When Liam Hasker’s car careens down the side of a mountain, the last thing he expects is to wake up facing the man who made his last days in high school the worst days of his life. As if that wasn’t traumatic enough, the hospital staff seem to be under the impression that the ex-athlete is his husband! It quickly becomes clear that the former bad-boy heartthrob has no idea who he is and has forgotten the painful past that binds them. When circumstances and a little white lie force the two to join forces, Liam decides there is no time like the present to settle old scores. All grown up and a successful novelist, Liam intends to make his days with Reid as painful for the good Samaritan as possible. The only problem is, real life never goes according to plan. Reid Cummings wasn’t always a nice guy, but he worked hard to put the past behind him. When a badly injured stranger falls into his life, he finds himself drawn to the prickly writer in a way he hasn’t felt in a long time. Before he can get a hold on his feelings, he finds himself sharing his home and his life with a man whose motives are unclear and whose face he can’t get out of his mind. When their relationship goes from uncomfortable to steamy, Reid must battle Liam’s distrust and the ghost of his past self to hold on to what could be the love of his life. Can frenemies become lovers? Not if Liam has anything to say about it, but he may have to admit defeat as his reality becomes stranger than any fiction he could have written. Please This book contains Adult Language & Steamy Adult Activities, it is intended for 18+ Adults Only. Novella, approx. 50,000 words in length. HFN (happy for now ending). Does not end with a "cliffhanger".
Jerry Cole is a gay author who lives in California & enjoys writing love stories. Jerry has been writing fiction since he was a child. As a young adult, he worked as a freelance writer in the evenings & on weekends. Jerry started writing gay romance stories several years ago, but initially just for his own entertainment & occasionally sharing stories with his friends. In the summer of 2015 he published his first gay romance short story on Amazon. Overwhelmed by the positive response he decided to quit his “day job” & took up writing gay romance full time. When he’s not writing steamy M/M romance he enjoys globetrotting, watching movies with family and friends, working out, & being dragged down the road by his two Great Danes.
It was really good. But I can't help it, I kinda feel it doesn't deserve 5 stars. There were some tiny points here & there during the whole story that kinda bothered me... But it was good & definitely worth reading.
I don't know why with some books every little stupid thing in them feels like a needle pushed under your fingernail; and with other books no matter how much stupid there is, you are just, like, "never mind, who cares, keep moving!" With 'Crash' you don't just have to suspend your disbelief; you need to cuff it, gag it, lock it up and throw away the key. And if you can bend your mind around the idea that a supposedly straight guy, after finding a stranger in an accident, will name himself this stranger's husband to spend time at his bedside and sign papers of life-n-death importance... then you can enjoy the roller-coaster of wild emotions that are in this book. Liam hates Reid and wants to hurt him. But he doesn't hate Reid and want to be loved by him. Reid thinks Liam is dead, and this Liam is a different Liam, and he falls in love with this Liam... and oh, there is an evil cousin who wants to destroy Reid to hurt Liam... But man, it was delightful! Even if the point of view (both first person) was changing so often my eyes were crossing. But Reid was great. I can't help it, I just love those goody-two-shoes characters, can't get enough of them. And Liam, he was a tricky character because he was actively trying to be unpleasant so it would be easy to dislike him - but he was so vulnerable and so good at heart that it was impossible not to like him. Yeah. Very much fun.
It's time to come clean about my reading habits. I start a lot of books before I mark that I am 'officially' reading them on the GR website. I begin reading, see if it grabs me, then if I feel I can commit I mark as 'currently reading'. I say this because I have started a lot of books, not marked them as reading/read then try to go back and read them again, not remembering I already gave them a pass. So i'm going to try to start marking more of these, even if I didn't read the whole thing.
All that to say, I gave this one a try. Good potential, I'm a fan of H.S. bully to hottie and good angst. But this book was not going in that direction. First of all our 'poor' Liam who was bullied in school comes across as a bit of a jerk, even though past circumstances would certainly explain that. Secondly, its very contrived the way Reid the former jock comes into his life. Too farfetched for me and I only got about 20% into the book before quitting.
This book was actually not too bad. Two boys who "knew" each other on high school but were never actually friends. Or even acquaintances really. 15 years later they meet again. Only one doesn't know it.
Liam is in a bad accident and his car flips off the side of a mountain. He wakes up in the hospital to a man stating they are "married". The man is someone who walked away at a pivotal moment when they were teens. Only Reid has no idea.
Reid pulls a man out of his car and in order to stay by his side, he tell the hospital staff he is married to him. This man reminds him of "his" Liam. But of course it can't be him. He died a long time ago.
The basis of the story is great. And for about 75% of the book I was really interested. Reid's sister was a little too dramatic for my liking. And the ending was so abrupt. Reid found out the truth, Loam left to run a company, and then...BAM!! Liam comes back because Reid is hurt. All of a sudden they are back and rings are given. I need a little more substance than that.
