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Rover
After losing his partner of seven years, Patrick is moving back to Houston to find a new life. Sean is younger, but no less in need of a fresh start. He's trying to finish college and get back on track after a series of bad mistakes. The two men get along famously, and their physical attraction is intense, but Patrick may be too afraid to love again. He doesn't want to let himself be open to the kind of pain that comes from losing someone. Sean, who is far more open to his feelings for Patrick, also has a problem. His ex-boyfriend is popping up all over, in unexpected places. The ex even shows up when Sean and Patrick go on vacation together. All of their problems conspire to keep Patrick and Sean from becoming a real couple, and Sean finally decides that Patrick will never really return his feelings. Can Patrick learn to let himself care again? Find out in this precursor to Mel Spenser's popular novel Miss Me?
220 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
1 person is currently reading
46 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 11, 2010
When I started Rover by Mel Spenser, I had no idea what I was in for. It deals with some serious issues like surviving the loss of a partner, a May/December romance and truly overcoming mistakes that have been made in the past. Even with some of the heavy content, it definitely had some fun, sweet and lighter moments in it as well.
It’s been a year since Patrick’s partner of seven years was killed in a horrible car accident. Since his death, Patrick’s just been going through the motions of life. He realizes that he needs a change, so he packs up and moves closer to his family in Houston. Patrick doesn’t think he’ll ever fall in love again. One morning when he goes to a local coffee shop for a latte, he’s amazed at the instant attraction he has to a worker there. When the younger man starts flirting with him and eventually asks him out, he decides to take a chance and see where the strong attraction may lead.
For the past several years, Sean has been trying to get his life back together. He’s been working hard to overcome an unhealthy relationship, and some mistakes he’s made in the past. He’s been living with his Uncle and his partner for several years, and their love and devotion has helped him stay on track. His determination to overcome the demons of his past has given him the strength to be about a semester or so from being a college graduate while working two jobs in the process. Sean hasn’t had the time to date, plus he’s been gun-shy since his disastrous relationship from years before. When he spots Patrick come into the coffee shop where he works, Sean can’t deny the immediate connection and sizzling attraction they have for each other.
As Patrick and Sean start seeing each other neither man can deny that there is something special between them. But, will Patrick be able to let go of the ghost of his former lover so he can have a second shot at having an amazing love? Can Sean overcome truly overcome the mistakes he’s made, or will the demons of his past continue to haunt him?
I loved this book. Even though it does deal with some heavy content, it’s not overly angsty at all. There’s a lightness to it that I really enjoyed, but yet it still dealt with the serious issues without bogging the story down. I thought that even though Patrick and Sean were opposites in many ways, they were perfect for each other. I was thrilled to see that even though Patrick is more conservative than Sean, he didn’t want to squelch or change the zest for life and living that Sean had. Instead, Patrick tried to embrace it instead by being supportive and even encouraging him to live his life to the fullest.
After I read this book, I noticed that there was another book that is about one of Patrick’s friend, Nick, and the cute librarian, Andy. Of course, I had to read it immediately after I finished this one, and I loved it as well.
To read more of this review and others like it, please visit us at Night Owl Reviews at: http://www.nightowlreviews.com/
It’s been a year since Patrick’s partner of seven years was killed in a horrible car accident. Since his death, Patrick’s just been going through the motions of life. He realizes that he needs a change, so he packs up and moves closer to his family in Houston. Patrick doesn’t think he’ll ever fall in love again. One morning when he goes to a local coffee shop for a latte, he’s amazed at the instant attraction he has to a worker there. When the younger man starts flirting with him and eventually asks him out, he decides to take a chance and see where the strong attraction may lead.
For the past several years, Sean has been trying to get his life back together. He’s been working hard to overcome an unhealthy relationship, and some mistakes he’s made in the past. He’s been living with his Uncle and his partner for several years, and their love and devotion has helped him stay on track. His determination to overcome the demons of his past has given him the strength to be about a semester or so from being a college graduate while working two jobs in the process. Sean hasn’t had the time to date, plus he’s been gun-shy since his disastrous relationship from years before. When he spots Patrick come into the coffee shop where he works, Sean can’t deny the immediate connection and sizzling attraction they have for each other.
As Patrick and Sean start seeing each other neither man can deny that there is something special between them. But, will Patrick be able to let go of the ghost of his former lover so he can have a second shot at having an amazing love? Can Sean overcome truly overcome the mistakes he’s made, or will the demons of his past continue to haunt him?
