Waiting

by R.M. Gauthier

At 17, Tristan met, Jeremy, the boy of his dreams. At 30, he realizes that Jeremy will never be his. After years of holding everyone up to the Jeremy scale, Tristan is finally, ready to move on and find someone who will love him back.

Genres: BDSM, M M Romance, LGBT, Contemporary

77 pages, Paperback

Published October 26, 2016

About the author

Renee Gauthier lives in Toronto, Canada. After returning to school, she graduated from the Film & Television program at Humber College in the spring of 2015.

During her years in this program she had the privilege of working on several short films and many commercials with her fellow students making up the crews. She had the pleasure of directing half of these projects and leading her crew to success. She has also taken on many other roles in including Production Manager, Assistant Director and Editor, and enjoys every aspect of the filmmaking process.

She is an author and when she started writing her novel, she had no idea that she would end up at this point… with one book finished and another underway.

Renee won 2nd place in the ‘League for Innovation Student Literary Contest’ for her One Act Play called ‘One Moment’.

Reviews

[Aliya DalRae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not being a huge fan of short stories, I have to say this one really sucked me in. I had an hour or so before my normal drag-myself-to-bed time, and had just finished another book, so thought I’d read a few pages of Waiting, see what it was about. Next thing I know, it’s 1:00am, my regular pass-out time well in the, well, past, and I can’t stop reading. Waiting is a story of unrequited love, and second chances. It’s hot. It’s passionate. It’s hard to put down.

[Lyra Shanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this short story about Tristan, a shy boy in love who, for one reason or another, can never tell his heart's desire. When he grows up, he's learned to keep everything inside and almost gives up on love.

The ending left me wanting a lot more, and I'm not sure how I feel about how the main character deals with his feelings, but overall, I really liked this story and wanted it to go on even longer!

[Eva Pasco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Right

‘Waiting,’ the title of R.M. Gauthier’s LGBT/Gay Romance novella fits the story like a glove! Narrated by protagonist, Tristan Emerson, the 17-yr. old feels an electrical charge when he first meets his brother’s new friend, Jeremy, while lounging poolside in the backyard. Having found Mr. Right, the story proceeds from there—with caution on Tristan’s part.

Without diving at the deep end of the pool, the author captures the teen angst Tristan suffers from, fearful of making his feelings known lest the object of his affection not be gay, and he then becomes the butt of macho recriminations. If only he had!

Through Tristan’s adult perspective at age 30, the author realistically exposes the subculture of BDSM clubs where Tristan finds pleasurable solace on his terms, while still carrying a torch for Jeremy whom he sees on occasion due to family osmosis. Tristan’s brother married Jeremy’s sister—for one thing! “I would dream about finding the right Dom who I could not only give myself to in the playroom, but also give my heart to outside the playroom.”

The author has the uncanny ability of sucking the reader in right away, and effectively tells Tristan’s story through the character’s openness and vulnerability. As for elements of surprise, that’s up to each individual reader to decide. For me, this novella has a great deal going for it and holds up to the Jeremy scale!

[J.B. Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re looking for a sensitive same-sex romance story that can be read in the time it takes you to eat lunch or commute to and from work, R.M. Gauthier’s “Waiting” more than fits the bill! In this character study—that begins with a teen boy learning to deal with his sexuality—we meet Tristan, our main protagonist. Fearful of coming out to his family–let alone the world, we follow our teenage protagonist as he joins his elder brother for a weekend tour of his prospective college where he secretly falls for the outgoing and handsome best friend, Jeremy. A naïve Tristan is victimized at a frat party, but saved at the last moment by the very object of his affection. Poor Tristan cannot cope with the embarrassment of being found in such a compromising position. He forsakes his love interest even before he can confess his attraction to him. Several years go by and Tristan remains alone and celibate; suffering the pangs of loneliness, heartbreak, and unrequited love. As he matures into adulthood, and finally accepts his identity as a gay man, he finds himself introduced to a certain nightclub that draws him into a secret world … the world BDSM relationships. Here, Tristan can go incognito and lose himself in the pleasures of the flesh, but can he ever truly find love?

Gauthier’s sensitivity to the topic and tender treatment of Tristan’s angst demonstrates her ability to feel a very special affinity for her main character. She does not put Tristan through more than he can handle, allows him time to fully explore his sexuality, and—just when you think all might be for naught—pulls him back from the brink, sending him in a whole new direction with a new life plan. The story is well-developed and well-written, and the characters feel quite real. It’s easy to immerse yourself in Tristan’s story and cheer for him when things take a sudden turn. When an author can accomplish these goals in a story as compact as “Waiting”, it’s easy to declare this novella a masterpiece.

[Penumbra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received Waiting through the Goodreads ‘Don’t Buy My Love’ program. This story is about Tristan from the age of seventeen until thirty. We learn how he meets his first love Jeremy, and never really gets over him until he makes himself move on. This is told in first person through Tristan’s pov.


Waiting is a very fast read. The story doesn’t slow down; in fact, it never quite stays too long in any of the scenes except the sex scenes. We don’t really feel the complex depth of Tristan’s desire for Jeremy because those scenes don’t last long, merely as passing thought as he describes them to the readers. We learn that the first time Tristan sets eyes on Jeremy; it’s lust at first sight. But, he continues to believe that Jeremy isn’t gay or that Jeremy only sees Tristan like a little brother because Jeremy’s best friends with Tristan’s older brother. All of that is a bit of a contrived conflict because it’s clear that Jeremy is gay, although I wondered throughout the book why he never pursued Tristan himself, especially when Tristan entered college. The other thing I wished was a change in Tristan’s voice. The author did a good job with Tristan’s voice as a young man in high school, but his voice was the same as when he was at thirty. People mature in their speech and mannerisms, but I didn’t get that with Tristan.

One scene was particularly confusing, the final one. It needs more clarification that they were at the club and not at Tristan's home, because Tristan thinks 'my table.' Which automatically makes me think that means they were at home. And the following sequence of events becomes even more confusing because the start of the scene wasn't clear, including the 'three words' Tristan had waited to hear not making sense either. It made them sound like they were already living together. I mention more about these kind of errors in the next paragraph.

Like I mentioned, this is a fast read and has a good plotline for a short story. I wish it’d been longer, fleshed out a little to help draw me more into it, but it didn’t. The other thing I wish is to get my beta hands all over this book! This book read like a draft version rather than a final version. It has grammar errors galore and I mean every, single, page! Tenses are mixed up, incorrect word usage and odd sentence structure. The wording of the sentences had me wondering if English was the author’s second language. Two glaring mistakes used the wrong initials for a Dom/sub relationship with the initials ‘D/S’ instead of ‘D/s’. Also the signing of the letter ‘Master’ when Tristan had yet to agree to the Dom being his Master. ‘Sir’ would have been more appropriate and maybe someday he could become Tristan’s Master. I hope the author gets better betas the next time they write a story, not people who just say ‘This is great! No need to change a thing!” Um, no. There are definitely grammar and other issues that spoiled the story for me.

Waiting is has an interesting plot that would work better with more fleshing out and fixing of the many errors throughout it. I give this book 3 Stars because there are too many issues that need correcting to give it a higher rating. You can have a good story, but mistakes are a killer. My suggestion, go back over it, re-edit and make a better second edition. This book really needs it. Finally, choose a better cover. It doesn’t fit the story at all.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given a copy of this book free by the author in exchange for an unbiased review.

Tristan and Jeremy have known each other for a long time. This short story makes huge jumps in time and its a shame that the relationship doesnt really build. They meet again when Tristan explores his submissive side and Jeremy is his dom.

I really wish this story was longer. We missed so much in their story. I want to know what happened in the periods which were skipped over.
Maybe the author could be persuaded to make this into a longer novel.

[Alexis Woods · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was provided free from the author in return for an honest review via the Goodreads Don’t Buy My Love review program.

Overall this was a good short story, although predictable. Essentially erotica with a tiny bit of plot. The BDSM scene was written well enough that even though I'm not in the scene there wasn't anything blatantly wrong, but I think the detail could have been even better. I can't say I've ever heard of bathtubs in rooms, but again I don’t know this stuff intimately.

Short stories of this length are sometimes hard to evaluate. So I made some basic questions up:
Did the story draw me in: Yes.
Did the story keep me attention: Yes.
Did the storyline stay true and not verve off on a tangent: Yes.
Best part: the twist (even if I could see it coming a mile away).
Worst part: the grammar. Way too many errors of wrong tenses and commas in all the wrong places.
Would I read more by this author: Yes.

So I’d say for the quick read, it’s worth it. But this could have been longer, and I’d probably love it more.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads DBML program in exchange for an honest review

Tristan has been in love with his older brothers friend Jeremy for years. Now, Jeremy has come to work in Chicago at the company where Tristan is a VP. Tristan has a good job but longs for a relationship. He's never allowed his submissive needs to be fulfilled in a relationship, instead choosing to play at a club where he has very strict rules controlling his Dom. Until one night, a new guy comes along, testing his need for those rules...

I enjoyed this novella. I read it twice as I always do for DBML reads. While I found it enjoyable, I never quite engaged with the story. I think the length was an issue for me. Not enough pages to get to know the characters. I felt an on the outside looking in vibe, and not in a good voyeuristic way.

[Londra Laine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A free copy of this book was provided to me by the author for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Tristan and Jeremy's romance. This sweet tale of first love has a nice pace and some sexy surprises that I hadn't come across in other stories.

I love that the author jumps right into the action from the first page and starts with a conflict, it really piqued my interest and made me want to keep reading. The other conflicts were also well placed and advanced the story. I thought the ending was original. A lot of books I read, while good and engaging, employ really predictable scenarios. The reader can kind of see it coming right before it happens but it isn't something I've come across in other romances - it was really refreshing.

The love scene was very steamy, kind of teased me as a reader, and left me wanting to read more. I also enjoyed the fairly light D/s elements, it added another dimension. On the whole the chemistry between Tristan and Jeremy was really sweet. I also liked that Jeremy brought out a sassy side of Tristan even though Tristan was still a little intimidated by Jeremy and shy around him.

Honestly, I think this could easily have been a full length novel and at the end I wanted more. I think the author could knock this out of the park with some edits a few more scenes. There were a few typos and abrupt changes in tense that were a bit of a distraction. I was also a bit confused in the beginning about Tristan's relationship with his brother, but otherwise this was an enjoyable, light, sweet read that helped me get through a commute from hell! Worth checking out!

[Blackmermaid · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this, but I felt a little cheated at the end since it fast-forwards three months into their relationship. I would have loved when Tristan did figure out that Jeremy was his dom.
Also, I would have loved an epilogue to give them their HEA.

[blub · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was only 8 chapters long so it was a quick read. I didn't feel as if there was enough Jeremy and Tristan interaction. I really wished the story had been longer and more fleshed out. The romance was a bit lacking though I did love that Jeremy was there to save Tristan from that mistake during his visit. Readers really wouldn't have known how much time had passed if not for the blurb which wasn't included in the book ( and it totally should be). At first glance (err..chapter) it is a bit confusing but as the short story unfolds it all comes together. The bdsm was pretty light and Tristan's limits were unique in a way. I've never seen such limits before in a book (then again I don't have an extensive bdsm reading list).

I'm not sure what to think of the beginning or Tristan and Peter's relationship. Their relationships as siblings from Tristan's POV was kind of weird to me. I know siblings aren't always nice and will tease and mess with you (I'm the second youngest of 6 kids) but from Tristan's outlook Peter didn't seem very loving.

I wouldn't mind if the author decided to revisit these two. I definitely would love to see how their relationship develops and flourishes.

A free copy was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

[Darlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was good, but I didn't like so many years had past since the incident at the college when Tristan was a senior in high school. I'm not really sure I could say the Jeremey and Tristan really had a relationship until the BDSM part took over, by then Tristian was an adult. It's worth the read. I got it on instafreeie.

[chloegirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good concept, poor execution. The writing could’ve been much better. I wish we would’ve gotten more at the ending. It just ended abruptly and without giving readers a fulfilling ending.

[tammy rufo · Rating 5 out of 5]

short but sweet, loved this story. would love more, def recommend this quick easy read.

[DC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barely 3.0 stars. I liked the story but it didn’t wow me. First, I was really put off by the scene where Tristan visits Peter and Jeremy at college and is almost raped by Dante. Dante deserved more than a fist, he deserved to be locked up.
The rest of the story’s timeline moves quickly forward until we have Jeremy joining the company where Tristan is the Vice President. Considering how fast the author moved us to that point, the BDSM scene that followed, while well written, was agonizingly slow and long. And really, is there anyone who read this that didn’t know who the Dom was? When we finally get to the end, it seems rather abrupt. An epilogue would have been really helpful in this case.

[Silvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It was predictable but there was one HUGE glaring mistake that was off putting since I’m from the the northwest USA and lived in the Seattle area for over 15 years. The University of Washington(U Dub for short) is in Seattle, NOT Washington State University (WSU) which is in eastern Washington/Pullman. Since the author is not native to Seattle I guess it’s not as important to them but UW and WSU are rivals and not to be confused. At all, lol!

Other than that I enjoyed.