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Run
Amid the tumult of the Iowa Democratic primary, young but brilliant speechwriter Tom McAlindon meets Nathan Harris, the deputy campaign manager for an opposing candidate. Their acquaintance is strictly professional until an impetuous kiss on a cold winter night leads them into a secret romance. As their feelings deepen, both men struggle with the complications of keeping the relationship separate from their jobs and the inner workings of the campaigns. But in the nation's most high-stakes political game, no secret is truly safe. When an observer realizes their connection, Tom and Nate discover that striving for the best of both worlds has a much higher cost than they bargained for… and that love can’t survive while Nate is hiding the truth from Tom.
- GenresPoliticsM M Romance
260 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 26, 2016
49 people want to read
About the author
Annie Kaye
2 books6 followersAnnie Kaye’s first ‘real’ job was a career in insurance. After fourteen years, the industry had wrung from her everything it could, leaving her desperate for a change that would allow her to flex her long-dormant creativity. She left her job and took several months off, planning to spend them on the couch in her yoga pants. Not six weeks had elapsed before she’d rediscovered a long-lost love: putting words to paper. Since 2009 she has written almost a million words of fiction, each piece bearing a common theme: love and relationships between gay men.
Balancing family, work, creative efforts, and community involvement - and trying to hit the gym once in a while - are all near the top of Annie’s to-do list. At her home in the woods of rural Ontario, Canada, she endeavours to carve out her writing space from amid the joyful noise created by her husband, their two children, one dog, one cat, and the woodpeckers who sharpen their beaks on her windowsills.
Balancing family, work, creative efforts, and community involvement - and trying to hit the gym once in a while - are all near the top of Annie’s to-do list. At her home in the woods of rural Ontario, Canada, she endeavours to carve out her writing space from amid the joyful noise created by her husband, their two children, one dog, one cat, and the woodpeckers who sharpen their beaks on her windowsills.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 12, 2017
2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 on GR. Veteran political advisor Nathan Harris is a deputy campaign manager for the Bill Wagner campaign, while political newcomer Tom McAlindon is a speechwriter for Erin Michaels – both candidates for the Democratic Party nomination. Nate and Tom briefly meet at the Iowa caucus, and after a chance meeting at the Atlanta airport, neither man can forget the other. They soon become lovers, keeping their relationship private by using burner cells and spending quiet weekends away from the public. But when their secret is discovered, can their fledgling relationship survive?
Nate and Tom are attracted to each other, but their sexual chemistry doesn’t really leap off the page. Their first love scene fades to black, while several other scenes are lightly described and there is some awkward phrasing as well, i.e. He paused long enough to whisper, “This is my favorite,” before continuing his oral tour of that area. That area??
For a romance in the political arena during the primary season leading up to a hotly contested race, I felt the pacing of the story was slow. The author “tells” quite a bit, rather than allowing her characters to “show” and there is a lot of detail about the political process as well as other tangents, and there are several frustrating instances of miscommunication between Nate and Tom, as well as unwillingness to deal with problems or issues which needlessly slow down the flow of the story.
Neither Nate or Tom seem to realize
While the ending is a HEA, Nate and Tom don’t resolve their issues until around 98% of the book, and the ending felt rushed.
I received an ARC of Run from Dreamspinner, via GayBookReviews, in exchange for an honest review. Also posted on:
Nate and Tom are attracted to each other, but their sexual chemistry doesn’t really leap off the page. Their first love scene fades to black, while several other scenes are lightly described and there is some awkward phrasing as well, i.e. He paused long enough to whisper, “This is my favorite,” before continuing his oral tour of that area. That area??
For a romance in the political arena during the primary season leading up to a hotly contested race, I felt the pacing of the story was slow. The author “tells” quite a bit, rather than allowing her characters to “show” and there is a lot of detail about the political process as well as other tangents, and there are several frustrating instances of miscommunication between Nate and Tom, as well as unwillingness to deal with problems or issues which needlessly slow down the flow of the story.
