Becoming Rafe

Men of Falcon Pointe #3

by Thianna Durston

Eighteen-year-old Nephi Rafe Norton goes to Falcon Pointe University to find himself. Away from his conservative family, he hopes to discover if his attraction to men is the real deal. Encouraged to be someone a little different, he starts using his middle name. “Rafe” quickly makes friends, some of whom practice loving physical discipline, and lives it up—until midterms hit and he realizes he’s flunking statistics class.

When Scotland native Éigneachán Jackson Levlin offers to help, Rafe is eager to accept—not only because Levlin is a psychologist, but also because he’s out and proud and hot as hell.

As their relationship heats up, Rafe decides to spend one last Christmas with his family before he tells them. When his little sister outs him to his siblings, they turn out to be fully supportive, and he takes heart—until he introduces Levlin to his father, who brutally dismisses both of them. Now Rafe must come to peace with his father’s rejection or risk losing Levlin—and all that he has become at Falcon Pointe—forever.

Genres: M M Romance

200 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 23, 2016

Reviews

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars ~ I was excited to be reading book three in Thianna Durston's 'Men of Falcon Pointe' series. I wanted to see how Cory, Trent, Bastien, David, and Alan were doing, plus the description of Rafe had me intrigued. I shared my reservations during Bastien's story about the author making it too similar to Trent's, but nothing of the kind happened so I was confident that Rafe's story was going to be sufficiently different to keep me entertained.

I could tell right from the beginning that Rafe is definitely a different type than Trent and Bastien. Rafe is excited about coming to Falcon Pointe and getting away from his large family. He wants to experience what his life could be like as an out and proud gay man. In fact, when he registers for his dorm assignment, he requests a gay roommate. He is very open to the new experiences he has been dreaming of ever since he figured out he was gay. The fact that Bastien is his second cousin helped in his decision to move to Falcon Pointe for school.

Please find my full review at Rainbow Book Reviews

[Angela Goodrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve not made a secret about the fact that I enjoy Durston’s writing immensely. I find her writing style to be smooth and engaging, her characters feel like real people, and their journey to happiness to be unique to the couple and well worth fighting for. Within the Men of Falcon Pointe series, even though each of the young male leads has dealt with coming to terms with his homosexuality, how his Mormon upbringing affects him, and how his family reacts to the revelation of his sexuality, each couples’ journey has been different. For me, I find that the series just keeps getting better with each book.

Much like his cousin Sebastien, Rafe chose Falcon Pointe University because of Bas and Trent’s experiences. He is hoping that by going to school away from his family, he will be able to discover if being gay is worth turning his back on his Mormon upbringing and losing his family, both of which are extremely important to him – the latter more than the former. Having a great roommate, becoming closer to Bas, forging friendships with the men of 959 Brenton Street, and reinventing himself means life in Falcon Pointe is good in the beginning. But when Rafe’s porn addiction and failure to grasp the material means that he may flunk statistics, he finds support and a firm, yet guiding hand in Éigneachán, a friend of Cory’s, who just so happens to have a lovely Scottish brogue and a sexy kilt – why don’t romance novels come with pictures?!?!? Is it any wonder that Rafe fell for Éigneachán?

I really enjoyed how Rafe and Éigneachán’s relationship built slowly, and that while there was no rush to bed, they practiced Domestic Discipline well before the men were physically intimate, as it not only gave Rafe the balance he needed, but also brought them closer. Further, I found that Éigneachán’s willingness to follow Rafe’s lead on how fast to proceed, was perfect. I also liked that Rafe’s religious issue were addressed differently. Despite being Mormon, Rafe did not deal with the constant nagging from his mother about getting involved with the local church like Trent and Bastian did. I found this break from focusing on the church to be a refreshing change of pace. In fact, his parents’ reaction to Rafe’s coming out was only partially religion-driven as opposed to what Trent faced in book one. As for Rafe and Éigneachán’s twist in the series, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed how Durston included the psychological aspects that Rafe experienced when his parents addressed his homosexuality – and that Éigneachán was able to help him through it. Like the previous installments in the series, I freaking loved Becoming Rafe. I am so looking forward to the next book in the series.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!

[Deanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Thianna Durston's work. I was excited to see she had a new series out but didn't have a chance to grab it up and read it. I hate starting a series in the middle, but while the characters overlap books the stories are their own. It totally cool picking up with the third book. I never felt lost or like I had missed something important. I will tell you, I'm definitely going to go back and read the first two.

18 year old Nephi leaves his super strict Mormon family to attend college in Falcon Pointe. Nephi plans to use college as a journey of self discovery. Nephi knows he's attracted to men, but as far as being "gay" he's not really sure what that means. His roommate convinces him that he needs to separate the old Nephi from the new bold Nephi. He cuts his hair, pierces his ear, gets a tattoo and starts going by his middle name, Rafe.

Through his cousin Bastien, Rafe meets Levlin. Levlin is a 36 year old psychologist from Scotland. While Levlin is "out" in Falcon Pointe is family back in Scottland have no idea he's gay and he plans to keep it that way.

The two see each other around and become friendly. It's not until Rafe is in danger of failing his statistics class that Levlin offers his help and the chance for more. Levlin introduces Rafe to domestic discipline, which helps Rafe deal with all the stress of statistics and the looming threat of his family finding out he's gay.

Over Christmas Rafe is outed to his family by his sister. While his brothers and sisters are supportive, his devout Mormon father can not accept it. Rafe goes back to Falcon Pointe feeling like he'd lost a part of himself. It's only with Levlin's help that he is able to see that family isn't made by blood only, but those you choose as yours.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked that while Rafe's father didn't understand his sons life style, he wasn't screaming hateful things hiding behind his religion.

The strong relationship that all the men of Falcon Pointe have will keep me coming back for more.

[Cathy Brockman · Rating 5 out of 5]

: This is the 3rd book of the series, and I will admit once I read the blurb, and the chapters posted at the end of the last book, I had my doubts if I was going to read it to not. It seemed so much like the previous one. I was wrong and was glad I read it. It turns out Becoming Rafe is my favorite of this series.
Yes, it still is the same theme. A young Mormon man is coming to Falcon Pointe to find himself and experience being gay. Nephi (Rafe) Norton is a distant cousin to Bastien from book three.
The similarities end there. Rafe’s family doesn’t pressure him to go to church, or his he pressured by the Mormons in any way. This book is about his inner struggle of wanting to know what gay is and if he truly is. Rafe knows he likes men instead of women, but isn’t sure it’s worth giving up his family. He wants to have a relationship, hold hands with his true love, get married, have his own family.
He meets his roommate Finn, and soon Finn has a boyfriend as well in Santi. There is some of their story in here as well.
Rafe does his makeover and goes out with Finn and Santi where he finds himself in a back room with a stranger. Luckily he is saved by a sexy man with a Scottish brogue and his friends. Levlin and Rafe become close friends.
This was the second thing I liked so much. The slow build up of friends to more with Levlin and Rafe. Levlin was so good in supporting Rafe, not pressing him for sex when he knew that even though he was gay that he wanted to save himself.
All in all, Becoming Rafe is about finding oneself, coming out, inner struggles, friendships, college life, and a beautiful friends to lovers romance. If you are going to read only one of this series I suggest this one ( though it helps to know the other characters by reading the others.)
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *

[inaword · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a word: Read the thing. There were some things I really liked about this book, and some things I kinda didn’t. This was a bit of a mixed bag, I feel. The story about Rafe (formerly known as Nephi) going away to university and trying to find himself was a good one. It was similar enough to the others to fit the pattern, but still different enough so as to not be repetitive. There was also a lot of focus on Rafe hanging out with his friends, which was good because I found a lot of the things about his boyfriend Levlin a bit lacking. I liked Levlin, don’t get me wrong, but I mostly just didn’t get him. Through all of his and Rafe’s interactions, I kept finding myself wondering what a (assumed) successful psychologist in his mid-thirties would want with an 18-year-old college freshman struggling to find himself? I never had this problem with the other relationships (maybe because Rafe was younger than Trent and Bastien? I dunno), but it kept picking at me here. Outside of that, though, Rafe and Levlin’s relationship was stable and loving and engaging. Though, having said that, I thought that it moved a bit too fast for my liking. There were a lot of throwbacks to past books, with past characters showing up and interacting with the new characters. David and Bastien even got married, which managed to both be sentimental for the reader and a poignant moment for Rafe. There’s still discipline in this story, but this is the first time that Cory is not the one doling it out, Levlin is. Also Rafe’s family was a lot more involved in the story than any other character’s ever was, which made for great scenes and great angst (his siblings are awesome and I love them).

[read the full post at In A Word]

[Lynnette Hartwig · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

This is third book in this series and it was great. This was clearly a book about finding yourself and the struggles that go with coming out to your family. Rafe was struggling with one of his classes and meets an older man that helps him out and they fall in love. This man, Levlin was also able to help Rafe out with his coming out to his family. Levlin clearly expatiated that he was in it their relationship for the long haul. At first Rafe seemed to be mature beyond his years but also very inexperienced. Because of all this I loved how Levlin took things slow and never pushed Rafe anymore then he could handle. The author clear had an handle on the story and I can’t wait to read the next in the series.

I was given this book by Inked Rainbow Reads in exchange for an honest review.

[Mocchan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories are too similar and it becomes redundant, I don't think that I'll rread the next volume.