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Thirty Days and Counting
Thirty Days and Counting is a poignant story of love, romance, and even some sorrow, set in England in the early 21st century. An Air Force Captain and a teacher meet by chance, and find themselves exploring love and life together in the English countryside.
194 pages, Nook
First published March 21, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 21, 2012
I bought it as a free read and was curious.
MAJOR SPOLIER
This book contains two stories in one. One bloke gets to know another sad one in a bar - the frame story. The sad one tells his love story - and we already know at the beginning that there must be a bad end to it.
First - the book has some serious flaws in my opinion, the most important one is that it is written in a very uncharming way..."I did that, he said this, I answered, we laughed". Too simple to be really good.
And - the end of the "frame story" was to fast, to short without giving the reader really some consolation and reassurance. It left me still hurting, sad and angry and fearing that the revelations to come might prevent what could be. For all of this I'd give only one star.
But - and here is the reason I finished the book despite the missing language skills bothered me - Nigel, the love interest in the sad love story is absolutely lovable, charming, shiny and unique.
And even at the end of the book, after Nigel is buried and Jack wallows in his mourning, I still feel glad that I got to know him, even if just for this short time in the book. For Nigel alone I would give the book 5 stars.
So be warned, you need a lot of tissues because as much as we get sucked into Nigel's personality, we suffer with Jack when he dies and we mourn......and now I'm at my complaints again...I would have loved to see Jack happy again, really, not just the prospect of a maybe....
ADDITIONAL ENTRY:
Btw ....I think I now know how it ends...I've read the "The Book Of Jacob" by Terence Jackson, too and the end is in my opinion the end to Jack's story. There are no names in that book but really EVERYTHING that is described fits, even Nigel's last words. It seems a logical end - but not a happy one :(
MAJOR SPOLIER
This book contains two stories in one. One bloke gets to know another sad one in a bar - the frame story. The sad one tells his love story - and we already know at the beginning that there must be a bad end to it.
First - the book has some serious flaws in my opinion, the most important one is that it is written in a very uncharming way..."I did that, he said this, I answered, we laughed". Too simple to be really good.
And - the end of the "frame story" was to fast, to short without giving the reader really some consolation and reassurance. It left me still hurting, sad and angry and fearing that the revelations to come might prevent what could be. For all of this I'd give only one star.
But - and here is the reason I finished the book despite the missing language skills bothered me - Nigel, the love interest in the sad love story is absolutely lovable, charming, shiny and unique.
And even at the end of the book, after Nigel is buried and Jack wallows in his mourning, I still feel glad that I got to know him, even if just for this short time in the book. For Nigel alone I would give the book 5 stars.
So be warned, you need a lot of tissues because as much as we get sucked into Nigel's personality, we suffer with Jack when he dies and we mourn......and now I'm at my complaints again...I would have loved to see Jack happy again, really, not just the prospect of a maybe....
ADDITIONAL ENTRY:
Btw ....I think I now know how it ends...I've read the "The Book Of Jacob" by Terence Jackson, too and the end is in my opinion the end to Jack's story. There are no names in that book but really EVERYTHING that is described fits, even Nigel's last words. It seems a logical end - but not a happy one :(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2013
In order not to gush (much) I have to say this is just one of the handful M/M books I've read and all I can say is the book is absorbing. I can't help but compare it to most of my usual M/F picks and this book will easily top more than half of them, IMHO.
First, the book is written in the first person POV - not my usual pick of POV - but the writing was so good it drew me in that I was focused on the romance rather than on the POV.
I always said that I read romance because of the magic of falling in love and in this book you will not only fall in love, you will laugh at the main character's first meeting. You will feel their anticipation as they come to know each other - you will find lots of their antics laughable as well. Then they fall in love and you will fall in love with them and to them as a couple and sigh as they bask in their romance. You will definitely cry as hearts gets broken and then smile when the ray of hope was shown as the story ends.
This is a book that gives m/m romance a credit because the focus was in the romance and not on the main character’s gender.
This is a well written book and won’t mind checking the author’s other books as well.
First, the book is written in the first person POV - not my usual pick of POV - but the writing was so good it drew me in that I was focused on the romance rather than on the POV.
