Review by Wency

TITLE: Given the Circumstances

AUTHOR: Brad Vance

PUBLISHER: Kindle Direct

LENGTH: 260 Pages

BLURB:

Two promising college athletes meet, each needing something only the other can give him…

When Roger and Brian lock eyes on the first day of school, a friendship is born. Both men are hungry for connection – Brian needs the acceptance, encouragement and support he never had growing up, and when he finds out his new best friend is gay, it brings his own identity into question. Roger needs a big brother, a best friend, but that will never be enough, especially not when he’s this close to big, strong, handsome Brian.

And both men want something more – careers as professional athletes. For Roger, the demands of the closet, the need to reject the love of a man to fulfill his love of the game, will be a crushing burden. For Brian, his downfall will be the substances he uses to get an edge over the competition, and to suppress his gnawing self-doubt and guilt.

One set of desires will bring them together, the other will force them apart…

REVIEW:

All my mind registered when I started reading this book is that this is all about two young athlete falling in love with each in the constant scrutiny in the world of sports. And if after reading the first sentence of this review you are expecting that this book will be all hearts and flowers then think again.  This book squeezed the right place in my heart for it to ache and used the right words and scenes to make me fall in love with it.

Roger Ehrens is a football athlete and he learned at an early age that he like boys and he also learned to keep a lid on so it would never come out. It’s a lonely place, to be in the closet all alone but it never feel so pronounced before he met Brian.

Brian is a baseball player. He is thirsty for love, someone who can accept him and be proud of him something his father never gave to him. So when he met Roger, it was the friendship that made him to want to work hard and do his best. Soon feeling developed and he have to rethink, he is straight right? (Well I say Brian, labels are overrated)

This book is really a good read for me. I love the rhythm and the flow of the story even with a lot of flashbacks.  It took me a little while to get used to the dual POVs but once I got the hang of it, I started to like the POV shifting in the next paragraph.

Roger and Brian’s characters are pretty well written for me. Their journey in this book is just amazing. I love the sub-characters too. And seeing as this book is set in the Sports world I expected some hate for homosexuality but this would just make you feel good and focus on the struggle of the two main characters instead of the bigotry the world throws at them. How the other faced his demon and regain what we thought he lost, but it was his from the very start.

I really enjoyed this one. I highly recommend this book especially to those who love GFY and MM Sports themed books! My first read from the author and this won’t be the last.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: Amazon smashwords Tower books