Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Give Me a Hand
SERIES: Beyond Desire
AUTHOR: Gwen Martin
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 174 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2020
BLURB:
ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅꜱ ᴄᴏʟʟɪᴅᴇᴅ. ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇᴅ.
Cam and Jude had been college roommates for two years, fitting into each other’s lives with ease.
That is, until Cam walked in on Jude getting off alone in their shared dorm bathroom.
Everything shifted between the two of them, awakening feelings Cam hadn’t felt for anyone in a long time. Feelings Cam believed had shriveled up after surviving a near fatal car accident to then suffer a disastrous breakup with his first love.
Since then, Cam kept his heart sealed tight in a fortress, keeping himself busy with a lot of mindless hookups and a steadfast refusal to ever commit.
Cam’s life had been predictable. He knew what he wanted.
Until that impromptu mutual orgasm with Jude.
Cam didn’t want a boyfriend, and he certainly didn’t *need* a relationship.
But he knew one thing he did crave and that was more of Jude Ellison.
Will Cam be able to work through his painful past if Jude offered him a chance at more?
***Give Me A Hand is the first book in the Beyond Desire Series, but is a standalone novel. Each book in the series will feature a different couple, but the couples will show up throughout the series. It is approximately 55,000 words and a New Adult Friends to Lovers romance between two men with explicit language and graphic sex intended for Adults Only.***
REVIEW:
Cam and his college roommate Jude have been friends for a couple of years. They are seniors and it’s their third year of living together. They have a nice setup – two bedrooms and basically a small apartment. They hang out, play videos, watch movies, etc. But then things change when Cam sees Jude taking care of business 😉 Then they change again when during a beer and Netflix night, they get off together. Cam is terrified! What if this wrecks their easy friendship and living situation. But after a week of avoiding the topic, they relent.
Things go better and better between them until they are basically sleeping together in one bed or the other each night. But Cam isn’t sure what this is and he’s not going to look at it too closely for fear of making it too much. Or not enough. Then come Thanksgiving, Jude isn’t going home, so Cam asks him to come with him to his family Thanksgiving. He’s not really saying anything to his family about their relationship, but his mother seems to give him “knowing” looks. But then he gets texts from his high school “buddies” wanting to get together. Cam doesn’t really want to. They basically abandoned him after a nearly fatal car accident that took Cam’s first love of running and his track scholarship, so he’s not too enthused. But Jude convinces him they should go.
The night starts out OK, but then it seems the guy who really hurt Cam is there. Jude of course picks up on it right away and he also does his best to protect Cam from Liam – the ex – and make Liam realize what he missed out on 🙂 But when they get back to school, things go downhill and Cam gets scared. He is a mess because of the previous relationship debacle and not thinking he’s either capable or worthy. Thankfully he’s got a bestie who helps him pull his head out of his ass 😛
This is the first book I’ve read from this author. I really enjoyed this New Adult romance featuring a well done friends to lovers relationship. Cam has been hurt in the past – badly. He has been very good at keeping himself separated from any potential relationships. He’s determined to keep his walls up even though he KNOWS that this thing with Jude is different. Thankfully he’s got an awesome BFF in Claudia who hits him in the face with some truths 😀 Jude is a great roommate and friend. But he’s also so much more. Cam just has to put on his big-boy pants and go for what he really wants – understanding that yeah, there is the possibility that he could get hurt if he lets somebody in. There is of course conflict, but once Cam decides to be honest – mostly with himself, they have the chance to be really good together. This was a really sweet but not sappy story with believable young characters and not too much angst. Recommended and I cannot wait to see what the next book in this series will take us.
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