Worth Waiting For

Heart of the South #1

by Wendy Qualls

A small-town in the Deep South isn’t where most gay men would choose to go looking for love. But open hearts will find a way…

Growing up in the Bible Belt, Paul Dunham learned from a young age to hide his sexuality. Now he’s teaching psychology at a conservative college in Georgia—and still hiding who he really is. If Paul hopes to get tenure, he needs to keep his desires on the down-low. But when an old college crush shows up on campus—looking more gorgeous than ever—Paul’s long-suppressed urges are just too big for one little closet to hold . . .

Brandon Mercer has come a long way since his freshman year fumbling's with Paul. Now he’s confident, accomplished, proudly out—and the sexiest IT consultant Paul’s ever seen. When Brandon asks Paul to grab some coffee and catch up, it leads to a steamy reunion that puts their first night of passion to shame. But when Paul’s longtime crush turns into a full-time romance, he receives an anonymous email threatening to expose their secret to the world. If Paul stays with Brandon, his teaching career is over. Yet if he caves under pressure, he risks losing the one true love he’s been waiting for...

Genres: Romance, M M Romance, Contemporary, LGBT, Ebooks, Gay, Fiction

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 15, 2017

About the author

Wendy Qualls was a small ­town librarian until she finished reading everything her library had to offer. At that point she put her expensive and totally unrelated college degree to use by writing smutty romance novels and wasting time on the internet. She lives in Northern Alabama with her husband, two girls, two dogs, and a seasonally fluctuating swarm of unwanted ladybugs. Wendy can be found on Twitter as @wendyqualls. She is represented by Moe Ferrara of BookEnds Literary Agency.

Reviews

[BWT · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 Stars

I was really keen on reading this from the blurb. I was hoping for a great "Out For You" story about a second chance love and reconnecting with first love...and I sort of got it?

Told from the single POV of deeply closeted Paul, his very carefully ordered life is thrown upside down when his college freshman crush, Brandon, is hired as an IT Security consultant for the college and Paul is ordered to work with him. Brandon immediately comes on to Paul and offers a no-strings-attached affair, which Paul eventually agrees to and doesn't because Paul is the king of mixed signals. He doesn't really know what he wants or how to communicate anything and Brandon is left to constantly encourage or push Paul to ask for what he wants.

There's a secondary plot involving a cyber crime mystery that I wished were more interesting than it turned out to be. It had a good premise, but fell apart for me in the follow through.

While the story has some positive elements, along with some nice passion and dirty talk once Paul lets down his guard, the writing is not what I'd hoped it would be, the plot was clunky and obvious without the benefit of being sweet enough to overlook it, and I just didn't enjoy it.



The final nail in the coffin for me was the formatting of the copy I received. Now, by no means is this the book's fault, but when a reader is struggling with elements of a story that might not be working for them, the last thing you want to do is make it difficult for them to actually read the story.

I received a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for review. When you request a book it gives you (usually) two choices to download the book: in this case I chose between "Send To Kindle - Protected PDF" or "Download Protected PDF". I actually used the Send To Kindle feature first, which should have been properly formatted by either the author or publisher BECAUSE THEY KNEW IT WAS GOING TO A KINDLE. Instead it showed up with horrible formatting problems. For example:

You walked in
and you were
wearing this T-shirt that— I don’t even
know what it was abouttheshirt, honestly, butitfityoureallywell.AndIhadabitofasilent freak-out
right
there
in
the
middle of everybody

Then, when I went back to NG and I tried to download the PDF, I couldn't even open it. I found out later I would have to download a special program (because even though it's a "PDF" it won't open in Adobe PDF Reader) and then a Calibre plug-in just to open it. WTF?

Anyway, it made an already not-so-enjoyable read much, much worse and put me completely off.

Obviously, your mileage may vary, and hopefully when they start offering it for sale they will have fixed the terrible formatting.

Advanced Review Galley copy of Worth Waiting For (Heart of the South #1) provided by Lyrical Shine via NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

This review has been cross-posted at Gay Book Reviews.

[~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed Save the Date, Wendy Qualls' collaboration with Annabeth Albert. Unfortunately, sans Albert, Qualls' writing sinks into the trite and awkward.

Worth Waiting For is told from the perspective of Paul, a professor at a Christian college who's in the closet and wants to stay there. When his college crush, Brandon, arrives in town to work as an IT consultant on campus, Paul can't stop thinking about him.

Brandon suggests they get together, for dinner and more. But Paul is scared and gives off mixed signals. He's not a virgin (he was with his ex for a couple years), but he sure acts like one.

While I understood why Paul worried about coming out, I didn't get his schizophrenic outlook on sex. One minute kissing is too much; the next, he's all hot and bothered. Brandon tries to be patient, but he's quite pushy.

"I haven't ... I don't want actual sex ... I mean, I don't know that I don't like it, but ... I don't even know what to ask for. But we should do something. If you want."

There was little tension in the story, despite the stalker/blackmail plot, which was clunky and obvious.

I felt no connection between the MCs; I was so bored with the relationship, I skimmed through the steamy scenes. I don't know what the hell Brandon saw in Paul, but both men were one-dimension and wooden. The dialogue made me cringe.

I liked the Southern setting and the sparkly HEA, but the story lacked oomph and polish.

P.S. My ARC was a formatting and editing FAIL: hard breaks in sentences, typos, sentence fragments, and wordsthatrantogetherlikethis. I tried not to let the formatting affect my rating, but it was terribly distracting and made for a very unpleasant reading experience.

[Renée]

I've made a very conscious effort this year to DNF books instead of pushing myself to finish something when I'm clearly not having an enjoyable reading experience.

I made it to 10% of this book. And while I wouldn't say the story and writing is bad, it's definitely not good.

The writing is really jarring. If it's not the word choices, it's the sentence structure, and it's multiple times on each page.

Cripes.

Twitterpated

The barista at the campus coffee shop when he finished his walk - a rainbow-haired girl with a lip ring and a septum piercing - was almost offensively cheerful, and Paul had to exert effort to not growl at her.

"Oh Lord, shush, will you?"

Shush? Twitterpated? Cripes?

Peace out.

[h o l l i s · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is technically my second read by Qualls but as my first exposure to her was a co-written effort -- with one of my favourite m/m authors -- I'm going to count this as my first true Qualls' experience. And honestly, in all probability, it's likely going to be my last.

