Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Coming Home
AUTHOR: Brenda Cothern
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 115 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 30, 2012
BLURB:
Chase Murphy returns to his backwater home in North Carolina after eight years in the Marine Corps only to be confronted by his high school tormentor, Chad Wilson. Only Chad isn’t interested in tormenting Chase; he is interested in something else entirely. But will Chase be interested in the same thing?
REVIEW:
I had a hard time with this book and I will tell you why.
Chase went from being bullied, to the point of literal shit being in his locker, homophobic comments and everything, to joining the Marines to make something of his life. When he comes back home, after inheriting the house, it’s time to fix it and maybe settle for a bit. What he didn’t expect was running into his former bullies right off the bat. He knew who they were but they didn’t know him. He was totally different from that scared, scrawny little kid. When his former bully, Brad, realizes it’s him, he wants to apologize. But Brad is trying to come to terms with the fact that he may be gay himself. And he doesn’t know how to handle it. But it’s his old friend and other former bully, that causes him to keep his mouth shut until he can’t take anymore and has to say something. He even goes so far as to ride on his property to the creek they all swam in to see if he could catch a look at Chase. But Chase wasn’t having it until his little head starting speaking for him. For months they fooled around a few times a week until busted but Brad’s bully, homophobic friend, Bobby. And then they decided to be boyfriends and was ok with everyone knowing.
Ok. So here’s where I have a problem. Now mind you, this is my opinion. Read for yourself if you want to see where you stand. First of all, I know when men start thinking with their little heads, hatred or anything else, most of the time goes out the window. It’s all about the sex. And that’s no offense to men. Just the way they’re wired. So I get it when Chase kind of gets a revenge screw in. I get even Brad wanting to explore with Chase, seeing as he is the only gay man around. Plus, maybe it kind of clears the air between them. I can even get them going back to each other for more because they are the only gay men around. I can get Brad not wanting to open his mouth around Bobby as he spouts his homophobic nonsense, but when he was caught by Bobby with Chase’s dick in his mouth, he suddenly decides he doesn’t care?? I don’t get that. I don’t get how all of a sudden that everything seems to be hunky dory and they’re boyfriends. And then the book just cuts off after that as well. Plus, the whole book is basically about sex and Brad’s discovery and Chase ‘teaching’ him how to be gay. Which is another contradictory term to me. There is no resolvement of the issues of the past. And as mad as Chase was about being bullied, I can’t see him just all of a sudden being over it. Especially considering several times, it was implied he was aching for a fight from Bobby, even Brad at points. I know forgiveness is a thing and that’s great, but there was no closure for it. It was just them hooking up and all of a sudden they’re out and proud and boyfriends.
For me, it’s too many loose ends. I know there are more that I can’t think of at the moment, but I guess that’s it for now. Like I said, read yourself and figure out how you feel about it.
RATING: 
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