Crossing Oceans

by E. Davies

“Stop the wedding!”

When Alex Macintyre was eight and new to British schools, he met Darren Adams and they hit it off. They stayed best friends after Alex's family moved back to America, and even shared a room in college when Darren came to study in the US for his final year. On the last night, Alex confessed his feelings and Darren fled. Their relationship has never been the same, their calls dwindling to occasional catch-ups.

Two years later, Darren calls out of the blue to tell Alex that he's getting married to a woman Alex has never heard of, Alice, and ask him: will he be Darren's best man? Of course, Alex agrees, but he's worried he's still attracted to Darren. He can't stop bringing home men with green eyes and muscles – men who look like Darren. And what isn't Darren telling him?

Spurred to leave the UK after being punished for a good deed, Darren Adams wants a fresh start in America. Alice offers to marry him, and he says yes – just one Florida destination wedding stands between them and protection for her and a new life for him. But Alex's arrival in England for Darren's send-off stag party throws Darren into turmoil. He and Alex are irresistibly drawn to each other, but what if he's in too far to back out?

In the late June Miami heat, Darren walks down the aisle twice – but he can only marry one person. His heart has told him who it should be. Will Alex take his hand, or will he have to fake a whole new life with Alice?

Crossing Oceans is a steamy, stand-alone gay romance novel with a HEA ending and no cliffhanger.

Genres: M M Romance, Friends To Lovers, Romance, LGBT, Contemporary

234 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 19, 2015

About the author

E. Davies writes feel-good, low-angst romance that never fades to black when the going gets good! Born in Canada, after 16 moves and counting, Ed has finally put down roots in north London.

He emerges from his writing nest to coo over fuzzy animals, flee from cute guys, dance through the streets with his chosen family, put together fierce looks, and—most of all—befriend local flowers.

Newsletter: edaviesbooks.com/subscribe
Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/edavies

Reviews

[Jenn (not Lily) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid 3.25 stars -- this is not quite up to par with this author's current works (it's from 4 years ago), but still a good story.

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting take on the best man wants a relationship with the Groom story. I must admit that I was initially worried that this was going to follow a very predicable pattern, but as I approached the end of the story I was Pleasantly surprised.
The book didn't have more stars from me because I struggled to connect with either of the two main characters, both hiding secrets and therefore being more closed up, maybe to the reader as well as to each other. However, the American in Wales was very clever, and having observed stag do's etc in Cardiff myself, I could very well imagine the antics that went on and they felt very true to life.
A good read, but not an amazing one.

I received a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Christie Howell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book

E Davies knows how to bring a book to life. With the exception of a few editing errors..this book had it going on. I loved the two main characters and could feel the love they shared for each other through the book. I recommend.

[blub · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ARC was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

Darren is a techie that willing takes a fall for a mishap at work and loses his job. He takes the chance to pursue his freelance business only to find business isn't bustling when the reason he lost his job gets out. Darren knows he has to get away but runs into some issues so makes an arrangement with a close female friend. Alex is Darren's best friend from the U.S. and has been pining after Darren for years. He's had plenty of meaningless hookups in attempts to move on. When Darren calls him about being his best man, Alex can't say no. Both don't want to make their reunion awkward, so Alex lies about having moved on and being in a relationship. But the more time they spend together, the harder it is to ignore their attraction to each other.

It was an okay read. The prologue sucked me in and I found myself curious about what was happening with everyone at the wedding (mainly the bride, the groom, best man and maid of honor, their reaction and the objection that followed) and what happened in the book to get us to that point. Reading about the stag party was fun. It was different from what I know of bachelor parties in the U.S.

I have to admit there were elements of the story I didn't like. While Alex wasn't exactly promiscuous, his behavior towards men (well potential hookups) bugged me. Darren's cool as a cucumber friends with benefits thing was another element of the story that just wasn't working for me. But I toughed it out and found the ending to be quite sweet. I'm not sure I believe the two were in love but it worked for them. It was more of a 2.5 stars for me but it wasn't all bad.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really sure what to say about this book besides it was ok. The writing was hard to get into for me. The premise was good but there was a little confusion for me whether the main characters had always had feelings for each other or were just now discovering their feelings. The story is about two men who have been friends pretty much their whole lives one gay one supposedly straight. The book begins with the straight guy ending a relationship with another man, so right off the bat I was a little confused. The "straight" character is then getting married and calls said best friend to be his best man, thus begins the shenanigans that bring the two mc's together. The book lacked descriptions and relied a lot on dialogue to set the scenes. Also even though the book had dual POV's it was told in the third person and that kind of made it difficult to relate to the characters. The thing I usually love about dual POV's is being able to get inside the character's head, that didn't seem to take off in this one. The book has a HEA and isn't bad but it wasn't good/great either, so in the words of my son "it was just WHATEVER".

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Alex and Darren were childhood friends and kept in touch when Alex’s family moved to the US. Darren cam and did a semester abroad in his final year of university and roomed with Alex. When Alex admitted his feelings for him, he ran away. Darren has kept his orientation a secret from everyone, when he is basically forced to leave his job after his lover/employer makes a stupid decision. After being shunned by most of his community because of that he decides to start a new life in the US. He has a friend there and they decide to marry to help him get his green card. When he contacts Alex to be his best man all of the buried feelings come back between them. They both do their best to ignore it, but eventually give in. They are determined to get through the wedding, but it hurts them both. When they are given the chance to be together they both jump at the chance.

I enjoyed this story, but wish there would have been more about what Darren and Alex had to go after their wedding.

[Sassy Beta Reading & Review · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another great read by E. Davies.

If you are looking for a lot of details and spoilers, I'm not going to give them to you, that is what the synopsis is for. I will however tell you what I thought and felt as I read this story.

This was written as a multi pov. I really liked the story line and concept. The story flowed nicely. The characters were well written and easy to become emotionally attached to. Did I fall in love with the characters? No, but I did grow to really care for them. The dialogue between characters flowed nicely and was easy to follow. The descriptions to details were done pretty well. Some areas could have been a wee bit stronger but was able to get the point of what was going on.

No heart twinges or teary eyed moments. No emotional roller coaster ride. Do you want to know about sexy bits? There were a few of them as well. This book is a stand alone and does have a HEA.

All in all, an enjoyable read.

Would I recommend this book? Yes

Would I read more from this author? Yes

Sassy Beta Reading & Review

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book just didn't work for me. I could go into all the reasons, but I don't really feel like taking the time. Here are two good reasons- first the word "squirted" was used three separate times to describe ejaculation. Eww. Just eww. I don't care if it's an accurate word, there is nothing sexy about the word squirted. And secondly I didn't really like one of the MC. Since he gave zero reason as to why he rejected his friend in the first place when he is actually bisexual I pretty much just found him to be an asshole for most of the book.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I enjoyed the book, I thought it was too long. I think the story would have still been complete if 100 pages were shaved off. Usually E. Davies books are hits with me but this one could have been better. The whole stag party concept wasn't necessary. I don't understand what the point was to adding three to four (supposedly) important) people to the story and making them disappear.

[Tairyn Ayala · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. This book it's badly written, I had to re-read lines a lot just to get them before I just gave up. I don't understand why so many m/m books have this problem. Is it an unwritten rule that these books not be edited?

[Shaztwirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 and a half stars:

I initially thought this was going to be one of those books I decided very early on to put down. The first few chapters were all over the place but as the pieces of the story fell into place, this turned into a very pleasant read.

[Zeinab Dh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this in exchange of an honest review, I loved it a lot full of suspense action the characters were great I recommend this to everyone

[Tristan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't get into it because there was not enough description of characters or the scenes. Just being thrown into dialogue does not a book make.

DNF after two chapters.

[Sallyann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Although I have to admit I was not expecting that ending.