Confident almost to the point of arrogance, Jurgen never worried about his boyfriend leaving him until he overheard Nik telling his best friend he wants to move out of town. That's when the macho cop realizes that maybe asking Nik to move back to tiny Whitetail Rock—where he was tormented when he was younger for being gay and looking different wasn't Jurgen's most brilliant idea. Now he's on a mission to find a way to fix things so Nik will stay. Which should be no problem because he's good at fixing stuff, right?
Nik isn't sure what he was thinking, moving back to his hometown after graduating with his MFA. Jobs in his field are non-existent and reminders of some of the worst times in his life are abundant. But Jurgen lives in Whitetail Rock, and Nik is willing to put up with a hell of a lot to be with him. Except maybe Jurgen's own efforts to "fix" something that's not broken...
Catalyzed by her discovery of LGBTQ romance, Anne Tenino left the lucrative fields of art history, non-profit fundraising, and domestic engineering (in that order) to follow her dream of become a starving romance author. For good or ill, her snarky, silly, quasi-British sense of humor came along for the ride.
Anne applies her particular blend of romance, comedy, and gay protagonists to contemporary, scifi, and paranormal tales. Her works have won many awards; her novel, Frat Boy and Toppy, is frequently referred to as a gay romance classic; she’s been featured in RT Book Reviews magazine; she holds the position of VP of Programming at her local RWA chapter; and she’s achieved bestseller status on Amazon’s gay romance list.
Born and raised in Oregon, Anne now lives in Portland with her family, who have all taken a sacred oath never to read her books. When not crocheting genitalia, growing tomatoes, driving teenagers around, or cooking something obscure, she can be found at her computer, procrastinating. Possibly while also lying on the couch, eating bon-bons.
So here's a solid three-star review of story that made me want to find the nicest little old lady in the Bronx, secure her to a chair, and slowly and methodically strip her of all human dignity until she lost the will to live and begged for me to end her suffering by means of the gift of sweet oblivion.
At this point in my vengeful fantasy I will refuse to put away my chosen implement of torture—instead raising it higher so that it is fully illuminated by the interrogation lamp swinging ominously above us. I will stroke it lovingly, for effect, but also for shits and giggles.
And then I will continue to chapter two.
Jurgen Droolinonhim is so my cuppa that I have actually developed a profound antipathy for his boyfriend, Nik, who is too busy being insufficiently grateful for the wondrous gift of Delicious Aryan Gimmewurst.
He is so unworthy, so clearly inferior to nearly any other candidate for the job of Numba 1 Lovvah—the only sensible Solution to this terrible oversight is quite Final.
Nik's selection to the office of Jurgencockwarmerschmidt is a horrendous error. I hereby nominate myself for the position, being quite willing to lick the man's sweat, suckle his wobbly bits, and contort my skilled and enthusiastic orifices in enticing arrangements to best serve his needs.
But first, Nik must die.
Preferably by having to read a transcript of his extraordinarily perverse and wicked thinking as he prepares to pretend, again, like a fucking meathead, that he needs his Jurgen only a fraction as much as Jurgen needs him.
Because, you know, it's absolutely vital that he be as willfully opaque about his real feelings as possible, preferably in such a manner as to inflict minor wounds upon my beloved Jurgen's sweet, sweet heart.
Man—fuck that guy! He's such a pain in the ass.
I'd totally treat Jurgen right.
Even if his name still sounds like the noise you make when a man shoves his cock all the way down your throat without regard for your quite sudden and comprehensive inability to breathe.
***
So: Jurgen, rated a quintillion stars, obviously.
Tenino's writing is great, as usual, and worth another couple hundred million stars.
The character that used to be Nik has now ascended to a higher plane and taken on a physical form that more accurately articulates his true self: a fucktard mope-walla sk8ter attempting a gnarly jump but missing horribly, thus smashing his balls on a handy railing, while his skateboard goes spinning off into the road to be crushed to splinters, just like everything else Nik is permitted to touch for any length of time whatsoever.
So, Nik: negative everything stars.
Negative all the stars.
I do apologize, but we are fresh out of stars.
Are those stars in your pocket? I am afraid I will need to confiscate them.
No more stars for you.
No more stars for anyone. Ever.
Nik single-handedly ruined a perfectly good story...
...except he doesn't, because out of nowhere Jurgen mumbles, dazedly, "I thought you wanted to leave me..."
Whereupon all my inside-parts suffer cascading squeeplosion trauma, which immediately causes this book's rating to roar all the way back out from the depths of the abyss of STFU to the glorious heights whence five stars hail, I cannot love you more, we should totally make out, etc.
...until Nik expertly kills the good feelz by opening his assuming, misinterpreting, categorically fuckwitted mouth to utter something appalling, which was kinda funny, but mostly NO, FUCK YOU AND DIE, HOOR, because you talk too much and love to pretend like you are the only person in the hemisphere who is miserable, because then that allows y...
...I am arguing with a fictional character.
Fuck.
This is what he does to me. I am having a heated disagreement with words.
It's time to bring this POS review home so I can taxidermy the shit out of it and hang its head over my fireplace.
Nik. Nikhil, Nikhil, Nikhil: again, about to sink the whole review into the rageface abyss—but, it turns out, the previous explosive ovarian crisis was so damned good and sweet and nicely written that the subsequent Nikki Iniquity Penalty only worked out to a single star.
And that, colleagues, is how a 27-page story that took me six days to read and made me want to torture little old ladies with selected passages belonging to its heinous and antipathetic MC was still delightful enough to make me write a review and send it out onto the intertoobz with my 3 stars trailing behind it like a parade of ducklings waddling cheerfully off into the sunset.
This was a short, sweet, and DAMN SEXY follow up to Whitetail Rock.
Here, we witness Nik and Jurgen dealing with a little hiccup to their HEA.
Communication is key to the success of any relationship and these guys certainly have a long way to go if they want what they have to work. Thankfully, they're both all in and willing to put in the time needed to make their happiness last.
Relationships not only took work, they took sacrifice.
This is a welcomed little short - one that helped me enjoy and appreciate this couple more than I had while reading their initial story.
(If I was rating this one on the sex scene alone, I would have given it full stars, because DAYUM!)
4 Stars - nice to have a brief meeting with this cute lovebirds again
This is the second free shortie about Nik & Jurgen (see Whitetail Rock). A year has gone by, they live together and their lives generally works fine. Then sometimes that ugly feeling of uncertainty pops up; What did he mean when he said that? His best buddie, is he something more than just a friend? ~ Oh no guys, please talk to each other!
In just 27 pages we get to meet these two lovely guys one single night. A night that starts a little foolish and not so good but ends nice and very hot. Maybe even the best ever...
Read and have fun with these wonderful stories - these guys are worth it.
This was a very enjoyable short that follows up what happens with Jurgen and Nik. It was sweet and sexy with just the right amount of spice. I love these quick and easy free reads!
The story was average but the love between these two guys just warms my heart. It was nice seeing Jurgen insecure for once and Nik being all mature and easy-going. The plot was weak but the amazing sex scene at the end more than made up for it. Ms. Tenino, please write more about these two!
4.5 stars rounded up because of that amazing scene.
I think I liked this one better than the first story. A little more relationship interaction and the writing in sex scenes was done very well. It was nice to see the POV from Jurgen.
The short sequel to Whitetail Rock and part of my spontaneous Anne Tenino marathon night - boy, what a great night that was :-D
We meet Nik and Jurgen again living together in Whitetail Rock, Jurgen's place of work and Nik's hometown. Whitetail Rock is a small town and very white - and being an adopted, gay, Indian guy there was never easy for Nik, not as a kid, and not even now as an adult. So Jurgen is afraid that Nik won't stay for much longer - and what the hell is he supposed to do about that? He just knows he has to fix this, to right this again, because a life without Nik? That's just not conceivable.
Unfortunately, Nik has his own ideas about whether or not something needs to be fixed and he really doesn't agree with Jurgen's way of dealing with it - whatever the 'it' is, Jurgen thinks he has to deal with. Men's minds can be confusing places and those two really need to work on their communication and soon.
I'm not sure whether I want to hug Jurgen or to make him stand in the corner as punishment in this one. He's cute in his insecurity, but he's also a pretty big dumbass. I loved to hear about the both of them, though, Jurgen and Nik are great and Anne always makes me laugh. If you've read Whitetail Rock, read this one, too!!
This is a sequel to the excellent Whitetail Rock. Jurgen is feeling a little insecure since he heard Nik confide in Sam that he wished he'd never moved back to Whitetail Rock. So he plans to fix the problem starting with some of the bullies that tormented Nik when he was growing up.
I loved this story. Great to get Jurgen's POV for a change. God Jurgen is SO SEXY! And so dumb! lol. Lucky Nikky understands him. I re-read Whitetail Rock before reading this freebie and it really added to my enjoyment. Can't wait till Sam's book comes out. His leading man, Ian, is introduced in 'The Fix'. It's going to be good seeing him take the fall!!!
