Can a priest and a rock star obey love’s call?Seventeen years ago, Jasper Hendricks and Nicholas Blumfeld’s childhood friendship turned into a secret, blissful love affair. They spent several idyllic months together until Jasper’s calling to the Catholic priesthood became impossible to ignore. Left floundering, Nicky followed his own trajectory into rock stardom, but he never stopped looking back. looking back.
Today, Jasper pushes boundaries as an out, gay priest, working hard to help vulnerable LGBTQ youth. He’s determined to bring change to the church and the world. Respected, admired, and settled in his skin, Jasper has long ignored his loneliness.
As Nico Blue, guitarist and songwriter for the band Vespertine, Nicky owns the hearts of millions. He and his bandmates have toured the world, lighting their fans on fire with their music. Numbed by drugs and fueled by simmering anger, Nicky feels completely alone. When Vespertine is forced to get sober, Nicky returns home to where it all started.
Jasper and Nicky’s careers have ruled their lives since they parted as teens. When they come face to face again, they must choose between the past’s lingering ghosts or the promise of a new future.
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<3 Love This Book #BlastFromThePast
This book is literally one of my all time favorite books!! I could read it over and over, it’s really that great!! Growing up together, separating and coming back together, healing and love, so much tender love!! A must read!!!
This is a review of the audiobook.
Performance 5 stars
Story 5 stars
I have the best book hangover!
I’ve had Vespertine as an ebook in my library for quite some time and I’m not exactly sure why I hadn’t gotten around to reading it. When one of my favorite audiobook performers recorded this for Leta Blake I knew I had to listen to it.
I haven’t read anything by Leta Blake that I didn’t love and I haven’t listened to anything performed by Michael Ferraiuolo that I didn’t love; Vespertine didn’t break this record. It’s f**king fantastic. The story had me tied up in knots at times but I knew there would be an HEA.
Second chance stories and friends to lovers are romance crack for me and Vespertine has both tropes. Throw in a priest who can’t resist temptation and it’s a trifecta. A note of warning: the book deals with heavy subjects and includes references to drugs and addiction.
I felt so bad for both Jasper and Nicky. They really had loved each other when they were teens but certain things conspired to keep them apart.
The life that Nicky turned to was a wild one but now he’s ready to get off of that wild ride and stay sober. Vespertine doesn’t romanticize drug use; in fact, it points out the daily struggle that Nicky has to deal with to overcome his addiction.
Jasper loves serving God and he loves his work with LGBTQ youth. But when Nicky returns home he begins to question if he really has to sacrifice the love he has for Nicky in order to serve God.
Vespertine really hit me with all of the feels that I love in a romance and now I have the best book hangover. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of the fantastic voices that Michael Ferraiuolo does for this, and every other book I’ve listed to him perform.
A copy of this audiobook was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author or narrator.
***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***
What a wonderful, incredible, moving book!
Leta Blake tugs at my heartstrings like few other authors can, and her books rarely fail to make me cry! This was no different, there were many times during the book when I found myself teary-eyed, both at the beginning, when Nicky’s still so angry at Jazz and spills his guts to him to spew out all of his resentment, and towards the end, when they’re trying to sort things out between them and outside interferences bring so much heartbreak!
I have had this in my Kindle forever, and always held off reading it for fear it would wreck me; for some reason I thought listening to it narrated by Michael Ferraiuolo was a great idea… And it was, even if it did, indeed, wreck me!
Both Jasper and Nicky are wonderful characters, they both got into my soul in different ways. Jazz’s calm and faith that everything is going the way it should and will eventually be OK is soothing, even if it’s so far from me I had a hard time sharing it sometimes. Nicky was more of a kindred spirit to me: his turmoil, rage, panic, and all the incredible whirlwind of emotions he constantly feels now that he’s sober made me want to hug me and tuck him away to keep him safe.
Again, an incredible book that is now added to the growing list of everything by Leta Blake I read and loved!
I ached reading this book. I also played hooky to read it because I needed to see Nicky and Jazz’s HEA. 🙂
One of the first mm books I read and I was so torn for Jasper. I couldn’t put it down until I knew how it ended.
A haunting read!
Can a priest and a rock star obey love’s call?
Gosh, I have no clue how to start off this review or even how to end it off. My heart and body went through all the experiences the characters faced with the characters – such an extensive, fulfilling journey.
I must say after reading this book, I’m so emotionally exhausted and grieving too but so happy with the ending. Kudos to the authors for writing such a read.
Full of rock stars, priests, drugs, addiction, music, pain, friendship and love.
Perfect for readers of contemporary romances.
4.25 stars
Heat Rating: 4
Narration: 4.5
An intense second chance romance against unusual odds!
What a rollercoaster of a read! So raw, real and conflicting. I felt for both Jasper and Nicky and their individual POVs but my heart went out to Nicky and his struggles with drugs and alcohol. Leta & Indra don’t shy away from the harsh realities of substance abuse and their honesty shines through these characters and only endeared me more to Nicky and his “real-life” struggles.
I felt the sparks and innocence between Jasper and Nicky as kids and followed their different parts and hurt into adulthood. They each chose their path and while they went in different directions their souls were always linked. Coming back together was something sweet, challenging and heartwarming as much as it was heartbreaking.
While I liked the honesty of Jasper’s story and what is involved in the Catholic Priesthood, there were parts of the story that had that “preachiness” that was hard to read sometimes. This did, however, reflect the truth of Jasper’s situation as a celibate gay priest. I did find it hard (as I do with the Catholic religion in general) to link a God of Love with a God who condemns who you love but that’s the way with a lot of religions.
All in all, this was a powerfully raw read, of epic second chances and finding a new path for your heart, love, and passion along the way! Just Beautiful!
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The story was too slow for me
Enjoyed this book very much
I finished this book, then started it all over again. The characters were lovely, likable, believable. Heartbreaking, with a happy ending.
Good read. Didn’t think I would like it. but boy was I wrong I loved it! Had to stop reading several times I was so caught up in it I had to stop to collect my thoughts I was so involved with the story. Will read again…
mf
Enjoyed this one because it was different from most other gay love novels.
A book like this comes along once every ten years, if you’re lucky… I loved it!
5 Hungover Stars
I bought this book on July 2016 and I hadn’t had the chance to read it, so when offered the chance to review the audiobook, which is narrated by Michael Ferraiuolo, who is one of my favorite narrators ever, I jumped at the chance and I also kind of roped one of my co-bloggers into reading it with me.
Mari: My next audiobook has the potential to crush me and it has great reviews, so I’ll let you know how it goes.
Tracy: Okay. I have no clue what I want to read. Everything is so blah.
Mari: I’m so sorry. … You could read Vespertine with me and we can cry together. LOL *Copies blurb for Vespertine on chat window*
Tracy: Wow, that sounds awesome.
But then she said she was going to re-read another favorite and we left it at that. Fast forward to the next day:
Tracy: Is this book supposed to have a happy ending. He’s a priest?!
Mari: Yes and yes.
Mari: omg, I’m just starting Nico’s part and damn, this is so painful. This book is going to crush us, isn’t it?
Tracy: I think so
I could go on and on, I have two days filled with us going back and forth about this book. We pretty much agreed on what we love (Nicky and his parents) and what or rather who we didn’t like as much (Jasper).
Nicky’s story broke my heart. Pretty much from when he was abandoned in a dumpster to when we first met him and seeing what drugs have done to him to finding out that things started going from bad to worse for Nicky after Jasper suddenly decided to end their romantic relationship and become a priest. I wanted to cuddle him and make it better and tell him how proud I was that he was determined to fight against his addiction. I wanted all kind of wonderful things for him, because I felt he deserved it after he’d gone through so much. And then we have Jasper, who I (and Tracy) wanted to punch or slap or scream at during most of the book. His holier-than-thou attitude certainly didn’t help matters and I think Nicky summed up perfectly what I thought of him:
He still looked like a halo was smeared all over him. It wasn’t fair. He was a smug, self-righteous, asshole who’d made choices based on bullshit and ruined their fucking lives for it.
While I didn’t dislike Jasper as much the last 30% of the book, I found it difficult to completely let go of my resentment that his half-assed apology to Nicky for believing his mother over what he knew about Nicky, and for not talking things through with him before leaving him to follow his calling. I was really angry over this, mostly because of this:
Mari: Omg, this: So, Jasper is all, well, I’m sorry you’re angry, and I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you, but following my calling wasn’t all that bad for me.
Then Nicky, well, it was for me, I’m a junkie and a whore and I can’t even make decent music any longer. I’m mostly paraphrasing here, but you get the gist.
Tracy: Yes. Poor Nicky
Mari: and Nicky says this and my heart is breaking all over the place:
I’d give that all up. I’d give every last bit of it up for you, but you never felt the same. So who isn’t able to love, Jasper? Maybe your mom had the wrong boy.
Tracy: Yes!!! He speaks the truth
After that, I was expecting more than just Nicky brushing it off and forgiving Jasper. I was waiting for Jasper to make a huge grand gesture, which I guess he sort of did, even if it wasn’t as grand as I would have liked, but okay, I guess it could’ve been as bad as what I expected, which thankfully didn’t happen.
One thing I can’t deny is Nicky’s love for Jasper, and while it took me a long time to believe Jasper really loved Nicky as he deserved to be loved, I ended up thinking he did and that they actually had a shot at their HEA. They were undeniably hot together and their chemistry and the UST were out of this world, so there’s that.
I loved Nicky’s parents and Ramona, they were just amazing. I loved Lizzie and Jason, too. They were all great supporting characters. I didn’t like Mrs. Wells and how judgmental she was of Nicky, although I guess she got better in the end. And of course, I hated Jasper’s mother until almost the end of the book, when she had a bit of a turnaround and I actually cheered a bit when Jasper finally told her off.
While there were a few things I didn’t love *cough Jasper cough*, there were a lot of things that I did. Leta Blake and Indra Vaughn are a force to be reckoned with when writing together and they made me feel so much for Nicky. Never mind that Michael’s performance was masterful and the depth of the emotions he brought forth with his narration is something I’m not likely to forget any time soon. Definitely a must-read.
ETA: While I had initially rated this book 4.5 Stars, mostly because of my dislike of Jasper, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this book for the last two days to the point that I had to pick one of my favorite go-to reads for when this happens and I’m still hung on Nicky and Jasper’s story, so the new rating reflects that. *sighs*
Fantastic Story & Audible Listen Captivating & Heartfelt!
Vespertine
By: Leta Blake
Narrated by: Michael Ferraiuolo
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the writing and dialogue is outstanding, Leta Blake is a talented author and has a way with words. She created storylines and characters that are interesting and realistic, they were easy to relate to too. The characters were complex and there was amazing character development and the author did a great job bringing you inside their heads to see what they were thinking, feeling and going thru. It was an emotional journey, heartfelt at times, heartbreaking at other times. Nicky and Jasper were childhood friends, their friendship grew and they fell in love. Nicky felt betrayed when Jasper left him to become a Priest. Nicky becomes a successful rockstar, he is not happy with his life and is on a path of self destruction, doing drugs and living a wild life. It gets so bad he and his bandmates are sent to rehab, Nicky detoxes and goes home to his adoptive parents to recuperate and stay well. Nicky has a lot of issues and he is finally recognizing and dealing with them. Jasper is the local Priest and Nicky goes to him to make amends which does not go exactly as planned. I admired Jasper’s dedication to his faith and his church, as well as his dedication to the LGBTQ youth even with the church not seeing eye to eye with what he was doing for them. There are some great secondary characters in this book too. I loved how everything plays out in this book, it is well plotted and is captivating from start to end. There is never a dull moment, there is plenty of drama, angst, emotions and a second chance to live and love again, themselves and each other. Leta Blake, thank you for this fantastic story and emotional rollercoaster ride.
I listened to the Audible edition, Michael Ferraiuolo is a terrific narrator and voice artist. He brought these characters to life, giving each their own voice and personality. You could hear how much heart he puts into this as he projects the characters emotions into his performance. He is an entertaining storyteller and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for this great listen
Loved the writing of these authors. Really heartfelt and emotional.