Guest Reviewed by Morgan
Title: Choices & Changes
Author: K.L. Belanger
Narrator: Jonathan Waters
Heroes: Bo Sanford/Erick
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: Book – 253 Pages / Audio – 6 hours, 43 minutes
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: Book – Feburary 1010, 2013 / Audio – September 22, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Audible and iTunes
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: On the cusp of his twenty-fifth birthday, Bo Sanford grows frustrated with his directionless life. Slaving away at his father’s construction company all week and partying every weekend leaves him little time for introspection, but he knows it’s time for a change. When his best friend, Mac, drags him to a college party, Bo catches sight of a girl. But not just any girl—the girl of his dreams: a delicate blonde-haired beauty with a pink scarf and a smile that promises warmth and humor. There’s just one problem: she isn’t a girl.
Even after Bo discovers the truth, he keeps seeing Erick, and the choice to follow his heart despite the obstacles has profound repercussions on not only his sense of self but his relationship with his family and even his job. Being with Erick makes him all the more determined to be his own man and claw his way out from under his father’s thumb.
But Erick faces choices of his own: the choice to get involved with someone redefining his sexuality, the choice to trust again, and even the choice to believe love can last beyond the temporary.(
Review – Book:
Bo is a straight guy – really – who is attracted to this “person” (he thinks it’s a woman) at a party. Well, it turns out it’s a guy, but the two end up talking anyway, and striking up a friendship. Bo, it seems, is not so very homophobic that he can’t conceive of something more, though he’d never thought of it before meeting Erick.
Erick is a psych major who doesn’t listen to his own advice. He’s been burned badly in his past, and though he sees himself as a “helper to those in need,” he doesn’t see a permanent relationship in his near (or even distant) future. He agrees to see Bo, as friends, and the two end up very close.
On a day, when everything bad seems to happen at once, Bo and Erick take their relationship to the next level. It’s everything Bo thought it would be, and he’s hopeful about the future. He doesn’t know how to “come out” but Erick urges him to keep it quiet until he’s more secure about their relationship. This will come to haunt the pair down the line.
Meanwhile, at work, things are spiraling downward for Bo, and he has to make a tough decision: stay with his jerk of a father as his employee or strike out on his own, possibly losing jobs for his friends. Erick would be there to help with this decision, but he’s tackling ghosts of his own past.
When the dust finally settles, Erick has tackled his ghosts (somewhat) and Bo has made his decision (as well as come out) and the pair decide to try to go forward in what can only be called a solid HFN, probably HEA.
**
Let me say that my first impression of the cover and the blurb were a bit misleading. I thought it was going to be more of a transsexual/transgender/transvestite type book. There is nothing of that in this book. Erick is only vaguely feminine and does not ever cross-dress or even wear make-up.
I really liked the beginning of this book, up to about the 60% mark. It was a slow burn, but it beautifully built up their relationship in a way that I haven’t seen a lot of GFYs do. They were truly friends first, and only with careful consideration, did they move forward. It seemed very organic and realistic.
From that point forward, however, it sort of disintegrated for me. I had a hard time understanding Erick’s reluctance to trust Bo – yes he’d had some really bad relationships in his past, but it’s now been literally weeks/months of them being together. Surely he could at least talk about these things, or hint at them. He’s a psych major for Pete’s sake. I also felt the absence of sex was a little unrealistic. The author talks about the MCs having erections all the time, suggesting the attraction, but there are pages and pages of only dialog. It seems to me that two guys hot for each other would at least acknowledge the attraction and make a “plan” if nothing else.
I really disliked where it was left at the end. It felt so unsatisfying. After the immense build up of friendship, a brief moment of togetherness, a separation, a reconciliation and then the finale, the last 40% seemed disproportionately rushed, especially when there was so much for them to overcome. Though we did get one final closure scene, it was brief and not very fulfilling.
So, for a new author, I was definitely impressed. I would look for more from her in the future, but I did have some complaints with the story arc itself. Her writing was nice and flowed well, and I’m looking forward to seeing what she produces next.
I would recommend this as a quiet love story where the back stories overshadow the sex. It would be really age-appropriate for a YA/NA grouping.
3.5 of 5 stars
Review – Audio:
Jonathan Waters is new for new as a narrator, and he did a nice job. He is one of the narrators who does not do a lot of voice changes or “acting,” but his reading was solid and clear, easy to listen to and immerse in the words of the author.
3.5 of 5 stars
Overall Impression: I liked it!
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*
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