What do you think?
Rate this book
A Package Deal
Robby Dalton is the perfect all-American boy. He played the sports his father chose for him in high school, attended the college his father selected, and has worked hard to conform to his father's macho views. But emotionally he doesn’t fit anywhere, and he can’t connect with a woman beyond a few uninspired dates. Robby’s not in the closet, because he’s never guessed he’s gay. Now he owns a small commercial construction company, and one night after work he runs into Savannah Meyers. He finds her fascinating and agrees to a date, thinking maybe this woman would be different. But Savannah has her own agenda. She is looking for a love match for her roommate, Tristan Chartrand, whom she rescued from the streets years ago. He’s like a brother, and her only family, so she wants him safe and happy. Her plan seems to begin well, because when Robby meets Tristan, he’s surprised to find it’s Tristan he wants, not Savannah. But some people in Robby’s life don’t approve of Tristan’s lowly station in life, and some don’t approve of Robby being gay. Some people are full of hate and violence, and Robby and Tristan will need courage and strength if a loving future is to be part of the deal.
260 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 31, 2013
8 people are currently reading
237 people want to read
About the author
Mia Kerick
42 books539 followersMia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—one in law school, another at a dance conservatory, a third studying at Mia’s alma mater, Boston College, and her lone son still in high school. She has published more than twenty books of LGBTQ romance when not editing National Honor Society essays, offering opinions on college and law school applications, helping to create dance bios, and reviewing English papers. Her husband of twenty-five years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about this, as it is a sensitive subject.
Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled young people and their relationships. She has a great affinity for the tortured hero in literature, and as a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with tales of tortured heroes and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to her wonderful publishing houses for providing her with an alternate place to stash her stories.
Her books have been featured in Kirkus Reviews magazine, and have won Rainbow Awards for Best Transgender Contemporary Romance and Best YA Lesbian Fiction, a Reader Views’ Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in Contemporary Drama, an Indie Fab Award, and a Royal Dragonfly Award for Cultural Diversity, among other awards.
Mia Kerick is a social liberal and cheers for each and every victory made in the name of human rights. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology. Contact Mia at miakerick@gmail.com or visit at www.miakerickya.com to see what is going on in Mia’s world.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
September 26, 2014
**2.5 stars**
This book was nothing like I expected. I'll start with what I liked about it and go from there.
The positives:
This book is hurt/comfort to the nth degree. It really is a very sweet premise and a sweet story. It is about a damaged boy (Tristan), who has been physically and mentally abused, and his path to becoming healed. I liked that it was set in my old stomping grounds (outside of Boston, where I went to college) so it felt comfy and familiar to me. I think that this book had some great female characters, always a rarity in MM romance.
The negatives:
Oddly, this book is like a pseudo M/M/F menage, which I had no idea about from the blurb. I say pseudo because there isn't any sex with the female character, but other than that, it is very much like a menage relationship. An emotional menage, if you will. Robby , which I found to be beyond strange. I just felt... uncomfortable with their dynamic, though I understood the reasons behind it. Basically, everything is done to protect and shelter Tristan, to nurture him.
That brings me to another complaint. Tristan is a "too perfect" character. He is generous, nice, sweet, loving... he is seriously fault-less, which always makes me annoyed.
And don't be fooled by the cover- this book has little to no sex in it. It is all fade to black and written in a very "PG" style (like using descriptors like "privates" and such).
Lastly, this book is written in a style that seems a bit... immature. It is sort of simple and without nuance, which is typically not my taste.
Did I like this book? Yeah, I think I did, maybe. It made me smile often. However, it wasn't exactly what I wanted or expected.
**Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
This book was nothing like I expected. I'll start with what I liked about it and go from there.
The positives:
This book is hurt/comfort to the nth degree. It really is a very sweet premise and a sweet story. It is about a damaged boy (Tristan), who has been physically and mentally abused, and his path to becoming healed. I liked that it was set in my old stomping grounds (outside of Boston, where I went to college) so it felt comfy and familiar to me. I think that this book had some great female characters, always a rarity in MM romance.
The negatives:
Oddly, this book is like a pseudo M/M/F menage, which I had no idea about from the blurb. I say pseudo because there isn't any sex with the female character, but other than that, it is very much like a menage relationship. An emotional menage, if you will. Robby , which I found to be beyond strange. I just felt... uncomfortable with their dynamic, though I understood the reasons behind it. Basically, everything is done to protect and shelter Tristan, to nurture him.
That brings me to another complaint. Tristan is a "too perfect" character. He is generous, nice, sweet, loving... he is seriously fault-less, which always makes me annoyed.
And don't be fooled by the cover- this book has little to no sex in it. It is all fade to black and written in a very "PG" style (like using descriptors like "privates" and such).
Lastly, this book is written in a style that seems a bit... immature. It is sort of simple and without nuance, which is typically not my taste.
Did I like this book? Yeah, I think I did, maybe. It made me smile often. However, it wasn't exactly what I wanted or expected.
**Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
dnf-not-4-me
October 11, 2014A friendly little birdy told me:
Not for me at this point in my reading journey.
And don't be fooled by the cover - this book has little to no sex in it. It is all fade to black and written in a very "PG" style (like using descriptors like "privates" and such).
Not for me at this point in my reading journey.
January 22, 2018
Oh, I have such conflicting emotions about this book!
I was absolutely enamored with the first third of this book. Experiencing most of it through Robby's eyes, I felt constantly off balance and almost... itchy. Yearning. Like if only he/I could wrap his/my brain around this intangible thing that was going on between him and Tristan and Savannah, that that would be the defining moment of his life. As a reader, it was so exciting to be on the cusp of this discovery!
In general, there were aspects of characterization and relationship dynamics in this story that I have never read before or experienced in my own life and that I thought were flawlessly executed here. We all wear different masks in different situations; the self we present in the office isn't the same as the one we show our significant others, and that again is different than the one we show our partners or ourselves (yes, I think most of us wear a mask even with ourselves). I may not have liked all the iterations of Robby's character, but I thought Kerick did a fabulous job of showing how chameleon-like we are as human beings.
I also loved that through Tristan and Savannah we got to see these different but both shining example of resilience and strength and courage. Both of these characters took the worst that the world had to throw at them - things that individually would have shattered far stronger and less vulnerable people - and they came through it all battle-scarred but with their capacity for kindness and compassion and love not only intact, but fucking thriving.
But those successes battled against the most vile secondary character I've ever come across (who never quite got the comeuppance that my sense of fairness and justice demand), what I consider to be Robby's near fatal character flaw that pushed me to a breaking point and had me literally growling at my kindle and damn near DNFing at 82%, and a totally bizarro would-never-happen-in-real-life plot twist that was ultimately too easily resolved to feel satisfying.
