Reviewed by Marieke
TITLE: The Long Slide Home
SERIES: The Rainbow League #3
AUTHOR: Kate McMurray
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 204 pages
BLURB:
Nate and Carlos have been the best of friends since their childhood playing baseball together in the Bronx. For the past few years, Nate’s been in love with Carlos, though he’s never acted on it and Carlos has never given any indication that he returns Nate’s feelings. Nate has finally given up, determined to move on and find someone else, especially now that Carlos has shacked up with his boyfriend, Aiden.
Carlos doesn’t understand why Nate has suddenly gotten weird, acting cold and distant at team practice for the Rainbow League. But if that’s how things are going to be, Carlos is done trying to figure Nate out. But then Aiden reveals he has a violent side, and Carlos needs his best friend’s support. On top of that, he starts to realize his feelings for Nate might not be limited to friendship. But in the aftermath of his relationship with Aiden, and with Nate having problems of his own, the timing is all-wrong to make a real relationship work. As emotions run high, both have a hard time figuring out what is real and what is just convenient.
REVIEW:
This is the third book in the series about baseball players of a New York baseball league. In the previous book, ‘Thrown a Curve’, we already saw a few sneak previews of this couple. Their friendship was starting to suffer from Carlos’s relationship with the jealous Aiden.
Carlos has moved in with Aiden, but more because he felt it was the next logical step, than because he really wanted to live with his boyfriend. Aiden changed a lot since then. He doesn’t want to go out anymore, doesn’t have an opinion on what they should eat or watch. But most of all, he’s getting increasingly possessive and jealous of Nate. Carlos and Nate have been friends since they were very little, yet Aiden manages to convince Carlos that Nate is the jealous one and want in Carlos’s pants.
Of course Nate does, but he would never act on it while Carlos in in a relationship.
Their friendship suffers a great deal, and Nate is trying to move on. He tries dating, but that doesn’t turn out well. The guy is beautiful, but dumb as a brick. Carlos doesn’t like Nate dating, but has too much on his mind with Aiden to contemplate why. And so they struggle on, not happy with their lives but not knowing what to do about it.
This story was totally different than the previous two in this series. It’s a bit darker and has more ‘serious’ problems. The physical abuse in only a small part in my opinion. The mental abuse is way more invasive, if you ask me. It undermines your self worth and confidence. It slowly separates you from your friends and family and you end up alone and insecure, so you’re even less likely to leave the person you’re with.
Thank god Carlos gets out before it gets that bad. The first time Aiden hits him, he’s still the typical abuse victim and has all kinds of explanations to reason away the true problem. But the next time it was so obvious abuse, he got out. Aiden shows his true colors again and again after that.
The relationship between Nate and Carlos slowly grows after that, but to me it was still pretty quick after such a nasty break up. Of course the boys have been circling around each other for years and years, so maybe it’s only natural. I would just have more problems with a new boyfriend after something like that…but I’m not a guy.
The build up in this story is very very slow, which I like. What I don’t like is how the abuse is being done. It’s kind of too obvious and feels a tad unrealistic. True abusers are more subtle and ease their ‘victim’ more into it. It might only feel that way because their relationship was already more than a year old when we stepped into their story. We’re being told about how awesome Aiden was before but we haven’t seen it with our own eyes.
Other than that this is another great story in a very good series. Liked it a lot and can definitely recommend it. Hope there will be more books coming about the payers of the rainbow league.
RATING:
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