I don't know if it's because I now associate Qualls with Albert but this read more or less like the discarded plot to one of Albert's books. And definitely echoed some of the backstory of one of her #gaymers characters (STATUS UPDATE happens to be one of my top top faves of hers, so I'm definitely biased) so I was already not feeling too kind towards WORTH WAITING FOR. I appreciate the inspiration and homage but it was hard not to make comparisons and how painfully this one just didn't measure up. Not to mention it was easy to see why the aforementioned co-written book wasn't my favourite, either. I just don't think Qualls' writing style works for me.

Ignoring previous works and other authors for a moment, though, I will say that the biggest problems I had with this first book in the Heart of the South series was that I guessed the "villain" of the piece by about.. 30%? Maybe earlier. I thought some of the main protagonist's conflicts around his sexuality.. confusing. But considering the impact of the church on his closeted self I let the wishy washy contradictory stuff go because there were worse things. Like : I found the overall plot dull; I put this down so many times, I was so tempted to DNF at 50% but I heroically pushed on, and it was only the 'you have [..] time remaining' that kept me going. Which unfortunately exposed me to more endlessly articulated sex scenes (seriously, everything is described, everything is dialogue) made worse by a terribly formatted file.

"I want to watch you come apart -- see those blue eyes go to almost all pupil and then slam close as you come. Want to feel your breathing stutter and freeze and then all the air escape you lungs at once as you finally collapse on top of me."

Seriously. That's just one example of some of the 'paint by numbers' dirty talk in this book. I found a lot of oddness in the dialogue, actually. Things that didn't need to be said, things that didn't need to be described.. just awkward.

There was only one thing I liked and it was the epilogue. And even that had an element that felt.. borrowed by Albert. I don't know. Maybe I've read too much m/m (not possible), maybe I'm just looking for the similarities (they are glaring), but compounded by everything else, my boredom, the obvious plot, the unsexy sexy scenes.. sorry, no thanks. Nothing drew me in, nothing kept my focus, and I disliked both of the MCs; one was duller than a plain rice cracker and the other came off as the gay whisperer. Even though.. he was as inexperienced.. as.. the.. other.. MC?

I also didn't like the criticism regarding queer stereotypes and doing 'manly' things. I realize these characters don't speak for the author but.. while all representation is important, I still think you have to be aware of your audience. It felt a little shame-y towards people who like the drag scene or, heaven forbid, put glitter in their hair. It just felt unnecessary to focus on (this was brought up a few times) considering all the other homophobic elements already at play in the community and at the church and college.

Anyway.

This wasn't brain-bleedingly terrible, it didn't make me rage or hulk out, in fact this is probably one of the more ambivalent one-stars I've ever given, but, sorry to say, there was really nothing to recommend it.


** I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **

[Vfields Don't touch my happy! · Rating 2 out of 5]

Worth Waiting For was a pile of frustrations wrapped in a cute premise. It felt old, like it was from 1998 for example when maybe this kind of thinking might fly. A grown ass man who is a Doctor of Psychology in a Christian College.
His director is a sanctimonious, rude-as-hell dictator. The first scene in today’s world would be a major lawsuit. His parents are closed minded and he whines about them endlessly. His twin sister lives with a different set of rules and expectations, what up with that?
His ex was a complete loon.
There’s a blackmailer on the loose. There was lots of sex. I couldn’t understand why someone wanted this self-doubting man.
Everything was predicated on him being in the closet in this day and age, WTH?!?! The whole story should be reworked as a cyber crime mystery. It was soooo frustrating.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly enjoyable story about Paul, a closeted professor working at a very conservative Christian college who, after ten years, accidentally reconnects with Brandon, the man who made him realize he was gay.

I noticed "Worth Waiting For" mostly because of the cover, which I like even more now that I have read the book because it captures the story and its atmosphere perfectly. Despite the subject matter and while there were some angsty moments, overall it had a lighter feel than I had expected, which was a pleasant surprise. It doesn't work so well if you're looking for realism - some things work out a bit too easily and there was one thing I wish had been handled differently- but as a romance book it worked splendidly for me. (I saw other reviewers had more problems with those issues, however.)

Even though I had intended to take a short break from the genre, I found myself unable to stop once I started reading. That is almost always a sign that I will end up loving the story, and it was true in this case as well.

While it's told solely from Paul's POV (in third person, which I tend to prefer), I loved both him and Brandon. I also found the non-romance part of the plot surprisingly engaging and I absolutely adored the romance. To be honest, I don't need sex in my books to enjoy them, but for me Wendy Quails found the right balance between steaminess and sweetness here.

As for the closeted-because-Christian part of the story, it's something that feels very far from my own circumstances, but it was interesting to read about. The closeted aspect comes up a lot in the Japanese BL that I read and I always like to see how similar tropes play out im different cultural contexts.

The setting did remind me of the first of Annabeth Albert's gaymers books a lot, so much so that in the beginning I had the worst sense of déjà-vu, but it turned out differently enough that I didn't mind at all in the end (I just wouldn't want to read them right after another).

I really liked this one and would recommend it to people looking for a sweet and mildly angsty romance.

My ARC copy of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair, unbiased review.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story left me feeling so dissatisfied. Paul as a character makes no sense. He's deeply deeply closeted yet jumps right in to a sexual relationship with Brandon like it's his every day norm. They go away for a weekend and he's holding Brandon's hand in public, meeting Brandon's family as his boyfriend, participating in PDA - it just doesn't make sense for how his character is written.

And don't get me started on Brandon. He totally admits he's never been in a relationship and doesn't want one, but flips his lid when Paul wants to stay casual.

The characters do complete 180°s without any type of development. The story itself was an interesting concept, but the execution just wasn't there.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the ARC.

There were formatting problems which I hope will be sorted out before publication. I eventually read mine downloaded via Adobe Digital Editions which was relatively error free.

However, I had other issues with this novel.

The premise looked good- Paul and Brandon renew their friendship after a ten year gap and with unfinished business hanging in the air. Brandon has avoided commitment and Paul has had one failed relationship. Unfortunately the book did not live up to expectations.

The writing is particularly clunky and the author has a tin ear as far as dialogue is concerned.People talk AT each other not TO or WITH.

I do not have problems with stories about men who are in the closet but when it came to Paul choosing to lose the love of his life rather than open the door, he deserved to be outed which is not something I normally approve of. Neither do I have problems with stories having a Christian element but this was so heavy-handed in its endorsement of a liberal-Christian Church where EVERYONE accepted gay people.

I appreciate that, as a Scot, I probably do not understand fully what the fundamentalist South is like; even in Calvinist Scotland you would be hard put to find as many intolerant and bigoted people as there were in this book. Paul’s “ex”, Christopher, was an unpleasantly extreme example of a closeted and controlling bigot. Paul’s colleague Grace could not possibly have been so dim as to have gone all that time without a glimmer of the truth about his sexuality.

The sex was another issue with me.There was way too much in too much detail and of course every gay man has got to really like penetrative sex!! This was the second book recently when I skip-read these scenes.

And the conclusion. Is it now obligatory for every m/m to end up with a proposal/wedding/baby scenario? There are plenty of other happy outcomes for gay couples.Please think out of the box.

There were lots of important and interesting issues in this book such as the relationship between faith and sexuality, and the importance of living as your true self. Unfortunately the writer was not up to handling them.

Sadly, two stars.

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

3.75 stars

I liked this book. I wanted to love it, but it felt a bit off to me. Paul and Brandon were ok, but that’s as far as I’ll go. They were sweet and said/did all the right things, but I didn’t feel any real bond with them. Paul was standoffish. I suppose he probably had to be because he was hiding his true self. However, I found myself wanting to give him a slap on the face and yell, “Snap out of it!” It was as if he were a bit lazy. As a psychology professor, he could have looked for work at other universities while he was teaching at St. Benedict’s. Instead, he chose to just stay there, miserable, and resigned he’ll probably have to marry a woman and try to have a family.

On the other hand, there was Brandon. I liked him a little better than Paul, but I thought he seemed a bit pushy. He didn’t force Paul into anything, but his powers of persuasion were a teeny bit over the top. He also makes it clear he’s not looking for a boyfriend. He’s not the boyfriend type, but he wants to make his time at St. Benedict’s a little more fun by having a no strings attached relationship.

Read Kenna’s review in its entirety here.

[Pjm12 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paul and Brandon's story is a blend of sad angst and near-perfect romance. I have many questions about characters' actions and authenticity, and when I find myself second guessing like that I know I am thrown out of the story.

Paul's boss, for example. Why does he dislike Paul so much? How does the mystery stalker get away with as much as he does? And Paul's parents? Are they believable?

I did like Brandon, but he was a saint for putting up with as much hot and cold from Paul as he does.

Overall, the story is okay, but I wanted to enjoy it a lot more than I did.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for advanced copy. Released 15 August.

[Elithanathile]

I received this as a gift from a friend and I figured I'd crack it open. Reviews don't encourage a lot of faith, but I always (always) like to decide for myself! Also, I want to clear this from my "currently reading" queue. So here we go ...

[Tina J · Rating 3 out of 5]

✩ ✩ ✩ THREE-STAR ✩ REVIEW ✩ ✩ ✩
> > Judging a Book by it's Cover < <
Two men holding hands in an awkward position while sitting on a bench. Nothing overly eye-catching. Weak title font for the room provided. Nice placement of Author name. The synopsis was not something that would normally draw me in either, however, I'd read a book by this author when she paired up with Annabeth Albert and really enjoyed that book, so I was intrigued how well this author would do on her Solo Debut!

> > Looking Deeper < <
POV ~> Third-person

Ten years ago, Paul and Brandon shared a moment. Now Paul is a Psychology teacher aiming for tenure at a strict college and Brandon is an IT wizard based out of Atlanta, sent to the very same campus that Paul works. Brandon is out, but Paul had pushed himself deeper into the closet in fear of retribution from the department head that seems to dislike him for no valid reason already. Can these men find closure for a time that ended too abruptly and without a goodbye or will they dare to pick up where they left off and risk everything?
Brandon was experienced and wanted to teach Paul a few things that he'd been missing out on. Paul wasn't totally a virgin, right? It was really hard to tell with all the simpering and ninny-like behaviorisms. They may have had a vague, fleeting moment of shared history, but the chemistry was lacking and the compatibility was off-balanced and almost felt unnatural. The secondary characters: a clueless, cliched co-worker with a useless crush on Paul, an ex, a stalker/creeper/hacker, a disgruntled "boss", some family and other minor miscellaneous cast. The dialogue was often-awkward and painful to read. Their interactions were just as bad with Paul becoming the blushing, stammering virgin-esque type and Brandon adopting the suave, coaxing, "seducing" one - one minute he was chanting the "I'm not going to pressure you" mantra and the next he was talking dirty and trying to coerce Paul into something he'd already said "no" to only moments ago. Ugh, no means no. Let it go, move on already! Too many games being played. The plot fell flat, unfortunately, and I found myself disinterested. I wish I could have liked the story more, but even after setting it aside to read a few other ARCs that were due before this one, I was not excited to pick it back up.
After six weeks of struggling to find a connection and the desire to finish this book, I've concluded it just was not going to happen. I wish it were otherwise, but at 53%, I've stopped reading this to move on to more enjoyable books.
.
Rating: [R] ~ Score: 3.285 ~ Stars: 3
==========================
⭐ ⭐ **** Disclosure of Material: I received a copy of this book from @Netgalley and the Author/Publisher with the hope that I would voluntarily leave unbiased and unsolicited feedback. I was not asked, encouraged, or required to leave a review - nor was I compensated in any way. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising". ***** ⭐ ⭐

[Tracy~Bayou Book Junkie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars

Paul and Brandon met their freshman year at Saint Benedict, a strict Christian college both were attending. They skirted around their attraction for one another for quite some time, until eventually they shared a night together. When Brandon leaves for another school afterward without a word, Paul locks himself securely back in the closet. Now, ten years later, the two meet again when Brandon returns to Saint Benedict for a short time as an IT consultant. Brandon runs into Paul, who is working at the college as a psychology professor. Paul is also still planted firmly in the closet, while Brandon is openly gay. Will this be a second chance for them?

Most of the reviews for this book were really negative and while, yes, I agree with certain aspects of those reviews, I'll try to keep my review on the more positive side and give you what I liked about the story.

Paul and Brandon were very different in some ways, Paul is extremely closeted, shy and very inexperienced, while Brandon is out, open, experienced and a bit overbearing, but they complimented one another and Brandon's urging really helped Paul open up and try and explore and experience things he never would have without Brandon. They were both likable men and although they both irritated me for different reasons, I wanted to see them get their HEA.

I loved the slow progression of their physical relationship. Brandon was willing to wait and not push. He let Paul go at his own pace and only do what he was absolutely comfortable with. He was patient and understanding when it came to Paul's fears and lack of experience. I loved watching Paul open up and become more comfortable with himself.

I thought Paul's struggle with being a good Christian and a gay man was very realistic and I'm sure many will be able to relate to his fears.

