Reviewed by Stephen K.
TITLE: Mark Cooper Versus America
SERIES: Prescott College #1
AUTHOR: Lisa Henry & J.A. Rock
NARRATOR: Joel Leslie
PUBLISHER: Lisa Henry & J.A. Rock
LENGTH: 9 Hours 45 Minutes
RELEASE DATE: February 13th 2018
BLURB:
Mark Cooper is angry, homesick, and about to take his stepdad’s dubious advice and rush Prescott College’s biggest party fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi. Greek life is as foreign to Aussie transplant Mark as Pennsylvania’s snowstorms and bear sightings. So, when the fraternity extends Mark a bid, Mark vows to get himself kicked out by the end of pledge period. But then he’s drawn into Alpha Delt’s feud with a neighboring fraternity.
Studious Deacon Holt is disappointed to learn Mark’s pledging Alpha Delt, his fraternity Phi Sigma Kappa’s sworn enemy. Mark is too beautiful for Deacon to pass up an invitation for sex, but beyond sex, Deacon’s not sure. He wants a relationship, but a difficult family situation prevents him from pursuing anything beyond his studies.
Mark and Deacon’s affair heats up as the war between their fraternities escalates. They explore kinks they didn’t know they had while keeping their liaison a secret from their brothers. But what Romeo and Juliet didn’t teach these star-crossed lovers is how to move beyond sex and into a place where they share more than a bed. That’s something they’ll have to figure out on their own—if the friction between their houses, and between Mark and America, doesn’t tear them apart
REVIEW:
Note: This audiobook was reviewed by Christine back in 2018, so consider this a second opinion.
Mark Cooper is a lad who’s been transplanted from semi-tropical Bundaberg Australia to Pennsylvania. He’s homesick and angry, and worst of all, he’s not really got anyone to be angry at. When Mark walks into an American bar on his 18th birthday demanding a drink, he meets bartender Deacon Holt who silently dubs him “angry bunny.” Deacon, a fellow Prescott College student, buys Mark a Coke and listens to him rant. He even finds him a smoke and sympathizes with him when Mark rails about rushing Alpha Delt, the party fraternity that is adjacent (and annoying) to Deacon’s frat Sigma Kappa.
Though these two houses are neither alike in dignity, nor terribly civil towards each other, our two characters want more than to have a tragic end in store. Before long these two get more than their hands “unclean.” In fact. some of their activities get downright pervy.
This tale is cleverly written and the “angry young Aussie” theme is skillfully interwoven with the frequent Romeo and Juliet references to produce a light hearted, fun-to-read, college romp.
Being two horny teen-aged guys, the sex is lot more front and center than anything old R & J got up to. There is some kink involved that these guys clearly found intoxicating. Mark enjoys being “down under” Deacon at every opportunity. What starts with fellatio in an alley, quickly transitions to French maid costumes and frilly nickers. Then there’s making out on a mechanical bull, secret library assignations, and paddling. What’s not to like about two likable young guys, from different sides of the world, meeting and mating, and maybe even …falling in love?
Meanwhile, Mark struggles with his frat’s hazing rituals, and adjusting to American culture. He’s continually pointing out the cultural differences; from the more “nelly” aspects of American Football versus Australian Rules football, to “fanny” packs to “rooting” for one’s teams.
The story is told with alternating POVs with both Deacon and Mark letting us in on their thoughts. Mark’s back-story is, in many ways, idyllic when compared to Deacon’s. D’s mother suffers from crippling OCD, and has morbid fears for D’s older brother’s safety, not entirely unreasonable, since he’s serving in Afghanistan.
Less reasonable is Mark’s inordinate fear of bears, which Deacon counters by mentioning Australian dangers, like sharks and crocodiles and …wombats? Though Mark explains that nobody’s afraid of a wombat, I was a bit chagrined that Mark never mentioned the Bunyip. Another bit involved tropically-raised Mark’s hatred of all things cold, particularly snow. His adoption of a fuzzy hat with ears, that he insists are those of a wolf, while everyone else sees them as kitty-like is particularly endearing.
I first borrowed this book back in 2014 via the Kindle “one and done” loan program. I immediately regretted not having my own copy. I knew that I’d eventually want to revisit it. After numerous postponements, I finally decided that now was the time, and decided to check out the audio-book version this time around. I’m so glad I did.
Joel Leslie does his usual great job with the narration, voicing each of the main characters with vocal distinctions enough that one can easily tell them apart. He even does a credible Aussie accent when reading the bits from Mark’s POV.
This is another of those audio books with enough time spent in bedroom antics that I had to dig out my headphones, (in order to preserve what little remains of my straight house-mate’s sanity). The sex IS pretty frequent, and graphic, and playfully non-vanilla. There were times, after reading certain sections, that I felt I should check MY cheeks for beard burn. The anal play (including fisting) is more front and center than what one finds in most M/M fiction, but oddly, it’s handled in a romantic, rather than a raunchy, way. So much so that I was a bit disappointed when the icicle that Mark and Deke share during a kiss doesn’t end up elsewhere.
One aspect of this that I particularly enjoyed, – Mark’s gradual growth as a person. In the opening he’s angry and looking to act out. He is using sex to sate some of his anger at being uprooted from what he’s always considered his home. But as the story progresses, we see Mark begin to feel at home and start caring more and more about the people around him. He comes to understand, not only Deacon, but several of the “bloody Yanks” that he’s been forced to deal with. Listening to this really brought home some of the “feels” I had when I first read it. This is definitely one I’ll re-listen to regularly.
RATING: 
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