It's also worth acknowledging that despite the sensual cover there are only two brief love scenes that were almost juvenile in their description in this book. As a proud horny bunny, the use of the word "privates" in one of my romance novels felt weird to read, but I assure you that the way that the scenes were described wasn't so much of an author cop out but a way of staying true to her characters.
I can't be mad at that.
In all honesty, I have no idea what to rate this book. There were parts/aspects that were easily, hands down a 5-star for me. And then there were parts/aspects that were 1 and 2 star-worthy in my opinion, but splitting the difference feels unfair, like it doesn't acknowledge the uniqueness of this story.
So... Definitely not a book for everyone, but one that I will given 4 stars because it made me stretch myself a bit.
Note:
This book is potentially trigger-y to some readers and should come with a buttload of warnings. But it doesn't, so I'm going say... WARNING! There are allusions and/or descriptions in this book of the following:
- the rape of a child
- incest
- gang rape
- sexual assault/interference with a minor
- neglect
- gay bashing
- prostitution of an underage boy
In fairness to Kerick, the things mentioned above are never done graphically or gratuitously and often illustrate the vulnerability or, conversely, the inner strength of her characters, but I know that the mere mention of some of these things is enough to trigger some readers, so I thought it was worth noting publicly.
I was absolutely enamored with the first third of this book. Experiencing most of it through Robby's eyes, I felt constantly off balance and almost... itchy. Yearning. Like if only he/I could wrap his/my brain around this intangible thing that was going on between him and Tristan and Savannah, that that would be the defining moment of his life. As a reader, it was so exciting to be on the cusp of this discovery!
In general, there were aspects of characterization and relationship dynamics in this story that I have never read before or experienced in my own life and that I thought were flawlessly executed here. We all wear different masks in different situations; the self we present in the office isn't the same as the one we show our significant others, and that again is different than the one we show our partners or ourselves (yes, I think most of us wear a mask even with ourselves). I may not have liked all the iterations of Robby's character, but I thought Kerick did a fabulous job of showing how chameleon-like we are as human beings.
I also loved that through Tristan and Savannah we got to see these different but both shining example of resilience and strength and courage. Both of these characters took the worst that the world had to throw at them - things that individually would have shattered far stronger and less vulnerable people - and they came through it all battle-scarred but with their capacity for kindness and compassion and love not only intact, but fucking thriving.
But those successes battled against the most vile secondary character I've ever come across (who never quite got the comeuppance that my sense of fairness and justice demand), what I consider to be Robby's near fatal character flaw that pushed me to a breaking point and had me literally growling at my kindle and damn near DNFing at 82%, and a totally bizarro would-never-happen-in-real-life plot twist that was ultimately too easily resolved to feel satisfying.
It's also worth acknowledging that despite the sensual cover there are only two brief love scenes that were almost juvenile in their description in this book. As a proud horny bunny, the use of the word "privates" in one of my romance novels felt weird to read, but I assure you that the way that the scenes were described wasn't so much of an author cop out but a way of staying true to her characters.
I can't be mad at that.
In all honesty, I have no idea what to rate this book. There were parts/aspects that were easily, hands down a 5-star for me. And then there were parts/aspects that were 1 and 2 star-worthy in my opinion, but splitting the difference feels unfair, like it doesn't acknowledge the uniqueness of this story.
So... Definitely not a book for everyone, but one that I will given 4 stars because it made me stretch myself a bit.
Note:
This book is potentially trigger-y to some readers and should come with a buttload of warnings. But it doesn't, so I'm going say... WARNING! There are allusions and/or descriptions in this book of the following:
- the rape of a child
- incest
- gang rape
- sexual assault/interference with a minor
- neglect
- gay bashing
- prostitution of an underage boy
In fairness to Kerick, the things mentioned above are never done graphically or gratuitously and often illustrate the vulnerability or, conversely, the inner strength of her characters, but I know that the mere mention of some of these things is enough to trigger some readers, so I thought it was worth noting publicly.
November 5, 2014
You've guessed it - review soon...
note to self..catch up on reviews...
note to self..catch up on reviews...
August 20, 2014
Note: This audiobook was provided to me by the publisher through Hearts on Fire Reviews in exchange for an impartial review.
Get ready to suspend belief. This “romance” is just bizarre. Robby Dalton is a successful businessman, a contractor in the Boston area, and supposedly straight. When he meets and begins to date Savannah, a gorgeous blonde grad student, he finds out that she’s currently living with another man. Eventually, he finds out that the relationship is platonic, though they do love each other in every other way, and Robby is being slowly, but surely, drawn into their circle. Savannah really sees him as the answer to her prayers for Tristan to begin to live a normal life as a gay man with a loving partner, rather than the secluded life he’s been living as a former abused street prostitute with a high school GED and a job as a waiter.
If you like slow burn, you may like this. This is so slow that I started to think that I was reading some light fluffy teenage angst novel. It takes forever to get to the kissing stage, never mind anything further.
Robby’s best friend, Mike, is so totally homophobic that he berates Robby at every opportunity and he’s now ingratiating himself with Robby’s father, a fellow homophobe. Despite Robby’s slowly developing (and platonic at this point) love for his partners, he still wants to people-please Mike and stay in the good graces of his father. Even when something terrible happens that shakes his belief in his friend, he still fails to act as a healthy and safe partner for Tristan.
But, it’s Robby’s despicable, spineless reaction to his father’s forthright demand for information about his relationship with Tristan that left me loathing Robby. What a twit! And then, his off-the-wall decision to live as a homeless man for one night was so beyond belief that I laughed through the whole segment.
Why Tristan allowed Robby back in his life is beyond me. Then, OMG! Tristan finally decides to bare himself and takes a shower with Robby. When Tristan washed Robby’s “privates”, I really wanted to hit the stop button on this audiobook. I persevered though, and finally, at nearly the end, Robby asked Savannah how she saw herself fitting into their lives. I would have liked to have figured that one out a lot sooner, and one would think one of the trio would have wanted to know sooner too.
One redeeming note—I loved Tristan. He was too sweet for words. If there was such a person out there, I’d want to be his friend and protector. But that’s really the only good thing I can say about the story.
Adding to the really poor storyline was the voice of the narrator, a voice that didn’t vary between MCs and sounded somewhat flat, as if a student just picked up a manuscript and started reading in front of the class. I don’t recommend this one to anyone other than those who like a very vanilla, very odd, story about a man who makes very poor choices.
Get ready to suspend belief. This “romance” is just bizarre. Robby Dalton is a successful businessman, a contractor in the Boston area, and supposedly straight. When he meets and begins to date Savannah, a gorgeous blonde grad student, he finds out that she’s currently living with another man. Eventually, he finds out that the relationship is platonic, though they do love each other in every other way, and Robby is being slowly, but surely, drawn into their circle. Savannah really sees him as the answer to her prayers for Tristan to begin to live a normal life as a gay man with a loving partner, rather than the secluded life he’s been living as a former abused street prostitute with a high school GED and a job as a waiter.
