At just under 7 hours this was a great tale of a guy with dating dysfunction hooking up with a guy that has had a traumatic upbringing. The chemistry At just under 7 hours this was a great tale of a guy with dating dysfunction hooking up with a guy that has had a traumatic upbringing. The chemistry here is amazing and their need for each other is obvious from chapter 1. The supporting characters are great as well and this one just has me anxious to read another in this or the related series. ...more
Just stumbled across this one whilst packing my Kindle with audiobooks for a long train ride. The bumbling nerd and the quietly confident jock tropes Just stumbled across this one whilst packing my Kindle with audiobooks for a long train ride. The bumbling nerd and the quietly confident jock tropes are both favorite tropes of mine and this satisfies both those tastes - while also being a better-than-average Cyrano tale.
Andy's neurotic inner monologue is laugh-out-loud funny. His frequent verbal oversharing is just as amusing as it is endearing, Add to that the over-earnest athlete with a heart of gold and this is a charming romance.
Paradoxically, the writing here is almost too good for a great audiobook. Andy's mile-a-minute overthinking makes one wish that narrators ( Joel Leslie, and Kirt Graves could match that frenetic pace. The skill of the narrators here pulled it off though. The book is great on all levels.
One of the most frequently liked reviews for this book somewhat put me off listening to this for a while. Fact is... they were wrong. I'm guessing thaOne of the most frequently liked reviews for this book somewhat put me off listening to this for a while. Fact is... they were wrong. I'm guessing that they either misinterpreted something they read or were completely affected by biases in their own life that made them miss the point of this.
Personally, I thought "This was Ace-some." It really explored what an ACE relationship might feel like.
Boyhood friends who grew apart when one realized that his unrequited gay love wasn't returned by his chum. That the chum has felt trapped in a conventional relationship for a decade is clear and both guys were presented fairly and I had empathy for both.
This book is just another example of how much more interesting the world can be when we stop having to just "accept" others and can learn to celebrate them.
I enjoyed this and can see myself listening to it again someday, though I don't feel the pull to do so immediately like I do with the things I rate as 5 stars.
Boston High School Gym Teacher Payne Walker has discovered his husband Kyle has been cheating doing MyFans and more. On the wrong side of 40 he's now Boston High School Gym Teacher Payne Walker has discovered his husband Kyle has been cheating doing MyFans and more. On the wrong side of 40 he's now moved back to his hometown and is soon a bit of a charity case/roommate with his younger brother's best friend. The set up is great and this book is all about the feels and enjoying seeing these two come together.
It's also the first in a new series so we meet a whole cast of characters Marty Walker, Payne's bro, spacey Beau Rickshaw, Marty's best friend and a group of men who call themselves the divorced Men's Club. There's Orson (a widower), Art (Payne's boyhood chum) & first gay divorcee in Massachusetts who has taken over running his family brewery Killer Brews. There's Ford who runs a garage and Griffon (soon to be divorced from Poppy)
I actually tried this AFTER book 5 in the series and both are fun quick reads. The sex is pretty hot but is secondary to the story.
I listened to both as narrated by Nick J. Russo and he's generally good, though he does slip out of character from time to time making for some briefly confusing moments, but its not enough to ruin the experience. ...more
Dating your son's best friend? It can be tricky despite how perfect they are for each other these two are almost too sweet to be believed. This is theDating your son's best friend? It can be tricky despite how perfect they are for each other these two are almost too sweet to be believed. This is the best kind of fantasy fulfillment for those looking for an MM age-gap romance.
The characters are genuinely enjoyable to spend time with and I can easily see myself listening to this one again.
This book builds the anticipation but the "slips" are about as graphic as it can get. Only an idiot thinks that these two won't end up together, and seeing them fight the inevitable is part of the fun. Nick Russo does the narration here and it's generally great. When it's important, the voices of the two main characters are distinct enough to easily tell apart and the voices of the minor characters are distinct enough to add a few embellishments as well.
Oddly, there is some slippage here where the narrator seems to forget just who's speaking in a particular chapter and it added a few minor moments of confusion but it was generally not an issue....more
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
I get that the author is trying to characterize her MC Felix as a "sparky little spitfire" but overeagerness to do that led to the most awful analogy I get that the author is trying to characterize her MC Felix as a "sparky little spitfire" but overeagerness to do that led to the most awful analogy I've encountered this year and given that it's December, that's saying something. "more painful than anal bleaching post crack wax" is just a bridge too far. ...more
Overall, this one was a disappointment. It started strong with a good opening scenario but the somewhat unbelievable expository dialogue showed that tOverall, this one was a disappointment. It started strong with a good opening scenario but the somewhat unbelievable expository dialogue showed that the author needs more experience in telling these kinds of tales.
