Crying in the Rain, 2nd Edition

Hiding Behind The Couch #Novels

by Debbie McGowan

For many years, Ade Simmons has been an outsider, trapped in an abusive relationship, seeking sanctuary in his job as a radio producer and in the checklists he makes in an attempt to regain control of his sorry excuse of a life.

Actor Kris Johansson is patient, gentle and passionate – everything Ade’s ex-boyfriend is not. When Kris takes a role in one of Ade’s plays, the attraction is mutual and instant. It is the turning point for Ade. He can either stay on the same path, with Fergus, the bully who has repressed, used and isolated him from his friends and family, or he can look in the other direction, towards Kris, the handsome actor with family and friends who readily accept him.

But Fergus will not give up his punchbag so easily. Can Ade finally find the strength to fight back?

* * * * *

Part of the Hiding Behind The Couch series. This story falls chronologically during the second half of The Harder They Fall (Season Three). The story continues in First Christmas (Novella) and In The Stars Part I (Season Four).

Genres: M M Romance, Abuse, LGBT, Contemporary, Romance

266 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 11, 2014

About the author

Author, publisher, social scientist.

Reviews

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crying In the Rain is a touching and realistic portrayal of the end of an unhealthy relationship. Without revealing too much, Ade has put up with Ferg the Arse for too long. He has made excuses for Ferg, isolated himself, and watched his own self-belief crumble away. It is a painful depiction of the effects of domestic violence, not just on the victim, but on their whole world. I applauded Debbie McGowan many times for writing about this touchy subject so bravely.
Ade meets Kris, and is given a glimmer of another, better, world. The attraction between them is very strong, but Ade is conflicted by his reliance on Ferg and his lack of faith that there could be anything better. I really liked that the Ferg issue didn’t just miraculously disappear, because bullies rarely go away overnight.
The development of this new relationship is delightfully managed, and rather hot.
There are some wonderful additional characters in this story – Shaunna, who plays her part in showing Ade that it is possible to live with acceptance and kindness.
I absolutely loved that there are gay and bi-sexual characters in this story, and that Debbie McGowan writes about such complex relationship issues with beautiful sophistication. In particular, I think her skills of characterisation and description is staggering.
This is an extremely satisfying read, but not in a fairytale way. There are loose ends just like in real life, and Ade is not ‘healed’, because it is a mature read which is very believable.
I can’t say too much about the end, but oh dear God how very pleased I was.
Debbie McGowan is an extremely talented writer, who gets all kinds of gold stars for Crying In The Rain.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

After I read this amazing book, I couldn't stop thinking about the characters, and that in itself is a testament to what a wonderful writer Debbie McGowan is.
Reading one of Debbi's books is like peeping in on a family of characters, and being able to watch for some of their life journey.
You see the lows, and how, you see the highs, and you see everything in the muddy grey area that is the rest, but you see it with humour, and love.
There is something about Debbie's writing which makes me think she loves and knows her characters intimately. I suffered with them, and I had such an evil belly laugh at the end that my husband flinched.
I bit all of my fingernails while reading, hoping that Ade would make the right choice, and I had a premonition that there would be fireworks.
If you like a sophisticated read from a talented writer, then this book is for you!

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just to be clear, I've read every single one of the million plus words in the Hiding Behind The Couch series and I put off reading this one for a couple of weeks because I didn't like one of the main characters. That's not saying it's bad, that's saying Ms. McGowan has instilled a real emotion in me over a fictitious character.

However, once i got down to it and started reading, I whipped through this in 3 or 4 sittings.It would have been less however i tend to read late at night and sleep comes very easily at my age.

This was a cracking read and although the domestic abuse thread isn't particularly pretty, it has moments of pure joy for balance. If I'm honest, this book rates 2nd in all 12 HBTC titles (top being 'First Christmas' for me)

Read it. Enjoy it.

You can thank me later.

[Amy Spector · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had only ever read two other stories by Debbie McGowan. Both stories were from Love's Landscape and I was curious about what a Debbie McGowan story would be like without someone controlling the setup. I was not disappointed.

Why start with this one? I'm willing to admit that it was the cover that first caught my eye, and after reading the teaser I knew this was one I wanted to read. Like now!



The cover for Crying in the Rain is beautiful and, in the end, the story is as well. It's an emotionally hard read. While it is a romance, it's maybe more a story of survival and finding the inner strength to save yourself.

The romance is there too, don't get wrong, but it's most certainly a story of Ade's recovery, a recovery from an extended abusive relationship with a man named Fergus. While the physical abuse is a major factory, the lasting effects of the emotional/mental abuse to Ade's view of his own self-worth is almost as big a villain as Fergus himself.