If you like slow burn, you may like this. This is so slow that I started to think that I was reading some light fluffy teenage angst novel. It takes forever to get to the kissing stage, never mind anything further.
Robby’s best friend, Mike, is so totally homophobic that he berates Robby at every opportunity and he’s now ingratiating himself with Robby’s father, a fellow homophobe. Despite Robby’s slowly developing (and platonic at this point) love for his partners, he still wants to people-please Mike and stay in the good graces of his father. Even when something terrible happens that shakes his belief in his friend, he still fails to act as a healthy and safe partner for Tristan.
But, it’s Robby’s despicable, spineless reaction to his father’s forthright demand for information about his relationship with Tristan that left me loathing Robby. What a twit! And then, his off-the-wall decision to live as a homeless man for one night was so beyond belief that I laughed through the whole segment.
Why Tristan allowed Robby back in his life is beyond me. Then, OMG! Tristan finally decides to bare himself and takes a shower with Robby. When Tristan washed Robby’s “privates”, I really wanted to hit the stop button on this audiobook. I persevered though, and finally, at nearly the end, Robby asked Savannah how she saw herself fitting into their lives. I would have liked to have figured that one out a lot sooner, and one would think one of the trio would have wanted to know sooner too.
One redeeming note—I loved Tristan. He was too sweet for words. If there was such a person out there, I’d want to be his friend and protector. But that’s really the only good thing I can say about the story.
Adding to the really poor storyline was the voice of the narrator, a voice that didn’t vary between MCs and sounded somewhat flat, as if a student just picked up a manuscript and started reading in front of the class. I don’t recommend this one to anyone other than those who like a very vanilla, very odd, story about a man who makes very poor choices.
February 16, 2014
No. Sadly this book didn't work for me. Tristan is worth the rating for this book, but just one character can´t carry the load of making this book a better story.
I felt cheated. The cover is deceiving, the blurb is unclear. The characters lack any redeeming qualities. Robby and Savannah, I just couldn't relate to them, I didn't care for them at all.
My only feelings and emotions were for Tristan, who seemed to be the more developed one out of the three and the one with the responsibility to glue the plot together and made sense of the story line.
I went back to check that this was the same author I loved with Intervention, it just felt totally different.
There were many things that didn't work. I couldn't see why there was a need of setting this up as MMF. I failed to understand how an intelligent young man kept a BFF that was such a d***head. How the other two parts of the relationship were all the time putting themselves down. One moment Tristan was as selfish as no one has ever been before, the next Robby is thinking of him as the most generous soul ever. I dislike Savannah and her passive-aggressive attitude. And Robby failed to show any courage at all, too little too late.
Lots of plot holes here, lots of incongruencies. Lots of things that were put together because of some idea that this is the attitude a broken boy/girl should have, but it didn't work with these characters or with the story line as it was told.
Like I said, Tristan, made this bearable. It was a close call to DNF, but I kept reading because I was hoping for the author to turn it around and make me love them. It didn't happen.
Reviewed by Connie
To see more of this review and others like it please visit us at Gay List Book Reviews at www.gaylistbookreviews.wordpress.com
I felt cheated. The cover is deceiving, the blurb is unclear. The characters lack any redeeming qualities. Robby and Savannah, I just couldn't relate to them, I didn't care for them at all.
My only feelings and emotions were for Tristan, who seemed to be the more developed one out of the three and the one with the responsibility to glue the plot together and made sense of the story line.
I went back to check that this was the same author I loved with Intervention, it just felt totally different.
There were many things that didn't work. I couldn't see why there was a need of setting this up as MMF. I failed to understand how an intelligent young man kept a BFF that was such a d***head. How the other two parts of the relationship were all the time putting themselves down. One moment Tristan was as selfish as no one has ever been before, the next Robby is thinking of him as the most generous soul ever. I dislike Savannah and her passive-aggressive attitude. And Robby failed to show any courage at all, too little too late.
Lots of plot holes here, lots of incongruencies. Lots of things that were put together because of some idea that this is the attitude a broken boy/girl should have, but it didn't work with these characters or with the story line as it was told.
Like I said, Tristan, made this bearable. It was a close call to DNF, but I kept reading because I was hoping for the author to turn it around and make me love them. It didn't happen.
Reviewed by Connie
To see more of this review and others like it please visit us at Gay List Book Reviews at www.gaylistbookreviews.wordpress.com
October 10, 2013
I enjoyed this book--I like to read stories of finding love and a safe emotional place for characters who have suffered abuse. It gives me hope that real life can have HEA's.
I thought Tristan and Robby were perfect for each other. Robby was patient, kind and sincere, really a calm and gentle man which Tristan needed and Tristan opened Robby's eyes to some of the bad things that happen in life and made him resolve to grow and improve his own social interactions with those less fortunate. While it seemed Robby had a perfect middle class upbringing, he actually suffered from his Dad's coldness and I believe he was very lost until he met Savannah and then Tristan.
I tend to want a little more vengeance and facing of consequences to be experienced by the "bad guys" but I'll try to be satisfied with Mikey's repercussions.
This was very much an emotional love story, with very little focus on sex between the mc's, but really it was the emotional love and security that they both desperately needed.
I thought Tristan and Robby were perfect for each other. Robby was patient, kind and sincere, really a calm and gentle man which Tristan needed and Tristan opened Robby's eyes to some of the bad things that happen in life and made him resolve to grow and improve his own social interactions with those less fortunate. While it seemed Robby had a perfect middle class upbringing, he actually suffered from his Dad's coldness and I believe he was very lost until he met Savannah and then Tristan.
I tend to want a little more vengeance and facing of consequences to be experienced by the "bad guys" but I'll try to be satisfied with Mikey's repercussions.
This was very much an emotional love story, with very little focus on sex between the mc's, but really it was the emotional love and security that they both desperately needed.
November 1, 2013
Mia Kerick's A Package Deal is first, a sweet love story. And the cover does a nice job of capturing the depth and seriousness of the love between the two main characters. Although there wasn't too much sex in the book, Robby and Tristan definitely developed an emotional intimacy and I found that the passion of conflict throughout the book was what made it hot. Robby, while finding out who he was and not necessarily pleased with what he found, realizes that he is falling in love with Tristan, and becomes deeply conflicted over this. In his own way, Tristan too is conflicted in the sense that he cannot bring himself to trust a man. Furthermore, the MMF female aspect is present in this book but in the end we see that Savannah planned all along to bring these two together. Great love story and painful lessons learned by all 3 main characters. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys reading about the passion and difficulties that come with falling in love!
November 1, 2013
As a fan of Kerick's other novels, I was eager to read A Package Deal, and had the opportunity to beta read this latest novel. A Package Deal is different from most books in this genre in its use and inclusion of a feisty, generous, big-hearted woman as a facilitator of the romance between Robby and Tristan. This woman, Savannah, is a meaningful character in her own right. I liked seeing a female character, fully developed, playing a real role in the story. As in her other books, Kerick demonstrates a commitment to true love as a vehicle to self-discovery, self-acceptance and the promise of future happiness. While there are moments of doubt, flirtations with betrayal, and difficult moments of cruelty, love prevails, and the story is, on the whole, sweet, uplifting and reaffirming. A Package Deal takes a different spin, and is a satisfying read.
November 18, 2013
I honestly didn't like any of these characters. The way they handle situations are just stuck me as odd and in Tristan's case, overly stupid. Robby seemed to pick and choose when to have a spine and I dont understand why he would keep someone like Mikey around. Keeping a grade-A dick and psycho around because youre a poor conversationalist is fucking dumb. On top of that people seemed to have issues with just saying what they mean, instead they'll just hint and manipulate people into their motives (I'm looking especially at you, Savannah, Queen of Intentional Misunderstandings.) The "relationship" between Robby and Savannah was very unconvincing as well, even after Tristan and Robby resolved their issues.
Read
November 3, 2013I'm not even sure what to rate this book. So many things in this story made me go 
I wanted to ask all the characters
After finishing this book I had to say
I wanted to ask all the characters
After finishing this book I had to say
November 2, 2013
Holy fuck!! What an emotional story. I had a few issues so not quite five stars, but this was truly great.
Full review on booklikes and my blog.
Also, the cover is seriously misleading and even cheapens the story inside. No bueno.
Full review on booklikes and my blog.
Also, the cover is seriously misleading and even cheapens the story inside. No bueno.
November 25, 2013
A Package Deal by Mia Kerick is an intriguing read. Readers will be surprised by the premise she sets up, and then discover an out-of-the-box resolution for it at the end. I have always enjoyed the various permutations of troubled teen lives that the author has constructed in her past stories, and I find this one a resounding success: A Package Deal is a sweet story that moves the heart.
To the rest of the world Robby Dalton has an enviable, upwardly-mobile life. He has all-American good looks, was an all-around accomplished athlete in high school and college, and now owns a small construction firm. But all that Robby really craved was his father's approval. This was why he let his father coach him in sports, choose his school, and generally walk all over him with a macho sort of prejudice that Robby endured because he was hoping for a 'great job, son' or 'I'm proud of you, boy!' that never really came. Then he met Savannah Meyers, and she intrigued him. To the rest of the world and Robby's eye, Savannah is an independent-minded, sexy, intelligent graduate student. But Savannah hides a lot of steel underneath her small frame and long blond curls. She has two consuming missions: to help troubled teens that ran away from home like she did, and to heal her dearest friend and roommate Tristan Chartrand, who rescued her from the streets and got her to an orphanage, only to suffer all the hardships of living in the street that he spared Savannah. She has decided that Robby is going to be a big part of her plans, and Robby has to choose whether he wants to endure the life he has in the hopes of pleasing his father, or whether he should make a life with two people who could really make him happy.
I believe Ms. Kerick walks a fine line between opposing forces: the blessings of a wide audience, and the admiration of a committed audience. Her choice to focus on troubled men and the relationships they form, and to couch any sex in her books within the context of an established romantic relationship makes it hard to retain as audience those that crave scenes with shock value or frequent sensational and sexual encounters. She chooses to forgo gratuitous sex scenes and successfully makes up for the loss through good storytelling, A Package Deal being an excellent example. She sets up interesting characters: an accomplished young man who never took charge of his life and whose spirit is dormant, and two former runaways whose psyches are slightly broken but whose wills are indomitable, so long as they can stay together. MMF/menáge á trois assumptions could arise, but the author is too good a storyteller to cop out to just bedsport between two guys and a girl. She makes her characters face the scrutiny of the wider community's social norms, and then she draws her readers in by letting her characters buckle or reform. I certainly was drawn in - I thought it would be more a polyamorous dynamic, but Ms. Kerick surprised me as well. What won my admiration was how she managed to elevate the story to a sweet tale of survival -and with that she brought me over to her committed audience corner.
I hope Ms. Kerick gets a chance for wide readership, so many more will discover A Package Deal is a story that touches the heart, and reading it will be an enjoyable experience. Recommended.
To the rest of the world Robby Dalton has an enviable, upwardly-mobile life. He has all-American good looks, was an all-around accomplished athlete in high school and college, and now owns a small construction firm. But all that Robby really craved was his father's approval. This was why he let his father coach him in sports, choose his school, and generally walk all over him with a macho sort of prejudice that Robby endured because he was hoping for a 'great job, son' or 'I'm proud of you, boy!' that never really came. Then he met Savannah Meyers, and she intrigued him. To the rest of the world and Robby's eye, Savannah is an independent-minded, sexy, intelligent graduate student. But Savannah hides a lot of steel underneath her small frame and long blond curls. She has two consuming missions: to help troubled teens that ran away from home like she did, and to heal her dearest friend and roommate Tristan Chartrand, who rescued her from the streets and got her to an orphanage, only to suffer all the hardships of living in the street that he spared Savannah. She has decided that Robby is going to be a big part of her plans, and Robby has to choose whether he wants to endure the life he has in the hopes of pleasing his father, or whether he should make a life with two people who could really make him happy.
I believe Ms. Kerick walks a fine line between opposing forces: the blessings of a wide audience, and the admiration of a committed audience. Her choice to focus on troubled men and the relationships they form, and to couch any sex in her books within the context of an established romantic relationship makes it hard to retain as audience those that crave scenes with shock value or frequent sensational and sexual encounters. She chooses to forgo gratuitous sex scenes and successfully makes up for the loss through good storytelling, A Package Deal being an excellent example. She sets up interesting characters: an accomplished young man who never took charge of his life and whose spirit is dormant, and two former runaways whose psyches are slightly broken but whose wills are indomitable, so long as they can stay together. MMF/menáge á trois assumptions could arise, but the author is too good a storyteller to cop out to just bedsport between two guys and a girl. She makes her characters face the scrutiny of the wider community's social norms, and then she draws her readers in by letting her characters buckle or reform. I certainly was drawn in - I thought it would be more a polyamorous dynamic, but Ms. Kerick surprised me as well. What won my admiration was how she managed to elevate the story to a sweet tale of survival -and with that she brought me over to her committed audience corner.
I hope Ms. Kerick gets a chance for wide readership, so many more will discover A Package Deal is a story that touches the heart, and reading it will be an enjoyable experience. Recommended.