Neither Nate or Tom seem to realize
While the ending is a HEA, Nate and Tom don’t resolve their issues until around 98% of the book, and the ending felt rushed.
I received an ARC of Run from Dreamspinner, via GayBookReviews, in exchange for an honest review. Also posted on:
March 4, 2016
A Joyfully Jay review.
3 stars
This is one of those stories that I dread to review. When I grabbed this book, I loved the idea of forbidden love on the campaign trail. As a follower of politics, I thought this book would be right up my alley – combining romance and politics. Unfortunately, I felt like a fish out of water being dropped right into the action at the Iowa caucuses where there are an abundance of candidates and campaign staffers to sort through right off the bat. Without a playlist, I found myself somewhat lost right from the start trying to figure out who was with who and why it was important.
The author did a tremendous job researching the inner workings of the campaign staff for a presidential candidate. Unfortunately, for me, departing all of this information on to readers made this story seem as if politics took center stage and romance was a backdrop in this story, whereas I would have preferred it to be more romance with politics taking a back seat.
As for the romance, while I loved the idea of this whole forbidden love on the campaign trail, the execution of this seemed to be lacking. For me, it seemed that these two men would have had some knowledge of how dangerous their romance would be, not only for their political careers, but also for the candidates that they worked for. It wasn’t as if this was the first campaign for either of them.
Read Wendy’s review in its entirety here.
3 stars
This is one of those stories that I dread to review. When I grabbed this book, I loved the idea of forbidden love on the campaign trail. As a follower of politics, I thought this book would be right up my alley – combining romance and politics. Unfortunately, I felt like a fish out of water being dropped right into the action at the Iowa caucuses where there are an abundance of candidates and campaign staffers to sort through right off the bat. Without a playlist, I found myself somewhat lost right from the start trying to figure out who was with who and why it was important.
The author did a tremendous job researching the inner workings of the campaign staff for a presidential candidate. Unfortunately, for me, departing all of this information on to readers made this story seem as if politics took center stage and romance was a backdrop in this story, whereas I would have preferred it to be more romance with politics taking a back seat.
As for the romance, while I loved the idea of this whole forbidden love on the campaign trail, the execution of this seemed to be lacking. For me, it seemed that these two men would have had some knowledge of how dangerous their romance would be, not only for their political careers, but also for the candidates that they worked for. It wasn’t as if this was the first campaign for either of them.
Read Wendy’s review in its entirety here.
Read
March 1, 2016DNF @ 27%
Annie definitely has talent as a writer, and I enjoyed reading her characters, all of whom are smart and the best at what they do. But whether this was an issue with editing or with an author being too knowledgeable, I ended up marking this one DNF.
Let me start with what I did enjoy:
- The characters.
- The sexual attraction between Tom and Nate.
- The "forbidden love" trope, which is written in a very unique way!
My issue with this novel was the exposition. By the 20% mark I was skimming over the boring political descriptions; it didn't read as a romance, or even a character-driven story. Instead, it read to me a detailed description of a very boring political campaign... with a few insanely brief sex scenes tossed in to break up the monotony.
I get enough campaign news on my TV. I want to read about the people involved.
Read the full review on Just Love Romance.
Annie definitely has talent as a writer, and I enjoyed reading her characters, all of whom are smart and the best at what they do. But whether this was an issue with editing or with an author being too knowledgeable, I ended up marking this one DNF.
Let me start with what I did enjoy:
- The characters.
- The sexual attraction between Tom and Nate.
- The "forbidden love" trope, which is written in a very unique way!
My issue with this novel was the exposition. By the 20% mark I was skimming over the boring political descriptions; it didn't read as a romance, or even a character-driven story. Instead, it read to me a detailed description of a very boring political campaign... with a few insanely brief sex scenes tossed in to break up the monotony.
I get enough campaign news on my TV. I want to read about the people involved.
Read the full review on Just Love Romance.
March 16, 2016
Tom and Nate's story was slow to start but like politics, the ups and downs were worth it.
dnf
March 28, 2016Too much politics, not enough romance. It started interesting, but got boring soon.
May 20, 2020
4 stars.
Tom is a speechwriter for party candidate for president. Nathan is the deputy campaign manager for a competing candidate. Since they are both trying to get their respective candidates to the top of the heap to be the one to run against the president, they cross paths quite regularly. They don't actually interact with each other much, until one quiet night. From there, they get to know one another, while keeping their burgeoning relationship secret from everyone, since the two campaigns would be accused of impropriety.
All right, so, I am not a political person. Politics doesn't really interest me, and I have issues with the honesty and integrity of just about every politician. I don't feel as though it's a "government by the people for the people" anymore, and hasn't been in Canada since John Diefenbaker was elected. I also have issues with the fact that it's become so polarized, and that people have to pick one side or the other completely, instead being able to say well, I agree with this from this party, but that's a little crazy, so I agree with this other party for that policy. The "if you're not with us, you're against us and will forever after be our enemy" attitude that seems so prevalent EVERYWHERE now just annoys the heck out of me. So I was VERY skeptical that a story about an election in the world that we actually live in, ie not AU or fantasy, was going to do anything for me.
I am tremendously happy to be proved wrong. A couple of chapters along, the characters and their story drew me in. The story itself built slowly, with Nathan and Tom getting to know one another in their secret rendezvous. They both agreed to not talk about their candidates or what was going on in their jobs at all, so all they could do was talk about themselves and their families. Well, and have sex.
I'll admit that I didn't pay as much attention to the political stuff as I could have, although I liked the fact that even though they each had their own ideas and believed utterly in what their candidates stood for, they respected each other and those beliefs.
Since this author doesn't seem to have much of a catalogue, I wasn't expecting the editing to be all that great, but it was. I didn't notice anything, even though I kept looking. I can't speak to how accurate the US democratic process was with regards to the voting or anything, but there didn't seem to be anything glaringly incorrect to me.
My only niggle was that Nathan .
Tom is a speechwriter for party candidate for president. Nathan is the deputy campaign manager for a competing candidate. Since they are both trying to get their respective candidates to the top of the heap to be the one to run against the president, they cross paths quite regularly. They don't actually interact with each other much, until one quiet night. From there, they get to know one another, while keeping their burgeoning relationship secret from everyone, since the two campaigns would be accused of impropriety.
All right, so, I am not a political person. Politics doesn't really interest me, and I have issues with the honesty and integrity of just about every politician. I don't feel as though it's a "government by the people for the people" anymore, and hasn't been in Canada since John Diefenbaker was elected. I also have issues with the fact that it's become so polarized, and that people have to pick one side or the other completely, instead being able to say well, I agree with this from this party, but that's a little crazy, so I agree with this other party for that policy. The "if you're not with us, you're against us and will forever after be our enemy" attitude that seems so prevalent EVERYWHERE now just annoys the heck out of me. So I was VERY skeptical that a story about an election in the world that we actually live in, ie not AU or fantasy, was going to do anything for me.
I am tremendously happy to be proved wrong. A couple of chapters along, the characters and their story drew me in. The story itself built slowly, with Nathan and Tom getting to know one another in their secret rendezvous. They both agreed to not talk about their candidates or what was going on in their jobs at all, so all they could do was talk about themselves and their families. Well, and have sex.
I'll admit that I didn't pay as much attention to the political stuff as I could have, although I liked the fact that even though they each had their own ideas and believed utterly in what their candidates stood for, they respected each other and those beliefs.
Since this author doesn't seem to have much of a catalogue, I wasn't expecting the editing to be all that great, but it was. I didn't notice anything, even though I kept looking. I can't speak to how accurate the US democratic process was with regards to the voting or anything, but there didn't seem to be anything glaringly incorrect to me.
My only niggle was that Nathan .
April 4, 2016
3 Heart Review by Kat
I grabbed this book because I thought it would take me back in time to my political ties and working on local, state and national campaigns. And it did. I now remember the long, tedious hours, the high hopes and the lowest of lows when a candidate that I worked with did not win. It was heart wrenching when enduring the loss. It was also very tiring. Long hours of “stomping” for the candidates that I supported. This book does convey those points very well, maybe even a bit too well. I believe, for the average reader, that there was too much political background and it tended to bog down and overwhelm the romance side of the story. We got to know all the key players in both campaigns. It was a good story on the inside workings of a national presidential campaign but I think there were two distinct stories here. There was the tale of the hard work of being in on the top floor of a presidential campaign. There was also the tender and trying story of two lonely men that happened to meet at the wrong place at the wrong time. And that story had disaster written all over it. Not disaster in the writing of this book but the doomed relationship of these two men at that time. I think, for me personally, that is what I missed and wanted more from the story, the connection of Nate and Tom. Even though I understood all that was happening on the political side, at points it was just a bit too much and overpowered the romance novel. I needed more of the last 85% of the book. It had finally reached the point I needed it to way earlier in the story and then…bam…it’s done. Now I want the romance side of the story that really came to heat in the last two chapters of the story, especially the last one! It was like the old made-for-television movies where the story goes on and then it has to wrap up so you are feeling cheated! I deserved more of their ending and HEA! I had become invested in these men.
As for my recommendation, I have to warn you, this is a very political primer type story. There isn’t a lot of sex scenes, and what there was, was mostly off page. I did grow to like both Nate and Tom. I respected Nate’s need to protect Tom but it was hard to read. I have a really hard time believing that, in real life, they would have ever taken the chances they did, during a real campaign. I could see them looking for each other after it was over, but not the political suicide that was risked. I was rooting, in the end, for a HEA, as I always do, but again, felt cheated in how it played out. This is not a bad book, and it was nice to see that the author did do some research on political campaigns, it just didn’t have enough of the romance side of the story to balance it out. There was a lot of angst but it needed more of a complete ending to make it work better.
This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.
I grabbed this book because I thought it would take me back in time to my political ties and working on local, state and national campaigns. And it did. I now remember the long, tedious hours, the high hopes and the lowest of lows when a candidate that I worked with did not win. It was heart wrenching when enduring the loss. It was also very tiring. Long hours of “stomping” for the candidates that I supported. This book does convey those points very well, maybe even a bit too well. I believe, for the average reader, that there was too much political background and it tended to bog down and overwhelm the romance side of the story. We got to know all the key players in both campaigns. It was a good story on the inside workings of a national presidential campaign but I think there were two distinct stories here. There was the tale of the hard work of being in on the top floor of a presidential campaign. There was also the tender and trying story of two lonely men that happened to meet at the wrong place at the wrong time. And that story had disaster written all over it. Not disaster in the writing of this book but the doomed relationship of these two men at that time. I think, for me personally, that is what I missed and wanted more from the story, the connection of Nate and Tom. Even though I understood all that was happening on the political side, at points it was just a bit too much and overpowered the romance novel. I needed more of the last 85% of the book. It had finally reached the point I needed it to way earlier in the story and then…bam…it’s done. Now I want the romance side of the story that really came to heat in the last two chapters of the story, especially the last one! It was like the old made-for-television movies where the story goes on and then it has to wrap up so you are feeling cheated! I deserved more of their ending and HEA! I had become invested in these men.
As for my recommendation, I have to warn you, this is a very political primer type story. There isn’t a lot of sex scenes, and what there was, was mostly off page. I did grow to like both Nate and Tom. I respected Nate’s need to protect Tom but it was hard to read. I have a really hard time believing that, in real life, they would have ever taken the chances they did, during a real campaign. I could see them looking for each other after it was over, but not the political suicide that was risked. I was rooting, in the end, for a HEA, as I always do, but again, felt cheated in how it played out. This is not a bad book, and it was nice to see that the author did do some research on political campaigns, it just didn’t have enough of the romance side of the story to balance it out. There was a lot of angst but it needed more of a complete ending to make it work better.
This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.
