Shifting Hearts-Silvia Violet

Publisher: Silvia Violet Books/Create Space (Independent Publishing Platform)

After experiencing what happens when someone you love walks away and never looks back, Brandon decided love was for fools. Then he spent a summer with Zach. He struggled against feelings that grew every time he and Zach were together, telling himself they were just having a fling. When Zach confessed his love one hot summer night, Brandon panicked. He scoffed at Zach and made sure he walked away first.

Three years later, their paths cross again when Zach becomes the vet at Wild R Farm where Brandon works. Brandon realizes his feelings haven’t changed, but Zach treats Brandon with scorn despite Brandon’s every attempt to show Zach he’s no longer the self-centered man he used to be. When a night out ends with Brandon driving Zach home, confessions are made on both sides, and hope begins to build in Brandon’s heart.

2014-10-27 23.10.07This is book # 6 in the Wild R Farm series and the first book I’ve read from this series.  I went in reading thinking that I was going to be confused because I started with the sixth book.  Boy, was I pleasantly surprised.  The author did a great job of providing a back story so I didn’t run into any of the plot holes I expected to run into when starting in the middle of series. The characters were well written which is what I have come to expect from a Silvia Violet book. Her characters are men who are tough but not so much that they can’t admit their true feelings towards each other. Brandon isn’t a bad man, just a man that’s been hurt before and as often with people who have been hurt, they bring that past baggage into current relationships. This made Brandon out to be somewhat of a jerk but that wasn’t the case.  Brandon felt that he had to protect his heart and by doing that he ended up hurting the man he loved. Zach and Brandon come into contact with each other again after a couple years and they find that the love is still there buried under layers of anger and hurt. Yes, Brandon was a jerk and time hasn’t exactly put Zach in a forgive and forget mood.  I especially loved how the author allows you to observe how the characters in the previous books interact with each other and with the two main characters. Their personalities intrigued me quite a bit and I will definitely read the rest of the series to find out more about them.  As always, Silvia does a wonderful job of bringing her characters to life. You care about them and makes you want to get to know them more.  They linger with you after you finish reading.  This book was a delightful read and I definitely recommend it.

 

5

 

You can purchase it here:

Amazon

To learn more about this author and her other books:

Silvia Violet

 

 

 

Boys of Summer Audiobook by Cooper Davis Narrated by Brian Pallino

Audible Solutions Presents: http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Boys-of-Summer-Audiobook/B00PCNUXHU/ref=a_search_c4_1_2_srTtl?qid=1417122330&sr=1-2

boys summer

Blurb

I thought I knew what love was… My name is Hunter Willis and I’ve found love. The problem? I’m not sure I’m ready for the rest of the world to know I’ve fallen for my best friend. Everyone knows Max is gay. Me? They think I’m straight as an arrow. So did I, until Max and I shared a kiss three months ago that blew that theory right out of the water. Now, by the ocean in Florida, thousands of miles away from prying eyes, I’m finally ready to admit to myself that Max and I have something special. Max has been ready for a long time – and he’s been waiting for me. Really waiting. As in… he’s still a virgin. There’s nothing I want more than to be Max’s first lover. But I know when Max gives away that part of himself, it won’t be just a summer fling. It’ll be for keeps. Max deserves the best. I’m just not sure, when it comes right down to it, that I won’t break his heart. Did I mention I’m scared as hell?

 Morgan’s Review

Hunter is a straight man who falls in love with one of his best friends, Max. This is their story, told in a series of flash backs and leaps forward. We start with Hunter and Max on vacation in Florida. They’ve been hot and heavy for months, but not actually committed to each other or had full, penetrative sex. Max, a virgin, doesn’t want to make love to someone unwilling to be with him fully.   After much deliberation, Hunter agrees that the time is right for them to come out as a couple and he’s “rewarded” with Max’s virginity.

Then, we are shown, back in time, their original meeting, when both were “straight” guys who were drawn to each other. This then leads through the months and years of each man’s road towards discovering their sexuality and finally to the culmination where they both come out to their friends and cement their relationship as long term partners.

**

I really enjoyed this double GFY/OFY story of two men discovering love with one another. It’s told from Hunter’s POV as he is the most confused of the pair, he has to process a lot of emotion. I thought the author did a tremendous job of being fairly realistic in how slow it would be for two men to go from dating women to dating each other and since the story itself is short, we get important highlights from those years, not every minute detail.

I’m not sure I really appreciated all the back and fort between time periods, as a listener it was hard to follow sometimes.

However, the narrator did an excellent job. He was really good at reading the dialog and the smexy times, but didn’t try to take over the story with a variety of voice types. Everyone was voiced the same, but he really did a nice job showing emotion appropriately in the right parts of the story. He seemed to “get” what he was reading.

I hadn’t heard from this narrator before, but I’d look for him again.

I look forward to the next installment, Taking You Home.

I really enjoyed both the book and narration and give it 4.5 of 5 hearts.

4.5

10805469_1500047746947637_197599976_n