I always said that I read romance because of the magic of falling in love and in this book you will not only fall in love, you will laugh at the main character's first meeting. You will feel their anticipation as they come to know each other - you will find lots of their antics laughable as well. Then they fall in love and you will fall in love with them and to them as a couple and sigh as they bask in their romance. You will definitely cry as hearts gets broken and then smile when the ray of hope was shown as the story ends.
This is a book that gives m/m romance a credit because the focus was in the romance and not on the main character’s gender.
This is a well written book and won’t mind checking the author’s other books as well.
January 16, 2012
The story starts with this nameless man who meets Jack in a bar, then Jack tells his life story to him. So the prologue and epilogue is written with the stranger as narrator while the whole story in the middle is written from Jack's perspective. Story wise it is okay I guess. An American Air Force officer meets local teacher/rugby player in Lakenheath, England. With the blurb using 'poignant', I think you might as well be aware that the story of Jack and Nigel doesn't end in happy ending.
Technical issue, however, the writing style is NOT my favorite. The writing use the 'tell but not show' style. I mean, since Jack is telling the story to the stranger (or us, as readers), this story is a bit too descriptive. I always like some conversations in the middle, rather than descriptive style. It's tiresome, for me personally
Technical issue, however, the writing style is NOT my favorite. The writing use the 'tell but not show' style. I mean, since Jack is telling the story to the stranger (or us, as readers), this story is a bit too descriptive. I always like some conversations in the middle, rather than descriptive style. It's tiresome, for me personally
November 27, 2014
There were some parts that were slow in the first half, and it took me awhile to get into the writing, but... but the story was soooo worth it. I'm not into bittersweet books usually. I want that HEA! But this book builds so slowly and sweetly it had me bawling by the end. Yikes! It's a story that will stick with me for awhile and one I really hope there will be a sequel to so we can see Jack have the HEA that he deserves.
April 6, 2012
OMG! This has got to be the most touching book that I've ever read. Though there were a few times that I found myself skimming through some of the descriptions of things I could not put it down!! I highly recommend this romance to everyone!! Warning, you will need a box of tissues.
August 18, 2013
This is a simple and sweet love story between a 40-something US Air Force captain and a British English Literature lecturer who is 10-years his junior. It is mainly set in Suffolk around the airforce base of Lakenheath and is written from the viewpoint of the American. The emotional ending holds no surprises.
The story is very simple indeed. The language is straightforward. In fact there are few, if any, metaphors or similies in sight. It is not so much literature as a series of descriptions of events and feelings.
I was reading on a Kindle and there are a number of alarming (and unforgivable) spelling mistakes, for example "we're" instead of "were" and "there" instead of "they're". Also, the formatting of the dialogue is unusual in that comments from different people are not separated by paragraphs.
Although the standard of storytelling and writing is poor, there are a few emotional tugs.
The story is very simple indeed. The language is straightforward. In fact there are few, if any, metaphors or similies in sight. It is not so much literature as a series of descriptions of events and feelings.
I was reading on a Kindle and there are a number of alarming (and unforgivable) spelling mistakes, for example "we're" instead of "were" and "there" instead of "they're". Also, the formatting of the dialogue is unusual in that comments from different people are not separated by paragraphs.
Although the standard of storytelling and writing is poor, there are a few emotional tugs.
May 29, 2013
The writing in this novel made it hard to get through although it's a fairly short book. I did not like the boxy look of the words on the page. I was also bored in the beginning. Things did pick up once Jack meets Nigel, however.
I guess this is considered gay fiction and not gay romance because the sex was fade to black. Seems liked all the guys did was snog, not too much shagging. Which is okay. I've read and enjoyed gay fiction where there wasn't any or much sex.
I've never read about characters who drank so much beer. No wonder Jack indulged to excess towards the end of the book. I was so bored that I read some of the reviews to decide if I should continue reading. I knew what was coming with Nigel. Did I tear up? Nope. We do not get a happy ending either. Oh well, win some, lose some.
I guess this is considered gay fiction and not gay romance because the sex was fade to black. Seems liked all the guys did was snog, not too much shagging. Which is okay. I've read and enjoyed gay fiction where there wasn't any or much sex.
I've never read about characters who drank so much beer. No wonder Jack indulged to excess towards the end of the book. I was so bored that I read some of the reviews to decide if I should continue reading. I knew what was coming with Nigel. Did I tear up? Nope. We do not get a happy ending either. Oh well, win some, lose some.
May 29, 2013
3.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews