Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Outcast
SERIES:
AUTHOR: DJ Jamison
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 350 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 28, 2025
BLURB:
I’m the outcast brother …
I’m headed back to Riverton and the foster brothers I left behind. But this homecoming isn’t going to be sweet. I left without a word to them after getting outed and disowned.
The fences don’t just need mending. They need rebuilding. My brothers and I had a code to always be there for one another, and I broke it.
Now, I have the chance to step up and help them with their floundering business. To prove myself and make good.
Then one night, while on a job, I see the town’s golden boy shoved to his knees by none other than the jerk who got me outed in high school.
REVIEW:
Gray Marsh has returned to his previous home at the behest of his oldest foster brother. Holden has asked Gray to come home years after Gray disappeared into the night after being caught with a guy in the autobody shop of their foster father. The man kicked him out with some pretty harsh words, basically the clothes on his back and a small amount of cash. He told him he wasn’t welcome and that he had to leave lest he “infect” the rest of his brothers with his deviancy. Grrrrr. Now the old man is dead and Holden is keeping the family together. Ish.
The welcome Gray receives isn’t exactly warm. Holden who asked him to return is grateful for the help. Axel and Bailey, who were quite young when Gray left, after not at all happy. They felt abandoned yet again when Gray left. Needless to say the circumstances where all of these boys were place into foster care were not great and so there is a lot of trauma. Gray wants to make amends though. He’s felt guilty about leaving but he didn’t have a choice. He was a scared kid too.
The first night back, Gray is out on a tow job when he comes across a situation. He steps in and sort of rescues his high school class president, son of the local banking family, basically everything he is not. Except the guy is in over his head with a guy Gray knows first hand is more than a little bad news. Emory Gold really is the town golden boy and Gray had a crush on him in HS. Turns out Emory isn’t as straight as everyone thinks. Gray offers to be his safe place to figure himself out. Oh this is going to get messy!
Emory has a lot of his own baggage. He also has experienced loss and guilt and he’s been so busy trying to make his family happy that he’s pushed down his own wants and needs. And this has been going on since he was 10 🙁 He’s a really good artist but he has been groomed to take over the bank – which was never on his wish list. Too bad. Someone has to do it and he’s got to do the right thing. His parents are also pushing him to marry his best friend and town golden girl Allison Prince. Too bad Allison is in love with an ex-con that her parents are none to thrilled about either.
Emory is really intrigued by Gray and he can’t stay away. Soon he is making trips to the outskirts of town to meet Gray at the autobody shop. They can’t be seen in public together of course. Oh and the guy who tried to take advantage of him? Yeah, he won’t stop harassing Emory either. But he’s pretty untouchable, so Emory just keeps blocking him.
There is also a little problem of the POS foster father taking out a loan that nobody knew about and is not come due – with no way in sight to pay for it. Emory has been tasked by his father to deal with the delinquencies and this loan is one of them. Uh-oh. Emory is not happy about having to tell the Forrester foster brothers about this. Not only does he not want to hurt Gray and his brothers, but he feels bad about how the town always treated the brothers too. He comes up with a possible way to maybe convert the loan and buy them some time.
The more time they spend together, the closer Emory and Gray become. The brothers seem to like Emory too, especially since he did them a solid and went against his father’s wishes to help them not lose their home/business. Allison is also supportive of the relationship and Emory finally doing something for himself. He’s a good person and he deserves to be happy. They end up working together on projects they both love because they really do help the people of their small town 🙂
Of course you know that they can’t keep things under wraps forever and eventually Gray and Emory have some trouble with the afore-mentioned bully harasser. Emory can’t let the secrecy go on any longer and he finally stands up for himself and Gray. It’s a lightbulb moment for a lot of people on a lot of subjects. Gray and Emory want to do what it takes to be together and other people are just going to have to learn to live with it 😉
This was sooooo good! I really liked Gray who first appears in the Swallow Cove series. I loved the little crossover cameos from the Games we Play/Rules we Break in Granville series too, but you don’t have to have read those series to thoroughly enjoy this kick-off to a new series. These are just nice Easter eggs for fans of previous series (all of which I heartily recommend). Gray has been through it! He’s come out the other side but he’s got a lot of guilt. Emory has had a similar journey of guilt, but over a different kind of trauma. He’s such an adorable and trusting character. I loved his relationship with his bestie Allison too 🙂 Turns out that both guys were feeling a lot of things and they found a kindred soul and a safe place to land with each other. Gray is protective and loving and Emory gains a lot more strength from being himself with Gray. They learn to rely on each other. Both are rebuilding their relationships with their family and being true to themselves. I am intrigued by what comes next in this series. I feel like the boys have a lot to tell us about their pasts and their futures. Axel is next and he’s a live wire, so I’m sure it’s going to be a raucous adventure. Highly recommended.
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