I loved this book. Even though it does deal with some heavy content, it’s not overly angsty at all. There’s a lightness to it that I really enjoyed, but yet it still dealt with the serious issues without bogging the story down. I thought that even though Patrick and Sean were opposites in many ways, they were perfect for each other. I was thrilled to see that even though Patrick is more conservative than Sean, he didn’t want to squelch or change the zest for life and living that Sean had. Instead, Patrick tried to embrace it instead by being supportive and even encouraging him to live his life to the fullest.
After I read this book, I noticed that there was another book that is about one of Patrick’s friend, Nick, and the cute librarian, Andy. Of course, I had to read it immediately after I finished this one, and I loved it as well.
To read more of this review and others like it, please visit us at Night Owl Reviews at: http://www.nightowlreviews.com/
June 11, 2009
This is a nice, sweet story. There is no real angst, no real drama. Two Men (with not unreasonable amounts of baggage) that meet and fall in love. Obviously they have some challenges but right from the start the book is basically just following their growing relationship rather than overcoming huge hurdles.
June 5, 2010
A year after losing his long time lover in a car accident Patrick is still mourning him. But he's finally ready to start living his life again. He moves to Houston to be close to his family and meets Sean in a coffee shop. Sean is younger, sexy and full of life and Patrick can't help but be drawn to him. Sean's got some baggage of his own but even so they are soon growing closer to each other. Despite the many differences between them they enjoy a close physical relationship as well as some tender moments. At the same time they are also both unsure of forging a deeper commitment. When Sean is ready to move forward will Patrick be ready? Or will he risk losing his second chance at love?
Rover is a very well written story of letting go and moving forward. Both well drawn characters have painful pasts they have to try and overcome and at times it seemed like they'd never be able to. The story is poignant yet full of hope, there are lighthearted moments, hot sex and most of all a growing love that can't be denied. I enjoyed reading Patrick and Sean's journey to love and recommend it.
Rover is a very well written story of letting go and moving forward. Both well drawn characters have painful pasts they have to try and overcome and at times it seemed like they'd never be able to. The story is poignant yet full of hope, there are lighthearted moments, hot sex and most of all a growing love that can't be denied. I enjoyed reading Patrick and Sean's journey to love and recommend it.
January 30, 2019
Why cannot I get a single decent book to read? The plot was okay but the way the story was written was so haphazard. It was like reading different scenes with no glue to hold them together in the form of a proper story. And the repetition of every name with the total lack of pronouns usage was very hard to read.
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September 1, 2009Rover is an apparently perfect love story with an unexpected turn, and truth be told, the turn does good to the story itself since otherwise it would have been too perfect.
Patrick is mourning the loss of his lover Douglas; it's more than a year that Douglas is dead in a car accident but Patrick has not yet got over it. He is still living in the city where Douglas wanted to live, far from Patrick's relatives; he sold their home but he has still the expensive car Douglas bought for him and the cabin where they spent almost all their holidays. Patrick is not doing anything to forget and if not for a nightdream during which Douglas tells him to move one, he would have continued like that. All right, now he had decided to move back to Houston where is family is, but, truth be told, it's not exactly his decision, it's once again Douglas' decision that Patrick blindly follows.
In Houston he meets Sean, a 26 years old boy who is still living as a college student while trying to end his degree. Sean is the typical South Californian boy, all surf and tan, but he had a bad experience in the past. His family sent him to live with a gay uncle and his partner, hoping they would had been a good example for him. And so it was, and now Sean is still again on the right path, but he lost some years; that is basically the reason why, even if between Sean and Patrick there are only eight years of difference, it seems much more. Sean is still trying to decide what he wants to do in his life, and instead Patrick feels as he saw too much and now he wants to be quiet and comfortable, maybe yes, still mourning his lover.
Despite being younger and evidently the lesser "steady", not in a financial way than in expectation for life, Sean takes the lead of the relationship: he asks Patrick out, he initiates the first sexual encounter, he is always the one to suggest things. True, Patrick is ready and eager to follow, but I believe that is the wrong approach with him. Little by little we start to discover a different side of Patrick, and also a different point of view on his relationship for Douglas. Douglas himself, the perfect dead lover, was really not so perfect, and even if he was completely different from Sean, the same like him he was the leader in their relationship.
