Bishop is an illiterate ex-con ex-gang leader trying to go straight Bishop's dad, Mike, was a young single father. Royce is Bishop's ex-boyfriend Trent Bishop is an illiterate ex-con ex-gang leader trying to go straight Bishop's dad, Mike, was a young single father. Royce is Bishop's ex-boyfriend Trent is Bishop's best buddy and a fellow ex-gang member
Edison is the husky executive manager at an attorney's office. Once past the orientation bits, this tale becomes a sweet mating dance of mutually unrequited attraction. Both men have trouble seeing past their self-acknowledged weaknesses, Bishop's illiteracy, and Edison's plus-sized body image.
This tale teases us for 20+ chapters before we get our first real kiss.
It does tend to drag a bit once the two get together. The sex scenes are almost anti-climactic. ...more
This novella was the best discovery I made this month. Perhaps it would be more accurate/less menacing to call this one The Boy (in the Photo) at the This novella was the best discovery I made this month. Perhaps it would be more accurate/less menacing to call this one The Boy (in the Photo) at the Bottom of the Fountain. The title and the book cover image are actually a bit misleading. Since it's revealed in the first ten minutes, it's not MUCH of a spoiler to admit this.
The book is basically angst-free and yet there is a dramatic storyline that builds gradually and benignantly from segment to segment. We encounter several likable and quirky characters whose stories intermingle in a way that author Jay Bell seems to have perfected. There's an amazing and surprising HFN ending with an absolutely unique build-up of a type that I've never encountered before in all my years of reading. It's romantic and perhaps the sweetest thing I've read this year, while at the same time being a bit of a surprise ending and eureka moment combined.
Bell spent some time in Kansas, went to college there, and met his future husband there. This book, like many of his best, is a reflection of that time and is based there. While the location is a minor aspect of this story, it adds yet another facet to the tale and was a fun discovery for this fan of his earlier work.
This is the first novel by Jay Bell that Charlie David narrates and he was a good choice for this. He does his usual yeoman-like job with the narration. And this time he did it without once invoking the "If he mispronounces that word one more time I'm gonna have to hunt him down and end him" reactions that I've had to some of his earlier voice narration efforts.
Truly enjoyable, low angst, buddy movie of a romance book. In this bit of fantasy fulfillment, these guys sound just heteronormative enough to be the Truly enjoyable, low angst, buddy movie of a romance book. In this bit of fantasy fulfillment, these guys sound just heteronormative enough to be the clueless dude-bros that they sound like. The overall story is sweet and not entirely flawless but their attraction sounds like it's obvious to everyone close to them while somehow escaping their notice.
The author made a couple of fact-checking mistakes but they're, at worst, tangential to the story. NYU doesn't really have a campus. As something of a New Yorker a favorite pastime of mine is spotting these geo-glitches in TV and movies. Also I knew that in 1953, NYU discontinued its college football program indefinitely
The loosening of these guys' "straight boy" restrictions was fantasy fodder, and it was a pleasure to listen to these guys becoming closer. As Jonny McGovern used to sing... "There's nothin' wrong with helping a buddy out."
On an entirely different level, I liked thinking about Andy's career conflict; the generational struggle of parents wanting their kid to be free of their parents' worries. It's a bit odd in that Jake is actually acting out the reverse of his dad's struggle. When we FINALLY meet Andy's mother we really bring that into focus. Of course, that's also when it finally starts to become clear to Any as well.
The audiobook narration is done here by Tristian Josiah and for the most part, he did a credible job. My main issue was that the two MC voices are too similar. The names Jake and Andy don't really help that. It did lead to some minor, momentary confusion. ...more
While this is the 4th book in this series it's the first one that I encountered and it can easily stand-alone. Though I do suspect that it might be evWhile this is the 4th book in this series it's the first one that I encountered and it can easily stand-alone. Though I do suspect that it might be even more fun is one knows the back-story on the many other characters outside the main relationship.
This was a fun read dealing with small towns, age-gaps, and a straight guy that's actually gay for one particular guy. The problem is it's the baby brother of his best friend.
But is an age difference of 12 years really that big a deal when the younger guy is 22?
Although I recently listened to this, I think that this story might have been better absorbed in text form.
Narrator Nic Lazar is a bit of a somnambulAlthough I recently listened to this, I think that this story might have been better absorbed in text form.
Narrator Nic Lazar is a bit of a somnambulant reader. He's not a voice actor, doing no "in-character" dialogues and pretty much everything is delivered at the same pace and volume. He does read better than the synthesized text-to-speech voices but doesn't rise much beyond that level of proficiency. There are no discernable dramatic pauses or emphasis points. His lackluster delivery was enough to put me off finishing this book several times.
The story IS interesting but I did tend to lose focus most probably due to the mono-tone delivery. Tense points in the story (such as Dean's first encounter with the wolf) are no more dramatically recounted than the section dealing with preparing the fields for plowing. "Witty" bits of dialogue weren't (after having to decipher what must have been written versus what I heard). ...more
From beginning to end this is one of those "Friends to lovers" tales where you wonder how the two could be such good friends for years without having From beginning to end this is one of those "Friends to lovers" tales where you wonder how the two could be such good friends for years without having learned to communicate better. But then if they were both open and communicative the central tension in the storyline would be solved in chapter one. At least one of our protagonists claims to NOT be a fan of "edging" so how can I give 5 stars to a tale that's nothing but emotional edging. You just KNOW that there's gonna be a happy ending... it's really just a question of how many delays these two can put in their way before we get the ultimate release.
There are several steamy scenes, mostly toward the end of the novel, but this tale is more concentrated on the defining the relationship aspects of the tale and less on the horizontal gymnastics.
Both guys are likable, and hot and it's a pleasure to hear the tale. The narrator does a credible job but the two main characters are so similar in this "he said/he said" dual POV tale that it's a challenge to know at any point which POV we're in. This might have been better with dual narrators. This is an easy tale to listen to and I do love this author's work, so I'll probably listen to this one more than once but it's not quite got the appeal of my favorites....more
I loved this episode on Poirot with David Suchet so I decided it was high time to finally listen to the book on which it was based.
I was initially puI loved this episode on Poirot with David Suchet so I decided it was high time to finally listen to the book on which it was based.
I was initially put off by it NOT being narrated by Hugh Fraser as so many of the Poirot tales are but there's a good reason for this that one soon discovers. The original tale was clearly crafted as a tale told by a woman narrator who was there and was involved in the events described. While the character of nurse Amy Leatheran is in the TV episode, her role was greatly reduced in order to give Hastings a place in the episode. As with the rest of the television series, this tale was lovingly adapted but with far fewer Art Deco references and the subplot about Poirot's larcenous Countess Vera Rossakoff was added.
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