“Romance readers will eagerly devour this upbeat contemporary and look forward to Ellis’s next.” –Publishers Weekly Jeremiah Stewart’s sexuality is no one’s business. Not that he’s hiding it. When–if–he finds the right one, he’ll absolutely introduce him to Mom. But a late-night brush with a sexy stranger in too much lip gloss has him rethinking nearly everything… To Collin Galloway, …
To Collin Galloway, direction is a four-letter word. Sure, he hates his job, he hates living with his parents and he really hates watching everyone move on without him. But he doesn’t know what he wants to do, long-term, and he won’t figure it out by thirsting over Jeremiah, the superhot, superintense paramedic who is suddenly everywhere Collin looks.
When Jeremiah’s faced with losing all he’s worked so hard to build, he reluctantly accepts Collin’s help. They’re both determined to stay professional…which works about as well as either would imagine. But Collin only does closets with clothes, and Jeremiah has to decide if he’s finally found the one worth bringing home to Mom.
High Rise
Book 1: Jeremiah
Book 2: André
Also by Jayce Ellis
Higher Education
Book 1: Learned Behaviors
Book 2: Learned Reactions
more
I really liked reading this book. The author delivered a good contemporary book with the writing style to match. Both MC’s Jeremiah and Collin are introverts who are both just coasting through their respective life. Until Jeremiah has to take steps to be in control of his life again. I like how both men are affectionate and loving with eachother. However they both need to deal with their family situations. The side characters aka friends and sone family are also well wriitten. I reconmend this book to readers who like an mm romance with a bit of angst andd a hea/hfn.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Nice series start! Jeremiah, was a closeted paramedic. He worked at his company for over 10 years, to end at a place where they were merging and downsizing at the same time. He was not out to his Mom, his family. During a call one night, he saw a friend of a patient, Collin. Collin, worked as a temp floater in a legal firm. His life was complicated, yet simple. He was hovering, pending the next step in his plan. Both men, saw each other, was attracted and constantly thought of the other. Jeremiah’s life milestone, was introducing his ‘person’ to his Mom. When he met that person, he would come out to hsi family. As time goes by, the baggage becomes heavier and heavier. Jeremiah and Collin, started a one nighter, that became a thing. Will they continue? Will they kick it up a level? Is Collin, ‘the one’ for Jeremiah? Nice story. Excellent set of friends and family. Good storyline. I like the story takes place in DMV and uses real geography! Nicely done. I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This love story is so good. Very relatable characters that seem very genuine and relatable. A great romance that is extremely HOT and you want to be friends with every character. Well done. Compassion and family dynamics felt very real.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
When Jeremiah’s company starts downsizing, he turns to Collin for help with his resumé. With the attraction between them so hot, there’s no way they can keep their relationship professional. Is Collin the guy Jeremiah’s been waiting for—the one who will give him reason to finally come out to his judgmental family?
This book blends literary and commercial fiction. It’s slow to start plot-wise. Yet I enjoyed the characters, as well as the author’s style and unique voice. I became really engrossed in the story, and the ending was worth the time spent.
Thanks, Booksprout, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Jayce Ellis’s Jeremiah was one helluva wonderful, upbeat, and enlightening read. Jeremiah himself is intense, sexy, and one of the most authentic Black male characters I’ve encountered in far too long. (Just another reason I plan to take active steps to read words written by BIPOC authors, not just about BIPOC characters.) It was so refreshing to see a genuine depiction of a Black man without any white-washing (purposeful or not) and void of any stereotypes (again, purposeful or not). Instead, Jeremiah is a relatable, lovable character who respects and loves his family and friends, has a strong work ethic and moral value system, and knows how to truly be there for a person, no matter how that might look from moment to moment.
The running theme of Jeremiah giving Collin “what [he] need[s]” was so heart-wrenchingly beautiful that it brought a literal happy sigh to my lips every time one of those moments came up. He is this perfect combination of sweet, sexy, and in complete control that’ll just leave you breathless. I definitely felt some subtle Dominant/submissive vibes between Jer-Bear (frickin’ adorable nickname from his fam that I just can’t even with) and Collin. It was handled so beautifully. Jeremiah never pushed Collin’s boundaries, and he was always so careful to be sure Collin was taken care of and content.
I honestly can’t recommend this book enough. To anyone who loves words, but especially anyone who loves love. Because Jeremiah and Collin and their journey toward love gave me all the happiest of sighs. Plus, there is some seriously positive LGBTQ+ rep in this book. Something I adore. Yes, there’s some homophobia that results in a bit of violence and some pretty hurtful and widespread ramifications, but it’s handled respectfully and realistically by the author. It isn’t a plot device wedged into the story without purpose, and it doesn’t dictate how the story itself flows. None of the LGBTQ+ characters allow their gender or sexuality to change who they are or how they live their lives—beyond a few small and specific points I won’t mention for spoiler reasons—but even those are character rather than plot driven, so it feels organic and anything but “in your face.” Everything is addressed with care and I commend Ms. Ellis for the clear effort she put into making this story heartfelt and genuine.
Good story from a new-to-me author.
Jeremiah is the first book I’ve read by Jayce Ellis. Based on her Goodreads and Amazon profile, she’s a fairly new author.
Jeremiah was a different sort of book for me and I liked it a lot. I’ve somewhat recently found that I enjoy books that challenge me in one way or another. A lot of the language in Jeremiah wasn’t familiar to me. That could be due to my age and the fact that I’m an over 60 years old, white female. In any case, I found some of the language used in the story challenged me – in a good way.
The romance between Jeremiah, a paramedic, and Collin, a legal secretary, was very compelling. The writer’s style of writing was easy to follow, even when I was unfamiliar with some of the language/terms used in the story. Here’s where I would usually say that the blurb can explain the story better than I can, but in this case, I think the blurb is actually weak and doesn’t do the story justice.
Jeremiah’s large family and Collin’s friends provide an interesting cast of secondary characters and create a lot of complex situations that kept the story interesting. Both of them are having trying times with their jobs, family and friends.
Jeremiah and Collin both have a lot going on in their personal lives and it greatly impacts their relationship. For some reason, I can’t really put into words how much better this book is than the blurb would lead you to believe. If you find the blurb at all intriguing (as I did) then don’t hesitate to pick this book up and read it. It really is so much better than the blurb.
I read Jeremiah in one day with only a short break to fulfill a prior obligation; I didn’t want to put it down and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.
***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***
A couple of nights ago I was scrolling through Twitter, trying to catch up on all the drama at RWA, when in the midst of all the tweets, I spotted one by an author I’d not read before named Jayce Ellis, who tweeted, (and I hope it’s okay to quote her): “So, things around us continue to burn, but this is FINE! Why? Because my debut novel, Jeremiah, is live!!”
And after all the negativity I’d been reading, her comment just resonated with me, because, as writers, that’s what it’s all about. Getting that novel finished, and published, and OUT THERE! So I bought it.
If JEREMIAH is this author’s first novel, I can’t wait to see what else she does, because this story totally captured my attention and definitely improved my state of mind. It was hard to do anything else but read until I’d finished it, and I must admit I was smiling through a lot of it. The lead, Jeremiah, is a strong, steady man, a paramedic who loves his job, loves his family, and is trying to figure out when will be the right time to tell his mama that her son is gay.
Collin comes across as younger, most likely because of his lack of a plan—he’s coasting through life, still living with his parents, hanging out with his two best friends (a brother and sister) and working a job that really isn’t what he wants to do, but it pays the bills so he’s got no incentive to change. Everything changes when he and Jeremiah meet…sort of. Without even exchanging names, Collin is hooked on this beautiful, sexy, dark skinned god who comes to his aid when he’s trying to get his two inebriated friends into their apartment.
I don’t like to give away a story when I write a review, but I will say that the way Collin and Jeremiah develop a sweet and sexy relationship is thoroughly entertaining, and I love the way each of them steps up to be the strength the other needs. This is definitely a “feel good” story, one I’ve already reread just so I could smile when the world isn’t all that conducive to good feelings.
This book is full of them!
My hat’s off to Ms. Ellis, and I imagine she’s going to have one hell of a career ahead of her. So yes, if you love a good M/M romance that’s skillfully written and beautifully told, buy this book. You won’t regret it.
~ 3.5 Stars ~
Jeremiah Stewart is a man whose career, and life, have come to a crossroads. He’s a paramedic, and an excellent one too, but a merger with a new company means the potential for layoffs and in spite of his seniority, there’s no guarantee his position is secure. So he has a decision to make—stick around and hope he avoids the chopping block, or take the severance package being offered and embark on a different career path. As for the moment of truth on the personal front, Jeremiah is faced with a family he loves, a mom he respects and loves dearly…but he’s not out to any of them but his baby sister, Storm. Coming out to his family is a bridge Jeremiah’s never come to, let alone had to cross, because he’s never met anyone he’s wanted to come out for and risk possibly losing those he holds dear. That is, until he meets Collin Galloway.
This novel doesn’t launch with a punch or a dramatic hook. The opening is fairly tame, as a matter of fact, considering it takes place in a strip club. Jeremiah’s there with his best friend, Chucky—I loved me some Chucky—and Chucky’s girlfriend, Veronica. Jeremiah coming back home that night, however, gives way to the setup of his and Collin’s inauspicious first meeting in the elevator of Jeremiah’s apartment building, but it doesn’t end with them hooking up let alone bonding in a meaningful way. The attraction is there, no doubt, but it’s a case of bad timing and Collin being in the wrong headspace for anything remotely warm or welcoming or accepting of Jeremiah’s obvious interest. So they go about their lives but eventually end up being thrown together again, and again it doesn’t end well, but finally they come together in a secondary meet-cute sort of way, which gives way to the heat and some dirty, flirty discourse that makes it obvious their chemistry is totally in sync. But even still, Jeremiah and Collin had some things to work through to make sure they were both on the same page.
Jayce Ellis took her time with this romance, and I appreciated that. This would’ve been a very different book if Jeremiah and Collin had moved at a faster pace, if Ellis had rushed them into sex or a relationship before they’d first cleared up a few things, most especially since Jeremiah suspected that Collin had a boyfriend and was coming on to him anyway. Far from the convenient Big Misunderstanding, though, this was an honest assumption on Jeremiah’s part, based on the evidence he’d seen. But Ryan is not Collin’s boyfriend, he’s Collin’s bestie and they’re generous with their affection, so the mistake worked to keep things neutral until Jeremiah and Collin were ready to move forward naturally.
This novel doesn’t try to be anything but what it is: a love story, a story about living one’s truth, taking chances, and it succeeds at that. Jeremiah is a story about the everyday complications of people doing their best just to live their best lives. Jeremiah and Collin both have family histories that play a role in their character building and the way their relationship grows. Jeremiah faces blatant homophobia from his own brother while Collin is more an inconvenient reminder to his wealthy parents that they are, in fact, his parents. The familial tension added to the job changes for both men mixed in with some uncertainty on Collin’s part, particularly in his friendship with the two most important people in the world to him, Lisbeth and Ryan, ups the drama factor. This isn’t a lighthearted read, but in the end, I liked Jeremiah and Collin both separately and as a couple. Together they were sexy and sweet and overcame the obstacles to their HEA in a solidly satisfying way.
I struggled with this first High Rise book in the beginning. Well, more like about 60% of the way through. There is a lot, and I do mean a lot, of internal monologue. So much so that it felt like I was never going to get to the romance. Jeremiah and Collin clearly have sexual chemistry, and I did start to warm up to Jeremiah when he seemed to prefer taking things slowly with some build-up to intimacy. The blurb hints at an out for you story, but really, the only time Jeremiah seemed to be keeping any secrets is with his immediate family. He has no problem with public displays of affection or even drawing attention to himself and Collin in a crowd of people, so I didn’t really get the out for vibe from this story. There are also a couple of other plotlines going on in the periphery, but some things almost felt like an outline rather than fleshing out those characters and their stories. Nevertheless, by the last half of the book, I had warmed up to these characters, and Jeremiah and Collin had won me over. They are adorable together once they get comfortable with each other and start to figure things out. In the end, there were things I liked and things I didn’t about this one, but this is my first read by Jayce Ellis and I will check out the next in the High Rise series to see how things go. Not everything was all tied up by the end of Jeremiah, so hopefully, we’ll get some answers as the series progresses.
Content notes: Homophobia, scene of hazing
Jeremiah is book one in Jayce Ellis’ High Rise series and was a delightful story all about coming out, starting over, and keeping on. While the first half was rather rocky for me, the characters really shone through in the latter half.
I loved Jeremiah, in particular. His confidence in knowing what he wants–or going after what he may want in the future–just drew me (and Collin) in. He has to decide if coming out is worth the potential backlash from his family.
Collin, on the other hand, is out, but still living with his parents and stuck in a lackluster cubicle job. When he meets the confident and sexy Jeremiah, Collin doesn’t trust that Jeremiah could really be into him.
It took me a moment to really feel these two together, I must say. While the instalust was definitely there, Jeremiah and Collin’s interactions felt cut too short and a lot of it was internal introspection. It made for slow reading, especially considering there are a lot of additional plot threads at play. Collin, in particular, didn’t feel completely fleshed out to me.
That said, by the last half, those threads started to come together and once they did, everything started to click for me. The romantic arc emerges like nobody’s business, and these two have such good, combustible energy and sexual chemistry.
Not everything is tied up neatly at the end, but I assume we may get more answers in book two.
Overall, the focus on family and friendship meshed well with Collin and Jeremiah’s personal journeys. It’s well worth the wait for the romantic spark to ignite. I’d recommend for character-driven romance readers who don’t mind a little more plot-based threads alongside the romantic arc.
3 stars.
*I voluntarily reviewed an arc via the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*