Going the Distance

Driven to Distraction #2

by Anah Crow, Dianne Fox

The sequel to Amber Allure’s Best Seller Driven To Distraction...

When Benaiah Day attends a conference in New York City, he asks Jess Leonard to break out of his comfortable rut and come along. After all, they are...well, something. Through the months, their mutual attraction has held strong across the distance between their races, classes, and cultures. Yet it stings when Jess says no, even if Ben was expecting it, and leaves him wondering if he’s making a mistake investing himself in the relationship. Worse, being in New York means he’ll spend days fending off Andrew, his ex. It seems no one but Ben thinks he’s serious about Jess.

Jess thinks he’s fine until Ben is actually gone, and then he’s left with an empty spot in his life where Ben belongs. It’s convenient to have Ben around, and just as convenient when Ben fades back into his own world, but Ben being hundreds of miles away is something else altogether. Jess’s friends and family push him to face up to how he’s been treating Ben as a temporary lover instead of the partner he could be.

When Jess makes the trip after all, he has his first moment of real peace in years. In his small home town, everyone knows his business, but in New York, he’s just Jess, someone who might be good enough to be at Ben’s side even in a room full of professors and scholars.

Ben is thrilled that his lover followed him to New York, but he also knows he’s as much to blame as Jess for the uncertainty between them. Jess’s life is due for a major overhaul, and Ben has to get up the nerve to rock the boat or risk their relationship ending up like the Titanic.

Soon, both men realize that getting to New York and back is easy; it’s the distance between their lives that’s keeping them apart.

Gay / Contemporary / Interracial / Multicultural

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary, Romance, Gay, Erotica

52 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2011

About the author

Under Construction!

F.A.Q.

Do you want to participate in Generic_Author_Event?

Drop me a line, please! If you're looking for a book for donation or a blog post from me, I'm usually cool with that.

Are you going to write a sequel to Some_Book_You_Wrote?

The up front answer is no, unless the book cover indicates that it's part of a series. If there's going to be a sequel to a book, you'll know once I've signed the contract.

Who is this Dianne person?

Only the light of my life and all that rot. She e-sides here: http://www.foxwrites.com/ Without her, you wouldn't see much from me at all, not even the books that don't have her name on the cover.

Do you read your email?

All the time. I think the question you want is do I answer my email? Occasionally. Badly. I'm a terrible, terrible emailer.

You're reading X books at once?!

Only occasionally at once. I can read two books at the same time, but I get dizzy. Mostly, I just switch books depending on my mood. It's unusual for me to have less than four on the go at a time.

Do you read reviews of your books?

No, sorry! I'm here, yes, but I prefer not to read reviews (no matter how lovely they are) because once a book has left my hands and is available to the readers, my relationship to it changes. It's all grown up. :) I have a clutter of booklings to nurture so they will join the others on your shelves.

Will you read/review my book?

Sorry, but no. There are a number of reasons for this but the biggest is—I suck at doing these things. I'm a horrible procrastinator. I get wound up and then blank out what I'm supposed to do. My ADHD goes galumphing through my head like a bull in a china shop, wrecking everything.

I'm a writer and you hated/loved my book!

I'm sure you're a lovely person, either way. Please have one or both of: "I'm sorry!" or "You're welcome!"

Can I be excused now?

Of course you can! Thanks for reading.

Reviews

[Nerine Petros · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed how Going the Distance centred on the development of an already existing relationship moving onto the next level, rather than on the beginning of a new relationship. The dynamics between the characters involved, and the subtle way in which the authors have addressed social status, have been well written.

Jess is a mechanic, and feels his down to Earth roots just aren't on the same level as his partner's. Ben is a professor, and Jess believes that Ben's peers would think poorly of him for dating someone a little lower on the smarts table. Struggling with life after the mother of his two children left them, Jess tells himself he is happy with life as is, never daring to dream or hope for anything beyond the right now. Anah and Dianne write Jess very well, to the point of believability that I wanted to reach into the pages and smack him on the back of the head myself.

Ben is a man not hung up on life, or society's perceptions. Ben's understanding of his partner's viewpoint makes Ben very likeable. I empathised with Ben as he battles to gain Jess's understanding of how their current situation is okay, but not nearly enough in the long term. Ben's quiet patience and loving nature stand him in good stead for dealing with the ups and downs these two manage to bring on themselves.

Somebody bring me some water, these two sizzle on the pages together. With descriptive prose, and real to life situations, Going the Distance is an enjoyable short novel written in a contemporary style. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys stories written in a current setting, drama and romance as well as stories addressing, or dealing with, social status. Nx

Note: Reviewed for Queer Magazine Online.

[UnusualChild{beppy} · Rating 3 out of 5]

synopsis:
ben and jess have been dating for a month or so, and ben has to go to new york for a conference. he asks jess to come along, and buys him a plane ticket. jess refuses, because he can't get away from work. when his mother gives him a talking to, however, jess goes. once he gets there, he and ben have a good time, and talk things out. both were a little insecure because they weren't sure where the relationship was going.

what i liked: that they actually talked about their relationship, rather than just letting things fester. it felt more like a real relationship. i also like that the children were very accepting of the relationship.

what i didn't like: it felt more like a chapter of a larger story than the story.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book not knowing that it was the sequel to the book Driven to Distraction so when I started reading I felt like I was missing out on a lot of the backstory of these two boys and now I know why. It was a relatively fluffy book and I instantly fell in love with them and kept waiting for the angst to set in or for there to be a major problem trying to break them up, but I'm realizing that is what happens in the first book and I have a feeling it revolves around Andrew. I'm going to go read the first book now and hopefully that makes this book make just a bit more sense to me :)

It was a good book and I really do like these authors together!

[Mandy*reads obsessively* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice sequel, and the blurb sums up the story nicely! actually the blurb makes it sound more dramatic than it actually is, everything moves and flows smoothly into the next step of their relationship.
Sweet, easy light read.

[Kiki · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[JenMcJ]

to-read

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good short m/m romance following up with the professor and the mechanic who got together in Driven to Distraction as they sort out what they are to each other.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars