Reviewed by Jenna
TITLE: Anthem
SERIES: Notes from Boston #1
AUTHOR: A.M. Leibowitz
PUBLISHER: Supposed Crimes Publishers
LENGTH: 270 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2016
BLURB:
Trevor Davidson has everything going for him. He’s just moved out on his own with three friends, and he’s landed a job as music director at a large Boston church. He has high hopes for marrying his long-term girlfriend and settling into a comfortable, devout lifestyle.
Andre Cole has spent the past few years throwing himself into a dead-end job at a Cape Cod-based call center. When an opportunity to move back to Boston arises, Andre believes it will be the do-over he needs to put his past behind him.
A chance meeting in a club on New Year’s Eve brings Trevor and Andre together for a brief but steamy encounter. Both assuming that’s the end of it, they are unexpectedly thrown back into each other’s lives when Trevor’s church hires Andre for their website design. While Andre is content at first to move on, Trevor’s conflicted feelings bubble over into his songwriting. Before he can stop it, his ode to Andre becomes an inadvertent Christian radio hit.
Unfortunately for Trevor, he isn’t the only one who knows the song’s hidden meaning. Someone has leaked the story and upended Trevor’s life. In order to put the pieces back together, he needs to learn to be honest with his girlfriend, with Andre, and especially with himself.
REVIEW:
This was a fantastic book. When I first started reading I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it, but the way the story unravels is perfect. The book begins just as Trevor starts a new job in Boston and is living with his friends. Trevor is bisexual and has had an on and off relationship with one of his roommates, but he’s intent on marrying his girlfriend. The problem is that he hasn’t ever told her that he’s bi, and during their separation he ends up having what he imagines is a one night stand with a guy that he’s never met before. Things become complicated when, Andre, the guy he hooked up with happens to be working with him and a song Trevor writes about Andre gets aired on Christian radio. Trevor comes out to his fiancé and everything is downhill from there.
This book was great. I loved the characters and their situation, and I loved how it ends. I don’t read very many books with bisexual characters so this was a refreshing and welcome change for me. Trevor is trying hard to live the life he feels he was meant to live, but circumstances force him to face who he really is, and he ends up with something far better than he could have ever imagined for himself. As for Andre, I felt pretty bad for him and even in the end I still wasn’t sure if he had the best deal, but his character was very likeable. The only thing that threw me off was that so many characters were introduced so quickly in the beginning that it took me awhile to sort out who was who. However, after the story started rolling, it was impossible not to love it. Even the church aspect, which I was wary about at first, were entirely appropriate and in my opinion, perfect. This is the first novel I’ve read by A.M. Leibowitz, but I’ll definitely be reading more. I recommend this book to anyone who loves bisexual themes, unconventional relationships, and m/m romance.
RATING: 
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