I have a weakness for broken-winged birds and this book had that in spades in the title character. That said, the intra-chapter POV changes were less practiced than what I'm used to and while some weren't too jolting, others really broke up the mood of the story.
The pacing was problematic overall with some good parts zooming by without enough detail and others feeling all too obviously like like they were given short shrift.
Then there was my main problem with this book. This was a crime novel masquerading as an M/M romance. Actually, that's a bit unfair. It's actually more of an uneasy mix of two things that don't really work together. The human trafficking angle should probably have been foreshadowed in the book blurb. It makes this tale MUCH darker than I expected, and I felt that we spent way too much time with people that I REALLY didn't care for. The title character somewhat offers the worst condemnation in a direct quote "This all sounds like a bad soap opera."
This telling dwells too much on the hate crimes, human trafficking, and criminal aspects and this does NOT make for compelling a romance. While people looking for a romance will feel that this one dwells too much on the criminals, those looking for a crime novel will probably feel that the writer doesn't understand enough about stakeout routines, witness protection, and etc. well enough. Finally, in several spots, the author included inessential details that added nothing to the story and broke the narrative flow.
While it's NOT the worst I've ever read, and things never got as bleak as they threatened to, the ominous build-up left me unable to really enjoy most of the book. I'm not interested enough to pick up the next book in the series and I'll most likely never re-visit this one again.
I listened to the audiobook version of this one as narrated by Jeff Griffin who did a good job with the pacing overall and had good voices developed for the two main characters. Several of the more minor supporting characters tended to run together but I'm guessing that that was due in part to the way that the book was organized. More chaptering might have helped that. ...more
Amos was gay boy who had a two-year-long thing in high school for a closeted ⚽️soccer jock⚽️ who got cold feet about coming out at prom and broke AmosAmos was gay boy who had a two-year-long thing in high school for a closeted ⚽️soccer jock⚽️ who got cold feet about coming out at prom and broke Amos's heart ...more
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?
Perhaps the weakest book in the series. The Billionaire bit has been done once already in this series and here it felt less organic and just more likePerhaps the weakest book in the series. The Billionaire bit has been done once already in this series and here it felt less organic and just more like conspicuous consumption. It WAS interesting to see that the love interest here being actually impeded/intimidated by the other's wealth. The homeless ex-jock with the career-ending injury. That they'd both been friends in their high school days and the romantic shoe had been on the other foot was interesting. ...more
This is the third book in the Bridge to Abingdon series.
All of these books seem to deal with small-town gays who've escaped their rural roots for at This is the third book in the Bridge to Abingdon series.
All of these books seem to deal with small-town gays who've escaped their rural roots for at least moderate success in bigger cities returning to their rural Virginia roots. As a small-town gay who lived and thrived in Manhattan for 20+ years, this series appeals to me and yet the small-town appeal is clearly fictional. Their small town of Abingdon has become a gay-tolerant and vibrant community that's generally accepting of diversity with a minority of small-minded, slow-to-change townies. My town has changed little and the populace is no more open-minded than they were when I left.
In this installment, a tech billionaire returns and is soon saddled with a daughter who seems to have the same emotional/developmental problems he had as a child. He meets and partners up with a successful, slightly younger rural refugee now a NYC painter who had attended the same schools and who he'd harshly shut down after a secret kiss that neither then-closeted kid knew quite how to deal with. The romance is sweet, the family feelings make for a pleasant read and seeing these two men solve some of the little girl's problems make this an enjoyable, mostly angst-free read.
I'm now more than halfway through this series and am a bit puzzled as to why this series was done as Dual-Narration. Alexander Cendese is a great narrator and the chapters he reads are bright & engaging whilst the chapters read by Tor Thom feels somnambulant by comparison. The dialog is written so that both narrators must voice the dialogue of multiple characters in all of the chapters despite the POV switching back and forth. Both narrators have an OK style but the two are NOT complementary when heard one after the other. This is the third book in the series done this way, and I'm now convinced that I'd rather Cendese had just narrated the entire thing. This is NOT one of those situations where both bring their talents and together create a superior whole.
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