Reviewed by Christian (Brianna)
AUTHOR: L.A. Witt
NARRATOR: Charlie David
PUBLISHER: Lori Witt
LENGTH: 8 hrs and 4 mins
RELEASE DATE: 10/26/2015
BLURB:
For the last year, Jay Warren has struggled to find the nerve to tell his wife he’s gay. Every time he gets the chance, though, he freezes up. He’s ashamed of hiding it all this time, he doesn’t want to hurt her, and the guilt has been almost unbearable.
When his wife dies suddenly, Jay’s conscience threatens to eat him alive.
Funeral director Scott Lawson deals with the bereaved every day, and he’s all too familiar with the inside of the closet. He offers Jay some much-needed compassion and understanding, and from that connection comes a friendship that quickly – perhaps too quickly – turns into something more.
But are grief, guilt, and loneliness the only things tying them together? Or, will Scott get fed up with being used as an emotional crutch before Jay realizes what he has?
REVIEW:
Jay gets some horrible news one night while pacing the living room trying to figure out how to tell his wife that he is gay. The night before his wife’s burial, he find solace and a friend in funeral director Scott. He accidentally let’s his secret out to his late wife’s unsuspecting parents one night while on a drunk rant. The rest of the story is about Jay trying to come to terms with his guilt about not telling his wife, coming out to family and friends, and his and Scott’s budding friendship.
Let me start off by saying what a wonderfully written and narrated book! Scott and Jay were very well thought out, planned out and portrayed. Jay is dealing with some very real situations that shouldn’t be taken lightly and they sure weren’t. Their romance didn’t just go from 0 to 10 in a matter of minutes, which was what I had been dreading might happen. It starts out as a tentative friendship between two men and evolves into love as the story progresses. The relationship in itself blooms quickly after his wife’s death, but the two talk a lot about it to try and understand these quickly growing feelings they have for each other.
Even though Jay is grieving for his late wife, the book has a light heartedness to it. Of course I teared up a few times, but it doesn’t have an overall dark feeling like some books about death have. Just sort of romantic and bittersweet. Scott and Jay are both very believable characters with ordinary jobs and ordinary lives. They aren’t super rich and have their own loveable personalities. The sex scenes are amazingly hot and have just the right amount of romance. I loved how L.A. Witt portrayed thoughts in Jays head, especially when he was anxious or nervous. Anyone who has anxiety or panic disorder can relate. Especially when Jay wants to get out of something, trying to think of anything possible to get out of it, no matter how far fetched the ideas may seem. There are so many times I have done that same thing, I can totally relate.
Charlie David did such a wonderful, amazing, outright astounding job with this book! After listening to him I want to go out and listen to all of the books he has ever narrated. I love his voice. His voice acting is so on point, when Jay starts to cry in the book, I start to cry. I was nervous when he spoke nervously, and I was happy when he was happy. He made Jay’s and Scott’s relationship come alive, the silly banter, serious talks, and the sex… ohhh the sex! I felt like I was actually there, in the story, watching everything that went on. Normally I would have at least one thing for a narrator to work on, but I have nothing for Charlie. He did very well.
Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who wants the perfect blend of romance, feelings, and sex. I dare anyone to find fault with Charlie’s narration!
BUY LINKS:
Thanks for the review! I have the book and audiobook but was hesitant to start (I thought it may be too angsty). Will definitely push to listen to it sooner.
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