November 2, 2013
Review originally posted at TWLIB Reviews
What I love about this story is the concept of family and what Savi and Tris have together is juxtapose to Robby’s traditional family. It’s the idea of family that holds Savi back from moving forward with her life. Tris is the one person she loves and he means everything to her. The narrative will reveal through short burst of flashback details just how far Savi and Tris have come, from child and sexual abuse and homelessness to their present day lifestyle.
When Savi and Robby first meet, they both have a purpose for getting together. Robby hopes Savi is the one woman who can hold his interest beyond a few dates. Savi wants to find someone for Tris on one condition, whoever is the lucky guy he must be willing to accept both Savi and Tris as a package deal. On the surface, the idea seems weird and absurd. When Robby takes one look at Tristan and sees this beautiful man, he becomes captivated. A seed is planted. Perhaps, Robby is after all gay and maybe the idea isn’t so strange after all.
The road to forming this new family nucleus is tense, uncertain, fearful and sometime violent. Sometimes it is wonderful for neither Savi nor Tris have ever experience having a real family such as the Dalton household. Robby runs into conflict with Mikey, who is his childhood friend, employee, a crude moron. Mikey can’t handle losing Robby’s attention. He makes all sorts of trouble for Tristan and Robby. He influences Robby’s father with negative information even though in reality Robby’s father is not much better in character than Mikey.
It may seem Tristan is at the center of all events and actions, but Robby is the one undergoing character growth. He will come to terms with what is important in his life. He will wrestle with his weak character traits and innate desire to please everyone. There is one quibble I have toward the end of the story when we get quite a bit of info dump as Robby tries to think through his problems. It had an effect of dragging down the story pace.
Overall, A Package Deal is an enjoyable story with an interesting concept. I experienced emotion from sadness to joy. The few sex scenes are fade-to-black types.
Highly recommended
I received this ARC from the publisher for the purpose of providing a fair and honest book review. No monies or monetary means have exchanged hands.
What I love about this story is the concept of family and what Savi and Tris have together is juxtapose to Robby’s traditional family. It’s the idea of family that holds Savi back from moving forward with her life. Tris is the one person she loves and he means everything to her. The narrative will reveal through short burst of flashback details just how far Savi and Tris have come, from child and sexual abuse and homelessness to their present day lifestyle.
When Savi and Robby first meet, they both have a purpose for getting together. Robby hopes Savi is the one woman who can hold his interest beyond a few dates. Savi wants to find someone for Tris on one condition, whoever is the lucky guy he must be willing to accept both Savi and Tris as a package deal. On the surface, the idea seems weird and absurd. When Robby takes one look at Tristan and sees this beautiful man, he becomes captivated. A seed is planted. Perhaps, Robby is after all gay and maybe the idea isn’t so strange after all.
The road to forming this new family nucleus is tense, uncertain, fearful and sometime violent. Sometimes it is wonderful for neither Savi nor Tris have ever experience having a real family such as the Dalton household. Robby runs into conflict with Mikey, who is his childhood friend, employee, a crude moron. Mikey can’t handle losing Robby’s attention. He makes all sorts of trouble for Tristan and Robby. He influences Robby’s father with negative information even though in reality Robby’s father is not much better in character than Mikey.
It may seem Tristan is at the center of all events and actions, but Robby is the one undergoing character growth. He will come to terms with what is important in his life. He will wrestle with his weak character traits and innate desire to please everyone. There is one quibble I have toward the end of the story when we get quite a bit of info dump as Robby tries to think through his problems. It had an effect of dragging down the story pace.
Overall, A Package Deal is an enjoyable story with an interesting concept. I experienced emotion from sadness to joy. The few sex scenes are fade-to-black types.
Highly recommended
I received this ARC from the publisher for the purpose of providing a fair and honest book review. No monies or monetary means have exchanged hands.
December 10, 2013
This is my first exposure to Mia Kerick's writing, and A Package Deal has me hoping for more good things from this promising author. What a surprisingly engaging story! It centers on three very different people: Robby Dalton, a good looking all-American boy raised in a loving family with some dysfunctional relationships; and runaways Savannah Meyers and Tristan Chartrand, both of whom managed to escape really screwed up families and situations. Savannah ran away when she was 12 from her mother's lackadaisical parenting and the creepy advances of her mother's abusive boyfriend. Tristan was repeatedly being molested by an uncle when he finally ran away and was already living in the streets when he met Savannah. He managed to get Savannah to an orphanage at great personal sacrifice to himself, and continued to live on the streets after seeing her off.
By the time Robby Dalton meets them, Savannah is a sexy, intelligent grad student studying Counseling and helping troubled teenagers like she once was. After aging out of foster care, she tracked down Tristan, and they now live together. Robby is drawn to Savannah's intelligence, but further, is stunned to discover that he is increasingly attracted to Tristan. Robby tries to stick to the accepted norm and date Savannah, but because she insists Robby deal with her and Tristan both, Robby needs to unravel his feelings and desires for this attractive close-knit pair.
Despite the opportunity for this to turn into some flavor of a "Dear Penthouse" letter, with a series of MMF sexual romps, A Package Deal is actually much more of a tender love story that the author pulls off rather deftly. She does it with an easygoing writing style that makes the story flow, and characters that are easy to feel strongly about, whether liking or disliking them. Savannah comes across as a someone lots of men would fall for, combining intelligence and sexiness into one hot package. Another character, Mikey DeSalvo, Robby Dalton's supposed best friend, reminds me of some of the idiotic jock types from my youth.
An engaging plot and good story pacing kept me entertained throughout, and A Package Deal is a fascinating read, which made for an overall enjoyable experience. A recommended read!
By the time Robby Dalton meets them, Savannah is a sexy, intelligent grad student studying Counseling and helping troubled teenagers like she once was. After aging out of foster care, she tracked down Tristan, and they now live together. Robby is drawn to Savannah's intelligence, but further, is stunned to discover that he is increasingly attracted to Tristan. Robby tries to stick to the accepted norm and date Savannah, but because she insists Robby deal with her and Tristan both, Robby needs to unravel his feelings and desires for this attractive close-knit pair.
Despite the opportunity for this to turn into some flavor of a "Dear Penthouse" letter, with a series of MMF sexual romps, A Package Deal is actually much more of a tender love story that the author pulls off rather deftly. She does it with an easygoing writing style that makes the story flow, and characters that are easy to feel strongly about, whether liking or disliking them. Savannah comes across as a someone lots of men would fall for, combining intelligence and sexiness into one hot package. Another character, Mikey DeSalvo, Robby Dalton's supposed best friend, reminds me of some of the idiotic jock types from my youth.
An engaging plot and good story pacing kept me entertained throughout, and A Package Deal is a fascinating read, which made for an overall enjoyable experience. A recommended read!