The premise of the story was good, the writing was good, not great, but it was okay. The story itself was good and it held my interest. This was a sweet, angsty and a bit of a sexy read. While there were things I didn't like and frankly, dialogue that was cringe worthy at times, it was still a pretty enjoyable read.


**copy provided by author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll get straight to the point with this review. Dr. Paul Dunham is one of the most tediously boring protagonists I have ever attempted to engage with. Even after finishing Paul’s story, I still have no idea why a gay man would spend more than ten years of his life studying then working at a conservative Christian college.

Paul admits several times in this book that he has no interests, hobbies or friends. He lives for his work and his closest relationship is with his twin sister who lives on another continent. He has spent a nearly chaste life in the closet due to a combination of family expectations and religious guilt. Sadly, I’m sure there are many people like Paul in this world, but I’m also sure I don’t want to read about them.

Brandon is a much easier character to engage with. He is out and proud, engaging and sociable. I’m not entirely sure why he allows himself to get entangled in Paul’s endless circles of guilt and shame but I kept wanting to urge him to run away. Much like the rest of Brandon’s life, his job is much more interesting than Paul’s. While Paul conducts research into the impact of emotion on decision making (even Paul didn’t seem excited by his research), Brandon is sifting through the university’s IT system in pursuit of cyber criminals. I kept wanting more of everything Brandon in this book and less of Paul.

My response to this story feels quite personal and biased. As someone who quickly transferred out of a Christian university and ran far away from my Bible Belt home, I had very little empathy for Paul in this story. His cowardice makes him miserable and life is so much better on the other side. For the same reasons, I struggled with both Paul and Brandon’s yearnings for a traditional suburban HEA. This desire for a traditional family life draws these men together but for me it felt like an ugly compromise still tainted by Paul’s Christian guilt and shame.

I know this is a more personal and more negative response than I usually have to a book so I’d advise readers to make their own judgements about this story.

[Vikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

**I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review**

1.5 stars

DNF AT 12%

I was quite excited about this after reading the blurb as it is my type of book. However I am disappointed to say that the expectation didn't meet the reality.

Firstly I found, what I did manage to read, incredibly difficult due to the formatting issues within the kindle edition. For example the end of the first page read as follows:

"There have been some complaints
about you," Dr Kirshner announced. "Sorry?"
he slid a stapled sheaf of papers across his
desk toward Paul. "Employee
codeofconduct-
youmayremebersigningit whenyouwerefirs-
tired. I gather its been giving you trouble
recently."

I also felt that the story didn't flow as well as it should and the writing was quite stilted. I feel that it would have worked better if it was written in the first person as some parts of the book felt very much 'and then and then and then' when describing things the character was doing/thinking. Similarly as the story began to unfold, certain things were almost over explained (e.g. when describing physical attributed of characters). Moreover I just felt that there was no real chemistry between the characters and the conversations they had were quite awkward in places. I also didn't really like Brandon very much and found him quite annoying as well as pushy towards Paul at times.

All in all I have to say that as much as I loved the idea of the story line, the book just didn't work for me. I can honestly say I was disappointed as I really did want to like it.

[Jennifer Shanahan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ARC from NetGalley. Not a big fan of this book or writer who I've not heard of before. The writing was really boring and awkward. I did not feel a real connection between the two main characters like ever throughout the book which was sad because I think it could be a better book, maybe ion first person? Not sure. The plot was really blatantly apparent to me and easy to figure out, the more I read. Paul and Brandon had no chemistry which, along with the fact that I figured out the end in the middle, made this book hard for me to read and finish. Seriously not a fan of the writing....

[JD Crittendon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Professor and the Cutie!

A forever closet, the one that got away and Christian values are pieces of Paul & Brandon romantic puzzle 🧩 Good story, well worn trope but good writing. I thought the characters were well developed, even though I’m not fond of grown men unable to complete sentences. Overall, a good read....on to the next installment!

[Swan Creates · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was basic. I did not enjoy this book, nor did I hate it. So it just gets a basic stamp from me.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got a galley of this. Yay!

[Apolishedreader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was introduced to this author via Save The Date, which was cowritten with Annabeth Albert.
I was looking forward to this story as the blurb sounded interesting.
Unfortunately, the book fell short of good for me. There was so much promise from the blurb with a closeted Paul who works at a conservative, Christian college when he reconnects with an old flame who happens to be at the same college for a consulting job.
The book as a whole was banal. Cliched. I feel like I have read this story before. Working in a Christian college, on track for tenure, not wanting to rock the boat by exploring sexuality, little sexual experience, closeted, conservative/religious upbringing, intolerant parents. I can stand to read the same storyline, we all do, but this story just didn't work for me. Even the mystery/suspense aspect fell short. It was never fully fleshed out so it just felt like something that was thrown into a relationship focused book to add tension (which it didn't) and length.

I did like Brandon in the beginning. He was understanding and patient...until he wasn't. And his reactions to Paul toward the end made Brandon less likable for me. I wish the author had delved a bit more into Brandon's feeling for Paul and what Brandon had shared about Paul with his brother before they reconnected. Brandon's brother obviously knew of Paul long before Paul made a reappearance in Brandon's life, but this was never explored.
Paul is closeted. He has kept the one "relationship" he has had a secret from just about everyone. And that partner was in denial over his sexuality. That experience was not an enlightening one for Paul and has affected how he views himself as well as his sexuality. Plus, he has always struggled with his sexuality considering his conservative family and his current work situation. The only people who even know that he is gay is his twin sister (who is pretty supportive), the ex and Brandon.
Of course, Paul was also hesitant with every aspect of a relationship. Even when he was thinking he had serious feelings for Brandon, his actions and words never seemed to take Brandon into account.
And though their sexual encounters were hot and interesting, most of the story fell flat.
I am still not sure what Brandon saw in Paul or what made Paul so interesting or even worth the effort in the first place.

Oh, and this didn't affect the rating, but the formating will need to be fixed before the final version is rolled out. This was a PDF for Kindle (the only option through NetGalley was PDF) and the formatting was abysmal. Words ran together, breaks in the sentence, extra lines, and so many spaces. It was difficult to read, especially considering it was a story that wasn't working for me anyway.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

LGBTQ romance 🏳️‍🌈
Well written romance between two guys: one out for 10years with a supportive family while other is deeply in the closet working for a religious college and conservative religious family- with everything to lose. Love, angst, plus coming out decisions
+ open and affirming church & characters show possible to be both Christian and gay and accepted
+ characters feel like someone you know or could meet -not a stereotype
They face challenges and difficult decisions together
Explicit sexual scenes and some language
“Worth waiting for “ by Wendy Qualls
50% loc1803 When a mother asks if they could “ not go that” - Brandon holds up the their hands and asks if that is what she meant hold hands
Brandon: The same exact thing you were doing with your sons only 30 seconds ago?
It’s different my boys shouldn’t have to see that.
It’s only different if you tell them it is. And they’re only going to get to be more curious now that you’ve made a big deal of it. The older two of the two boys was indeed watching their conversation with interest, something the woman only gradually seem to realize.
Sorry – didn’t really ask if you minded me using you to make a point.
Always try to stay calmer than they are – it makes them look that much stupider by comparison – but it drives me crazy how people seem to think that just by existing I will somehow give their children gay cooties. Like I’m some kind of gay plague vector. I could deal with them thinking that quietly, but the pushing ones always seem to want to tell me about it.
Paul: I agree she was being ridiculous. I meant what you did. I don’t mind being a problem. It was fun, and a tweaking someone’s nose kind of way. Kind of exciting to – my first big hit! Well, the first one to say something to my face you didn’t assume I also I was also straight and justice just commiserating with them about the evils of sinners these days.
You get that a lot?
Paul rolled his eyes theatrically enough to get a tiny smile out of Brandon. “I teach at Saint Benedix – of course I get that a lot. Every darn day. “
61% loc 1891 Why Paul stayed at St. Benedict’s college: “My parents are pretty conservative – not a strictest song, I wasn’t scum homeschooled or anything, but they always see the world in black-and-white. Still do. Even if I never told them why I wanted to transfer, I would still have to wrestle with the idea that I was giving into this compulsion for sin inside me. As long as I stayed at Saint Benedix, as long as I kept all my lustful thoughts to myself and tried very hard to pray myself straight I wasn’t a failure yet.”
Brandon made a choked sound, which drew Paul’s attention back down to him. He was sitting very still his jaw clenched. “Do you think of yourself as a failure now? “
Paul: not now, no. I did a lot of thinking. A lot of praying. I accepted that I’m gay, but I can’t do anything about that and there’s no point in lying and trying. And I can’t… I just can’t believe that God would make me gay, give me this biological drive, then punish me for it. If you are going by the old testament prohibitions, it’s all a sin: masturbating, thinking lustful thoughts, premarital sex, all of it. But by the same token so his divorce and birth control and refusing to force your dead brother‘s wife to marry you. So why do divorce and masturbation and birth control get a pass from almost everyone, but being gay doesn’t? Even if I keep it hidden? I finally decided that if God love me he was going to accept me as I am, perfect imperfect at all, and it was making me miserable to second guess what he wanted me to do. All I can do is try and be a good person and a good Christian and pray that it’s enough. I do still get this feeling of residual guilt sometimes, but I am gay and that’s not going to change.”
64% loc 1999 Paul after visiting an open and affirming church: “ it was wonderful.”
Paul wasn’t exactly sure how to verbalize how eye-opening the morning has been – wasn’t sure he was able to parse it all yet. He’s known more liberal churches existed, in theory, but being in one, being a part of the worship community… Paul leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes. “I didn’t realize how much I’ve been feeling trapped, honestly. I don’t want to have to give up being a Christian, but I’ve never been terribly good at towing the line. It always felt like if I failed to keep myself away from this big temptation, I was feeling God. “
67% loc2084 Brandon: you said some stuff last night that got me doing some thinking too. About how you were approaching your sexuality like it was this big forbidden thing. That you felt like you had to pray yourself straight. “And I thought it shouldn’t be like that. For you or for anyone. And if you were feeling held back by the idea that God couldn’t accept you as a gay person, I wanted you to see that not every Christian says that.
For one long moment, Paul let himself imagine it: himself and Brandon, living in some suburban house like Eric and I need is Brandon‘s brother coming home from work and kissing each other hello and grilling burgers on the back porch and who knows, maybe even a kid or two playing in the yard. The American dream. The thing he always assume he’d have to marry a woman to get. They could join the church somewhere – an open church, where they’d be welcomed and not have to try not have anyone try to “fix “then – and he could finally stop hiding. Could he do that? What is he even capable of maintaining a relationship, “? It’s not like he had the best track Clifford and his parents would – hell. His parents would hate him forever. It wouldn’t be just it would just be some new freedom to “be himself “, it would be burning bridges with everything and everyone ever cared about in his life to date he’d have to give it all up or even a chance of the dream. It took a long breath and slumped against the back seat. I hate this.
I’m sorry, Brandon said abruptly. “I guess it was kind of presumptions me. To assume you just turn up turn it all around like that. Not all churches are the same, so I totally won’t blame you if you want to tell me to jump in the lake or something. I suppose if you grew up with a stricter religious background, it might make them more liberal churches look… Well, fake, I guess it’s OK.

[Lauren loves llamas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Content warning: homophobia (religiously motivated)

Wow, this was an angsty, all-the-feels read! I cried angry tears, sad tears, and happy tears, all in the course of 300 pages!

“How did you …” Brandon seemed to be picking his words carefully. “How was it for you? Staying?”
“It wasn’t anything, really.” Confusing and frustrating, but that was nothing new. “I just went back to not doing that. Nobody thought anything of it. Plenty of students here don’t really date.”

Paul is securely in the closet. While he doesn’t go out of the way to appear straight, he’s on the tenure track at St. Bernard’s, the same conservative Christian college he attended, and while they don’t require a statement of faith for the faculty, they also wouldn’t look kindly on an openly gay professor. Brandon, on the other hand, is out of the closet and has spent a lot of time on the gay scene, but his romantic life has been a series of anonymous one night stands. So Paul has that on him, at least, as he had a relationship with a guy for over a year, even though he was controlling and kept trying to push him out of his confront zone sexually. Ten years ago, when they were both freshmen, they had a one night stand in the dorms before break, and shortly after Brandon transferred to another school, while Paul stayed. When they meet again as part of a college IT project, it’s immediately obvious the attraction is still there. While Brandon understands why Paul is still in the closet – he was terrified of coming out to his supportive family, so he can imagine how Paul feels – he’s still interested in a no-strings casual fling while he’s working with the college.

“My parents are pretty conservative—not as strict as some, I wasn’t homeschooled or anything, but they always did see the world in black and white. Still do. Even if I never told them why I wanted to transfer, I would have still had to wrestle with the idea that I was giving in to this compulsion for sin inside me. As long as I stayed at St. Benedict’s, as long as I kept all my lustful thoughts to myself and tried very hard to pray myself straight, I wasn’t a failure yet.”

It’s the south – where one of the first questions people ask when they meet you is where you go to church – and one of the things that haunts Paul is reconciling being a “good Christian” with being gay. His family is quite conservative, and his POV is loaded with comments about bible studies, praying, and going to church on Sundays. His twin sister, the person he’s probably closest to in the world, had a bad reaction to him coming out to her, and his parents would not react well at all to it. While this may be off-putting for a secular reader, it’s just the normal cultural Southern Christian trappings, no Bible verses or “Jesus saves!” type content included. On a weekend trip to Atlanta, Brandon takes him to his gay-friendly church, and this is when I think I finally really fell in love with the two as a couple. I think it’s hard for people who aren’t coming from the Southern Christian perspective to realize how much it permeates everyday life, and to realize what a horrifyingly soul-crushing burden it’s been to Paul, to the point where he’s basically tried to “pray himself straight” multiple times.

“I don’t mind if tonight becomes your dirty little secret. I kind of expected that when I asked. I’m not going to go bragging about what you taste like or how you are in bed, and I wouldn’t know anyone here to tell even if I wanted to. But I’m not going to be the focus of some Jesus-hates-me meltdown where you can paint me as some rainbow Typhoid Mary spreading gay cooties in my wake. If you want this, you’ve got to own it. I’d rather sit alone in my hotel room than be some big ongoing source of guilt for you to rail against. You want me? Then say it.”

The tension was lovely and the sex was hot! Despite his relationship, Paul is pretty inexperienced and, in some ways, prejudiced, and watching him break out of his shell was lovely. It did feel a bit like a gay sex bucket list, but it fit in the overall relationship, so I wasn’t too bothered by it.

“We’re just going to have to solve this the old-fashioned way.”
“What’s that?”
Brandon grinned. “Copious amounts of data-tracking, electronic manipulation, cyber-spying, and you and me sleeping together whenever the opportunity presents itself.”

While I enjoyed the development of their relationship, I found the plot behind why Brandon was at the college predictable, and, honestly, not very interesting. It also seemed a bit much that Paul, who’s been pretending to be straight for his entire life, would feel comfortable walking around Atlanta with Brandon while openly holding his hand and indulging in other light PDA.

Overall, despite needing a box of tissues, I enjoyed this book immensely!

[Isabella ~Mikku-chan~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

*~~*ARC kindly provided by the author to me in exchange for an honest review *~~*

Normally when it comes to books I avoid other reader's reviews until I've read the book by myself - mostly not to spoiler myself with details or opinions. This time though I took a look and was a bit biased by the reviews and the general ranking on Goodreads. Still, because I judge books and be able to value things by my own and maybe differently I started this book with ignoring/blind out the other reviews.

Whereas I don't agree with parts of the other reviewers - I do it in detail in a minute - I agree that the book is in severe need of a better formatting. Words were clued together, sometimes it was hard to decipher the words right away.
This should be checked before the release. I'll download a sample of the book to see if it was corrected. So, beyond this little jolting and unpleasant interruption in the flow of reading I don't include it in my ranking.

When I first started the book one of the first things I wrote down in my notes was Paul's character. Although he is pleasant and nice, he comes a bit dull and his life is pretty boring. I can relate when people say he didn't catch the attention, still I saw something in him. He lives very deep in the closet, seems insecure but during the book you see it's mostly involuntary. Paul doesn't lack exactly of "action" or self-confidence, it's more that is surpressed after all these years of being the "perfect" Christian son and member of the society. Working in a religious school isn't the best place to confess he is gay but he isn't eager to change his lifestyle.

Paul really touched me with his acceptance of his slightly boring, uneventful live. Until he reunites with Brandon, his college crush and one of his first sexual encounter. Brandon is everything Paul isn't. He is smart and witty, a bit nerdy, and first and formost he is pretty outgoing. He works for an IT firm and is ordered to help Paul's school to investigate in a security problem. Which leads to revealings of Paul's past and to a surprising twist in the events.

I really liked how Wendy Qualls included the cyber-crime subplot. With interest myself in computer science and a loads of friends working in this field, it was really pleasant and neither boring nor incomprehensable what Brandon worked on. In fact he was really cool showing his skills off. ;) I might or might not have swooned over it at bit. His hot appearance did the rest. :)
The revealings at the end and the solution of the whole mess was really great. I enjoyed it very much.

The sex is one of the things dominantly in the book but not the way you maybe expect. There are the encounter, there is the intimacy, of course, and the scenes are really hot and steamy. A lot of blowjobs and handjobs, dirty talk combined with banter. But due to Paul's personal reasons to stay in the closet there is a hesitance in Paul to really open up first towards Brandon.
For me it was really plesant to see how Brandon gave Paul the necessary time, to adjust with the new situation. After a while both guys notice there were more things going on between them, and the tension was rising.

Some parts of the book were a bit bumpy, they could have been smoothed out, and a few times Brandon's and Paul's behaviour were at the border to get a little on the nerves (their both opposite character created a lot of tension), still I could relate to them, to their anger or hesitance. For maybe other reader this doesn't work fine and especially Brandon's behaviour at the end was a bit tough to accept. Still, I could sense there his hidden feelings, his hurt, I was not repulsed or annyed by his actions. Maybe they were imature, sure, but his actions weren't done in malice.

This debut work was a good start and I first was devided in giving 3.5 or 4 stars. At the end it deserves the 4. Other might reduce the stars because of the bad formatting/editing in some parts of the book but this is only a thing I mention but it doesn't dull the book's content.

As a conclusion I've to say: don't let yourself scare by other reviews. Download a sample of the book and read it by yourself. Also give new authors a chance. :)
The story plot and the execution of it was promising, the character lack sometimes of a few smoothen parts but all in all 4 out of 5 stars worth. :)

Review originally posted on my blog with added content Mikku-chan / A world full of words

[ButtonsMom2003 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new author for me and I liked this a lot.

Worth Waiting For is the first book I've read by Wendy Qualls where she didn't have a co-author. I liked this story very much and I'm a bit frustrated by the negative comments I've read in other reviews. Specifically, where people complained about formatting errors in the copy they got from NetGalley. Here's what NetGalley has to say about formatting errors:

Formatting errors are highly dependent on the formatting of the PDF - the fonts, margins, graphics, etc can all affect how it appears on an e-reader. If the formatting makes the file unreadable contact support and we'll take a look at it and let you know what we find.

Note: Remember, most NetGalley files are pre-publication "galleys," meaning they are not yet finished or ready for sale. In order to provide an early look to professional readers via NetGalley, publishers and authors often only have the option to provide a PDF.

