Release Day Review: The Third Date by Matthew J Metzger #Review #Giveaway

Title: The Third Date
Series: Starting Over #4
Author: Matthew J Metzger
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Publication Date: March 31, 2020
Length: 218 pages 

Reviewed by Sammy


Synopsis

Their boyfriend is the only thing these two men have in common…

Gabriel’s accident means he needs constant supervision while he recovers, and Aled can’t just quit his job. So when Gabriel refuses to stay in hospital any longer, Aled resorts to emotional blackmail and recruits Gabriel’s long-distance boyfriend, Chris Wheeler, to come and set up shop in their home as an all-in-one nurse, housekeeper and general distraction from the slow progress of recovery.

But while Aled expected to have to get used to having Gabriel’s terminally shy boyfriend around the house, he didn’t expect the effect Chris has on Gabriel—and on Aled.

Is this just two couples under one roof, or is there something bigger waiting to be discovered?

Purchase Links

Pride Publishing

Amazon

Review

A bike ride home from work is about to shatter the life Gabe has and possibly change it forever. One rainy night Gabe is heading home just like every other night but this time a freak accident will land him in the hospital facing weeks of recovery and a torturous time trying to correct the “kindhearted” staff he is not a woman but a man. At the end of his tether, miserable and fighting off panic attacks, he puts his foot down and insists he be brought home to do his final stages of recovery. The only problem is the accident has left him with crippling vertigo and he cannot be left alone. Aled can’t stay at home to care for him but there is someone who can.

Chris may love where he lives but he hates his job and he misses his boyfriend Gabe like crazy. When Aled offers him not only a place to stay but a small salary to be Gabe’s private “nurse” he jumps at the opportunity. But can two men who both love the same man they are caring for coexist under one roof without killing each other?

In the fourth book of Matthew J. Metzger’s Starting Over series, The Third Date, the author explores the idea of a triad relationship and focuses on watching how the two men who love Gabe cope not only with each other but with their vastly different approaches to sex. Being asexual and finding the actual aftermath of sex pretty abhorrent, Chris nonetheless has urges he must tend to and the unique way he and Gabe deal with them may be a bit disturbing to some—it definitely is to Aled. But Aled has grown as a partner and lover and has truly adopted this live and let live attitude when it comes to Chris and how much he and Gabe love each other.

While there is little to no real angst in this story there is an incredible window into how Chris copes with being around Aled and dealing with the infrequent sexual urges with Gabe. Then there is the fact that Aled slowly realizes that having Chris in their lives is something he may not be willing to give up when Gabe is recovered enough to be on his own. It’s not sexual for Aled but the friendship that develops between he and Chris becomes so strong that he recognizes he doesn’t want to lose it. But Chris is a fish out of water up north where Aled and Gabe live and unless he can somehow convince them to move closer to where he calls home then the ideal living arrangements will have to end.

The strength of The Third Date lay in the way that the author narrows in on the idea that three men can live in harmony and grow to depend on each other while sex between the three is not the binding factor. Instead it is mutual respect and friendship that tightens the bonds between Aled and Chris and their mutual love for Gabe that is the lasting glue that seals their relationship. I love how Aled really encourages Chris to not overthink his sexuality or condemn himself as a freak for liking sex in the only fashion he found acceptable. Once again it was all about consent and if Gabe was okay with he and Chris’ arrangement than Aled had no qualms about it---even if it was the polar opposite to something he would be comfortable with himself.

I really enjoyed watching this threesome learn to live together and love each other—it says so much about platonic brotherly love and relationships that can exist inside the spectrum. Love is love and this author writes his stories with that truth foremost in mind.

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Random Review: The Divorce by Matthew J. Metzger #Review #Giveaway

Title: The Divorce
Series: Starting Over #1
Author: Matthew J. Metzger 
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Publication Date: September 10, 2019
Length: 204 pages 

Reviewed by Sammy 


Synopsis

Sometimes life has to fall apart before it can be put back together.

Aled is in a rut. Thirty-three, separated from his wife and avoiding his best friend so he doesn’t have to see how well her love life is going doesn’t make for a good time. So, when a friend suggests a one-night stand to shake off the dust, Aled decides to play along. Maybe some no-strings-attached sex is exactly what he needs to get himself going again and give him the energy to get his life back on track.

But when Aled’s dominant streak meets Gabriel’s flirtatious submission, the one-night stand rapidly spills over into the following days and weeks. And what started out as just sex doesn’t stay that way for long, from the flour fight in Aled’s kitchen to the homemade curry in Gabriel’s flat.

Happiness is right in front of him—but Aled has to stop looking back if he wants to reach it.

Purchase Links

Pride Publishing 

Amazon

Review

Aled has always understood and supported his wife’s need for an open marriage. While he never felt the need to indulge with other partners, he would never have refused the woman he loved that decision. Theirs was a good marriage—one built on love—until it wasn’t. A devastating discovery would splinter the relationship between Aled and his wife, Melissa. Suddenly faced with the fact that she had presented him with divorce papers nearly a year after they split up, Aled now realizes that his marriage is over and cannot accept it.

On a drunken outing with his best friend Suze and her boyfriend, Tom, Aled gives in to Tom’s suggestion and signs up for what he thinks will be a grindr date one-off. But the beautiful man he meets, Gabriel, is not just a one night proposition because Aled finds himself drawn to the man. Can Gabriel fill the void left behind by Aled’s wife? Can entering into some sort of relationship with another poly-loving man be just what Aled needs to get over his wife and finally admit that she is never going to come back?

Matthew J. Metzger once again gives us fascinating characters, this time with a polyamorous twist, in his novel, The Divorce. Featuring a transgender man, Gabriel, and a lonely and desperate ex-husband, Aled, the story explores how the two begin to trust one another and discover much about themselves in the process. This is a raw and visceral story—much like a few others Mr. Metzger has written and it is not for the faint of heart or someone looking for a warm and fuzzy romance. Gabriel likes sex—needs it to feel right in his own skin and refuses to be tied down to just one man no matter how much he may like the guy. He also needs it rough—BDSM is his go to happy place and Aled is willing and able to give him that.

However, Aled grapples with some guilt issues over his own darker and more violent tendencies and must always be certain that when playing with Gabriel he never crosses any line that would hurt the man or make him uncomfortable. The two are pretty perfect together in terms of their sexual likes and needs. Unfortunately Aled just can’t seem to let go of his wife or actually sign those divorce papers she has given him. It would mean he had failed—and since he has loved Melissa since they were teenagers that sense of messing up cuts him very deep.

The Divorce really examines just how deeply our sense of worth is tied to loving someone else even when the love we once had has diminished over time. It also pushes at what we feel is the “normal” type of relationship and how that can be so very different for each individual. When I said earlier this is not your typical romance I wasn’t joking. For some you may have to park your preconceived notions about polyamory and BDSM at the door and enter the world the author has created—it is dark, at times, intense and sexually charged. But, if you are able to enter into this world and experience these characters as they are without judgement I think you will really enjoy what this story has to offer—I know I certainly did.

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Random Review: Coffee by Matthew J. Metzger #Review #Giveaway

Title: Coffee
Series: A Cup Of John #2
Author: Matthew J. Metzger
Publisher: NineStar Press
Cover Artist: Natasha Snow
Publication Date: August 19, 2019
Length: 69100 words 

Reviewed by Sammy


Synopsis

When Chris’s stepfather passes away and leaves Chris a house and a wedding ring, it seems like the perfect opportunity to take the next step in his relationship with John.

So, they’re both in for a nasty shock when Chris’s mother is vehemently opposed to the idea. Despite three years of history to prove otherwise, she insists that John is only a temporary feature in Chris’s life, and a man like him can’t be expected to stay with someone like Chris in the long run.

Can Chris persuade her that she’s wrong in time for the wedding—or will there be an empty space in the photographs?

Links

NineStar Press

Amazon

Review

Matthew J. Metzger’s new novel, Coffee, picks up where the first in the Cup of John series ended a few years later with the relationship between John and Chris stable, happy and committed. Chris has managed to get through the battery of psychological tests the medical field has thrown his way and has just had top surgery and is now on daily doses of testosterone easing his transition from female to male. His body dysphoria is almost a thing of the past and life for John and Chris couldn’t be better. Then Chris’ stepfather dies and leaves him a crumbling family home which Chris immediately falls in love with and convinces John to begin renovating. Not to be content with just the upheaval of moving house, Chris also finds himself making a startling decision to ask John to marry him and the chaos of planning a wedding along with home restoration becomes the norm for the two men.

Everyone is thrilled for John and Chris except Chris’ mother. She is struggling with past and present guilt and shoves all her negative thoughts onto poor Chris who is shattered to realize his own mother may think he is just too much to handle and too disabled to be loved.

Once again Mr. Metzger offers us a novel that is character driven, emotionally intense and perhaps the most beautiful of love stories I have ever had the joy to read. While the angst level may seem low in this novel initially, it’s the family dynamic that brings the real drama to the story. Chris has no idea that the death of his stepfather will produce such conflicting emotions not only in himself but in his mother. It’s that feeling of relief that the death of a loved one sometimes brings after they have suffered and changed through a devastating physical and mental illness that both Chris and his mom must grapple with. Thankfully, Chris has John who understand his grief and his guilt and helps him through. But Chris’ mother has no one and a stunningly hurtful reaction to the news that her son has proposed to his boyfriend of three years threatens to destroy her relationship with Chris.

This book has layer upon layer of emotions all highlighting the guilt that past decisions and present actions have on a person. It exposes just how much we can keep the pain we once felt from those decisions in our hearts only to have it spring forward almost as fresh as the day it occurred. Coffee not only embraces what life is like when we are able to lay past demons to rest but clearly warns us about what can happen when we have not resolved them fully. While there is such great joy in this story there is also the realization that with just a few words we can make what should be a beautiful thing into an ugly moment of family conflict. Once again this author takes on all the tangents that can arise from just one harsh moment and exposes how much they can affect us and our relationships.

Coffee is a powerful romance that highlights the difficult journey getting to a lovely happy ever after. For those who read the first novel in this series, this second book is a must read and I think will thrill those who are familiar with John and Chris’ life together.

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