Reviewed by Nikyta

TITLE: Loving Aidan
AUTHOR: Ashavan Doyon
PUBLISHER: Torquere Press
LENGTH: 323 pages, 86k words
BLURB: Samuel Riley is gorgeous – tall, muscular, and intelligent. The girls love him. And so does his roommate, Aidan Flemming. Secretly, of course, because Aidan is as gay as Sammy is straight – and even the out and proud Aidan knows there are limits to Sammy’s acceptance. Cursed to watch as Sammy dates half the co-eds on campus, a lonely Aidan spends his time writing, helping Sammy and his friends survive literature classes, and recovering from a disastrous love affair that left Aidan heartbroken.

But when happiness finally comes for Aidan in the body of his roommate’s fellow rower, all that changes. In Steven, Aidan finds happiness and romance. The rower, a blond, blue-eyed Adonis, makes Aidan feel desired and appreciated. But their very public courtship stirs up controversy and violence, and Aidan’s life gets very complicated.

Attacks rock the campus community, and in the middle of the upheaval, Aidan finds himself noticed by the last person he’d expect. Samuel Riley, his roommate, his impossible dream, and just possibly, a very jealous suitor. But the jealous suitor has a girlfriend. And she is not happy.

REVIEW:

Aidan Flemming is an out and proud, quirky college student. He hasn’t had the easiest life but he’s at least content with where he is now. The only problem is, the one person who would make his life perfect and happy is his roommate, Sammy, who’s straight. Aidan can’t help yearning for Sammy, though, even when he knows there’s no chance there. When Sammy’s friend, Steven, makes increasingly more demanding moves on him, Aidan finally gives Steven a chance. Things are great until Steven makes their courtship public causing a lot of anger and hatred towards gay students to the point of violence. Steven’s fallen for Aidan and Aidan is quickly falling for Steven but when Sammy’s jealousy gets in the way, Aidan won’t put up with it especially since Sammy’s not gay. But when Aidan tells Sammy to prove he’s a better match than Steven, will Sammy be able to accept all it means to be Aidan’s lover? Or will he be too scared to actually own up to his feelings?

I gotta say, this was quite a ride. I started it late in the afternoon one day and then just could not put it down, reading until three or four in the morning. It’s a very entertaining, sweet and enjoyable read. It explores a lot of what Aidan goes through on a daily basis. The stares, snickers, leers that he has to put up with for being who he is. A lot of it is based around Aidan’s love life. Steven’s courtship of him and then Sammy’s demanding and possessive attitude toward him. Two alpha males fighting over one lonely, sweet but confident man. At times, it doesn’t feel very realistic. After all, two jocks (one who’s straight and one who’s closeted) fighting over a literature geek after all this time BUT then again, it didn’t really matter to me. I like this author’s writing and she spun a tale that really grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go.

As I said, Aidan is a very quirky guy. He wears a very sophisticated style of clothing so around college kids, he really stands out. He doesn’t really fit in to any crowd or clique but he’s managed to become friends with very different people to the point that they’re loyal to him and care about him. His inner voice is slightly whiny but also very entertaining. It was sad the way he’d pine over Sammy even when Steven in all his glory was willing to give him everything. Steven is… well.. perfect. I loved him. I was sad for him. He falls hard and he loves hard but he’s such a romantic I just wanted to steal him for myself. Sammy is the opposite of Steven. Where Steven is sweet, gentle and loving, Sammy is more demanding, possessive and rough. It was quite a contrast but, then again, the differences made it worth Aidan’s struggle with his feelings for the two.

I won’t lie and say this book doesn’t have it’s faults. My main issue was that there was too much sex for my tastes. More than that, I felt the emotional and physical connection between Aidan and Steven was more intense than the connection between Aidan and Sammy. Up until the last chapter, Sammy and Aidan’s relationship felt purely physical. There’s a lot of lust but I didn’t FEEL the emotional bond between them that they seemed to have. Not the way I could feel it between Aidan and Steven, at least. Beyond that, there are moments within this book that felt like cheating (although I know most people won’t think of it as such) that I wasn’t comfortable with.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I normally don’t like love triangles but this one intrigued me and I’m glad I read it. It’s been a while since I’ve been kept up reading a book and while this book isn’t perfect, it was still something I really liked. The characters have enough depth that I could understand their feelings and this story covers a lot of school issues such as bullying, gay bashing and a school’s inability to take corrective action. For those looking for something long but engaging, try this one out because you just might like it 😉

Nikyta rates it –

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