For reviewers to complain about formatting errors in the Kindle format simply because they don't want to use Adobe Digital Editions to read a protected PDF or ePub just rubs me the wrong way. Publishers, via NetGalley, are allowing reviewers to read the book for FREE. I do agree that perhaps the publisher might have been smart to have not offered the book in Kindle format since the PDF didn't convert well but to complain about this in a review seems to be inappropriate to me. OK, rant over and now that I have that out of my system I'll continue with my review.

Worth Waiting For is a story about one man who is so deep in the closet it's almost unimaginable to me in this day and age, and him reconnecting, after many years, with the first man he was intimate with.

Paul Dunham is close to obtaining tenure at the conservative college he attended and now teaches at. He's never lived his life openly as a gay man because it would mean the loss of his job. He really doesn't know anything else and isn't willing to give his job up to live a life he was taught was wrong.

Brandon Mercer is out and proud. He knew Paul when they were freshmen at the school where Paul now teaches. He'll be in town for a while and is open to having a fling with Paul. Paul has thought about Brandon many times over the years and always wondered why he disappeared after freshman year. He somewhat reluctantly agrees to see Brandon as long as they are careful.

This story has a little bit of everything in it. There's a mystery – Brandon's company was hired to investigate irregularities in the school's computer files. There's a love story in the relationship that develops between Brandon and Paul. And there's suspense – who has been spying on Paul and took intimate pictures of him and Brandon when they were in Paul's home? There's also Paul's family story and his reluctance to come out to them.

Worth Waiting For brought me to tears in places. While I wanted to shake Paul at times my heart also hurt for him. It's impossible for me, a straight woman, to understand how he can feel that giving up love for a job is worth it. And I just cringed when Brandon finally couldn't take it any longer and verbally lashed out at Paul.

This book kept me engaged right from the beginning and I loved the epilogue that gives us a glimpse into Paul and Brandon's life together two years in the future. I will definitely be reading more from Wendy Qualls.

A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good debut from a new author. Her prose is very clear and her characterizations are solid. It's obvious she knows her stuff (she gets details correct for different flavors of geeks, different flavors of gay men, different flavors of Southerner) and that she's actively thought about what she's writing (the detail of how annoying shower spray is in your face during, er, fun times, made me smile). The two leads are delightful; I sympathized with Paul and fell in love with Brandon. (Who is an IT guy who TRIMS! HIS! BEARD! PROPERLY! BESTILL, MY HEART!)

There's a lot of both Paul's and Brandon's families in the book, and it doesn't all work out perfectly. Paul's twin sister Danielle is delightful, and I'd love to see her in her own story someday. Brandon's brother's kids are adorable, as well. Other family and community members . . . The author shows a lot of different variations on how people in the South (and the north, let's be honest) can react to finding out that someone they know is gay. So many of the depictions ring true -- and even those who don't react the way that we'd all love them to in an ideal world are not demonized. There are even a couple of characters whose reactions are shown to have changed over time, which is probably the best touch of realism.

Plus, the sex is pretty hot. It takes a little bit in the beginning to warm up to the heat level that it'll reach by the end, but then again, so does Paul. His journey is the heart of the story, and it acknowledges that the path to self-acceptance isn't always easy or obvious.

I think my only comment on the craft front is that she could have made it even more Southern-flavored than she did. I know we're talking about effectively a suburb of Atlanta (half of Georgia is a suburb of Atlanta), which is very cosmopolitan, and I would have been very disappointed had she written out the dialect (ugh). However, there wasn't any "fixing to" or "might should"s in the text, to say nothing of, "as lost as last year's Easter egg" or "been running all over Hell's half acre" or the other fun sayings I've heard. (My BFF is an Atlanta native and Alabama resident. They're a veritable treasure trove of fun sayings, for a dang Northerner like me.)

(She did, of course, note that 285 is always a parking lot.)

So! Although this book didn't scream BUY ME IN ALL FORMATS AND MAKE A SHRINE TO MY GLORY, I definitely enjoyed it, and I'm intrigued to see what the author writes next.

A few content notes behind the spoiler warning: Paul is involuntarily outed to his entire community by a malicious person, and this person uses the f-word several times in reference to another character. I know some people don't like those storylines or to see that word, even if it makes sense in context, so there you go.

Disclaimer: I got this book from Netgalley. I'm also socially connected with the author (we have a mutual friend) but no one asked me to review this. She hooked me with "hot bearded IT guy."

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 - 3 1/2 stars

Worth Waiting For is the first book in the new Heart of the South series by Wendy Qualls. It's a sweet, sexy M/M romance with a touch of mystery and suspense. With the interesting storyline, complex characters, sexy intimate scenes, intense situations, and surprise twists, it's a really good beginning to this new series.

There was a lot that I liked about this story, as well as the characters. It had a good plot, the characters were interesting and developed, and the mystery/suspense was intriguing. (even though I figured out who was behind the stalking almost immediately, but it may have been set up that way) Overall, it was a good story that held my attention, and that I enjoyed.

As much as I enjoyed it, there were some things that I did have issues with. It will be difficult to explain everything without going into details, but I refuse to give away spoilers. Some things were never explained, but were a big part of the story. One example is why Paul's boss disliked him so much, and targeted him on several occasions. It seemed like there may have been a story behind this, but it was never addressed. There were a few unanswered questions by the end of the story. I don't know if these will be answered in future books, or if it something that the author chose not to include.

Paul went to school, then chose to work, at an extremely conservative college even though he's a deeply closeted gay man. It gives a brief explanation of why he chose to stay there, however for as much as it is brought up, thought about, and clearly bothers him that he will never be allowed to acknowledge that part of himself, the explanation seems extremely weak. His reasoning behind staying doesn't seem to justify the extreme lengths he's willing to go to in order to stay. Since this was such a big part of the story, as well as a few other things I had trouble understanding, I found it difficult to connect with him.

Brandon had the support of his family and friends when he came out to them, which in turn made it easier for him to live openly. He is an intelligent, good hearted man, and he's very patient with Paul and his circumstances. I liked Brandon's character a lot. I felt like he was being used to an extent, but in the end it turned out better than I expected.

As I've said, I enjoyed this book and there was a lot that I really liked about it. Issues aside, this was a really good start to this new series, and I'm looking forward to seeing where the author takes it. These are only my opinions, and I hope that if you're interested in this book that you'll at least give it a try to see if it's something that you can enjoy.

I would recommend this book.

I have voluntarily reviewed this arc provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Veronica of V's Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.

Paul and Brandon connected in their freshman year of college. It was a conservative school, and Paul was scared into the closet, lest his secret attraction for another man cause him to be expelled for indecency and out him to his family–who he expected would disown him. He’s had one pseudo-relationship sicne, with a self-loathing man who was deeper int he closet than himself. Brandon moved on to a different college–one that was more open to diversity, and he’s been an out-gay man since.

Fast forward several years. Paul’s seeking tenure at the same university, and Brandon has been dispatched there by his IT company to manage some data security issues. Brandon thinks it’s an inside job, and recognizes that some important people at the university were terribly lax in their security protocols. Paul is assigned the task of helping him investigate the audit for the Psych department, and their camaraderie persists. Paul has long wondered what happened to Brandon, and how out gay men live in society. He’s not really ready to come out, but he has plans to do so when he gets tenure…if he finds another position.

But, the temptation to stay away from Brandon proves too great. Plus, Brandon is more that willing to keep it casual–or so he says at first. It seems as if he’s willing to extend their getting to know you times into, well, a lot more. There’s some plot shenanigans regarding the data breaches, peeping toms and nasty exes, which all lead to existential threats to Paul’s career. For his part, Paul begins to recognize that if he’s going to lose his chance for tenure, he might as well enjoy it. So he does. A lot. With Brandon.

For me, the book was okay. I didn’t hate it, and I wasn’t too challenged by the reading. I expected to be more engaged–I usually am enthralled with reconnection romances, and coming out stories, but this one fell a little flat. I did enjoy Paul’s wonder at “being out” in Atlanta, where his anonymity gave him cover, and wondered why he never really tried this before. Lots of folks do… His vulnerability with Brandon was also sweet. Though, it was a bit of a seesaw with the hiding and the being sure no one could possibly connect them romantically. Steam-wise there’s lots of sexploration going down, and I mean the puns, folks. The political machinations of the story, and the questions regarding who’s doing the spying, and who’s wrecking Pual’s professional chances, seemed a little out there. At least, considering Paul’s early perspectives. It wasn’t completely illogical, just complicated in ways that didn’t suit me. That said, I liked the story, and think it’s fine if you’re interested in a quick, and sexy, read. Expect an HEA. A review copy was provided via NetGalley.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a touching story of two men who were given a second chance to find happiness after a long time apart. Neither knew they'd find one another again and thought their past was just a great memory and also a great secret. With a lot to lose, they take a chance. Unfortunately, other people do whatever they can to tear them apart.

The way they find resolution was a bit over-the-top as well as the big forced reveal, but their chemistry was there. Something that was not so awesome was the lack of depth for either man. We have reason to be interested in these men but they're not truly flushed out, they're basic and have superficial reactions to everything.

There's also a hint of chemistry there, both are obviously attracted to one another, but as for actual passion that connects the two men and makes me believe in a future? Nah, not so much. Paul is a bit schizophrenic with his reaction to intimacy and sex and Brandon swings from being understanding to pushy. Both of them needed to find some kind of happy medium and I feel like neither of them do by the end of the story.

And then the stalker thing was predictable and was more build-up than anything else. This could have been given more thought and execution because as it stands, it feels like trumped up drama to bring interest to a very simple story. The story needed interest, but I don't feel the stalker thing was it. It wasn't even a good way to bring the two MC's together.

Overall, this was an okay book that could have used a crap ton of editing and formatting fixes because my copy (as well as lots of others, it looks like) got stuck with some huge errors and issues that distracted me while reading. It also needed more polish and thought as to what could really drive and keep Paul and Brandon together.

I will say this, though. When Brandon talks to Paul about his feelings about God's position on his sexuality I really liked Paul's thoughts. He thought them out, came to a place where he knew God was more about love than punishing His own creations. That alone pushed the story from 2.5 stars to 3 for me. Thank you, NetGalley, for the interesting read.

[Christi Snow · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Review:
The hard thing about writing book reviews is figuring out why sometimes a book works for you and sometimes it doesn't. This was a book that didn't work for me. I'll be honest...I almost DNF'ed it several times in the last 25% of the book, but by that time, I'd already put in so much time to reading it.

But the question is...why didn't it work for me. I think the answer is this...the main hero, Paul. This book is told entirely from Paul's point of view and Paul is really not that great of a character. It's hard to feel empathy for him when his goal is to lie about his sexuality for the rest of his life, then lie to a woman and marry her under false pretenses. That was his plan pretty much all the way through the book...and it's hard to like a guy who'd be willing to be such a jerk. Seriously.

BUT the whole setup of the book is a good one. I think if the author had taken half the points of view and given them to Brandon, who is a MUCH more likable character that I could empathize with, I think this would have had a much better rating.

As it is, though...I just didn't care. I didn't care whether Paul got his HEA or not. Honestly, Brandon deserved someone better.

But there are moments when the story was good and that kept me reading...and those moments were times when Brandon controlled what was happening in their lives. The trip to Atlanta, showing Paul how life could be was a great sequence of scenes.

There's also a bit of a mystery story line that had the potential to really drive the story, but then it almost became a side story that fell kind of flat.

Potential...this book had it. It just didn't live up to the possibilities, and I'm really sorry about that because I really wanted to enjoy this story.

(The cover is gorgeous.)

I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for an honest review.

[Valeen Robertson (Live Thru Books Blog) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh God, I just can't with this book. It's so bad, so very, very bad. Bad as in boring, so boring! And that is why I had to FORCE MYSELF TO FINISH IT. I wanted to like it, and the blurb was good. It's just that its execution was sorely lacking. Lacking interesting, vibrant characters. Lacking entertainment. Lacking everything. Ugh. Just ugh.

Paul is a deeply closeted professor of psychology in the Bible belt. His boss constantly is on him about his morals clause and Paul knows he could be fired at any time if his boss even finds a hint of impropriety on Paul's part. That's why when an old "friend" of Paul's is hired by the university, Paul knows he needs to stay away from him. Because his job, his tenure track, it's all on the line. But, of course, he can't resist Brandon and soon they're steaming up the sheets, but not really, because they weren't really sexy together. I found Brandon sexy, but he and Paul together are not sexy at all because Paul is such a bland, cardboard, timid character. I honestly don't understand what Brandon saw in him at all.

As for the villain of the story? I saw them coming from a mile away. I wish their identity had been hidden better. I wish the suspense had been better plotted and paced. I wish everything were just better. Sigh...

Unfortunately, while Worth Waiting For had a ton of potential, it didn't reach that potential at all so I doubt I will be reading more of this author's work.

I received an ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.