There is a wonderful understanding of the mentality of someone trying to escape an abusive relationship (or fresh out of one), and the ugly truth that sometimes it takes someone else to inspire a hope for something more, before you are able to find the strength that was waiting there all along.

The romance isn't really a love at first sight thing, though the characters themselves almost view it that way. There's instant attraction but Ade needs to trust, not something easily given with his past and made even more complicated by the background of Kris, the man he is interested in. But I think that makes the end result more satisfying, and more meaningful.


This book isn't throwaway escapism. It feels very real life. It is a wonderful read and is empowering in a way that is hard to explain.

I will be saving my pennies and reading a lot more of this author.

[Tina]

I loved the cover and the blurb... *sigh* I guess Debbie McGowan's writing style just isn't my cup of tea... I wasn't really enjoying it so I decided against it. DNF at 42%. No rating.

[Grammar*Kitten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well anyone who reads my reviews knows quite how enamoured I am with Debbie McGowan's Hiding Behind theCouch series, but I have to say that Kris, one of the protagonists in this story, has been one of my least favourite characters. Ade, the other, wasn’t too far up my list either. After reading this story of hurt and healing, strength from weakness and courage and love triumphing, I find myself quite angry.

Not for any discernible reason other than I was wrong, and I didn’t get to know Ade and Kris sooner. I have read somewhere in the region of a million words about this circle of friends, and I realised I have never had the opportunity to get to know these two wonderful characters. After this story, a lot of their motivations in the other books make a lot more sense – the way you might think someone is whimsical or silly before knowing the rationale behind their words or actions.

Shaunna, as always, is one of my favourite characters - both in this book and the series as a whole. I love the delicate and strange (at least by social 'norms' standards) situation that she and Kris live in; they were married and in love for years, but the novel portrays a healthy friendship - a best friendship - that has survived two people no longer wanting to be 'together' in that way. I love the way she nurtures the fledgling couple and cultivates her own friendship with Ade, as she puts it 'whatever happens'. It is refreshing to see a situation in M/M romance where the ex-wife/wife is portrayed as a real person, not just the standard bitch 'trope' that so many people whinge about. Shaunna is the complete opposite, and demonstrates how friendship is the greatest aspect of love, no matter what kind of love it is.

This is, as other reviews have stated, by no means a fairy-tale. But it is a wonderful depiction of how when the chips are down, and you’re broken, cowed and emotionally abused, the strength and belief of another can help you find things that you thought were long gone in yourself, and you can finally take steps towards healing with a little help from your friends.

Beautifully written, engaging, funny, sad, steamy – Debbie McGowan has done it again. Don’t miss out on this fabulous read (and for the record, you can see more of the wonderful characters featured in this book in her other short stories Red Hot Christmas and A Midnight Clear, but I would recommend reading the series from start to finish. NOW.)

[Shelby P · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really didn't like how the first chapter was written and the book was lost to me at that point. I could tell the author was British but we weren't told until 27% that the story is based in England. I also questioned Ade's job. Who does plays/skits for radio nowadays? Is that a British thing?

I didn't like Ade and I thought it was weird the relationship between Kris and Shaunna, something just didn't ring true there. These guys also didn't come across as being in their late thirties. I have a hard time having any sympathy for Ade when he took the abuse from Fergus for 10 fucking years! The apartment was Ade's and Fergus wasn't living with him so why give him a key when he's been abusing you for years? They didn't have any kids so why stay living only half a life?

Oh and this had the worst epilogue ever. Who the fuck gives a fuck about Fergus in the end? Did we even find out what his fucking dark secret was? The epilogue was the only chapter that I actually read every word and I couldn't figure out what the fuck happened to him when he was eight years old and I don't care. This was forgettable. And who names a series "Hiding Behind The Couch?" WTF????????

[Dutchgirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an oké read, but that´s all it is for me. I didn´t like the main characters very much and that for me is a must to really like a book.

I especially didn´t like the fact that one of the mc (who is bi and was married to a woman) cheats on his wife with a man and they still live together because it´s convinient.

I just couldn´t get in this story.

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that once you have started it, you cannot stop. Your head is full of the characters and the what-ifs...
Ade has been in an abusive relationship for 10 years, and understandably, even hen he tries to get out, the scars are deep and threatening, not withstanding the fact that his ex doesn't take No for an answer.
Kris is trying to find himself after marrying far too young and having his marriage fall apart. Although surrounded by a loving family, he too has issues that fester deep and both men need to begin to heal before they can move on together.
This is a wonderful story that had me in tears and smiling with joy, certainly worth reading as are all of Debbie MCGowan's books that I have read.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Ade and Kris. Ade goes through so much to be with Kris and Kris come thru to rescue Ade. It breaks my heart as time goes by and Kris really disregards Ade's feelings and pays more attention to Shauna. He was the one that made the decision he wanted to be with men. Out of all of the circle I really like Kris the least maybe that will change somewhere down the line but he really has shown to be a jerk. Yes he gave up his life to be a dad to Krissi and husband to Shauna but why ruin all the good you did? I hope things change in coming books to make me like him more. I like Ade and I would love to see more of him.

[K.D. Nox · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fucking terrible. Every three paragraphs or so is a random pov switch, the writing is boring as fuck and the characters are like wet noodles. Pisses me off that shit like this gets published with nice cover art.

[M'rella · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 68% and it's a miracle that I got even that far. In all honesty, I skipped a lot over multiple people I didn't care about and their multiple POVs that didn't make any sense.

I like reading books about abusive relationships, so sue me. I can never understand why people stay with the abuser and make excuses for them. These books, when well written, provide an insight and the reasoning. When the MC finally finds their worth, their strength to ditch the f**ker, I root for them. Reclamation of power is very satisfying.

This book? The only chapter I enjoyed was where Ade jammed his ex's sh...tuff into a suitcase and a shoebox. But instead of leaving it outside his apartment, Ade - for some unfathomable reason - stashed in his hallway. Inside the apartment. Literally inviting his abuser back in. The hell?

But beyond that
- everybody and their uncle (well, he was a piece of work, but I am sure him too) had a little sob story of their own
- too many friend and family gatherings, too many people I don't care about
- there is definitely an insta-love (ok, it took a week or so 🙄)
- POV rollercoaster. They switch randomly, sometimes withing the same paragraph, from the people who have no real impact on the story.

1 star

[Mrsgeo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is part of the Hiding Behind the Couch series. Nine friends from high school, their lives and loves – gay, straight and bi – and set in the UK, mainly in England. I would recommend looking at Debbie McGowan’s dedicated website before starting the series as it provides some background which could prove invaluable to non-UK readers.
MC Ade Simmons first meets actor, Kris Johansson, when Kris accepts a role in a new play that Ade is producing on the radio. The pair could hardly be more different. Ade is trapped in an abusive relationship that he has difficulty in leaving behind because he feels that would leave nothing but even more loneliness. Kris, on the other hand, has an ex-wife, Shauna, and a daughter, loves them both, and is part of a group of friends that have cared for each other for many years and have supported Kris and Shauna through their many trials and tribulations.
The attraction between Ade and Kris is obvious from the start but Ade has difficulty in leaving his old life behind to embrace the new, where lovers care for each other and where friends are there to lean on. Kris wears him down, helps him to stand up to his abuser, Fergus, and take back control of his life.

[Shelba · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't say I found the main characters unlikeable, because that would indicate they had some characteristic to make them so. Rather, I found the only defining characters of either of them to be the woes that had befallen them in their pasts. Other than that, they were just there, vapidly putting along.

Written in third-person POV with an omniscient narrative, where in one sentence, we know Ade's thoughts, in the next Kris' and in the next, even Shaunna, the ex-wife's. I prefer a subjective narrative to focus on just one character's thoughts, or at least have a break in scene before switching to another character, so for me, I found the narrative of this book positively annoying.

After painstakingly reading my way through this book, I finally finished the last chapter. I thought to myself that this was probably one of my least favourite reads in a decade. Then I read the epilogue. Garbage, plain and simple. In my opinion, it only served to make dissatisfactory read only plunge farther into the sea of dissatisfaction.

The only thing I can say I liked about this book was the cover.

[Brandilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed for Prism Book Alliance

Different. That is the word that comes to mind after reading Crying in the Rain by Debbie McGowan. Granted, this is my first Debbie McGowan title, so I can not speak to how it relates to her other works. I know Crying in the Rain is part of a larger series centered around a group of college friends, but I have not read any other titles in the series. Crying in the Rain is fine as a standalone, though I am intrigued about a few of the other couples we met toward the end of the story.

http://www.prismbookalliance.com/?pos...

[Lucia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Harshini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are some issues with character POVs, but if you can ignore that, an emotional glimpse into the devastation caused by domestic violence and a persons eventual escape to a new relationship and freedom

[Selipperydickdip · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty true to life ... good plot, great characters and excellent helpful info in the back.

But did find that the story dragged on for me.