November 1, 2013
I've read a couple other Mia Kerick MM romance novels. Her writing is not on the heavy sex side, but more on the heavy emotions side. A Package Deal met my expectations as it is a really good story highlighted with a little bit of sex. I call it sweet. Personally, I like this and that is why I keep on reading her books. But Mia Kerick's voice is definitely a little bit younger than lots of the other MM books I read. She writes Young Adult, too. Maybe this book is New Adult.
Robby is an athletic, popular, good-looking guy who has spent his whole life trying to get his Dad to smile at him and he kept on getting disappointed because that didn't happen. His Dad can't be pleased. Tristan is a former street person/male prostitute/runaway who has been abused a lot, and he is trying to make a go of his life but he holds onto a lot of fear and pain from the past. The way they come together is kind of strange. Savannah who is Tristan's best friend and roommate almost goes shopping for a match for Tristan and picks out Robby.
Savannah is like a magnet. She draws the two guys together and then she takes herself out of the equation, but she never really goes too far away. I don't think of this as a MMF relationship, because Savannah is not into sex with the guys and they are really not into it with her either, but it is more like they are a family. I think this part is very sweet.
Some really disturbing things happen over the course of the book, and I was not sure how to react. I want to love Robby 100%, but he doesn't always do the right thing. But I think he acts like most guys would act in his shoes.
I liked the Boston setting a lot.
I think this is an overall good book that I'll probably read again some day. It had some very emotional places that were a little bit hard to read, and made me mad and maybe frustrated, and the cover made me think the book might be more steamy. But I like heavy emotional drama and this book has it.
Robby is an athletic, popular, good-looking guy who has spent his whole life trying to get his Dad to smile at him and he kept on getting disappointed because that didn't happen. His Dad can't be pleased. Tristan is a former street person/male prostitute/runaway who has been abused a lot, and he is trying to make a go of his life but he holds onto a lot of fear and pain from the past. The way they come together is kind of strange. Savannah who is Tristan's best friend and roommate almost goes shopping for a match for Tristan and picks out Robby.
Savannah is like a magnet. She draws the two guys together and then she takes herself out of the equation, but she never really goes too far away. I don't think of this as a MMF relationship, because Savannah is not into sex with the guys and they are really not into it with her either, but it is more like they are a family. I think this part is very sweet.
Some really disturbing things happen over the course of the book, and I was not sure how to react. I want to love Robby 100%, but he doesn't always do the right thing. But I think he acts like most guys would act in his shoes.
I liked the Boston setting a lot.
I think this is an overall good book that I'll probably read again some day. It had some very emotional places that were a little bit hard to read, and made me mad and maybe frustrated, and the cover made me think the book might be more steamy. But I like heavy emotional drama and this book has it.
Read
September 3, 2014REVIEWED FOR PRISM BOOK ALLIANCE
DNF
Every now and again at Prism a reviewer will take a book from our extensive list to review and quickly figure the story is not for them.
We have a very simple process where we can just ‘throw it back on the pile’. We are quite a diverse group in our tastes so there will always be somebody else to pick that book up again.
With an audio book it is not quite that simple.
The short of it is this book just wasn’t for me. After a few days consideration I decided not to finish something I was in no way enjoying only to rate it poorly. I would rather you read it yourself and make your own minds up. No two readers are the same; no two books by a specific author are the same. I recently finished another book by Mia and it blew me away.
My problem with this was that it was hovering on MMF and that is something I don’t read. Although the blurb very fairly mentions a female I hadn’t realised she would be such a large and sometimes odd part of the story.
This is just my own personal preference and not a reflection on the story as I only listened to 2 hours of the narration.
DNF
Every now and again at Prism a reviewer will take a book from our extensive list to review and quickly figure the story is not for them.
We have a very simple process where we can just ‘throw it back on the pile’. We are quite a diverse group in our tastes so there will always be somebody else to pick that book up again.
With an audio book it is not quite that simple.
The short of it is this book just wasn’t for me. After a few days consideration I decided not to finish something I was in no way enjoying only to rate it poorly. I would rather you read it yourself and make your own minds up. No two readers are the same; no two books by a specific author are the same. I recently finished another book by Mia and it blew me away.
My problem with this was that it was hovering on MMF and that is something I don’t read. Although the blurb very fairly mentions a female I hadn’t realised she would be such a large and sometimes odd part of the story.
This is just my own personal preference and not a reflection on the story as I only listened to 2 hours of the narration.
November 20, 2013
I have to say, this book surprised me over and over again. From the blurb, I expected this to be a straight forward M/M book with a “gay-for-you” theme. Boy, was I off the mark. Basically, this story starts out with Robby meeting his “dream girl”, Savannah Meyers. She is the first woman in a long time that inspired any kind of reaction from Robby. When they went on their first date, Robby was slightly confused by the arrival of Savannah’s roommate, Tristan Chartrand. The most confusing part was the clear affection he saw between Savannah and Tristan. There was love in their eyes and a not so platonic kiss shared between the two. The most confusing thing for Robby was his own attraction to Tristan. He had never had this reaction to any man before, and he didn’t understand it.
See the entire review at The Novel Approach: http://thenovelapproachreviews.com/20...
See the entire review at The Novel Approach: http://thenovelapproachreviews.com/20...
August 17, 2014
I was surprised by how attached I became to the characters of this wonderful romantic story! Robby owns a small construction company and one day meets lovely Savannah. Robby finds himself fascinated by her and her roommate, Tristan. Robby is surprised to find his fascination with Tristan to be sexual as he never believed he was gay. Savannah is looking for someone to love and care for Tristan more so than herself. Tristan is a man with a traumatic past but he doesn't let that keep him from being happy with his life. This beautifully written story of love and hate drew me in immediately and I found myself totally immersed in this tale. Robby is in such conflict over his feelings for Tristan and Savannah as well as how his friends and family will understand and react to his relationship with this pair of special people. I highly recommend this romance!
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review
November 18, 2013
Okay, I really liked this. It's not what I expected at all, given the blurb. I mean, it is a story about a girl looking for a boyfriend for her roommate, but there was a lot more. Admittedly, I did have a hard time at the beginning because it was clear that the book was taking a very unexpected direction, and I was confused. But, as I kept reading, I started to see it for what it was. The love that Tristan and Savannah have is pure and beautiful. They support each other so well, trust each other completely. When Robby enters the picture, it's confusing how it would work, until you realize that it just does. The relationship just is, and they are a family.
I really enjoyed reading this, despite my early confusion, and some issues I had later with how a certain incident was handled. Overall, it was still a good read.
I really enjoyed reading this, despite my early confusion, and some issues I had later with how a certain incident was handled. Overall, it was still a good read.