Anywho, it was worth the read but not a five star one.
This story is about Liam and Reid. They knew each other from school, but they weren’t friends. Quite the opposite. They meet again years after. Reid happens to be there when Liam’s car careened down the mountain. When Liam wakes up in hospital he finds out that Reid pretended that he’s his husband and that he doesn’t recognize him at all.
This story was one hell of emotional ride. First, my heart was broken within few pages. What happened to Liam was awful and horrible. People are cruel fucks! But then I was smiling to myself because of Liam’s sarcastic comments, that I fell in love with him on the spot. Reid was great guy, too. He’s made some mistakes in the past, but he’s changed and became much better person.
All in all, it’s a beautiful story about forgiveness, love and finding each other after many years. Highly recommended. One of my favorites from Jerry Cole.
This is an unusual book which I enjoyed reading. Liam and Reid, the two main characters, become entwined because of car accidents over a period of years. Misperceptions of what happened in the first car accident colors their understanding, or lack thereof, about what really happened during the accident. The big question is does Liam seek revenge on Reid because of his misperceptions or does he fall in love with his antagonist? Is the antagonist an uncaring, self-centered jerk or has he become a caring person who seeking love, too? I suppose you’ll just have to read the book to find out!
I was given a free advance copy of this book in exchange for sharing my honest opinion about it after it was released.
I liked this book but then I didn't like it. I was really conflicted.
My heart ached for Liam and what he went through one horrific night when he was yonger. I wanted him to get some payback but that is not what happened. Call me a vindictive bitch if you will, I'll wear the name proudly but there was no revenge. I think he deserved a little after all he went through and lost that night.
As for Reid, he was very emotional (toward the end) but also emotionless with Liam. I got the sense that he was sorry with what happened to Liam but not too sorry. To me it seemed he was more sorry for himself in that it was a lost opportunity for him but not sorry for not helping when this poor boy needed someone to do something humanly decent.
I loved Reid and Liam, they are great characters. The beginning is a nightmare and they both suffered horribly for it. For Reid his journey was very hard but turned his life around to be the man he felt Liam would be proud of. Liam is left hurt and bitter but makes a good name for himself. With a horrible accident they find each other again and Liam realizes that Reid has always been the one for him. He was destined to love only Reid his whole life through.
I received a free advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest & unbiased review."
This book is fantastic! Oh my the stunts that Liam pulls will send you into fits of laughter.. It also stole my heart with all the crap that Liam had to go through highschool sucks. But at the same time the love story is great. Hands down a great book!
I truly enjoy Jerry's stories. They are always, always, always filled with sincere emotion and that unrelenting angst that only those fighting true love can have. Liam and Reid are beautiful together and how wonderful when true love comes back to life.
This was heading for a 5 star read but towards the end it kind of took off in another direction and lost me. Still enjoyed it. Just kind of hiccuped on me around the time all truths were revealed.
This was a relatively okay romance, but was missing a lot for me because a lot didn't make sense. Examples: Reid has a sister who he's very close to and he tells Liam that she drops by all the time, in fact we see this happen right at the beginning of the book - then she disappears from the book until the very end... we hear nothing about her, she doesn't show up or get mentioned or anything... so not actually a huge part of Reid's life or the author just didn't remember to include her in the day to day stuff? Also, she's so unique - pixie dust hair? What the hell does she do for a living in this quiet mountain town? Also, not very impressed by the bare chested hardbodies on the cover. They don't really reflect what the story is about.
MM. Liam and Reid's story is so heartbreaking. Liam never expected to face the man who caused so many issues ten years ago. Reid is working hard to make up for the pain he caused over the years and this new Liam reminds him of his Liam from high school. A dangerous situation for both of them to be in and Liam's cousin is ready to make them question everything. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book.
Another great book by Jerry Cole. It drew me in from the very first page and I couldn't put it down. I absolutely loved Reid and Liam and I didn't want their story to end. Loved it!
Very impressed with this book because I was surprised on many counts. I'm not sure what made me pick it up in the first place, but I'm sure glad I did.
The main premise is convenient. It's somewhere in the middle of friends-to-lovers and enemies-to-lovers ... without really being either. And to have these one-time classmates be in the same random place at the the exact same moment years later, and then add in the marriage angle? Yeah ... you need to be able to suspend disbelief and just go with it or else you may miss out on a very interesting story.
I think what I liked so much is the unpredictability. The characters were more than they seemed to be and they didn't play to the normal script. Liam was practically 2 different people, defined by a "before and after" series of events that would have changed anyone. And usually when something like that is hinted at it includes some soul crushing sexual violence at the core. I'm thrilled the author went in a different direction. I was still horrified on Liam's behalf because what happened was horrible, but the originality was appreciated. I can see how he became the man he became later in the story.
As far as the story goes.... it is a romance, but the subtitle (M/M Straight to Gay First Time Romance) doesn't do it any favors. I won't spoil it, but it's very clear that neither of these boys are straight. But how to get past their history, especially when one of them doesn't even remember that they had a history? That took some talent to navigate. Liam's new hard exterior meets Reid's endless patience and a need to overcome his previous mistakes makes for a very charming combination. Knowing Liam's inner thoughts and also letting the reader see him through Reid's eyes was a great decision. It went a long way to soothing some feathers.
As far as the supporting details, the twists, the secondary cast .... many good choices. I enjoyed having never really knowing what they were about to say or do. I enjoyed that their romance worked even though both of them were far from ideal, and sometimes were downright mean. I enjoyed how many stereotypes were turned upside down and inside out, while others were reinforced in an ironically unique way.
Give me a unique or entertaining story and I can forgive a lot, so the convenience factor mentioned earlier didn't phase me in the slightest. However, what makes this a 4 instead of a 5 (for me) is how much the ending was rushed. The last couple of chapters included some confusing overlap that could be reasoned out so the reader is still aware of the timeline and what is going on, but it was unnecessarily awkward. And the very end was kind of abrupt. Again, it was easy to reason out, and it didn't really didn't lack anything, but the final conflict seemed so easily reconciled considering the massive build up from the previous few chapters.
Though this may not be for everyone because it doesn't fit into any typical notion of romance, I would recommend this book to a lot of people solely based on it's how I felt while I was reading it. Equal parts amazed, overwhelmed, charmed, and entertained. This was a new author for me and I plan to check out more of his work.
Usually I tend to steer clear of books with ": M/M Straight to Gay First Time Romance" or such attached to the title, unless I am in the mood for downright smut, but the blurb was pretty intriguing and I was in the mood for an enemies to lovers kind of story. To say that I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. This definitely was no pure smutty read, although there definitely were scorching sex scenes, but this was far more than that, this was a book with romance, intrigue, complex characters and a touch of sex.
Sure, the beginning was a little rough, but the story progressed pretty well after picking itself up from that little turbulence, and I must say that the little plot twists and the flashbacks, and the heavy attraction and sexual tension between Liam and Reid beefed up this read pretty much. The writing could border on cheesy at times, but it was mostly well written with great flow and prose. Overall it felt like a complex maneuver that was pretty well executed.
The MCs here were quite well developed throughout the read. Liam, whose 360 from his younger days of a socially anxious, stuttering mess to the grown up acerbic, sarcastic twat felt like whiplash, as the jump in personality change was from one chapter to the next, but at least throughout the book we were given insight into why he became like so. And even though most of the time he felt like a major jerk, the writer still managed to make me sympathize with him and understand his dilemma and complexities. As for Reid, I did not at first get his martyr complex, but it was addressed slowly but surely throughout the book. The minor bleep for me was the "gay for you" feelings he had for both Liams definitely needed more to it, as it was a little unconvincing for me.
The ending was what prevented me from giving it a full 5 stars though. It was kind of abrupt and half hanging, and it left me with a big "HUH?!?" hanging over my head. Otherwise still a pretty good read that is anything but mindless.
Disjointed but still a core of a good plot kept this from being a wash.
The author has a wonderful voice when speaking through his younger characters, it is when they are adults that the story fails to be cohesive. Too many jumps in time. Too many changes in narration. Gaps in the story big enough to crash a truck through. This author does have nice way of handling love scenes and the dialog is snappy and original. Introducing a rather unnecessary villain was also a distraction. There was enough conflict without that and fleshing out the newly gay partner would have been a better use of his time.
Reid and Liam's story was beautifully written, Jerry Cole did an amazing job. Both characters with their flaws start to fall in love. I love the way that Reid was written as someone who thought of himself as essentially straight but when he started to fall for Liam there was no inner dialogue about gay or straight. Liam was someone he cared about and he would do everything he could to care for him.
Kudos to the the author for writing this great story!
This one was a bit confusing in places. The POV changed between Liam and Reid without warning a few times that threw me out of the story. Time paying also want very clear in a couple of places that confused me. But I loved both Liam and Reid and enjoyed reading about their journey together. I liked that both characters had to overcome the trauma from what happened when they were teenagers, and that both had scars from that time, but that they learned to love one another despite that.
And this book is the best one yet. The drama and the angst between Liam and Reid are spot on. Serendipity and the powers that seem to sometimes change the course of our well ordered lives, stepped into the lives of Liam and Reid and righted wrongs between them from years past. That they managed to overcome such deep hurt and finally connected in spite of their past unhappy history is the driving force of this engrossing love story. I highly recommend this gripping tale of love lost and then found. You won't be disappointed.