Carter Stevenson is a twenty-four, year old gay man living with Tourette's. Though he's gifted in music, he prefers to isolate himself and avoid the embarassment that he feels about his condition. It's gotten so bad that he's decided to move to a smller town and avoid the perma-crowd that is L.A. As luck would have it he finds himself living next door to a personable (and sexy) guy named Ethan who's struggling with a challenge of his own. Ethan suffered a traumatic brain injury some years ago and while physically an adult, Ethan can be very child-like in some respects.
This M/M romance takes us into the lives of two adorable gay men who are dealing with difficulties and it hits a few hot buttons along the way. While Ethan is very childlike in some aspects, his interest in sex is very adult and he's not got the filters that adults normally have. Naturally this raises concerns with some readers of this material and the reviews have been mixed. While the conditions of both guys are dealt with sensitively and sympathetically there are readers who find this situation disturbing, particularly when things get sexual.
Personally, I felt that the presence of Ethan's mom and dad and kid brother in the story alleviated some of those concerns for me and even added layers of complexity to the story that raised this above the common level of M/M romance. However, this is meant to be a romance and even the heavies of the piece, and there are two, are pretty non-threatening and almost too good to be believed. I didn't mind that aspect of the story much and on balance was glad that it was treated as it was. Still I was so concerned with the vulnerability of these two somewhat damaged young men early on that my first progress note about this book was a worry about the past tense nature of the title. I was dreading that there was tragedy just around the corner.
I'm a sucker for stories that expand one's empathy and allow the reader to "walk a mile in the other guy's moccasins" and this story does accomplish that incredibly well. I highly recommend it.
This M/M romance takes us into the lives of two adorable gay men who are dealing with difficulties and it hits a few hot buttons along the way. While Ethan is very childlike in some aspects, his interest in sex is very adult and he's not got the filters that adults normally have. Naturally this raises concerns with some readers of this material and the reviews have been mixed. While the conditions of both guys are dealt with sensitively and sympathetically there are readers who find this situation disturbing, particularly when things get sexual.
Personally, I felt that the presence of Ethan's mom and dad and kid brother in the story alleviated some of those concerns for me and even added layers of complexity to the story that raised this above the common level of M/M romance. However, this is meant to be a romance and even the heavies of the piece, and there are two, are pretty non-threatening and almost too good to be believed. I didn't mind that aspect of the story much and on balance was glad that it was treated as it was. Still I was so concerned with the vulnerability of these two somewhat damaged young men early on that my first progress note about this book was a worry about the past tense nature of the title. I was dreading that there was tragedy just around the corner.
I'm a sucker for stories that expand one's empathy and allow the reader to "walk a mile in the other guy's moccasins" and this story does accomplish that incredibly well. I highly recommend it.