Here is the turn of the story: Patrick tends to lie down with his partner, he tends to blend on the background letting them shy. Everything can be perfect if you are a rising star, if the light you emanates is strong enough to overwhelm the lack of sparks from Patrick's side. And maybe, if you fall in a comfortable routine, you can even continue like that for forever. But Sean is wise enough, despite the age, to understand that like that, Patrick is slowly dying inside; Patrick never talks about his interests and he is so used to be all alone with himself, that he also stopped to ask for other people's ones. What the reader at the beginning thought to be a wonderful and nice love story, is little by little shattered by the lack of communion: Patrick and Sean are perfect in bed, but out of it, what do they have? Patrick doesn't know almost anything of Sean, and Sean, so wrap inside his trouble, and yes, maybe even a bit selfish, that selfishness given by the young age, realizes that also him knows very little of the real Patrick.
It was really interesting to see how the author first built an ordinary and nice love story, and then destroyed it in a bit, like an house of cards that was built from the start upon unsteady fundamentals. But don't worry, this is, after all, a romance...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1603706755/?...
Patrick is mourning the loss of his lover Douglas; it's more than a year that Douglas is dead in a car accident but Patrick has not yet got over it. He is still living in the city where Douglas wanted to live, far from Patrick's relatives; he sold their home but he has still the expensive car Douglas bought for him and the cabin where they spent almost all their holidays. Patrick is not doing anything to forget and if not for a nightdream during which Douglas tells him to move one, he would have continued like that. All right, now he had decided to move back to Houston where is family is, but, truth be told, it's not exactly his decision, it's once again Douglas' decision that Patrick blindly follows.
In Houston he meets Sean, a 26 years old boy who is still living as a college student while trying to end his degree. Sean is the typical South Californian boy, all surf and tan, but he had a bad experience in the past. His family sent him to live with a gay uncle and his partner, hoping they would had been a good example for him. And so it was, and now Sean is still again on the right path, but he lost some years; that is basically the reason why, even if between Sean and Patrick there are only eight years of difference, it seems much more. Sean is still trying to decide what he wants to do in his life, and instead Patrick feels as he saw too much and now he wants to be quiet and comfortable, maybe yes, still mourning his lover.
Despite being younger and evidently the lesser "steady", not in a financial way than in expectation for life, Sean takes the lead of the relationship: he asks Patrick out, he initiates the first sexual encounter, he is always the one to suggest things. True, Patrick is ready and eager to follow, but I believe that is the wrong approach with him. Little by little we start to discover a different side of Patrick, and also a different point of view on his relationship for Douglas. Douglas himself, the perfect dead lover, was really not so perfect, and even if he was completely different from Sean, the same like him he was the leader in their relationship.
Here is the turn of the story: Patrick tends to lie down with his partner, he tends to blend on the background letting them shy. Everything can be perfect if you are a rising star, if the light you emanates is strong enough to overwhelm the lack of sparks from Patrick's side. And maybe, if you fall in a comfortable routine, you can even continue like that for forever. But Sean is wise enough, despite the age, to understand that like that, Patrick is slowly dying inside; Patrick never talks about his interests and he is so used to be all alone with himself, that he also stopped to ask for other people's ones. What the reader at the beginning thought to be a wonderful and nice love story, is little by little shattered by the lack of communion: Patrick and Sean are perfect in bed, but out of it, what do they have? Patrick doesn't know almost anything of Sean, and Sean, so wrap inside his trouble, and yes, maybe even a bit selfish, that selfishness given by the young age, realizes that also him knows very little of the real Patrick.
It was really interesting to see how the author first built an ordinary and nice love story, and then destroyed it in a bit, like an house of cards that was built from the start upon unsteady fundamentals. But don't worry, this is, after all, a romance...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1603706755/?...
August 13, 2009
This is the story of two characters you meet in Miss Me. Sean and Patrick. Patrick’s partner of 7 years died a year ago, Sean was a bad boy who got involed in drugs but is now on the staight and narrow and back in university at 26. Patrick has trouble letting go of the past and is content to coast even though he loves Sean he can’t seem to commit fully. Sean tells him he won’t be second fiddle, angst ensues, Sean’s old boyfriend who got him into drugs keeps popping up, they eventually make-up and live HEA. I really enjoyed it as I like this author’s style of writing and it was kind of fun to see how things interlinked with Miss Me with Nick and Andy popping in during the story.
December 30, 2009
Nice romance without much angst: 3,5 stars bumped to 4 because the characters are really sweet.
September 23, 2011
I liked this book. It was a bit slower pace than it's sequel but very sweet with loving characters. I liked the twist, gave it just enough angst to make it great.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews