another huge positive of this book that I must touch on is Seb's art. I'm not an art aficionado, nor will I pretend to be knowledgable on art, but the detail and care that the author put into crafting Seb's art was amazing. So much work was put into the scope and meaning of Seb's art, which made the story even more impactful. His art drives key parts of the story, from the first time Martin and Seb meet all the way to the epilogue. Rather than vague references or generic descriptions, the extreme detail brought Seb's art, and thus the story, to vivid life.

My one complaint with this story is that the story takes a 180-degree turn very suddenly around 40%, with Martin and Seb progressing from [admittedly, very] mild animosity and an inability to say more than a few words to each other at a time to, "Hey, come visit my family with me," in the span of just a handful of pages. I had mild whiplash with the shift in their relationship, though it wasn't unpleasant. Just jarring. There are also a few things left hidden to the reader - mainly the conflict resolution at the end. This story is tied up nicely with a super sweet epilogue that ironed out a few kinks for me, but I was left a little curious about Seb's POV, which we miss during the resolution scene. I anticipate the few loose ends being tied up in the next book in this series, which is about Seb's brother, Oliver.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and the quaint little seaside town Allison Temple has crafted in Top Shelf. I look forward to the next book in this series and learning more about Oliver, who I loved, as well as some reappearances of the truly amazing secondary characters. This is definitely a book I recommend for anyone who enjoys angst with romances, quietly sweet characters and quaint seaside towns.

An advance copy of this book was received for review on OMGReads.

arc hurt-comfort mm

282 reviews5 followers

October 5, 2021

Solid B+

I don't often comment on cover art, but this cover is so wrong, that I keep forgetting if I've read the story because the cover so doesn't relate to the content. It doesn't look like either mc or their situations and the title makes me think about tops and bdsm. So the package doesn't match the inside [something I know most authors have zero control over, mores the pity]

So now we get to the book. It's slow to start and has it's odder moments, but overall I rate it satisfying and I'll read the next in the series. It introduces us to a lot of characters, in varying situations, so you have to focus to remember who is doing what. But I liked Seb and really felt for Martin. I was happy to explore their time together. I did feel that the outside dramas were about to impinge on the plot, and the last third kind of careered all over the place but it still worked well enough for me and I'm off to read Oliver's story. Just don't pay any attention to the cover/title and it works better!

m-m

Author 39 books637 followers

May 22, 2019

ALL RIGHT, so I read this today - all in one go - barely pausing to feed my kids [lol, don't worry, I cuddled and sang them to sleep and everything, then went right back to being huddled on the couch with my hot water bottle]. :D

ANYWAY, this m/m romance was exactly the right book for me now, and I know I'll be buying all Temple books as soon as they're out [I read them all in case you were wondering]. 💞

Do yourself a favor and give it a try. ;]

contemporary contemporary-favorites cute

274 reviews

May 20, 2019

I actually loved the story and the characters. I loved their quirks, their past, their interactions with each other. Yet, I didn't love the book as much as I should. But that's because the writing style was not really for me. It just threw me off and didn't let me dive into the story as deeply as I would have liked. I hope you'll enjoy it more than I did.

arc

December 16, 2019

DNF

This book is boring. It moves like that video of the sloth crossing the road. Besides that I don’t care about these characters. I’m not sure what happened to Martin even though he explained it. I understand what he said happened but I don’t understand why it was such a big deal that he can’t cope with life anymore. Seb is just kind of a jerk and I don’t understand his art. He’s cutting up books, and I agree with Martin about that one, but I don’t understand what he’s doing with them. The author obviously understands and spend a lot of time saying stuff about it but it doesn’t put any picture in my head. I don’t understand why someone would pay a lot of money for a cut up book. Mostly though, it’s boring and I can’t read it anymore.

5,700 reviews35 followers

May 22, 2019

this was a lot of fun to read. it was interesting and different. i enjoyed the characters and their world.. there were a lot of spots i just didnt like the characters.. who they are.. who they pretended to be.. but the story explained why they are who they are. good story

2,566 reviews31 followers

December 8, 2019

I'm on a roll with fantastic m\m romances lately, so glad I tried this genre. These two m\c's were both, at times, enjoyable and difficult to read but the whole story was wonderful. I think I will enjoy more of this series.

265 reviews1 follower

May 20, 2019

I’m so conflicted with this book. I loved Martin, I was cheering him on so hard. The setting and the story were great, with lots of interesting side characters.

Seb was a jerk, and he was supposed to be, that’s how it was written. The author did a good job convincing us of that, maybe too good. I really, REALLY wanted Seb to be redeemed, I wanted him to turn it around. But he actually kept getting worse and then did the BIG THING, and somehow it was all on Martin to make it better??? [insert eye roll, and major huffing] Then when he finally pulled his head out...it was just too rushed and not satisfying.

If you don’t mind a jerk character, then this might be the book for you. If you don’t, but you can overlook the jerk, then I do recommend this for Martin, the side characters, and the setting. The bookstore is a character all on it’s own. The writing was great, and Martin’s arc was wonderful. I’m also looking forward to more in this setting, and seeing more from the side characters.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader’s copy.

arc contemporary m-m

559 reviews1 follower

Want to read

May 18, 2019

Top Shelf [Seacroft,

1] [ARC] was graciously provided to me by A Novel Take PR for an honest review. I will voluntarily read this book and provide my honest opinion. Review to follow.

arc mm-romance

Author 26 books309 followers

May 20, 2019

I first have to say that this is a new to me author, but I’m such a sucker for the wounded bird, that I really wanted to see what Martin was about. From the blurb, I didn’t understand what happened to cause the situation he was in right then, and to be honest, though it was touched on, I’m still unsure how it affected him the way it did and what he actually went through. I might’ve missed something, but I’m just not sure. I really felt for him though, because he was so relatable. Kind of going through this really hard thing and needing a place to just start over and restart his life and figure out where he was going to go and what he was going to do.

Having a PhD and then finding himself on the better side of what I saw as a nervous breakdown, he was feeling pretty low. He needed to take baby steps and that’s what he was doing, trying to find himself again. That’s when he found a little book shop with a cute high schooler and broody upstairs tenant to make his days entertaining.

Now, I’m going to say, I did not like many people in this book, even Seb, the main character. He does not have a lot of redeeming qualities for the first half. He’s entitled, bratty and just not a good person. I could kind of understand, because you’ll meet his father and he’s an even worse person. The way he treated Seb his whole life was literally abusive, if only emotionally and often times verbally, and I’m sure that once he got old enough, Seb pushed that and egged it on… but no…. I think the author tried to make the father redeemable towards the end, but the damage was already done.

I also heavily, heavily, heavily disliked Kenneth, Seb’s manager. He’s selfish, also entitled, bratty and just so self centered that he kind of just made me sick. I kind of wish that Martin would’ve punched him a time or two just because he’s so annoying and in your face about it. I literally almost stopped reading because of him.

Seb’s brother Oliver also took me a while to warm up to. He seemed shady and untrustworthy and I didn’t like how he treated Seb either. The only person in Seb’s family that seemed to care about him, was his Nana and she was only around for a second. I hated that for him and it kind of done a little bit to warm me up to Seb. Not much, but a little bit.

I finally turned a corner with him when I saw how he was with Martin. His mouth still got the better of him sometimes and he reminded me of a villain more often that not. When he feels any emotion at all, he turns hostile and doesn’t care who he hurts in the process and I just can’t stand those kind of people. It made him hard to relate to, and hard to like….at least in my opinion.

Between Seb’s family and a Seb running away and being awful at the first sign of trouble, I wasn’t so sure that these two were going to make it. I really hoped, but I also kind of thought that Martin deserved better. Seb pulled it together in the end, and I appreciated that his family tried at the end… but, his father was unforgivable and I hated that they even tried. Like a lifetime was all forgotten because 6 months had passed by saying, 6-months-later.

I dunno… maybe I’m being too picky and maybe I’m protective over Martin because I see so much of myself in him and I thought that he deserved better. I was happy with the friends that he made, the relationship he had with his brother and even Seb for helping him find himself, even if half of it was standing up for himself and fighting for someone else. I'm guessing the next book is about brother Ollie, and though I’m curious… I’ll have to see how much influence their father has in the next story, otherwise I’ll give it a skip.

3 stars from me

1,929 reviews

Shelved as 'did-not-finish'

August 6, 2021

DNF @ 60%

I struggled a lot while reading TOP SHELF and with the decision to DNF, especially because I was so far into the story. However, I was just not invested in the characters or the book, I didn't enjoy Seb as a hero, and I honestly couldn't understand why they were interested in each other.

I usually take 2-3 days to read a book and after almost 2 weeks I had to accept that my starts and stops were an indicator that I just wasn't engaged with the story. I liked the concept of the small town bookstore with it's quirky shelving [though my organizational heart could never shop there, lol] and I also enjoyed Martin and his shy and awkward demeanor. Cassidy, as a side character, was a joy to read about and I liked how she was helping to pull Martin out of his shell.

But when it came to Seb I had a hard time coming to like him. I'm aware that this story centers a bit around him becoming a better person, but up to the 60% mark he's still casually saying and doing things that hurt Martin. Seb is totally aware that he's an asshole sometimes, but that doesn't change the fact that he is one. With that in mind, I just didn't believe the attraction and interest for Seb and Martin. They don't seem like a match at all, which is fine for opposites attract, but even then I still have to believe they like each other. It just wasn't working for me.

The writing was great and the town was cute, so if you like a dramatic, moody, and sometimes jerkish hero, then you may not have any issues with TOP SHELF.

ARC provided by A Novel Take PR for honest review

advance-copy

December 1, 2023

It took me a few chapters to get into the book. Martin is new to town and starts working at the bookstore. Seb is an artist who lives above the store. I wasn't the biggest fan of Seb. He has potential when he's not being so selfish. I do like that he gets Martin out of his shell more and out of his brother's house. I liked the characters in the town so I will check out the next book.

What does it mean to put something on the top shelf?

Definition of 'top-shelf'Top-shelf things or people are of a very high standard or quality. [US]

What article is all books on top of the shelf belong to me?

The definite article 'the' is used before nouns that refer to something specific. Here, we are referring to the specific books that are on the top shelf. Therefore, the correct option is: the.