Would you live a lie to hold onto the one you love?Dean and Jason are best friends, like brothers since boyhood, now architecture students and college roommates. They’ve always had each other’s back, but when one walks in on the other with another man, everything changes. How do you explain to your best friend that he’s the one you’ve always wanted, that until now your life has been a lie? … lie?
Desperation and shame are two dirty words that run through Jason’s veins. He carries the scars from a wayward priest who stole his innocence and left him shattered. Meanwhile for years he’s watched Dean pursuing woman after woman, as his own heart slowly breaks.
When their world blows apart, they learn the powerful bond between them has more fire than either understood. Can two broken souls find the light in their darkness and come together to make a whole, or will sins of the past be forever unforgiven?
***This standalone is a M/M love story with graphic sex. Trigger warning.
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4.5 Finally coming out and telling your past Stars!
Growing up best friends, Dean and Jason are in their last year of college. Always having each others back, they’ve really been 2 peas in a pod.
When Jason finally admits to himself, after years of abuse, years of trying to forget what happened during his sessions with the priest, years of listening to his mother pray for him, that being gay is what makes him happy. His best friend Dean doesn’t take the news so good.
After all, thinking back to all the years they’ve spent together doing what best friends do, was Dean missing the signals that Jason was sending to him?
It’s hard to come out of the closet for anyone, especially knowing that your family will not support you at all. But when you find a family, that is loving, supportive, and caring, it makes it a lot easier to deal with. Knowing that people who you’ve known your entire life don’t think differently of you now that you are secure enough to admit your love for the same gender.
This is a story of 2 best friends that after some major hurdles, learn to love life just as it was meant to be!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I hated when I had to lay it down.
I think I loved this book. I say think because the story was kind of frustrating for a while at the beginning. I would almost call this more of a “coming of age/coming out while being a New Adult” story than a romance. A good portion of the beginning was about the main characters figuring out who they were. And while they were figuring, there was a lot of hook ups with other people, and I’m not usually okay with that. Though it didn’t seem to bother me too much in this case, at least not as much as usual. But once these two figured out who they needed to be with, the love story was amazing. And Jason’s story broke my heart, I felt so much for everything that he went through.
. . . . Words have kind of left me. My heart is so full of hurt, sadness, anger and of course, love, so much love. I fought with the rating on this, but in the end, I am a total mess, all the feels, good, bad and downright ugly and still floating around and leaving me in a bit of a funk, therefore, this deserves nothing less than 5 stars.
When I saw the teaser for this come across my blog, I was like “YES! I need this!” and somehow convinced my bestie, Ang from PNR Book Lover Reviews to buddy read with me (she will be thinking twice next time lol).
Dual POV normally aren’t my fav, it’s so easy to get lost and forget whose head you are in if it’s not written well. This was not an issue, Ruth’s writing style is incredible. You feel every little (or big) emotion these men go through.
Jason (JJ) and Dean have been best friends pretty much forever, only Jason’s feelings have always been more than just friendship, he has been secretly in love with Dean all along.
Ashamed and damaged from things from his past that has truly fucked with his head and his attraction to men, Jason tries hiding his true self and his true desires by acting like the biggest playboy going around. That’s until one night at a party Dean walks in on him and Roman (aka douchebag.)
Dean is straight, like an arrow straight and assumed Jason is just as straight as he is. Walking in on a guy giving JJ head leaves Dean confused, jealous, angry and more worrying to himself, turned on.
While these two explore their new found feelings, and boy does their exploring get hot enough to melt your kindle and leave you heading for a cold shower, they also tackle some really hard subjects and obstacles. This story takes on a Very angsty, bumpy and brutally heartbreaking real and raw road that will leave you crying, from both gut-wrenching sadness to over the moon happiness, cursing, falling in love to growling at your kindle, and that rollercoaster of feels is totally on repeat.
Without giving too much away, this story will take you on a journey that you won’t be forgetting in a hurry. Jason and Dean are both strong, courageous, real characters that show you, no, makes you feel that Love is Love is Love and love will always have your back.
* ARC PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR FOR AN HONEST REVIEW *
Best friends since early childhood, Dean and Jason remained close into their college years. Then Dean discovers the secret Jason has been keeping. Surviving that news is not nearly as tough as learning the untold disaster that was Jason’s childhood. This is the story of how best friends became fuckbuddies, then lovers, then partners. But the path had lots of unexpected hurdles. Well written. Solid characters. Great story line. I listened to the audio book and found it to be engaging and entertaining. Five stars!
With well drawn characters and a unflinching look at the tragic results of an all-too-common occurance, the abuse of children by supposed “good Christians” and “men o God” of all sects, Unfogiven is in equal parts tragic, heart rendering an uplifting. Hard to read in places It is a book that is well-worth reading.
Ruth always delivers fantastic characters and excellent story-telling. love love love!