Read
March 6, 2016DNF Too unbelievable. This poor guy thinks he has found the perfect woman, but she has a creepy male roommate hanging around. After about the 3rd date she informs him that she will never sleep with him, but she would like for him to sleep with the male roommate. To top all that off the woman and the roommate were abused as children and apparently are looking for a father figure.
Also it is creepy that the male roommate has been sexually abused by male father figures, so in order to "help" him the female roommate gets a father figure for him to have sex with. Creepy!! I kept wanting to tell the guy to run! Run far away from these people!
I didn't give the book a rating because I didn't finish it. Maybe it ended on a high note, maybe everyone got counseling and will stay away from each other. I doubt it though.
Also it is creepy that the male roommate has been sexually abused by male father figures, so in order to "help" him the female roommate gets a father figure for him to have sex with. Creepy!! I kept wanting to tell the guy to run! Run far away from these people!
I didn't give the book a rating because I didn't finish it. Maybe it ended on a high note, maybe everyone got counseling and will stay away from each other. I doubt it though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 20, 2013
Just turned the last page of this book. The way it ended was very satisfying. Robby's and Savannah's loose ends were tied up, and Savannah's narration to close the story was heartwarming. I liked the idea of this story, as it's not a conventional 'guy meets guy' or 'guy meets girl' romance novel. Robby Dalton finally figured out who he was and became a better person by meeting the beautiful Savannah and Tristan, two former street dwellers who had nothing but each other (until along came along Robby) and then they ALL had everything. This novel was different and refreshing, and I recommend reading it. I've read other books but his author and am interested in what other creative/non typical story lines she's releasing in the future.
October 14, 2015
This book held my interest and the characters were interesting but the writing was amateurish and trite. Maybe I've been reading too many good romance novels but I was groaning and rolling my eyes every other page. Robbie's internal dialogue was annoying and childish. He also seemed one dimensional. Tristan on the other hand was lovely but I just couldn't figure out why he fell so hard for Robbie. Savi was also one dimensional. One moment she was bitchy and aloof and then in the next emotional and needy. The final love scene with Robbie and Tristan (and there were only 2) included references to "privates" for male genitalia which I found weird and a little "pervy" considering sexual abuse was an underlying theme with Tristan.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 11, 2013
I really love this book. My favorite character was Tristan - he was very sweet and quiet and had a very hard life and sacrificed a lot for Savannah. Robby gave him so much of the stuff his life was missing. I got mad at Robby sometimes though because he wasn't strong enough. However, I liked how Robby and Savannah worked together to make a family for Tristan. And by doing that, they made a family for themselves.
November 14, 2013
Beautiful story. Not an MFM story in the real sense. So much heartache and bitterness in the MC's pasts but as usual love was able to reign supreme. There were some parts that I found very uncomfortable, but somewhere what happened to these characters continue to happen to someone unfortunately. I enjoyed the evolution of the two male characters where they both found themselves in the end. I have always enjoyed books by this authour and she did not disappoint.
November 4, 2013
2.5 stars--I know this is a very well liked book, but it just did not do it for me. I never really connected with the characters, and I only made it to the end because I skipped a significant number of pages in the second half. This is the first book in a long time where I wish I had opted to try a sample before purchasing.
November 19, 2013
Wow. This was such an emotional story. Hats off to Mia Kerick for crafting such a passionate novel.
November 19, 2013
Major emotional ride! I'm going to read this one again!
April 1, 2019
A Package Deal, by Mia Kerick, is a complicated and messy romance.
I found the beginning to be a little difficult, as I was having a tough time caring about Savannah. As I wasn't interested in reading a M/F romance, I was weary. But, later, it gets so good and was definitely worth the read.
I love the slow burn in which Robbie truly falls for Tristan. Once they really connect, it's with such intensity, and an all-consuming need. In other words, it's passionate and hot, jumping off the page. It a total turn on.
Don't let the potential sex with a girl turn you off. This story is wonderful. It's about love and growth. It's about trust and strength. It's about friendship and family. It's about shame and embarrassment. It's about rising above and surviving. It's about dreams and choices.
The author gifts us with some extremely broken and scarred characters. Tristan and Savannah's past is heart wrenching and the more we learn, the more I like Savannah. Both my heart and body ached for Tristan. As for the relationship between Tristan and Savannah, it's truly a gift. Neither would have survived without the other. Two former street kids, Savannah saved Tristan and helped him become a confident, successful man.
As for Robbie, his best friend is a jackass.
A Package Deal is an amazing read. The storyline is stellar and unique, as Mia Kerick entwines romance with so much more. It's crazy and intricate, making for a fantastic book.
April 13, 2014
An Emotional Journey
It started with a girl.
Grad student Savannah Meyers seems exactly the sort of complex and beautiful young woman that most reliably catches the eye and holds the interest of contractor Robby Dalton, and Robby is thrilled when she agrees to meet him for coffee.
It turns out to be a really good date. Sort of. At least, he thinks so. Honestly, Savannah's a little hard to read, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Besides, she agrees to see him again, so Robby's very optimistic. And interested. Of course he's very interested.
He just wasn't expecting their next date to include another guy - one who obviously has a history...and a present...with the pretty Savannah. After that curve ball, a little confusion is perfectly understandable, right? Or a lot...given Robby's utterly stunned, mostly uncomfortable, yet undeniable physical reaction to the gorgeous and haunted Tristan.
After all, Robby's not gay. It's all about the girl. Really. Even if they're a package deal.
~*~
My feelings are so conflicted about this book. It's definitely like nothing I've ever read before, and I liked both the uniqueness of story and the wealth of emotion Kerick stirs with the personal journeys of main characters Robby and Tristan, with Savi's unconventional assist. It was gripping in places, heart-rending and painful. Other parts were soothingly, gently hopeful or sweetly, charmingly romantic. A good part of it was tense and a little confusing - in that totally good way of reading a story that's drawn you so deeply into a character's life that his or her perplexed discomfort becomes your own.
Then there were the parts that infuriated and frustrated me, both on behalf of the trials Robby and Tristan face (a testament to how affected I was by them), and in a less positive way at the story itself, which had a few elements that didn't appeal.
For the first three quarters of the book I was totally hooked. I absolutely loved this unusual, touching, emotional story. I loved Robby, with his befuddlement and earnest social awkwardness in the face of his complex and confusing reactions to both Savannah and Tristan. His journey locked me into this book and refused to let me go. And Tristan, the sweet man-child with a gentle soul and horrific past, made my heart ache.
He is such a broken young man, our Tristan, so fragile in so many ways, and yet there's such a guileless innocence and decency in him that I just wanted everything to work out for him, because he desperately deserved happiness, peace, and unlimited love.
It didn't matter to me in the slightest that the unconventional relationship between Tristan, Robby, and Savannah wasn't to my taste for romance. Frankly, the dynamic between Robby and Tristan didn't work for me in that regard, anyway, so I just stopped expecting any sexy M/M romance from the story early in. That helped tremendously.
In fact, this read much more to me like a coming of age story than anything else...except that all parties are already of age (despite the kid's card games and boyish nicknames). It was just far more effective for me as an emotional journey of self-discovery, acceptance, and healing than any sort of romance.
That's generally not something I like to read, but for the first three quarters of this book I was utterly and totally captivated by the characters and their lives. I loved everything about it. Well, okay, I loathed Robby's friend Mikey. From his introduction he did nothing but disgust me. That wouldn't have been too big a problem, though, if it didn't also draw Robby's strength of character into question for putting up with him for so long.
Still, I was dealing with that well enough right up until the incident between Mikey and Tristan. That's where the story started to stumble for me. The aftermath of that scene did more than draw Robby's strength of character into question. It obliterated it, as well as any respect I had for him as a human being for his response - or astounding lack thereof - to what Mikey had done. But it got worse, because there was also Robby's father.
Again, the problem wasn't that Robby's father wouldn't be winning any Father (or Husband) of the Year awards. He's a controlling, close-minded homophobe, but I expect to encounter at least one in stories of this type, so while I detested him, he was not the issue. No, it was Robby's choices and actions after the inevitable face-to-face with the man that derailed the story for me and put another series of large dents into Robby's knight-in-tarnished armor.
By that point in the story, I was hating on Robby almost as much as I was on his dad and Mikey. Fortunately, it was relatively near to the end of the book. Unfortunately, the too-abrupt resolution to everything didn't quite redeem Robby to me before the story ends, so in general the book ended in a less positive place for me than it was throughout the first three quarters of the story.
It also begs mentioning that the book's cover art, which practically oozes an implication of hot, sexy, mature content, utterly fails to reflect the New Adult tone of the story and the extremely tame (mostly glossed over) sexuality in the two brief scenes in which sex occurs. The cover is sexy and beautiful, no argument there, but that art shouldn't be on a book with a story that refers to a man's dangly bits as his "privates" during the only moderately descriptive sex scene in the whole book. Fortunately, it didn't affect my opinions of the story, but that's only because I didn't see it before I finished the book.
Disclosure: A copy of this book was provided to me by the author for review. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.
~*~*~*~
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.
It started with a girl.
Grad student Savannah Meyers seems exactly the sort of complex and beautiful young woman that most reliably catches the eye and holds the interest of contractor Robby Dalton, and Robby is thrilled when she agrees to meet him for coffee.
It turns out to be a really good date. Sort of. At least, he thinks so. Honestly, Savannah's a little hard to read, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Besides, she agrees to see him again, so Robby's very optimistic. And interested. Of course he's very interested.
He just wasn't expecting their next date to include another guy - one who obviously has a history...and a present...with the pretty Savannah. After that curve ball, a little confusion is perfectly understandable, right? Or a lot...given Robby's utterly stunned, mostly uncomfortable, yet undeniable physical reaction to the gorgeous and haunted Tristan.
After all, Robby's not gay. It's all about the girl. Really. Even if they're a package deal.
~*~
My feelings are so conflicted about this book. It's definitely like nothing I've ever read before, and I liked both the uniqueness of story and the wealth of emotion Kerick stirs with the personal journeys of main characters Robby and Tristan, with Savi's unconventional assist. It was gripping in places, heart-rending and painful. Other parts were soothingly, gently hopeful or sweetly, charmingly romantic. A good part of it was tense and a little confusing - in that totally good way of reading a story that's drawn you so deeply into a character's life that his or her perplexed discomfort becomes your own.
Then there were the parts that infuriated and frustrated me, both on behalf of the trials Robby and Tristan face (a testament to how affected I was by them), and in a less positive way at the story itself, which had a few elements that didn't appeal.
For the first three quarters of the book I was totally hooked. I absolutely loved this unusual, touching, emotional story. I loved Robby, with his befuddlement and earnest social awkwardness in the face of his complex and confusing reactions to both Savannah and Tristan. His journey locked me into this book and refused to let me go. And Tristan, the sweet man-child with a gentle soul and horrific past, made my heart ache.
He is such a broken young man, our Tristan, so fragile in so many ways, and yet there's such a guileless innocence and decency in him that I just wanted everything to work out for him, because he desperately deserved happiness, peace, and unlimited love.
It didn't matter to me in the slightest that the unconventional relationship between Tristan, Robby, and Savannah wasn't to my taste for romance. Frankly, the dynamic between Robby and Tristan didn't work for me in that regard, anyway, so I just stopped expecting any sexy M/M romance from the story early in. That helped tremendously.
In fact, this read much more to me like a coming of age story than anything else...except that all parties are already of age (despite the kid's card games and boyish nicknames). It was just far more effective for me as an emotional journey of self-discovery, acceptance, and healing than any sort of romance.
That's generally not something I like to read, but for the first three quarters of this book I was utterly and totally captivated by the characters and their lives. I loved everything about it. Well, okay, I loathed Robby's friend Mikey. From his introduction he did nothing but disgust me. That wouldn't have been too big a problem, though, if it didn't also draw Robby's strength of character into question for putting up with him for so long.
Still, I was dealing with that well enough right up until the incident between Mikey and Tristan. That's where the story started to stumble for me. The aftermath of that scene did more than draw Robby's strength of character into question. It obliterated it, as well as any respect I had for him as a human being for his response - or astounding lack thereof - to what Mikey had done. But it got worse, because there was also Robby's father.
Again, the problem wasn't that Robby's father wouldn't be winning any Father (or Husband) of the Year awards. He's a controlling, close-minded homophobe, but I expect to encounter at least one in stories of this type, so while I detested him, he was not the issue. No, it was Robby's choices and actions after the inevitable face-to-face with the man that derailed the story for me and put another series of large dents into Robby's knight-in-tarnished armor.
By that point in the story, I was hating on Robby almost as much as I was on his dad and Mikey. Fortunately, it was relatively near to the end of the book. Unfortunately, the too-abrupt resolution to everything didn't quite redeem Robby to me before the story ends, so in general the book ended in a less positive place for me than it was throughout the first three quarters of the story.
It also begs mentioning that the book's cover art, which practically oozes an implication of hot, sexy, mature content, utterly fails to reflect the New Adult tone of the story and the extremely tame (mostly glossed over) sexuality in the two brief scenes in which sex occurs. The cover is sexy and beautiful, no argument there, but that art shouldn't be on a book with a story that refers to a man's dangly bits as his "privates" during the only moderately descriptive sex scene in the whole book. Fortunately, it didn't affect my opinions of the story, but that's only because I didn't see it before I finished the book.
Disclosure: A copy of this book was provided to me by the author for review. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.
~*~*~*~
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews