The Exchange Student

by Egan Sheridan

When 21-year-old Ryan Laurent arrives in a posh, sleepy American suburb for a summer exchange program, he brings with him an irresistible mix of charm, curiosity, and chaos. Free-spirited and delightfully unfiltered, Ryan is determined to make the most of his three months abroad.

Next door to his host family lives Nick Ellis, a reclusive young man who barely leaves his house and hardly speaks to anyone. To the neighborhood, he's a mystery. To Ryan, he's a challenge.

What begins as a series of awkward encounters soon blossoms into something deeper, as Ryan's bold nature slowly chips away at Nick's tightly wound walls. With each unexpected conversation, each strange after dark meeting, Ryan helps Nick see the world-and himself-in a different light.

The Exchange Student is a steamy story about unexpected connection, quiet transformation, and the beautiful mess of truly seeing someone.

Genres: M M Romance, Fiction

115 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 16, 2025

Reviews

[Jessica]

Hop in and buckle up, friends, because this is going to be a wild ride 🤡

I’ll start by saying I picked this up randomly from KU to meet my end of the year reading goal and never in a million years did I think this story would turn out like it did. Like wtf did I read??? Had I actually noticed the guy on the cover was PISSING ON THE WALL, I might’ve had some inkling this was going to be weird. Alas, the pic on KU was small, I was sleepy, and the pissing went unnoticed 😂

Read the blurb. It sounds like a lovely little story, doesn’t it? Read it again. Whatever you think is going to happen in this 115 page novella is not remotely what is going to happen. The writing could've been better and there were several typos, but there was just something strangely compelling about the story from the beginning. It definitely sucked me in despite Ryan’s urgent need to piss being front and center at the start. I should have known, friends, I should’ve known 🫣

I'm just going to pause here before the spoilers and urge you to read this because it's a quick read and one that will make you a little crazy. I need someone to read it too and tell me it was crazy. Like I need company on the crazy train 🤣 If you can't be arsed or don't want a trip on the crazy train, I've got you 👇🏻

Ryan is an exchange student from France, which is in no way relevant except that when he moves in with his host family he is curious about the weird dude living next door (Nick). The weird dude that unbeknownst to Ryan had taken a picture of him pissing against the side of his house. Yes, you read that right. Ryan pisses on Nick's house because apparently he didn't go to the restroom when he got off the plane from France and held it all the way until 10 steps from his host family's house 😂

Nick is a recluse, reluctant to befriend anyone. You find out later that he and his parents had been in a car accident which killed them and left him orphaned. Don't worry, they were rich and Nick inherited a fortune, so now he's just busy doing nothing in his custom built house with big windows that birds fly into and kill themselves. This is relevant because one night Ryan wakes up at 3AM and discovers Nick with a shovel burying something in the backyard. Ryan decides to be bold and ask Nick about it. It turns out Nick's a kind, gentle soul that feels bad for the birds and wants to give them a proper send off.

From here, Nick decides to let Ryan into his life little by little. Ryan starts popping by Nick's place, they hang out, bond over playing board games, and strike up a friendship. It's also revealed that Nick is a virgin and Ryan thinks that needs to be corrected 🤣 The hanging out continues for a bit until one day Ryan gets out of the shower and notices Nick watching him from his house through his open bedroom window. Ryan decides what the hell, drops his towel, and jacks off while Nick watches.

Just so you're prepared... things really jump the shark from here 💀

The next day, Ryan lets himself into Nick's place unannounced. He finds Nick taking a bath and jacking off to the aforementioned picture he had taken (and framed) of Ryan pissing against his wall outside the day he arrived in town. Instead of being particularly shocked, Ryan's like, "You like watching me piss?" Nick tells him he sure does like watching him piss, and Ryan, not one to let a good opportunity to relieve himself go to waste, PISSES ALL OVER NICK AND HIS BATHWATER 💦 Then, without much fanfare, Ryan pulls up his pants and leaves. Nick proceeds to jerk off in time to an operatic crescendo playing over his bathroom speakers 🎶

The next day, Ryan visits Nick again, this time as expected for one of their scheduled hangouts. But this day there would be no board games being played, no. What was on the agenda you might ask? Breathplay. That's right, folks. Virgin baby Nick is kinky and wants to engage in breathplay for his first sexual encounter. So after Ryan makes Nick give his first blowjob, he asks Nick to top him 🚨 RAW AND WITH SPIT FOR LUBE 🚨 Then Nick proceeds to choke Ryan, Ryan requests to be bred, and everyone has a happy ending 😂

Happily ever after from here, right? Well, it certainly looks that way. The boys continue to hang out, hook up, and all is well. But wait, there's more! Don't forget, Ryan is an exchange student. The weeks pass and it's time for him to go back to France. Everyone is sad. Ryan promises to come back, and the boys agree to keep in touch via email because Nick is still a recluse that doesn't do social media. They decide to part ways with a future in mind but not before Nick gets another picture of Ryan taking a piss to remember him by 🙃

Ryan returns to France, but things aren't the same. He misses Nick, and he's a sad boi 🥲 Then, one day, he finally receives an email from Nick:

"Ryan. I am not good with words, but I kept my promise saying that I would email you. I have to tell you that I am needing to move. I can't say where. So don't come back to the house. I won't be there. I've already left. 1. Don't ask. 2. I have made a deposit into your bank account. You don't deserve to have any student debt. Pay it off, live free. 3. You're the only one who ever truly saw me. I am forever grateful to you. I miss you. Love N.E."

As we are all collectively thinking wtf, Ryan decides to check his bank account and discovers that Nick has deposited a cool $5,000,000 in there like no big 💰 Ryan is shocked, I'm shocked, we're all shocked 😧 Ryan immediately replies to Nick's email asking what in the ever-loving hell is going on and how can he find Nick.

Nothing. For two weeks 🦗🦗🦗 Finally, Ryan breaks down and calls his host family in the US and asks, "Hey, is your neighbor still around?"

Guess what? He's not! But you know what else isn't around? THE SIX DEAD BODIES the police spent days digging up in his backyard because our boy Nick was a freaking SERIAL KILLER!!! The Monopoly Murderer to be exact. Soft, sad boi wasn't burying poor birds in his backyard after all. He was burying the bodies of all the other boys he'd invited over to play board games 😱😱😱 Yep.

Times passes. Four months and nothing 🦗🦗🦗

After five months, Ryan says what the heck and uses the money stabby boi gave him to pay off his student loans, help out his parents, donate to charity, and buy himself a house 🏡

Finally, six months after everything went down, Ryan has moved on as best he can until a quick trip to the mailbox delivers him a small black box. What is inside the box you might ask? A Monopoly piece. The one Nick always played with accompanied by a handwritten card that reads, "I'm sorry. I know I hurt you, but know that I'll never harm you. I love you. N.E." BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Ryan turns the card over to reveal it's not just a card, it's a photograph of him sitting on the front porch of his new house 👀‼️

Cut to the epilogue which is basically just Nick explaining that everything was true. He killed six people and the only reason he hadn't killed Ryan was because Ryan "truly saw him." 👁️👄👁️

THE END

I just. I don't know. I'm still thinking about this book two days after I finished it. Honestly I'm not sure how this can even be considered a romance because they aren't together at the end. It's certainly not an HEA 🤷🏼‍♀️ Not to assume the author's intent, but it feels like he was simply going for something poetic, which is fine, but that doesn't make it a romance, you know? Also, there were so many things glossed over, but what can you do in a 115 page novella? Why was Nick killing all the people? Why was Ryan never questioned? So. Many. Questions.

The craziest part of this whole thing is that even considering how insane it all was I kind of liked it 😂 Don't ask me to explain why because I can't. Consider me Benoit Blanc because all I can think is, "It makes no damn sense. Compels me though." 🤣 I keep going back and forth on a rating for this and I keep coming up blank, so that's going to be my rating as well. FIN

[CT · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weird book. I didn't really like it and didn't hate it. It was short and intense. Crazy ending and kind of crazy the whole way through.

[Justin Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW... I loved this... I did not see that ending coming! Such a short fun read, with a great twist.

[Onyerbike]

DNF @ 66%. I wouldn't have started it if I'd known it involved water sports. A closer look at the cover before I started would have saved me some time. Also, if I'd read Jessica's review first (WTAF?!), I never would have picked it up at all.

[Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some grandmothers can really read people.

This is an incredible story about a 21-year-old exchange student from France who arrives in what he calls a posh, sleepy American suburb for a summer exchange program. He has that wanderlust quality, combined with charm and curiosity.

The cover illustration of Ryan pissing on a wall typifies his free spirit; he likes to pee outdoors, and here he christens a wall within sight of a mysteriously occupied house next to his exchange family's home.

While we learn little about his exchange activities, we share in his fascination with 'the boy next door' at his host family's home.

In the neighborhood, Nick Ellis remains a mystery, rarely seen outside his unconventional home, which has windows everywhere. He retreats whenever people look at him and is barely known by his neighbors. His story is that his parents died in a car crash, leaving him with no relatives to care for him as a child, but with an extraordinary fortune due to his parents' success.

Ryan sees an opportunity to get to know the boy who stares at Ryan when he's in his bedroom and who retreats when spotted. His host family mentions that Nick seems to lead a sad existence in a house he had built after inheriting his parents' estate.

Seeking to understand Nick better, Ryan bravely goes next door, and surprisingly, the two strike up a conversation and develop trust. They play board games, almost always with Nick winning. And they share a kiss. That leads to more encounters, and the two appear happy together.

The story is charming but also defies logic—how does he get his groceries when he has neither a car nor a phone to order them? No email address is provided for Ryan to contact Nick when he has to return to France, which makes his departure even sadder. There's also the question of who cleans that massive home, mows the grass, or does the other things you have to do for home, as no staff are ever mentioned. Even how a picture taken on Ryan's first day gets framed and mounted on his wall.

The love they share is touching, with Ryan making him promise to email or communicate somehow. But the only message Ryan receives ends all hope of seeing him again.

Egan Sheridan gives us many moments of pleasure through the developing relationship, and his recounting of a lost young man’s story deepens in sorrow. His theme suggests that sometimes people just want to be seen - 'truly seeing' Nick. With reality suspended, the story is moving, and we learn that sometimes, when you 'see' someone and grow closer, you still might not truly know them.

From the book: "It doesn’t justify what Nick did. But it does remind us that even the most broken people are still people. That sometimes, mercy hides in the unlikeliest places. That salvation - for one or for both - can start with a question, a stare, a shared game, a ridiculous photograph."

Given the strict whole-star rating system, I would have given this 4.5 stars but ultimately chose a 5-star rating because the story is so engrossing, surprising, and far from the predictable nature of many MM romances. I will be reading more of Sheridan's work, hoping they are just as good.

[Nina Diab · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Bit by bit, Nick cracked open. Involuntarily. Like someone peeling back their own skin. He talked-short. “I don’t sleep much,” he said one evening. “It’s too loud in here when it’s quiet.”
Ryan didn’t push when he said things like that. Not immediately, anyway.
Instead, he’d say things like, “You know, you’ve got a sexy voice when you actually use it.” Or: “I bet you were the weird, smart kid in school who got hot later and didn’t know what to do with it.” That one made Nick blush and scowl at the same time. Always with a note of irritation at the forwardness of this young, sexy Frenchman.
“You talk too much,” Nick muttered one night.
“Someone has to.”

I really loved this book. Good world building and wonderful characters. I loved both Ryan and Nick. They were complete opposites and I liked the dynamic between them. I loved the way their relationship developed as Ryan kept showing up and talking away while Nick barely responded and was silent and uncomfortable- but never kicked him out. Slowly Nick began to open up a little- short answers to questions, reacting to Ryan's flirting and banter. And then looking forward to seeing him. They were really cute together.

“You ever laugh?” Ryan asked.
“Sometimes.”
“Well, let me know if it happens so I don’t miss it.”
That earned him a very soft, very quick smirk. A win.
“There it is… A glimmer at least. You’re a handsome fella when you make the effort,” he grinned.

I got really invested in these two! Their chemistry sizzled, even if they weren't my kinks. A surprising twist I did not see coming. I wish these two would have a sequel. I want more!

5 stars

[Cleonut · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I thought

Minor, minor spoiler alert. Hmmm, where to begin. I would given it a 2.5 if possible. While really enjoying the two MC for a good part of the story, it takes a turn, and becomes, for me, something completely unexpected. Disappointing even. The minor plot spoiler alert, that seems completely implausible, was the extremely reclusive and private neighbor leaving his door regularly unlocked. And then the exchange student feeling like that was an invitation to walk in and roam around. What? I could probably get past that, but combined with a few other little weird things and then the twist, I was pretty much turned off. Sorry, Mr. Sheridan, I just didn't feel this one.

[JOSEPH K LLANOS · Rating 5 out of 5]

COMPLICATED ENDING

The story is surprisingly simple at first. As in all romance novels , it begins with a ‘boy meets boy,’ story. The ending becomes surprisingly and intriguingly complicated. It explains the strange behavior of one of the couple who suffers a psychological disorder with intentions to harm, In other words a criminally insane serial killer.

The ending of this book is left to the minds of its readers. Honestly, I am now a fan of this writer. I am excited to read the other books he created

[Joshua Ortiz · Rating 2 out of 5]

….What?

Okay. I gave this book a chance even though it was short and I usually don’t read anything less than 300 pages.

First, don’t sleep on it. Just READ IT! You won’t regret it.

To say “plot twist” is an absolute understatement with this book. I figured it was a book on redemption but I didn’t think it’d be redemption from what it was.

Overall? A good read. Short! But, I think it’s a good read because it also could serve as a warning to what the risks are of hookup culture.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes, you read a story that takes you by surprise-this is one of them. Ryan is outspoken and a little brash, but you can't help but like him because he says whatever crosses his mind, especially when he meets the socially awkward, slightly creepy neighbor next door. The most unlikely friendship occurs between them. I couldn't put it down!

I read and reviewed a copy of this book.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

strange.

I seems appropriate that I should was reading this book at Halloween. The author did a great job of hiding some true facts of the story and revealing them at the best possible time. The ending allows the reader to decide how it ends. Each of us who read this book will likely choose one of two endings.

[Oliver · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought from the prologue the story would be about sympathizing with autistic, neurodivergent people. But the dude in question is just a creep.
Also, it doesn't seem like the author knows much about French culture. flip flops? yeah, right.

[David Durkit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of twists

At first I thought the book was odd. It seemed preposterous. As I read more the plot twists were unexpected, yet delightful. The sex scenes are intriguing. I didn't expect the ending. Well written.

[Jamaal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unique Read

Very nice, short, and interesting read. I love how the author draws you into the characters and makes you feel some sense of empathy and emotion for them. It makes the twist almost too hard to believe. Great story!

[Ray Pond · Rating 5 out of 5]

interesting

A great book. Started off great and just kept getting better then the mystery slipped in and the sadness of two friends parting if only for a moment. Ending with a truth and a sadness. Some m/m action but still well worth reading.

[John Pickens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Excellent crafted
The characters are well developed and beautifully synced. Well done. Would love to see a continuation of their story. Thank you.

[Wesley Brookshear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

Nice build up and I loved the twist, the writer did a strong job and I will be excited to read more.

[Rich Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disappointed

Enjoyed reading the book until the unexpected end hit with a ton of bricks.
Took away my love of the book in a disappointing twist

[kenneth c osgood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story

Original, queerky, very compelling and told so well. And NO filler. I could not put it down! I've discovered a new author.

[Larry Kiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

Wow!! Complicated, intriguing, and weirdo! But thanks! Thirteen more words words words words words words words words words words and more words!

[Robert Fontenot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably my fault for trying to read this, it went a lot of places I did not want to follow.

[Kian · Rating 3 out of 5]

brief thoughts: it was a little strange…, it was just a little uncanny…, but there was a little bit of an empowering message but i do think it was strange how murky is all felt by the end. I don’t necessarily regret reading this but it was an odd experience