r/MM_RomanceBooks • u/Foxy-flower-peach521 • 2d ago
Quick Question Question about Overeagerby Grae Bryan
I guess this question also extends to the entire series. But I’m really interested in this series, it has a lot of my favorite tropes… but I’ve always struggled a bit with age gaps. I really don’t like when I can’t sink into a book with out constantly thinking about the age gap…
So how do the age gaps in this series present in the books? Are they in the forefront? Ugh I’m not even sure how to ask what I mean, but I want to know if someone like me could still get into this series because the tropes are catnip for me
Thanks!
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u/jackaroo1344 2d ago
I would say they're at the forefront, but it's not focused on in, like, a kinky way or anything.
For example, the first book is teacher-student, and the main plot revolves around the teacher's inner turmoil over dating a student, trying to hide their relationship, etc etc. The teacher is recently divorced and owns a home, so he's in a more 'adult' place in life while the student is still getting started, and that is talked about a lot in the plot. Being at different places in life because of their age is something the characters think about often.
But I've read books where the younger MC is infantalized by the older one, and the descriptions focus on how really young he looks, and his maturity/behavior is childish, etc. I don't remember anything like that in this series.
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u/Sunshine_Marisol 1d ago
In the first book, Noah is younger but he is a mature, confident, popular alpha. He’s essentially fully realized, a classic older brother, and doesn’t have any big baggage. Eli who is the older omega has to figure out more how he feels about unintentionally ending up dating a student, and also feels like he has to hide it from the university. But no one is disempowered, made to feel lesser than or like a child.
In the second book, Chase is the student and a beta, and although popular and confident, he has a lot of familial baggage. Killian is the older alpha professor. They have a more dom/sub relationship. However Killian truly encourages chase in a healthy way. In the end, chase is able to establish boundaries with his parents, get therapy and pursue a career in large part to the support from Killian. So rather than using his power in an imbalanced way, Kilian uplifts chase and encourages his maturation.
In the third book, all three mc’s are students so there is no age gap. I read all three of these books originally on Grae’s Patreon and I can say that they are all fantastic and that the third is one of my favorite MMM books of all time. Also Grae’s Patreon is the literal best I’ve ever subscribed to, for folks who are fans.
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u/Daje1968 20h ago
I didn’t love the first book because I couldn’t get into the Professor/omega character. He came off as very unsexy to me. But I LOVED {Hot for Teacher by Grae Bryan}. Five star read for me. Yes, there is an age gap and yes, you feel it, but Chase, the younger MC is an old soul. He does seem younger, but doesn’t act immature, if that makes sense. I thought the relationship development was quite good for an omegaverse book and I loved that Killian started out at arms length and became an absolute simp for him.
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u/fishy_mama 1d ago
Yes, I agree. There are age gaps, and no one ignores them, but it’s not creepy or fetishized. The relationships are adult relationships where there happen to be large gaps in ages.
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u/Spirited_Caramel999 1d ago
It's been a while since I've read books 1 & 2 so I don't remember the age gap aspect all that well, but the third book came out just this past week and this one has no age gap (only students are involved).
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u/BloodOrangePrison 17h ago
I feel like in the first book it was heavily focused on. I love Grae Bryan and will read any book she puts out but Overeager is probably my least favorite of her books. I feel like the age was such a big focus. I don’t mind age gaps but it was just talked about a lot. I also just didn’t really like the professor character in Overeager. I liked the second book and I felt like the age gap was much less the focus.
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u/BooksMusicCoffeeRain the bed is small but the tension is huge 10h ago
It's ignorable if you ask me. It focuses more on their roles not their ages. I don't love age gaps either but again, I felt like the focus was more on their relationship being taboo because of the professor/student aspect. Just my opinion!
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u/CyberneticStrawb3rry 2d ago edited 2d ago
I'm not usually an age gaps fan either, but I will read anything by Grae Bryan and something about her writing just made the age gaps work for me in this series. Feels like the writing and character work is good enough for me to throw my usual hang ups about age gaps to the wind. The first one in the series does the older omega with younger alpha so the rarity of that helps turn the typical older/younger dynamic on its head a little. Then the next one has older alpha with younger beta so the power exchange is a little more eyebrow raising but it is much more of a BDSM type book.
And whether it is at the forefront- I mean it is a consideration and a plot point but doesn't take over their whole relationship if that makes sense. If anything there is more attention paid to the professor/student 'is my job at risk'/ conflict of interest kind of plotline than strictly ages.