Briar Prescott’s “Until” trilogy

I took a chance on Until You because I was looking for something other than a hockey book, and i was having trouble finding an Injured MC book.

When I loaded up Until You the first thing that struck me was Prescott’s prose. Some times when you dive into a MM novel, well they read like they still belong on AO3. But Prescott’s work reads like an actual novel, and their character’s banter is most definitely fun and fast, but possibly too “cool”? I myself enjoyed it and liked the quips and tongue in cheek humor.

Prescott seeds each of the Until books with a bit of past trauma in a prologue but doesn’t give you the specifics and if anything I’d say their books fall into a hurt comfort troupe with a surprise reveal twist in the third act. Whether that reveal is as dramatic and shocking as Prescott hopes is up to the reader.

Until You features Jude and Blake. I don’t like to do synopsis, if anything I think you should start a book with a general interest, not a break down of the story.

But Until You does a masterful job of just brining Jude and Blake together in a meet-cute during chapter 4, and to be honest it’s one of the sluttiest things I’ve ever read even if literally nothing happens. They’re just trapped on the roof of a bar waiting for someone to open the door that slipped shut. The banter is lively, and oddly thrilling as fuck. I was ready for these two to bone, but it wasn’t the point of these two meeting. It’s fairly obvious there is something both Jude and Blake are hiding from one another but the book mainly just chronicles the two of them dating. It’s fun, it’s light, zero angst really, and a decent establishment for the 3rd act breakup. As to whether its aftermath is convincing is up to the reader. I give Until You 8 out 10.

And Then You features Stephen and Quinn, characters both established in Until You. Of the three books And Then really lays out some significant past trauma for Stephen, but of three books its the only one that follows some well established troupes, enemies to lovers and “pretend boyfriend”. The latter is either a troupe you love or hate, but Prescott’s witty and banter filled characters make the journey for Stephen and Quinn enjoyable. Of the three books i feel the 3rd act reveal is the most viable and heartfelt of the trilogy. There is still a bit of disbelief needed if you ask me, but again I liked both Stephen and Quinn. I give And Then You 8.75 out of 10.

Maybe You features Wren and Sutton. Sutton is lightly established in the second book and Wren is new to Prescott’s little NYC universe. Of the three books, I feel this is the weakest. I like both Wren and Sutton, but they feel like slightly reheated versions of the two previous couples. Wren is almost an amalgamation of Jude and Stephen, while Sutton is just a brash version of Quinn. On the flip side I felt this was the most sensual of the three books, but the reveal and 3rd act break up don’t have enough foundation in Sutton’s actions prior and you’re just forced to accept his reasoning. It didn’t work for me. I give Maybe You 7 out of 10.

Over all i give Prescott’s work here 8.5. The writing is believable, and they have a knack for banter and dialogue that kept me wanting to read. All three books have an over all hurt comfort vibe but really focus on two people meeting, and dating. Insta love is definitely there but tempered well with slow burns in each book. Each book had varying levels of success for the shocking twist. I think Prescott lines up each one, but doesn’t always get them over the finish line.