Gunnar wakes up in his dorm room on a Friday in April and notices three things in rapid succession. The most pressing is a text message that says: "God, my ass hurts. I can't even sit down properly. Cheers to you. Coffee @ 1?"
that shit is in slow-mo, and she's still back to singing and hip-thrusting within 2 seconds of clockin' that poor girl in the gob.
Nothing is as it seems. The eye-rollingly cliche genre tropes are all red-herrings in this one, to fool you into a certain perception of Gunnar that is shockingly—comprehensively—utterly wrong.
And then the narrative exploits these things so that the real story is made clear bit by bit with every jarring piece of new data that proves inconsistent with your original assumptions.
It's gloriously clever.
Demerits for various Jülzian nitpicks: .
Commendations for everything else.
Recommended.
(And as for grief and efficiency: yes, maybe they are. Which I begin to suspect was rather the point.)
PS: From someone who's loved an asshole or two in his day: Bravo, Author. Bravo.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>
This was a treat, a free 40,000 word novella about a straight college guy who wakes up one morning with no memory of his drunken night before. But he has body paint on his chest, and a text on his phone that says "God, my ass hurts. I can't even sit down properly. Cheers to you. Coffee @ 1?".
This story is written in the present tense, which is somehow appropriate for it. Gunnar tries to believe he's cool, and in control, and can make a list of plans to get himself through anything. But finding out he had sex with a guy, and liked it, and wants to do it again, and maybe isn't straight or the detached loner he thought he was... It's confusing and stressful, and yet exciting. Gunnar navigates the waters of coming out with the grace of a drunken penguin, and the articulate smoothness of a sailor's parrot. And yet he doesn't give up and he doesn't hide. He begins the story as a jerk, and self-centered, and yet you get the feeling there is a better guy waiting underneath to be discovered. And the story proves you right.
This was an online story, and well worth the read. I've book-marked it for a reread, when I need a dose of humor that also tugged just a little at my heart.
I read this free online book while I was sick with a stomach virus, and it was the perfect thing to cheer me up. It is a nice, hot read and a great free book. My complaints are that the story seemed a little bipolar. At one minute very fun and carefree and then it morphed into something very serious. Not something I was expecting. I didn't fully connect with the main character and care about him on an emotional level. I still enjoyed it and I bumped up my rating a bit because it was free. Nevertheless, it was a great distraction from how terrible I was feeling.
How To Come Across as a Well-Adjusted Baby-Gay In Order to Get So Much Ass It's Not Even Funny
1. Use bedroom voice. 2. Chuckle knowingly often. 3. Be mysterious but forthcoming. 4. Be a confident motherfucker.
If that little gem of a list does not get you to read this free online story, I have no idea what will. This book is laugh out loud funny, fan yourself sexy, and twist your heart angsty but in a good way. I went in expecting buttsex and blowjobs and MC to MC angst and left with buttsex and blowjobs and MC to MC angst as well as some pretty serious take-a-look-at-yourself-bitch-you-didn't-expect-depth-but-here-it-is-and-now-you're-bawling-your-eyes-out-like-a-little-girl-because-you-can-relate bit.
Gunnar is a self-centered, pompous jackass who also happens to be one of the most entertaining narrators I've had the pleasure to read (he'd prolly think so too). He's unapologetic, a bit naive, but so damn adorable in his conviction to his own awesomeness that you just can't help but fall completely in love with him.
He wakes up after a night of partying to a text message saying "God, my ass hurts. I can't even sit down properly. Cheers to you. Coffee at 1?". After figuring out what exactly happened and discovering that not only was he an enthusiastic participant in the previous night's debauchery but he also wants to get debauched again, he embraces the gay and got all cute and hilariously ignorant.
He says, "Do I look gay to you?" Because suddenly he's thinking that maybe he should. That maybe he should have put on a pink button-up and popped the collar or something. And sandals. He should definitely be wearing sandals.
She says, "What?"
But then he remembers, he's hot no matter what he's wearing so he says, "What what?" Which only makes the girl flush more and turn to face the window.
That happens not even a couple of hours after he finds out about his butt-boinking adventures of the night before. Doesn't even spend so much time angst-ing about the turn in his preference in bed partners. When you say embrace, dude really embraces.
He then meets Vance the mysterious texter, has sober sex, and falls head over fucking heels he scares himself. Gunnar has issues, however, that he doesn't have the inclination to invest a fraction of his awesomeness in sorting out. This is when the story shifts and becomes more than just a funny take on the usual GFY. This is when you realize that it's not only a boy meets boy romance but also Gunnar's painful but necessary journey to the land of the feels.
You see, Gunnar has only ever loved one person in his life - his equally pompous jackass of a brother - and the sentiment is not even reciprocated, something Gunnar knows and just shrugs about. He doesn't love his parents, or their dog, or his friends, or any of his bed flings. It's not that he wants not to feel anything for these people, it's just that he doesn't. There's just nothing there. When his friend almost OD'd on pills, his first thought was how inconvenient it would be to find a new roommate. And as unfeeling as that may sound, I completely get what he means. I know how it is when all you feel about the majority of people around you is meh. Not trying hard not to give a shit meh or even Vulkan-ish emotions are alien to us meh. It's just good old fashioned meh. I mean, there's like and appreciation and fondness and everything, but just not that deep, I'll grieve so hard when you die kind of love. I bet I'm not making sense. Moving on.
This not really feeling things practice has worked pretty well for Gunnar in the past so when he suddenly starts getting all "I have feels" with Vance, he gets unsurprisingly idiotic about it. Add in some family stuff and Gunnar is swimming in so many emotions it's not even funny.
The angst is not overdone, though. The humorous narration balances shit out. The supporting characters are also well developed and important to the story and it's nice to have a non-MC be instrumental to the emotional development of the MC.
I loved this book/story/online fic. I loved that it's free. I loved that the characters talk like how my internet saturated mind thinks people their age talk. I liked Vance though I'd have appreciated to have known him more. I loved the roommates and their unabashed insistence in being fag hags. And I loved loved loved Gunnar. Unfeeling asshole or not, I'd totally want to grab some Raspberry While Chocolate Latte, non-fat, with an extra shot with this goddamned sexy chameleon.
I was hoping for something lightweight and silly, to balance out the darker book I'm reading in parallel. But it's as if the author had heard the term "over the top," and thought, "Ha, that's nothing. Hold my beer." The result is an MC who's so exaggerated and inconsistent that he isn't recognizable to me as human being. So I guess my lesson is to be careful what I wish for...?
I'm unfashionably late to Drunk Text's party, so I'll just say that this was entertaining and fun, mostly because Gunnar has a distinctive voice and is an adorable self-absorbed prick. Rachel said it all.
This is a free online read. The story has 15 chapters.
I would hazard a guess that the author is, I don't know, inexperienced? The writing wasn't all that good, but it sort of fit with the MC's voice. So it was kind of refreshing to read something that wasn't, you know "polished" for once.
The short blurb gave me the impression that this should be a light, fluffy and fun read. And it was! Up until the end of chapter 13.
But the beginning first. The start was really funny. Gunnar, the MC wakes up after a Thirsty Thursday at collage. He is stark naked and covered in colorful finger-paint. He has scratches on his back and a smattering of hickeys on his hips and inner thighs. LOL! An evening well spent, eh? Well, he can't remember much of what happened, but he gets these flashbacks to being with a guy, yes a guy. Well, he's not gay. Definitely straight. He thinks. Maybe or maybe not?
And hence the story continues with Gunnar and the most definitely gay Vance. And everything is fluffy and funny, although. In chapter 13 there's a little bit of angst, which makes Gunnar pay a visit to his brother for advice. And then BAM! right out of NOWHERE the story goes like this:
Hence my reaction
I was so shocked by this sudden turn of event I almost dropped my Kindle and everything just unraveled and fell apart. I got totally "book"slapped by this. Maybe it was because it was closing to midnight when I read this, so I was relaxed and sleepy and my "defences" where low. And/or I never expected
Grrr! Right then and there, I couldn't take it anymore so I DNF'd with only 1,5 chapter left. Two days later I finished it before I wrote this review, because, well.. it was just one and a half chapter till the end. *snort* Yeah, I'm still a bit pissed at the story/author to "book"slap me like this.
I originally gave it 1 star since I DNF'd it, but after I finished it I gave it 2 stars, because chapter 1 to 13 was good, I liked it. 2 stars = it was okay.
Read it if you like, it was free. Just because I reacted this way, doesn't mean you will.
ps. it was difficult with pages in my updates since this was a online read, so I just called my updates "1, 2, 3 etc" which looks weird on my updates.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>
Free online story with one of the most tempting opening paragraphs in m/m romance:
"Gunnar wakes up in his dorm room on a Friday in April and notices three things in rapid succession. The first is that he's stark naked and smeared with cracking finger paint. The second is that his roommate Jonathan is standing over him, obviously horrified. And the third is that he's holding out Gunnar's phone to show a text message that says, 'God, my ass hurts. I can't even sit down properly. Cheers to you. Coffee at 1?'" How can you resist a hook like that?
Gunnar is a self-confessed confident bastard who gets his comeuppance in this deliciously sexy GFY with several LOL moments and some surprising and heartwrenching angst towards the end before our heroes get their HEA. I liked this author's writing style. Several memorable turns of phrase and images including this one at the beginning when Gunnar is struggling to remember the night before, "It's like he's in mid-sentence, looking for the right word to use, and no matter what he does his brain won't stop searching for it." Recommended for fans of online fic, GFY and heartless bastard heroes (who are reformed by love).
Fucking brilliant! Insanely quotable, literally laugh out loud funny and amusing, and was that the sting of tears in my eyes at the end? Gunnar shows so much growth in this story while still retaining his unique, hilarious, and charmingly cocky POV. Vance is a total asshat, so it's awesome and thrilling to see where their interactions and encounters lead. You'll be surprised by the full-bodied and robust story that's hidden behind the superficially self-centered narrator whom you can't help but find wickedly charming (and he'd expect no less from you). Seriously, you'll like this one. AND it's free.*
* - Note: There are the handful of editing oversights (missing words or extra words) in each chapter that you might expect from free online fic. If I, a notorious nitpicker over those things, can overlook those enough to give this five stars, then you know it must be good.
So, I stumbled over this on a friend's timeline today. It's a free story, complete, posted on Fictionpress.net. Huh, I thought, let's take a look.
I was hooked from the first chapter on. Gunnar is a college kid, a self-proclaimed ladies' man, commitment-shy and always looking for a good time. He wakes up one morning, paint all over his body, nursing a vicious hangover and sees a new text on his phone, thanking him for the previous night.
It's from a guy.
The story takes off from there and through third person limited narrative (all from Gunnar's POV), you follow along as he first thinks it's a one time thing, then can't stop thinking about Vance, hooks up with him again, fights and fights and fights the attraction, only to figure out, nearly too late, that he found the one person he wants to be with.
It's a quick read but with lots of snark, a great supporting cast in Gunnar's two friends, sarcasm, scaredy-cats and a super-funny happy ending. There's some sadness along the way but it serves a purpose and the story is never dragged down because of it.
All in all a fantastic story. And did I mention you can read it for free??? What are you waiting for?
Great concept for a book: you wake up after a night of drunken loving w/ a text saying "God, my ass hurts. I can't even sit down properly. Cheers to you. Coffee @ 1?"...oh yeah...but you're straight.
The book started off funny, went through an annoying stage, and ended sweet.
The writing was amateurish and I was undecided how I felt about the characters. Not sure if they annoyed me or if I could attach myself to them. Gunnar's the idiot college-frat-boy type that so often makes me roll my eyes w/ every word out of his ego-inflated head. Vance was written w/o a point of view...it was a bit schizo...the writer just wrote him to fit the scene at hand.
The bed scenes and sexual tension were pretty entertaining, I will say that.
Ultimately, I'm finding myself frustrated by the "I honestly never knew I was gay until you" books out there. That angle has been overplayed.
I found this "meh" at best. Only really worth it to read because it's free and that makes it not feel like a waste.
I laughed. A lot. Gunnar is such a self-centred, emotionally-stunted dillweed, but God! is he funny. There is even some surprising character growth underneath his superficial teflon coating.
It's in present tense, which works here because it's like sharing a cozy gossip with the author about these clueless friends of yours. Like Gunnar confessing all to his roommate, Jon, because Jon wears hipster glasses and therefore cannot be homophobic.
Or this: "I'm going to take up archery," Gunnar tells his mom when she calls on Friday morning to make sure he's still planning on coming home the next day for his dad's birthday. "Really?" his mom says, "That's neat." "Yeah," Gunnar says, "Well, see you tomorrow." Because he's not really the type of guy who likes chatting with his mom about shit.
This was really cute, funny, and FREE. Some minor editing errors, but I have seen far worse in published work lately, and it was nothing that really had me rolling my eyes, like obvious word mis-usage, more like minor typos. I do admit to being a bit confused that happy go lucky Gunnar was so hurt and out of it because of a certain loss he experienced, and it kind of felt like a different story during those parts, but it brought things around to where I wanted them to be, so I only knocked a star off for that little detour into sadsville.
I think I'm definitely going to have to check out fictionpress a bit more!
Whoa. I don't even know what to say about this at the moment. I wasn't expecting what this was at all. I am not disappointed by that but man, this was so much more than I expected. It was really kind of brilliant. My head can't gather any good thoughts though so I am just leaving at this. This was free and it was really, really good and I think you should read it.
Yes, he's a conceited jerk, but I loved every minute I spent reading this. Of course, I'm weird. There are even feels, and a tiny bit of character growth. Okay, may not that much growth. Anyway, it's worth reading just for an escape. Ego centric people can be quite entertaining. ;)
5 stars Yes, it's all that and then some! Go see for yourself what an incredible, outrageous, laugh-out-loud, roller coaster of a ride this is. You will NOT be disappointed.
Highly recommended, something for everyone, story!
Well, this really covers a range of emotions, with a least a few angst-ridden scenes, yet overall, it has some great snarky dialogue, so more often than not, I was grinning rather than crying. (Yes, I'm a wuss. *shrugs*) I really liked Gunner's evolution, but I think a little more insight into Vance's thoughts and actions would have made it a more balanced tale.
The most fun thing I have read in a long time! Not just fun though, a little angsting in there to keep it grounded and give it some depth.
Gunnar is an amazingly cluelessly clued in narrator and I'm sure I'll have to reread it at some point soon to catch all the great little bits I may have missed.
This was a fun and quick read. I really liked Gunnar and Vance as well as Jon and Cara. There were some pretty funny moments from Gunnar and I thought his lists were adorable.
This is why I love trawling the internet, stalking on GR, seeing reviews and just being introduced to the writings of practically anonymous authors on the internet. Because every so often, you find something that just reaches out and sucks you in - indulges the voyeur in you and feeds you the perfect blend of emotional angst, hardship, happiness and so on and so forth.
As for the other characters... Jon, Cara even Vance to an extent - there wasn't much there for me. Gunner, the centrepiece, we live his story, we see him develop and therefore the others pale in comparison. Although, I suspect I would have fallen for Vance too, had his character been more developed.
Anyhoo, I think I shall be scouring the internet to find more from this author.... :-)
Very good m/m romance about a straight college student who wakes up hungover one morning covered in finger paint with a text on his phone that suggests he had sex with a guy the night before...
Apparently I need to just read everything MandyM reads. :)
Reread. I enjoyed this just as much as the first time I read it in February.
Loved it! Who knew a complete jerk could be so hilariously lovable? The sex had me panting and hungry for more, and then suddenly there's all these feelings and ahhh, it just hit all my buttons and I'm a babbling mess!
It's such a cliché story from beginning to end - but it's also the exact opposite of what you'd expect. I loved that! Gunnar was amazing. He doesn't spend lots of time and energy on denial, when he can embrace instead and try to get the best feelings, the best experiences out of it. He's honest and courageous and so dead funny. The way he talks... it actually sounds like real talk, completely incoherent at times, but he still brings his point across, even if you can't be sure how, because the words just don't form normal sentences. When he's nervous anyway. Or when he's horny. Or drunk. Or... He can be perfectly coherent at other times, but to be fair, he's lots of horny and drunk and sometimes nervous in this story. And Jon and Cara. They are like the best friends you want to have, especially Jon. He's fun and supportive and takes things in stride. Vance, well. He's probably the one I get the least out of all of them, but that's mostly because I just don't know him that much.
This story, it could have been a cliché-fest, unimaginative and predictable, but it's not. Because Gunnar surprises you at every turn in the best way. It's also damn funny sometimes and really not funny at others, and both parts are great. It's well written and hot, and isn't all of this together just the shape of awesomeness? And it is. Awesome.
It started out with Gunnar's arrogance reminding me of a dude I had a thing with that I ended up wanting to smack in the face half the time. Not fun. The slight and annoying sense of déjà-vu, that is. Or the dude, that too.
However, unlike the dude, Gunnar is also great in bed, and he's... he's a great character. He's a brilliant character. They're all brilliant characters, and it's a brilliant story, and it's very, very deceptive, and also sexy as hell, and it does the thing where I get all squirmy and warm deep in my feelings, yanno.
Point is, it's a stellar story, and I love this author's style with a passion. There's something about the writing that feels a little odd, refreshing, although I can't pinpoint what it is, and it always - in all the fics, I swear - has just the right amount of development and detail.
Gimme a call when she starts writing full-length novels.
When I first started reading this story, I was all "huh, every time a Vance crosses the path of a Gunnar, the universe rejoices." It feels good to see an asshole get his comeuppance, doesn't it?
Well, the author manages to move way beyond that kind of trope, and into much more significant territory. Don't be fooled by the beginning of this story. Keep going, it is not what you think it is. Though the writing style and vocabulary leaves something to be desired, this is much better than a lot of published books in the genre.
Clever little fox, this author. I've downloaded The Side Effects of Forgetting. We'll see how it goes, but I've got my facial tissue supply close by. I think I'm ready.
This was sooo good! The writer's voice is really funny and yet the story has depth and angst and an arc. I loved it. I especially liked the way Gunnar accepts being gay. I am so relieved to read an M/M story without "Oh my god, I'm gay?!" being the entire premise of it. It was like: wake up, realise I fucked a man, realise I liked fucking a man, realise I like the man, sort out my emotions...in rapid succession. Splendid. No freaking long pause over identity...it was more so grappling with being emotionally availing (which isn't orientation specific, is it). I would definitely read work written by seventhswan again :-)
This story was fucking fantastic. I just took off a star because it was short and I had to read it on my computer, which I hate. Gunnar was freaking hilarious and his friends were just perfect for him. Of course Vance was dreamy! Just a really well told gay for you story with a lot of laughs, hot sex and a bit of angst. The perfect combo. You can find it here:(I had a hard time, so I'm posting the link)