March 19, 2016
Review can be read at It's About The Book
3.5 stars
Politics. It’s a pretty exciting topic if you ask me. While I liked the story I think it bogged down in details. So much of the book was day to day tasks of those on the campaign trail that it became monotonous and really slowed the pace of the story. The guys don’t have much page time together so the romance versus the MC’s lives and jobs made it feel unbalanced to me.
Tom and Nate work for opposing Democratic Presidential candidates. Each camp if fighting it out state to state to win the nomination. Hooking up with the enemy is an unwritten no no in the political campaign world. These two just can’t seem to help it despite trying. What starts out as a hook up turns into much much more. The guys struggle with keeping their secret and finding the time to be together. Of course keeping their candidates secrets from the enemy closes off a lot of who they are but it also helps them enjoy the time they have together.
I liked the couple in this one. The forbidden secret angle is a thing I like to read about and Tom and Nate have a very good reason to keep their relationship secret. The problem was it really never managed to build any intensity or desperation to be together I’d hoped for. Nate constantly struggled with keeping the secret of their affair from the coworkers on his side of the campaign and Tom’s. There was some telling about desperation. I just didn’t feel it. Nate also lost his much needed focus at the height of the primary season because of his guilt and infatuation with Tom which creates problems. Tom didn’t stress about keeping the secret much but he did bring the angst in regards to having insecurity about their relationship. Tom also somehow had a lot more down time than Nate.
Sadly this one wasn’t quite as good as I’d hoped it would be. I liked the last third of the book the most. We got less of the campaign and more of the guys living their lives and working through their issues. I liked Tom and Nate as individuals and as a couple but I doubt they’ll be very memorable in a few weeks. The entire book just had kind of a flat tone to it.
3.5 stars
Politics. It’s a pretty exciting topic if you ask me. While I liked the story I think it bogged down in details. So much of the book was day to day tasks of those on the campaign trail that it became monotonous and really slowed the pace of the story. The guys don’t have much page time together so the romance versus the MC’s lives and jobs made it feel unbalanced to me.
Tom and Nate work for opposing Democratic Presidential candidates. Each camp if fighting it out state to state to win the nomination. Hooking up with the enemy is an unwritten no no in the political campaign world. These two just can’t seem to help it despite trying. What starts out as a hook up turns into much much more. The guys struggle with keeping their secret and finding the time to be together. Of course keeping their candidates secrets from the enemy closes off a lot of who they are but it also helps them enjoy the time they have together.
I liked the couple in this one. The forbidden secret angle is a thing I like to read about and Tom and Nate have a very good reason to keep their relationship secret. The problem was it really never managed to build any intensity or desperation to be together I’d hoped for. Nate constantly struggled with keeping the secret of their affair from the coworkers on his side of the campaign and Tom’s. There was some telling about desperation. I just didn’t feel it. Nate also lost his much needed focus at the height of the primary season because of his guilt and infatuation with Tom which creates problems. Tom didn’t stress about keeping the secret much but he did bring the angst in regards to having insecurity about their relationship. Tom also somehow had a lot more down time than Nate.
Sadly this one wasn’t quite as good as I’d hoped it would be. I liked the last third of the book the most. We got less of the campaign and more of the guys living their lives and working through their issues. I liked Tom and Nate as individuals and as a couple but I doubt they’ll be very memorable in a few weeks. The entire book just had kind of a flat tone to it.
April 18, 2016
This is a book that revolves around politics, political campaigns, speech writing, presidential candidates, democratic candidates, and the love of two men that should not fall in love because of them being on the opposing ends of a democratic election.
For me to be a person that does not like politics and I do what I have to in order to tune out anything revolving around politics I found that this was an amazing book. Annie Kaye did an amazing job of expressing just how things are run and how things work in the world of politics. She gave amazing insight into what was happening and made it very understandable to me, especially with me not being one for the debates and such when it is happening in real life. I am one that likes a brief overview of the ins and outs of the candidates policies and not one to set down and listen to the whole shabang. But after reading this book and now having a better understanding of the ins and outs of the political overview I have a greater understanding of how things work.
As far as he characters, Nathan and Tom goes I just loved both of them. Again Annie did an amazing job because I was able to feel the emotions that both of these two men was feeling throughout the book. I felt the longing they had to be together. I felt their heartache when they broke up. I felt the happiness and how they completed one another when they were together. I felt the confusion they felt about their feelings. And of course I felt the love they had for each other whether they was together or apart.
This is an amazing story that is about two men that are on opposing teams for the democratic candidates. They have so much standing in their way and they do what they can to keep what they have together under raps but as all secrets do, especially in the world of politics, secrets do not always remain secrets and someone gets hurt if not everyone involved. This is a tale that could be real even though it is not.
It was an amazing story and I enjoyed every up and down moment through the book. Cannot wait to read more by Annie Kaye in the future.
Was given this book by inked rainbow reads for an honest review
For me to be a person that does not like politics and I do what I have to in order to tune out anything revolving around politics I found that this was an amazing book. Annie Kaye did an amazing job of expressing just how things are run and how things work in the world of politics. She gave amazing insight into what was happening and made it very understandable to me, especially with me not being one for the debates and such when it is happening in real life. I am one that likes a brief overview of the ins and outs of the candidates policies and not one to set down and listen to the whole shabang. But after reading this book and now having a better understanding of the ins and outs of the political overview I have a greater understanding of how things work.
As far as he characters, Nathan and Tom goes I just loved both of them. Again Annie did an amazing job because I was able to feel the emotions that both of these two men was feeling throughout the book. I felt the longing they had to be together. I felt their heartache when they broke up. I felt the happiness and how they completed one another when they were together. I felt the confusion they felt about their feelings. And of course I felt the love they had for each other whether they was together or apart.
This is an amazing story that is about two men that are on opposing teams for the democratic candidates. They have so much standing in their way and they do what they can to keep what they have together under raps but as all secrets do, especially in the world of politics, secrets do not always remain secrets and someone gets hurt if not everyone involved. This is a tale that could be real even though it is not.
It was an amazing story and I enjoyed every up and down moment through the book. Cannot wait to read more by Annie Kaye in the future.
Was given this book by inked rainbow reads for an honest review
March 4, 2016
A very slow burn yet moving and emotional romance that takes place against the backdrop of a very detailed presidential campaign. Tom and Nate each work for competing potential Democrat nominees Yes, there was lots of detail about caucuses, primaries, speeches, etc but since I am in the US and in the midst of elections, it worked for me. I enjoyed the level of detail and how Tom and Nate had to work out their romance while still maintaining their respective allegiances to their candidates. I really liked them! Loved how they slowly, throughout the separations, secrecy, they fell in love with each other. What I didn't love was the inconsistency of the detail of the love scenes. I admit that I am quite the smut queen and that was reinforced when there was a scene where Tom was thinking about having ridden Nate's cock the evening before and I said to myself WAIT, I DIDN'T READ THAT, I WANT SOME DETAILS!! There were no details. Some of the scenes were just about fade to black. Very jarring. But there was one very lovely scene . Now that was nicely done. I cried . Very likeable secondary characters. Very well written. Could have used less detail and fewer meandering passages but in general, I quite enjoyed this and so loved watching Tom and Nate get their HEA. Will definitely look for more of this author's work.
May 17, 2016
I liked the premise of the book but I had a hard time seeing any chemistry with Nathan and Tom since they rarely ever saw each other. The reasoning behind Nathan ending things without telling Tom what was going on drove me a little batty. Too little communication and pushing Tom away...if I was Tom I would have run far, far away. But still...it was an ok story for me based on the premise alone.
March 7, 2016
I really enjoyed this novel, I thought the characters were well formed. I cared about both of the male leads very much.
I thought the novel was very well written and kept my attention throughout.
I recommend this novel!
I thought the novel was very well written and kept my attention throughout.
I recommend this novel!
February 18, 2016
3.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews