Reviewed by Valerie and Jen

 

TITLE: End of the Line

SERIES: Rail Riders #1

AUTHOR: Nicky James

PUBLISHER:  Self Published

LENGTH: 277 pages

RELEASE DATE: July 28, 2021

BLURB:

When a boy who has everything meets a boy who has nothing, life will never be the same again.

Leopold Van Eschen is in big trouble. All the money in the world won’t save him from what he’s done. On the run, desperate to get away, Leo finds himself seeking help from a bunch of vagabonds he meets in a railyard.

Leo has no idea his whole world is about to change.

Killian has been homeless and living on the fly for nine years. The closest thing he has to family is a group of fellow freight-hoppers. With the wind at his back and the whole world stretched out before him, he’s happy. It’s not an easy life, but you can’t put a price on freedom.

A chance run-in with a wealthy stranger turns Killian’s world upside down. Leo’s cute and desperate to get away. Without knowing a thing about him, Killian and his friends help Leo escape the city.
It doesn’t take long before Killian realizes the boy he’s slowly falling for has dark secrets.

Who is Leo running from? What happened to make Leo want to give up a life of wealth to live the life of a vagabond instead?

**End of the Line is the first book in a queer romance series. It’s a story of two men from vastly different worlds who fall in love while on a journey of self-discovery. It’s a story of friendship and found family. No cliffhangers. 100% HEA**

 

VALERIE’S REVIEW:

With his mouth by my ear, he said, “I promised I would be with you until the end of the line. I won’t abandon you, Leo. I’m with you.”

End of the Line is truly one of the most outstanding novels I’ve ever read. It’s an epic adventure with a whole lot of action, a beautiful love story, and ride-or-die friendships. It’s intense and exhilarating, heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once. The adrenaline rush is real.

Leo is a fugitive on the verge of hysteria as he struggles to evade his pursuers late at night on the streets of Montréal. The first three chapters are almost non-stop action as Leo makes one escape after another until he’s rescued by a stranger in a rail yard. That man, Killian, has been riding the rails from one end of Canada to the other for nine years after running away from home at sixteen. He carries all of his belongings on his back, living an incredibly dangerous life with three fellow vagabonds – Willow, his aloof yet kind best friend, free spirit Tyler with his Ronald McDonald hair, and Dodger, the intimidating Johnny Depp lookalike. They have been hopping freight trains together off and on for years, working odd jobs here and there and never putting down roots.

“I lived wherever I landed. Wherever my feet took me. Home to me meant freedom. Home was the wind at my back and the unknown stretched out before me. It was the ability to go anywhere or do anything I wanted. It was camping under the stars or crashing on a buddy’s couch. It was the anticipation of not knowing what tomorrow brought.”

At Killian’s urging, the friends adopt Leo and help him escape whatever he’s running from (Leo doesn’t uncover his dark secrets for quite some time), knowing he has no experience in “catching a freight on the fly”, thus increasing their risk of being caught.

Leo is on the run, yet free for the first time in his life as he literally jumps into the unknown. This is like his delayed coming of age story at twenty-three. For the first time, he’s making his own decisions, living his own life, and discovering what the right path forward is. Will it include his new found family? Can he adapt to the life of a vagabond?

He’s soon falling for devilish Killian with his gentle humor, confidence, and kindness. There aren’t instant sparks, but definitely interest, and I appreciate that the love story integrates organically into the surrounding events. Sex for them is comfort at first but soon ignites into passion; it’s the first time either has been with a man he had an emotional connection with.

“I wanted to crawl inside him and never leave. I wanted to soothe his aching heart and protect him from any more pain. The world and all the troubles that had found us faded away. It was Leo and me and nothing else. I could kiss his silky, soft lips until the end of time.”

Reading this book was an immersive experience. The narrative is saturated with Technicolor imagery: I could easily visualize the entire journey, from the normalcy of the city streets, to the tractor-dotted farmlands, the sweeping plains, and breathtaking scenery as they traversed the country. The rich characterization of the rail riders and the sundry people they encounter made me feel I was living among them. There’s considerable attention given to Willow, Tyler, and Dodger’s lives, and the door is left open for further exploration in future books. Finally, the detailed ins and outs of freight hopping was fascinating and exciting. Ms. James clearly did thorough research into the subject and included the lingo and the sensations of the deafening sounds and rattling of the cars the riders experienced.

I enjoyed Ms. James exploration of three types of love in this story: first and foremost, the romantic love growing between Leo and Killian; the unbreakable bonds of friendship born from riding the rails together; and the paternal love that both men yearn for but may never find. Together, these aspects create an extraordinary story I’ll never forget. Leo and Killian are amazing men so deserving of their happily ever after.

We were simply Leo and Killian, two guys stuck in a complicated world who somehow understood each other. I was falling fast and hard. Love was something I knew nothing about, but I was ready to learn. I wanted it more and more every day. I wanted Leo in my life, by my side.

VALERIE’S RATING: 

 

JEN’S REVIEW:

Nicky James does it again. Another heartwarming, thought-provoking, uniquely interesting page turner. This time around, we learn about a special group of people known as rail riders. They live on the move traveling across the country (Canada in this instance) by hopping freight trains relying on a network of friends and aquaintances for work and places to stay.

This story begins with Leo on the run after a very bad experience. He is frantically trying to evade people when he ends up in the train yard. Luckily, he is found just in time by what becomes his new family who saves him and takes him under their wings.

This group of vagabonds is so charming and interesting you wish you could meet up with them on one of their journeys. Killian, aka Killer, is the one that truly hits it off with Leo, dubbed Green for being a greenhorn. The eclectic group is rounded out by Troy, aka Dodger, Tyler and Willow. They each have their own unique backstory that is told as their trust in Leo grows.

What ensues is a sort of magical evolution of a close-knit family of friends who help each other however it is needed. Leo and Killian’s relationship grows quickly, but given the circumstances and what these guys face, is completely believable.

There are a lot of aspects to this story, aside from the instant characters. Both Leo and Killian have things to face with their parents and their pasts, and misunderstandings abound but are eventually faced to satisfaction.

I wanted to savor every word, even as I wanted to flip pages as fast as I could to see how things would turn out. This is exactly the story I expected and looked forward to from Ms. James. She has consistently created stories that have that 5 star feel from the very first page and this was no exception. I’m excited this is shaping up as a series, as I already can’t wait to continue the story.

JEN’S RATING: 

 

BUY LINK:

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