These two are too sweet and swoony and of course I loved it. What a great follow up to see what Nik and Jurgen are up to. I love their relationship; even when it's reversed and hello Ian! It's time for your story my dear. Loved the end as well. It's a bit of "Good night, Gracie" with their last words. Le Sigh.
In this sequel to Whitetail Rock, Jurgen sure lives up to the nick name Nik gives him! Lol I didn't like what Jurgen did, but I guess he meant well, and lets hope he learns his lesson. I'm looking forward to the third installment.
Eh, I think I just dislike Nik too much to enjoy this series. Annoying, immature, shall I go on? Jurgen was cute in this one, but still they both handle conflict so poorly this just does not seem like a healthy relationship that can persevere through difficult times .
And I guess, seeing as I had to move across the country with my husband because it was so difficult for him to find a teaching job after getting his PhD, I can't ignore how unrealistic it is for Nik to have relocated to Whitetail without having a job lined up. Could they have at least addressed why Jurgen couldn't just transfer?
With a sneak-peak at Ian it got me curious again about Too Stupid to Live, but after finishing this I think I need to accept that myself and Ms. Tenino's writing style's simply don't mesh.
A short sequel to Whitetail Rock, checking in with Nik and Jurgen a year later. This time we see more of Jurgen's softer, more vulnerable side. I loved it and hope to see more of them in the Romancelandia series!
-Jurgen POV!! *_* -Sex. Involving Jurgen. Who is . -Nik and Jurgen are super adorable together. -HELLLLLLLLLLO COVER... *fans self* -Again... it's FREE.
The Negatives:
-Jurgen may be Nik's "big, dumb asshole," but I honestly don't buy that he would be enough of an airhead (or meathead, as Nik would say) to believe that this scheme involving Miller was at all appropriate. I bought the insecurity piece of it - relationships do call for vulnerability from both parties at various times, even macho, super-confident men like Jurgen. But... I don't know, most of his actions in this one seemed out of character, in my opinion. So while I found the story entertaining, I didn't find it all that believable. -Ash would not approve of the use of the name "baby" in this one. XD
Just as good as the first, maybe even better. The characters are enough to hook the reader, so unique and defined it's impossible not to love them. Then you get the story, which is sweet and sad and funny, all at the same time. The town itself is a character, the people in it part of the background that shapes the story and the characters.
And the sex between these guys is nothing short of exceptional. Just like with the first story, my only complaint is I want MORE!!!
Great little continuation of the Whitetail Rock story. It always amazes me how we tend to overhear a snippet of conversation and then blow it out of proportion or we allow ourselves to believe that which we know is false. Anne--keep them coming!
I really like these 2 characters together but the "fixing" that Jurgen attempts sits a bit cold with me. His use of humiliation of another person to keep Nik close is a turn off and doesn't really seem in character. Hopefully Jurgen will redeem himself in the next installment.
A sweet & silly FREE short giving us more time with Jurgen & Nik. They are perfect together.
There is also more interaction with Miller and we meet Jugen’s cousin Ian that has his own story in Too Stupid to Live.
I do wonder though, about Jurgen. Is his name pronounced ‘JER-gen’ or ‘YUR-gen’? I admit I slipped back & forth between pronunciation and am probably wrong about both.
I hope Anne Tenino plans to give Miller his own book soon.
I liked re-visiting the characters, but I think I actually feel less... kindly toward Jurgen for being the guy who goes out of his way to dig up someone else's past "demons." I just didn't buy his belief that his actions would or could actually "fix" things. I expected better of him, I suppose, because I know full well that there are people who think like that. I guess overall my problem was that I just didn't buy into that motivation the way I was supposed to.
This is a nice complement to also free here on GR or All Romance. Jurgen and Nik have settled in Whitetail Rock and Jurgen overhears Nik venting and thinks Nik wants to leave him so he sets out to fix things in his own way.
I love this series - will definitely be reading more from this author.
4.5. Ahh this made me so happy! I just can't get enough of these two. *happy sigh* I hope it's not the last story with them the author has planned. Oh and I also want a story for Miller. I want him to get his HEA. And I'm also happy that we're getting Sam's story, cause he definitely deserves a little bit of happiness too.
Such a typical alpha male reaction. They always try to fix things first instead of trying to talk about it or ask for help. Honestly love it! Jurgen is swooooon worthy. And make up sex has never been so hot!