New Release Review: The Ball Boy by Lucas Guard #Review #Giveaway

Title: The Ball Boy
Author: Lucas Guard
Publisher: NineStar Press
Publication Date: March 2, 2020
Length: 90 pages

Reviewed by Michael

Synopsis

Devastated by the death of his father, Gage, an artist with a secret life, struggles to find his way back to “normal”. When rising baseball star Caleb arrives at his door, an unlikely romance simmers between them, but a cowboy coach, with major league ambitions of his own, will stop at nothing to keep them apart. Tempers flare as their deepest secrets are unearthed and the two must choose between chasing their dreams or embracing their newfound love.

Purchase Links 

NineStar Press

Amazon

Review

This is one of those reviews that’s incredibly difficult to write.  Not because the book is poorly written.  Far from it, in fact.  For a novella that doesn’t have a lot of page space to really flesh out the characters, there’s a lot of characterization for the MC, Gage.

The survivor of a car accident that claimed the life of his father and, currently, the use of his arm, Gage spends his days in a guilt-ridden Percocet and alcohol haze.  His job at the local drag bar has been reduced to doorman due to his injuries.  Packages keep arriving at his doorstep, addressed to his father, of things the latter ordered prior to his passing.  One of those “packages” comes in the form of Caleb, a baseball player for the local Minor League team.  Before his death, Gage’s father had apparently signed them up to be the host family for one of the players.

Despite the Percocet haze, or maybe because of it, the reader truly gets a sense for the depths of Gage’s pain and guilt.  Your heart truly aches for him.

No, the issues I had were two-fold.

First, everything happens fast.  I understand that, as a novella, there isn’t always a lot of “real estate” to truly flesh out everything.  With that said, this is one of those books that could use a longer page length.  The writing is really good, but the characters and story suffer because there isn’t enough time to build them up, especially Caleb.

The second issue is the decisions made by the characters.  I understand the concept of going where the characters lead when writing.  I also get that you don’t make the most rational decisions when your high on drugs and drunk on wine.  That said, there are a couple of scenes that really had me scratching my head.  (Or crossing my knees because the museum scene was painful to read.  Not because it was poorly written, but because of content)

In the end, I think that if this book were a full-length novel as opposed to a novella, the author would have had more room to tell a really great story.  And, leave out the museum scene.

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Review Tour: Addiction by Roberta Blablanski #Review #Giveaway

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Length: 44,000 words approx.

Blurb

Addiction can destroy your life. But if you destroy addiction, can you get your life back?

At twenty-eight, Owen Fredrikson is homeless, unemployed, and grappling with drug addiction. Before he let drugs take over his life, he had a pretty sweet job working the front desk of a fancy hotel, his boss was his best friend, and he had a loving fiancé.

After three years together, thirty-three-year-old middle school math teacher Dex Atterbury could no longer ignore Owen’s demons. Dex made the tough decision to part ways, leaving Owen destitute and Dex heartbroken.

When tragedy befalls Owen and Dex is called to his side, Owen has some tough decisions to make. Both men must determine how far they are willing to go to rebuild the life they once shared.

Can Owen conquer his addiction while facing his demons? And can Dex open his heart and trust Owen again?

Content Warnings:
Depictions of drug addiction, drug use and abuse, and drug withdrawal
Scenes of violence

Review

I am sorry to say that because this story was rather piecemeal in giving the needed background on both Owen and Dex, how they fell in love and how Owen managed to fall so far down the rabbit hole, it is rather hard to give a synopsis that doesn’t ruin the story for the next reader. Suffice it to say they met on a formal dating roulette game at a hotel that Owen worked at, fell hard for each other and eventually were to be married but by then Owen was so far into his need for pain meds that he essentially bankrupted their marriage fund and Dex finally had to tell him to leave. Before long Owen was jobless, homeless, and destitute. Dex was dealing with a broken heart and trying not to imagine what may have happened to the man he still loved.

In more ways than one I wanted Addiction by Roberta Blablanski to be a full length novel rather than a sparse novella. There was so much to build on with both Owen and Dex, from the evolution of their relationship to the backstory on just how Owen got addicted to pain meds. This author had begun writing riveting characters who shared the pain of living with an addiction that robbed them of each other, stole Owen’s sense of self-worth, and destroyed Dex’s one true love. With the barest of intermingling plot threads, this story told how a shattered relationship can start anew if the person who destroyed it finally cares enough to put their love for self and others above their love for drugs.

There was so much that could have been gone well with this book had the author taken the time to weave the story in a straightforward way rather than jumping from one memory to another and leaving the reader trying to piecemeal together the evolution of Dex and Owen’s life together. Flashbacks can work really well if you have enough of a story surrounding them so that they become a seamless part of the overall story arc. In this case, we learned about Owen through his memories--but never fully and never in great detail. After a while getting only snippets of the past doesn’t make for a great foundation to understand who the person is in the present day. It was so frustrating because those flashbacks gave us a shadowy image of two men who were very much in love and who tried to hang on despite Owen’s growing need to seek oblivion through pain meds. I wanted to know more about those guys but alas the story remained choppy and half-formed.

Addiction has so much potential. I wish the author had taken the time to really develop this story and fully flesh out her characters. If that had happened this review would have been so very different.

 

Author Bio

Roberta Blablanski hails from The Big Easy: New Orleans, Louisiana. She draws inspiration from her colorful hometown and her former life as a college radio DJ. When she isn’t writing, she spends her days searching for the world’s best Bloody Mary and avoiding people she went to high school with. Her normal habitat is curled up in bed with a good book and a cup of coffee.

Roberta developed a love of books at an early age, spending her summers at the library. Years later, after watching the American version of the television show Queer as Folk, she began searching for books featuring queer characters finding love. Most recently, she began writing queer love stories of her own, drawing from her own personal experiences and creating characters and story lines as vibrant as her ever-changing hair color.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

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Random Review: Breaking The Habit by J.P. Bowie #Review #Giveaway

Author: J.P. Bowie
Book: Breaking The Habit 2nd edition
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Publication date: August 8, 2017
Length: 97 pages


Reviewed by Jenn


Synopsis

A gambling addiction isn’t bad enough? Throw in a not-so-sudden interest in guys and Mike Peterson’s life is about to get really complicated!

Mike Peterson is determined to break the gambling habit that resulted in two failed marriages, no money, no job, plus almost getting himself and his brother killed when loan sharks came looking for the money he’d borrowed.

In addition, he’s recently been having some doubts about his own sexuality. When his gay brother suggests he get in touch with an old friend, recently out police officer Larry Bertoni, Mike is at first leery of the idea, and their first meeting isn’t exactly ideal.

They decide to meet again and this time more of what they are and what they could mean to one another is revealed during their time together. They begin a tentative friendship that graduates to a first, fumbling attempt at romance.

Can they find the secure relationship they both want, or will Mike’s addiction and lack of self-esteem hinder what could possibly be salvation for both men?

Buy Links

Pride Publishing

Amazon

Review

Mike Peterson is having a rough time, he is struggling with a gambling addiction and is coming to terms with his attraction to men. Mike certainly doesn't do anything the easy way, but with the support of a love mother and an awesome brother, he's trying really hard to get back on track.

Larry Bertoni is Mike's sisters ex boyfriend. Larry is a police officer with the LAPD. Larry has his life together, but is also treading into some new waters. Larry has decided to pursue his attraction to men also. After helping Mike and his brother out of a situation Mike's gambling put them in, Larry and Mike decide to meet for dinner.

While Larry has some experience dating men, this is all new to Mike. Mike is floundering, he has no job, his gambling addiction and now he's trying to date a man. Their first attempt does not go very well, but Mike and Larry don't give up. They have a connection they both believe is worth trying to see through. They hit some bumps along the way, but eventually see their way through.

This is book 2 in this series, the first is Fear and Loving in Las Vegas. You should definitely read book 1 before reading Breaking The Habit.

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