Review: Christmas Kitsch

Christmas Kitsch by Amy Lane and Nick J. Russo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rusty Baker is a blond, rich, entitled football player in a high school full of them—just the type of oblivious jock all the bullied kids hate. And he might have stayed that way, except he develops a friendship with out-and-proud Oliver Campbell from the wrong side of the tracks. Rusty thinks the friendship is just pity—Oliver is very bright, and Rusty is very not.
Oliver Campbell is the best thing that’s ever happened to him. Rusty’s parents disagree, and Rusty finds himself homeless for the holidays. Oliver may not have much money, but he’s got something Rusty has never known: true family.

 

Because of the title I always thought this was a holiday story, but I would disagree. It spans 6 months and ends with Christmas. The focus is on starting to live on yourself.

Rusty has to be perfect for his parents and because he is not bookish enough for college, he tends to call himself stupid all the time. He is the only point of view.
Oliver is in love with Rusty and is patiently waiting until Rusty is ready to come out and have sex and move in together. It is Oliver who makes me love this novel.

The narration was very good.

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Review: The Foxhole Court

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic and Alexander Cendese
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Neil Josten is the newest addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team. He's short, he's fast, he's got a ton of potential—and he's the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher.

Signing a contract with the PSU Foxes is the last thing a guy like Neil should do. The team is high profile and he doesn't need sports crews broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation. One of Neil's new teammates is a friend from his old life, and Neil can't walk away from him a second time. Neil has survived the last eight years by running. Maybe he's finally found someone and something worth fighting for.

 

Nothing wrong but not my cuppa. Too much drama.

DNF at 50%

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Review: My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap!

My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap! by Wade Kelly and Jason Lovett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Cole Reid has been a social recluse since he was fifteen, when he was outed by his high school baseball team. Since then, his obsessive-compulsive behavior and sarcastic nature have driven away most of the population, and everyone else hates him because he’s gay. As he sees it, he’s bound to repulse any prospective friends, let alone boyfriends, so why bother? By the time Cole enters college, he’s become an anal-retentive loner—but it’s not a problem until his roommate graduates and the housing department assigns Ellis Montgomery to move in with Cole. Ellis is messy, gorgeous, straight, and worst of all, a jock! During a school year filled with frat buddies, camping expeditions, and meddling parents, Cole and Ellis develop a friendship that turns Cole’s glass-half-empty outlook on its head.

 
The narrator of this audiobook reads where I like performing.
The story was fine but flawed. How random characters become the point of view and the disconnected array of events, are both amateurish.

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Review: The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know

The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know by Brent Hartinger and Josh Hurley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Russel Middlebrook is twenty-three years old, gay, and living in trendy Seattle, but life isn't keeping up with the hype. Most of his friends have a direction in life—either ruthlessly pursuing their careers or passionately embracing their own aimlessness. But Russel is stuck in place. All he knows is that crappy jobs, horrible dates, and pointless hook-ups just aren't cutting it anymore. What's the secret? What does everyone else know that he doesn't?

Enter Kevin, Russel's perfect high school boyfriend. Could rekindling an old flame be the thing Russel needs to get his life back on track? Or maybe the answer lies in a new friend, an eccentric screenwriter named Vernie Rose, who seems plenty wise. Or what the hell? Maybe Russel will find some answers by joining his best friend Gunnar's crazy search for the legendary Bigfoot!

Book 1 of 3.

This audiobook is not a romance. Kevin is a shallow character with only 4 short scenes. The stories about Russel's life are enjoyable and all side characters are well-rounded.
The narration is good.

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Review: Hummingbird Heartbreak

Hummingbird Heartbreak by Max Walker and Greg Boudreaux
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

DUSTY GOLD

College is weird. One second you’re studying for a huge exam in integrated physics and the next you’re secretly drooling over the sexy rugby player living in the dorm next door. Maybe inviting him to stay at my family’s house for the summer wasn’t the greatest idea I’ve ever had?

         BRANDON REED

I freakin’ loved college. Everything about it, minus the classes obviously. I loved being able to play rugby the most; losing myself to the game, watching the crowds in the stadium grow bigger with every win. Then Dusty Gold springs into my life. Literally. After we end up as surprise roomies, a spring busts on his bed and we go from roommates to snuggle buddies.
I’ve got a messy past, though, and Dusty’s got a bright future. Will my ghosts ruin us before we could ever really begin or will we both get a once-in-a-lifetime shot at a happy ending?

Enough happens, but I just don't care. There should be a problem to be solved or some tension or character development. Nope. Just everyday life, day after day. It makes this a tedious audiobook.
The narrator had nothing to work with, so the performance was bland but well-read.

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Review: Barefoot in the City of Broken Dreams

Barefoot in the City of Broken Dreams by Brent Hartinger and Josh Hurley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Twenty-four year-old Russel Middebrook and his boyfriend have moved to Los Angeles so Russel can try to make it as a screenwriter.

Almost right away, in a forgotten old house off of Sunset Boulevard, Russel meets Isaac Brander, a once-famous film producer who is convinced he can turn Russel’s screenplay into a movie.

Book 2 of 3.

Knowing this was an audiobook about Russel finding his way, with sometimes a scene about his gay  relationship, changed my perspective. I liked the occurrences and rounded secondary characters.
The audio was mediocre. In the beginning, I could hear which sentences were later added corrections and the voices were not always right.

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Review: A Midwinter Prince

A Midwinter Prince by Harper Fox and Rusty Coles
My rating: 3 of 5 stars  

Laurence Fitzroy is trapped in a golden cage. The only son of a wealthy London baronet, he's struggling to escape his father's suffocating world. But Laurie is losing his fight. At 19 years of age, bright and imaginative, he's no match for the brutal Sir William. Laurie wants to be an actor - bad enough as far as Sir William is concerned, but, worse than that, he's gay.

One bitter winter night, he meets a young homeless man huddled in blankets outside the opera house. The two form a bond straight away, and Laurie takes him home, wanting only to offer him food and a warm bed. But Sasha is a passionate Romani immigrant, and his beauty and sweet nature soon overwhelm Laurie's chaste intentions, leaving him hopelessly in love.

This is not a historical series. They are titled aristocrats in contemporary society.

 Book 1 of 2.

I love this audiobook, and always follow up with the next, although that one is less to my taste. I like how they express their affection and withstand setbacks. Most of the drama is based on bigotry. 

I liked the story but was very confused in the beginning because Audible tagged this as 'historical'. I don't often read the blurb, so I was waiting for a time portal to open or a second storyline to start. 

Some sentences in this one were recorded twice but it did not lessen the performance quality. 

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Review: The Endless Road to Sunshine

The Endless Road to Sunshine by Nicky James and Nick J. Russo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My name is Jason Atkinson, and I married a serial killer.
The life I knew, the man I loved, and the world I believed in was nothing but a lie. He stole my trust, my happiness, and my faith in humanity, and I’m not sure how to move on. 
With my mental health hanging by a thread and a media circus following me everywhere I go, escape seems like the only answer.
But Skylar Dawson, a student almost twenty years my junior, has a different plan.

If this audiobook was a paperback, I would call it a pageturner because Jason allows all kinds of weirdo's in his life, including Skylar, and I was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. The writing and characters were good, except at the end when the story turned into clichés.
Narration was good, but sometimes he lost my focus and couldn't I determine which point of view I was hearing.

Edit to add: one annoyance was the millennial Skylar wanting to research newspapers and not going online but filing through actual newspapers. Even the author has never done this before, because she believes you can research 18 months of papers in 2 hours tops.

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