Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Behind Closed Doors
SERIES: Browerton University #1.5
AUTHOR: A.J. Truman
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 112 Pages
BLURB:
At Browerton University, a lot can happen behind closed doors.
Two frat brothers can reveal their true feelings. An honor student’s dark past can come to light. Ten hours in a car can turn strangers into lovers. And a coach can teach his star quarterback a very valuable lesson.
Catch up with some familiar Browerton students and meet new ones. Four stories. Four doors. Endless possibilities.
Door Number One: The Whitmore Room (Out in the Open prequel)
Door Number Two: Is There a Porn Star in my Class?
Door Number Three: Road Trip Cone of Silence
Door Number Four: Coach’s Revenge
REVIEW:
Out in the Open is one of those books that I’ve been intending to read forever. Well, at least since it released last year. So when I saw that there was a second story coming out I put my hand up to review it and finally dove into the first book.
Huh. I can see that almost everybody loved Out in the Open, but almost everybody, unfortunately, does not include me. It wasn’t bad but I’m glad I don’t have to review it. I didn’t like Greg, one of the MCs, at all, although I should note that the book itself was well written. And now isn’t that awkward. Guess I should have read the first story before volunteering to review this one. However, had I done that I might have missed out on this very entertaining collection of stories. And that would have been rather tragic.
THE WHITMORE ROOM
First up was The Whitmore Room.
Mason and Greg are extremely close frat brothers. In fact, Mason is Greg’s “big brother”, he looks out for him and has never steered him wrong. Greg can’t believe how lucky he is that someone like Mason, frat President and one of the most popular guys he knows, deigns look after him so well. It’s no wonder that Greg is crushing like mad on his older friend. When a night of drunken revelry leads to much more, Greg is prepared to offer his heart to Mason, but Mason doesn’t react as Greg expects.
This is the prequel to Out in the Open, so it’s no secret that Greg and Mason are not going to get a HEA. Don’t even know who Greg is? That’s fine, but I guarantee you’ll want to read that first book in the series after you finish this.
I thought this was well written for such a short story. If there’s a feeling that the tale is left unfinished well, that’s because Greg has a little while to go before he’ll meet Ethan and find a happier ending. The ending definitely left me with a sense of sadness, not so much for the lack of HEA but for the damage that Mason does to Greg, mentally and emotionally. The Greg here is so different from the Greg in Out in the Open, it was almost painful to read the way Mason broke him.
IS THERE A PORN STAR IN MY CLASS?
Here we find ourselves in the head of Blake Corrigan (for those familiar with Browerton University, he’s the ex boyfriend of creepazoid Preston). The last thing he wants is to meet a new guy, he’s much safer just hanging out with his porn collection for a while. But now he’s convinced a porn star has shown up in one of his classes. Although, now that he thinks about it, this guy’s definitely heavier, hairier and paler than the beautiful and bendy porn star, Austin Cory.
Ok, maybe Blake’s not convinced but he’s sure going to find out.
As soon as you dive into this second story, you can feel that the tone differs from the first. It felt lighter and more fun. Blake causes himself such confusion, falling for Mitchell but becoming distracted from their budding relationship by his need to discover if Mitchell is actually Austin. Both main characters are interesting and totally cute together. If I had to choose one of these stories to be expanded on, it would be this one.
But most importantly, this short story tackles the really important questions, such as – what is a light handjob?
ROAD TRIP CONE OF SILENCE
This story was my favourite in the collection. For those who have read Out in the Open, we have Henry’s story! I was really hoping he’d get his own story but it wasn’t what I was expecting.
Poor Henry has just been dumped by his closeted boyfriend via email. Naturally he’s feeling a bit out of sorts, so when he sees a notice from another student asking for a driving partner to Chicago he decides to do something impulsive and answers the ad. It will be a bit of an adventure. Unfortunately, his partner in this adventure turns out to be less than friendly. Nolan needs someone to travel with him to offset the cost of fuel, but the last thing he wants is a chatty companion who wants to be friends. But being trapped in close confines together for ten hours can really encourage bonding.
This story is about the pain of giving up first loves and just growing the hell up. It’s also the only story that’s written with a dual point of view. While Henry is fighting to convince himself that his ex doesn’t actually want to break up with him, Nolan is dealing with family drama of his own. The two parts of the story flow together easily and there was no confusion as to whom I was hearing from with each point of view change.
The rapid relationship development between the MCs was also convincing and we get some delicious angry sex. The ending was so mushily Hollywood I was half expecting Henry to declare that Nolan “had him at hello”. If only Nolan hadn’t practically grunted that first greeting.
Loved it to pieces!
COACH’S REVENGE
This last story was a whole different kettle of fish! Here we meet Coach (no name necessary, just call him Coach) and the definitely not-so-bright Quarterback of the college football team, Fenton. After a fellow football player comes out to the team, homophobic Fenton sets out to bully him badly enough that lawsuits are threatened. Obviously, the college isn’t keen to dump their star player, no matter what a horrible prick he is. Enter Coach, and his own lascivious brand of punishment.
You can’t take this story too seriously or you’ll probably yank your hair out while screaming – that is just ridiculous! It’s basically a classic straight boy, locker room (though not in the locker room) porno. This one is not a romance but very entertaining none the less. It made me laugh out loud several times as the closeted Coach schools his hot bigoted athlete in why gay men might enjoy “committing acts against what nature intended”.
Final thoughts – I loved this collection of short stories! Each one is very distinctive from the others. It’s almost like a little tasting plate of what this author can do. I actually don’t think you need to have read the first book in the series to enjoy these, although perhaps the bittersweet ending of the first story will be more palatable if you’re aware that Greg does find his happy ending with a very understanding guy. Actually, I think I’d be much more tolerant of Greg’s asshattery now that I’ve read his backstory.
RATING: 
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