Out for the Night

Browerton University #4

by A.J. Truman

(Alternate cover edition of ASIN B01N5TX1QD)

“For the night, I am yours…”

Meet Coop: Formal date. Wingman. Friend. Mystery man. He calls himself the G-rated Gigolo of Browerton. He could be anyone you wanted him to be…for a price.

One night, his services are called upon for a unique assignment: distract a computer science nerd whose strong grades are killing the class curve. All Coop has to do is get the guy away from his books, save the curve, and collect the biggest payday of his G-rated Gigolo career.

Should be easy enough, right?

Matty has no interest in making friends or any cherished college memories that don’t involve the Dean’s list. Growing up, he withstood years of relentless bullying and loneliness to graduate from high school as valedictorian. His tough shell helps him excel at Browerton, bringing him one step closer to his dream internship in robotic engineering—even if he has to do it solo.

When Coop stumbles into his life, he slowly breaks down the walls that Matty keeps concreted in stone. Sparks fly and quickly blossom into something deeper, but how long can their relationship last before the truth comes out?

Out for the Night is the 4th book in the Browerton University series, but can easily be read as a standalone. It contains humor, heart, and hot guys. The book is intended for readers 18+.

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, College, Contemporary, Audiobook, New Adult, Fiction

266 pages, ebook

First published January 27, 2017

About the author

Welcome! I’m a gay male author who writes MM romance filled with humor, heart, and hot guys. My characters fall into bed and fall in love, usually in that order. Think LOL meets DTF.

I live in central Indiana, surrounded by churches and Olive Gardens, with my husband, kids, and cats. When I’m not writing, I’m chasing around a toddler or sneaking off to a movie.

Make sure to sign up for my newsletter The Outsiders to get the latest updates on my books and to start reading free stories.

http://www.ajtruman.com/outsiders/

Reviews

[☆ Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I liked the story, but slightly less than books 1 and 3.

One of the MC's is a rapper. Todd is *not* a fan of rap. I very quickly skimmed the rapping, because I invariably find it kind of silly.



The story was fun and pretty well-paced, with a few short, sexy scenes and some feels, so I'd rate it around 3.5 stars.

<< Full review to come later. >>

[Eugenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 Stars …. it kept my interest 😉

Fun college freshman NA.
A popular guy who fakes being popular
A geek.
Two virgins.
A paid “fake friend” gig that leads to love.
There are a couple of sexy scenes (3??).

This book was nothing new, but it did have a BIPOC MC, which was nice change of pace. Both MC’s grow here.

Alexander Cendese’s narration was great—he handles the jock/ nerd trope well.

[Dani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really didn't like this one at all.

It was like a combination of 10 Things I Hate About You and She's All That, but it just felt so much crueller. I found it hard to like Coop and there wasn't much justification for his actions because the money didn't make any difference, but he still went along with the plan.

I'm also not a fan of the 'rapping' and ended up skipping multiple sections because it was annoying and didn't particularly add anything. In general Coop just felt like a very strange character and I couldn't relate to or empathise with him at all.

Matty was the much better character and it was nice to see him come out of his shell, but for me the plot just enforced the idea he couldn't have good grades, a boyfriend and a social life, rather than proving that he could find a balance. He honestly deserved a much better boyfriend.

The whole unraveling of Kelvin's actions was also extremely unbelievable and just made me roll my eyes and wish for it to be over.

Definitely the weakest book in this series so far.

[Liam Elliot · Rating 3 out of 5]

"No. OH NO No. This isn't happening.
Aaaaaaah!
Nonononononono. Staaaaaahp."

~ Me
During the rap paragraphs.

Rap. Paragraphs. And. Beatboxing.

Nothing about any of that is remotely sexy.

It's a testament to the rest of the book that I even have 3 stars to give for the cringeyness that happened on the screen of my kindle this evening.

What did the rest of the book have that managed to pull that whole hot mess from 1 to 3 stars, you may ask??? An accurate portrayal of a nerd. God fucking bless you AJ Truman. So many of these nerd trope books include an awkward shy nerd who is just desperate for lurve. And then once they have it, their shiny new boyfriend/girlfriend is the center. of. their. universe. Buuuut. That's not how that works. That's not how nerds actually work.

Nerds are nerds because they're borderline obsessed with whatever they're nerdy about. They're not sitting around pining away for physical contact, and once they have it then there's this conflict.

'Thing they're obsessed with' v. 'physical contact'

You'd be surprised how often physical contact loses in this scenario.

Nerds don't spend all their time in front of a computer/in a lab/playing that video game/studying because they don't have friends or lovers. They don't have friends or lovers because they spend all their time in front of a computer/in a lab/playing that video game/studying. And being in a relationship with one is often an exercise in Being Ignored.

So... good thing AJ got his nerd right, because there aren't very many things that can salvage anything involving beatboxing.

[raccoon reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ew. Why do they have a mid 30s man on the cover when he's allegedly like 19? Maybe 20 at most? He's only been out of HS like a year. I get that he bulked up but ew. Who picked that guy. No.

And the rapping? It gave me the ick.

[Elsa Bravante · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me ha entretenido, pero no me ha gustado tanto como el libro 1 y 3 de la serie. En la historia de Matty, nerd enfocado solo en el éxito en sus estudios, y Coop, antiguo nerd reconvertido en musculoso rapero, algo se me ha escapado en la conexión entre los personajes. El libro es dulce, pero me ha faltado química entre los personajes, química sexual, algo más de emotividad, y además el plot ha tenido algunos momentos muy poco creíbles que me han hecho entornar los ojos.

No ha estado mal, pero esperaba más, lo mejor ha sido Rafe, ojalá sea el protagonista del siguiente libro de la serie.

[True Loveislovereview · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars
Coop is student and....a G-rated gigolo pur sang
Matty an A plus student pur sang

Matty almost an irritating very competitive guy who wants to be the best of the best...
And Coop...shit he does dirty things for the money. Even distracting an A plus student for lower points because an other student can't handle his intellect....

Matty is bullied before and very alert on everything coming his way. He has no friends at all and is very suspicious when Coop invade his space...
Coop irritated the hell out of Matty with all his talk and noise.... Only after a few days Matty start to like the attention of this big good looking tattooed guy.
Coop takes Matty to different places and they start to like each other. After their first kiss they get fond of each other. More and more time they spend together Coop is forgetting he is doing this for the money. Matty is really distracted from his study and doesn't have a clue.

The very shy Matty is getting more popular with the other students. After the big competition at class everything is falling apart. His project is sabotaged and the guy who paid Coop laugh at him and tells what Coop has done for the money.
Matty is devastated and knows for certain he will never trust Coop again.

Coop is devastated because he loves Matty for real and will do everything to gain his trust.

Nice story about young students who get their first real friendship, kiss, blowjob and more.

The group of friends are supportive. The story is for YA who love a story from college.
The writing and pace was good, the environment and subjects were good and the main personalities were endearing.

Never get distracted by someones look or attitude because there is a world of emotions hiding.
They all have their background story and motivation for behavior.


"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
Mahatma Gandhi

- Kindly received a copy from the author -

[Aeren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me han gustado muchísimo, los dos MC son realmente dulces e igual que en la anterior novela, el autor hace un buen trabajo al 'mostrarnos' sus motivos y hacerlos más reales y cercanos. Cero angst, diálogos entretenidos y buen ritmo, no pretende ser lo que no es y eso es muy de agradecer, espero que la próxima novela sea la de Rafe, porque me encanta el personaje. Muy entretenida e ideal para pasar un buen rato. Alerta de azúcar extremo al final, pero es que son tannnnn monos ♥

[Ed Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love A. J. Truman. This book had me crying happy tears so many times. Matty and Coop were the perfect couple. They were both bullied nerds in high school who grow to be confident partners in college. It was beautifully written and the narration by Alexander Cendese was great. I’ve loved this entire series.

[clear skies · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the first book in this series and loved it. I tend to re-read it every few months. Ethan and Greg to me were fun and well balanced characters.

As the author wrote more in this series the books went downhill. The college theme is great but the characters are piss poor as are the stories.

Coop is hired to distract Matty - Matty is killing the curve in his robotics class and the bully in his class needs a bit of help and Coop needs the money. As we all predicted Coop falls for Matty (as does Matty) and then Matty find out. Small drama ensues and all is well in the end.

This was the plot. Flimsy, no development, boring characters, cringe-worthy "rapping" from Coop. It was just plain boring.

If the author wrtes Greg and Ethan again I am there. I think I am done with this series.

[Tess · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I liked it! This felt very fresh for a new adult romance. The characters were both unique and fully developed. They each had their own dreams and a believable back story that really made me root for them. Oh and I really liked that one of the MCs was South Asian.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was my least favorite of the 4 in the series. Still readable, but not essential as each book is basically a standalone with a few constant characters threaded throughout.

I think my primary problem with this is that I didn't really like one of the 2 MCs. He was sort of brittle and frustratingly arrogant in a way I never warmed up to even when the other MC pierced his prickly shell.

Not bad, but I probably wouldn't recommend. I would however definitely read more books by this author.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You fall too hard,” Coop told him between reps. “You go from zero to his-and-his towels. You, my friend, are a goner in sixty seconds.”

Coop is what he likes to call a G-rated gigolo. For a price, he can be your date or wingman and uses his charm to make sure that the night is a sure success. When he finds himself needing money for his family, he ends up taking a not so clean-cut gig that involves Matty, a ultra-focused engineering student.

What neither expect is for their time together to spiral and truly spin each of their lives in directions they couldn't have imagined.

Trust must’ve been a feeling rather than a fact, since it snuck up on you.

This reminded me a lot of She's All That. What starts off as something nefarious ends up becoming something entirely different. I really loved that movie, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Today I woke up with a plan of what to do for the day. Reading a book I'm not editing was not one of those plans, but whoops... it happened.

I really appreciated the contrast in personalities and some of the layers to the characters. I especially liked that the author took on (to some extent) the idea that you can change your body, but without working on your mind and spirit, what is inside can't truly recover from whatever you are using the gym to run from. It wasn't a heavy thing in the book, but it was there.

The side characters were also lovely and fun. In general, just a fun book. And I never read books out of order in a series, but things happen. Whoops.

[Elien · Rating 5 out of 5]

The plot idea made me anxious for a huge crash when it all came out. I feel like it was handled well though.

[Line · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of liked this one for what it was. And for fans of Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen: this should be right up your alley (just the MM-variety.)

It is DEFINITELY NA, but I was entertained. It did have a feeling of 'I have read this book before' with the plot-development, but again I liked it for what it was. A sweet NA-romance, with a sort of recognizable plot

My biggest issue with this one was the rap!
I am a self-proclaimed lover of all kinds of music. And I STILL, to this day, put on some of Jay Z and Eminem's old shit (so maybe a fan of the pop-kind of rap:-)
But for reasons completely unknown to me, the rap in this one had me cringing, and I cannot explain why!
It just had me... Sort of facepalming, sneaking a peek between my fingers, and skimming when I got to it.

Apparently I've gotten old, and am no longer "down with it";-)

I liked Matty though, and I rooted for him so hard! Nerds for the win<3
So yeah a few things, that had me: 'meh', but overall I enjoyed it.

[Rohit · Rating 3 out of 5]

These guys were fun. They were nerdy, bubbly and cute enough to make me bide. The big romantic gesture in the end was truly big and romantic and had me giggling throughout. My brother thought I was on some pill.

It wasn't as hot as the first one and the intimacy was mostly in the feelz I guess. Whatever. Good time spent!

[E.Muddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the chemistry between Coop and Matty, and the emotional connection that developed was sweet and endearing. They're both uniquely their own person, and I felt that they were well-fleshed out individually and complemented each other wonderfully. There is humour and steam, a little drama, and a lot of sweetness. Honestly, like others, the only thing I found a bit hard to get through was the rapping and I probably could have done without those paragraphs in the story. But overall, this is a wonderful addition to the Browerton University series.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alexander Cendese is the reason I stayed with it and I’m glad I did. I have a thing for stories where one LI is paid/bet to be with the other. The reveal and and subsequent groveling are always he beat parts. And Coop’s gestures to win Matty back were absolutely adorable.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars. Truly awkward and chemistry-less college campus romance that was a bit like She's All That. Could have been cute but I was quite bored and struggled so much to finish.

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

4.25 stars

Out for the Night is the fourth book in A.J. Truman’s Browerton University series. The stories all feature college guys finding love amidst the backdrop of the university. The books stand alone quite well, and while there are some cameos from past characters, there is nothing here you can’t jump into without having read the others.

Before I go too far, I will say that I think your feelings about this book are largely going to rest on how you feel about Coop. There is no denying that while he has very good reasons for taking the job and is trying to look out for his family, he still takes it on knowing that is going to screw with Matty. I don’t think Coop quite realizes at first the intensity with which Matty pursues his studies and how devastated he will be by anything that affects his grades. But regardless, Coop still takes the job with the express purpose of messing up this guy’s grades. Even as he gets to know Matty a bit more, he keeps things going when offered more money. So honestly, you need to be able to get past that and appreciate the story or else I don’t think this will all work for you.

I do think Truman sets things up here as well as one can in making Coop a really likable and sympathetic character. Although he originally starting his gigolo services to make some money for himself, lately it is all going to help his parents. Coop is kind and caring, and despite being popular and sexy, he is friendly and open with everyone. We also learn that despite being buff, gorgeous, and the life of the party, Coop has had a troubled past. He was scrawny and picked on in high school and he still bears the emotional scars. In fact, despite all appearances, Coop is just as inexperienced as Matty in terms of dating and sex.

Read Jay’s review in its entirety here.

[J]

DNF. M/M. I'm not rating this book because I skimmed almost all of it. A very predictable plot of a student in need of money being paid to distract another student so he can't study so much and get much better grades than the other students in the class. Of course, the student being paid falls for the guy he's supposed to distract and you know that eventually the distracted student will find out, they break up, they get back together. Very predictable and the characters weren't enough to pull it off.

[Mike Oaks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't let the tattoos fool you

Coop is 100% NERD. The way he earns money puts him in front of his future boyfriend. All through the book I kept waiting for the truth to come out. The closer Coop and Matty got the more I worried. Great story and a strong family message. 4.0 for robots.

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

4.5 Stars

*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by the author/publisher for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement.*


Coop is a G-rated gigolo, someone who plays the bf, wingman or friend for the night. An escort of sorts without the involvement of sex or tongue. Matty is a robotic engineering student. His only focus is getting the highest GPA, so he'll earn an internship. One of Matty's classmates hires Coop to befriend Matty and distract him, so his GPA will fall and the grading curve will work for him and his classmates. The last thing Coop expects is to not only become friends with Matty, but to fall for him, as well.

This was a enjoyable read, but angsty with a capital A. My stomach was in knots for most of the book and I felt like I couldn't relax. I just knew the secret Coop was keeping from Matty was going to blow up in his face any minute. This story kept me sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the explosion. When it finally does explode, it isn't a pretty sight. I really did like Matty and Coop, especially Coop, he was sweet and caring, but when you start peeling away the layers and removing the armor you get to see his vulnerability, as well. It took a while for me to warm up to them as a couple, but I did finally connect, and they were sweet and had a good chemistry. The sex was sweet and passionate, but I appreciated that it was realistic and sort of awkward at first. I loved that Matty and Coop wanted to take care of and support each other. They were both encouraging when it came to school and extracurricular activities.

The story was well-written and flowed well. It was great going back to Browerton University. I really loved Rafe. He's sweet and kinda awkward and I'm really hoping his story is next. This was a great story filled with heartache, happiness, friendship, humor and love. Very recommendable!!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun book to read. This is a story line that has been done in many different ways and can get old in the telling but the author did great job of showing the diversity and complexity of these characters. I haven't read the other stories in this series but I didn't feel as I was missing pieces by not reading them. This is a complete story in itself. I liked both the main characters and the struggles they had. You can never know what is going on with a person just by looking at the surface. The author did a great job writing believable characters and situations. The cast of side characters was a lot of fun. The humor in this book was done really well and I giggled out loud quite a bit. For me this was a quick read and I have suggested it to friends. I highly enjoyed this book and will now look into the other books in this series and wait to see what happens next. Great all around fun read.

[Elithanathile · Rating 1 out of 5]

This just wasn’t for me, I found the author’s writing and wording and phrasing of things really really damn obnoxious and irritating! I’ve been “currently reading” this book for goodness knows how long now and I’ve been forcing myself to continue with it, which tells me it’s time to put this one down!! I’m done, with this book AND this author, completely!!

Two other books by this author that I rated higher than three stars was a complete miracle and buy some sheer stroke of luck those books were written by this author, but it is in no way indicative of this author’s overall writing because I’ve had way more fails with this author than remote wins!! Just NO!!

Also there were some sentences here that were just complete garbage and made absolutely no sense! Being able to string a few words together does not an author make and some people really shouldn’t force it!!This book was just obnoxious!! Horrible book, horrible writing, horrible waste of money >:-o!!!!!

Stop, just STOP!!!!!

[Ken · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 out of 5 Stars

Strengths: Cute Premise. Strong Start. College Life at its Best. Nerd MCs.
Weakness: Lack of Chemistry, Awkward Character Arcs, Confusing Sex Scenes, Middling pace
Dull Conflict.
Details: Third Person. Dual POV. Passable Writing

I liked the start of the book. But it sort of fizzles really quickly for me. The characters are written to have growth arcs but felt too preachy and undeserved for me. Practically a did not finish, from the amount of text I skimmed through. I really liked the previous two books and prequel short story collection in the series and was disappointed I did not enjoy this one. I just didn’t enjoy the middle to the end.

Characters
Coop our main character is a G-rated Gigolo, serving as wingman, date or friend to anyone willing to pay him. He’s charming, cool and intelligent. He acts like a true professional making sure his clients are satisfied with his service. And this side hustle come from desire to help his family out. Instantly the character is well-developed. He reads very cool, displaying many act of coolness and popular guy with his clients. Unfortunately, whenever he gets stuck in a scene with Matty, the love interest, which is the rest of the book, he turns into an insecure and sort of dull character. While cool characters get to be vulnerable and have their issues, Coop somehow just devolves into generic bland boyfriend. He never quite achieves the same level on being interesting when he was pursuing Matty.
Matty, Mattanga Chopak, is our second MC. He’s an Indian Engineering student who doesn’t have friends and doesn’t want to. He’s focused on his work, until Coop decides to drop into his life. Unable to resist big muscles and charm, he frees himself from his inhibitions and opens himself up to Coop. Matty again is great character at the start. The moments where he doesn’t quite understand other people are incredibly relatable. When he opens up to Coop, you will want to root for them. However at the middle of the story, he tries to get Coop to open up, and suddenly it feels like his personality makes 180 degree shift. He become wise about relationship, and start giving Coop advice on love. It just feels to sudden. The rest of his arc however is pretty consistent with trying to pass. With a different lover, it would be fine. But Matty and Coop just sort of blend into each other and not in a good way.
All the other characters here are barely given a description. The most developed is probably the sour-old lonely professor teaching Matty’s class. And he’s extremely tangential to the romance, which mean the entire supporting cast feels flat. Matty’s sister to Rafe’s friends to the antagonist are all one note, and worse uninteresting. This book as a whole feels by the numbers. It’s not bad, but its bordering on unenjoyable.
Chemistry
The chemistry only lasts for the first few chapters. Afterwards, it becomes tiresome to read them together. Once they acknowledged their attraction to each other and start dating, they sort of become a couple too easily. Their too supportive, too set for anything interesting to happen. It doesn’t feel like a new love at all. There’s some hesitancies but its talk and no show. Their sex scenes were also very dull. AJ Truman has never been an excellent eortica writer, but his work is usually exciting on some levels. Matty and Coop just fell flat. At the midway point of the novel, I began to wonder why Matty and Coop were even in love with each other. They just didn’t make sense as a couple. They’re actually one of the couples I feel like won’t last past college. And for a romance novel, that isn’t a good sign.
Writing
The writing is clean and easy to read. It is a little dull though, which a first. I’m an engineering student myself, and even I was bored by the descriptions on machines. The sense of wonder Coop felt during n robotics presentation was unconvincing. There was also a problem on the writing of the sex scenes. The other AJ Truman books don’t have the pronoun problem, but this one does. Whenever they’re having sex, the pronouns get confused which pulls the reader out. I had to stop myself in practically all the scenes to wonder why someone was suddenly getting a blow job and he was giving the blow job. It’s bad if the reader starts to think about pronouns and grammar instead of sex during a sex scene. Usually this isn’t a problem in the other books. Really confused to why this happened.
Another issue I have with the writing is the lack of distinction in the voice of the characters. At the start, Matty and Coop were very different people with different ways of thinking. Down the the middle, they blended into same generic good blandness. They don’t read differently anymore. No matter what, an engineer would read differently than a poet. The other books don’t have this problem.
Plot
The premise is good. The plot is set at the start which mean the readers knows what to expect and can focus on the characters instead. Unfortunately the characters aren’t very strong. The plot is the typical MC gets paid to do something to the other MC, and then they fall in love. Conflict arrives when the victim MC finds out. Grand romantic gesture and reconciliation. As far as plots go, this is one of the best. The added details to this plot like the G-rated gigolo, engineering program and nerd/jock dynamic were setup well in the start. On all points, this was supposed to be a good one. Except the execution was pretty flat. Everything was told instead of shown. It feels like the characters really didn’t deserve what they got. There was just something lacking in the progression. It wasn’t even insta-love. They got to know each other, and fell in love. But it just didn’t feel real. Personally, I like the plot, just was bored by the execution.

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am voluntarily reviewing the free advance reader copy I received from the author.

First of all, let me say that I had a lot of fun reading this. Coop's wit was so hilarious that tears were streaming down my face a few times. So needless to say, Coop was definitely my favorite character. He was easy to connect with and was easy to love. (and it wasn't at all to do with his physic). Although, I am very glad the author made use of Coop's bulging "assets" and not just made them for show. (haha) Hot upside down 69 anyone? Damn...

I thought the writing was really good. Once I started reading this, it was hard to put down. Matty and Coop made for a really cute and sweet couple.

This was the first book that I have read from this author and it definitely won't be the last.

[AbbieCadabbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cringe-worthy through & through. The narrator is one of my least favorites, in all honesty. He just sounds like a sportscaster or news anchor or something. And the story was basically second-hand embarrassing from beginning to end. Most of it was very predictable, too. I’m bummed & annoyed that i actually spent money on this book.

[ᓚᘏᗢ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

Really enjoyed this one.

[Aure1ia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*