Surface Tension

by Drew Hunt

Wounded by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan and suffering post traumatic stress as a result, Andy Johnson is given a medical discharge from the British army. Shunning attention, Andy lives a quiet and lonely existence on his pig farm in Yorkshire. His peace is threatened when his friends take him to the city for his birthday. They buy him a kiss from Luke Wales, a twink porn star.

Overwhelmed and needing some air, Andy escapes outside. Luke finds him there. They talk and Andy begins to relax. It's cold and Andy gives Luke his combat jacket. However Roger, Luke's boyfriend appears and the momentary connection is lost.

Weeks later, recently separated from Roger, Luke is back in the north of England. He decides to pay Andy a visit, using the excuse of returning the man's jacket. A snow storm forces the two men to spend time together, and a tentative friendship begins.

Neither man is convinced they are worthy of the other. It takes time, plus the encouragement of friends and Andy's teenage nephew, Craig, to convince the reluctant couple that what exists on the surface only tells part of the story. Andy's scars and Luke's past employment shouldn't stand in the way of them exploring what each feels for the other.

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Military Fiction, Contemporary, Disability, LGBT, Gay

260 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2010

About the author

Having read all the decent free fiction on the net Drew could find, he set out to try his hand at writing something himself. Fed up reading about characters who were super-wealthy, impossibly handsome, and incredibly well-endowed, Drew determined to make his characters real and believable.

Drew lives a quiet life in the north of England with his cat. Someday he hopes to meet the kind of man he writes about.

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie...

Reviews

[Rain · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5* Wounded by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan and suffering PTSD, Andy is given a medical discharge from the British army. Shunning attention, Andy lives a quiet and lonely life on his pig farm in Yorkshire. His peace is threatened when his friends take him to the city for his birthday and buy him a kiss from Luke Wales, a twink porn star.

Overwhelmed, Andy escapes outside. Luke goes out for a break and smoke. They get to talking and Andy starts to relax. Luke is cold, so Andy wraps him in his combat jacket. Unfortunately, Roger, Luke's bf arrives and the momentary connection is lost...along with Andy's jacket.

Andy returns home, and his friend happily share their DVD featuring Luke.

Every so often, when his curiosity got the better of him, he'd watch a scene or two. But each time he turned off the TV, the old feelings of sadness, even guilt would nag at him, making him wish he'd never seen the film at all.

Broken in different ways
Gentle giant
Found family
Hurt/comfort
Size difference
Great side characters
HEA

This is a story about two broken souls who don't feel they are worthy of the other. It's a slooooow burn without many graphic intimate descriptions. Which is maybe a little odd with a story featuring a porn star.

I wish this story had been edited differently (or at all), there were moments when it felt thrown together in places, leading to a very disjointed reading experience.

TW: Homophobic attack that leaves one of the men wounded.

[Ami · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story starts promisingly -- I like the idea of the kiss for charity. It is sweet how Andy and Luke talk about the pig farm during that first meeting. The idea of Luke as porn star and Andy as pig farmer is interesting. The follow-up is sweet - how the two of them have issue: Andy is not sure that he is good enough for the more beautiful Luke (he always thinks that his scars and limps make him ugly); while Luke is not sure about his line of work as porn star, that it might make Andy feels ashamed of being his friend.

BUT, the story that feels like it drags on and on. I start skimming pages after pages and wish that the two of them just get to the point, you know? Their issues becomes repetitive. Plus, the idea of Andy's nephew, having crush on Luke and picturing his uncle's boyfriend to like him is not sitting well with me. This might do better for me if it's cut down several pages. It's okay story but I sort of lose interest by the time I reach the end.

[Natalija · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has definitely earned a place on my keepers shelf. I finished it in one sitting and loved every single minute of reading it. Highly recommended!

[Elisa Rolle]

Having just read a book by the same author, I’m surprise how much different this one is, more sweet and romantic than the previous one, and oddily enough, considering the plot, not so much about the sex but more about the love.

Andy is a former English soldier with a lot of scars, in his body but even more in his soul. He has not a bad life, he is living in Northern England, Yorkshire, in a pig farm: he is quiet and content, two things he immensily needs after his experience in Afghanistan. When his friends buy him a kiss from a young porn star during a charity event, Andy is at first embarassed, but then also affascinated by Luke: the younger man is nice and kind, he seems to not notice Andy’s scars and they have a quick chat. If not for Luke going away with Andy’s jacket, there would be no chance for them to meet again.

Luke is still young in an ordinary life, but not so young for the role of the twink in the porn movies industry. He has to take a decision and soon; while in the north for a one day job, he decides to pay a visit to Andy, and he spends some days with the man and Craig, Andy’s teenager nephew. It’s not that Luke is consciously searching for a comfortable place where to lie down, but I think that he likes Andy’s genuinity, and above all his kindness. Both men think they are not good for each other, Andy thinks his scars and country lifestyle are of no attraction for a young man like Luke, who is used to live in London and having an exciting life; Luke is convinced that a good man like Andy would not want to have anything to do with a former porn star.

What surprised me was that, while in the previous book I read by this author the sex was one of the main point of the story, and also the reason why the two men in that story where first together, here where the sex is also the main job of one of the two main characters, strangely enough is not the reason that glue them together. Maybe since Andy wants to prove to Luke that he is not like all the other men who get close to him, or maybe since Luke wants to prove to Andy that their story is more important than any of his previous experience, the sex arrives quite later in the story. And strangely enough, since the author had the reader wait for so long, I was expecting for it to be something “huge”, like a long and carefully prepared sex scene, and instead it was rather quick and in a public toilette! That made me smile, really, it was a proof of two things for me: that indead this romance is written by a man, and that he is writing of something he knows.

It’s really a long story, with a well planned plot and with well rounded characters; not only Andy and Luke, but also all the supporting characters, a pletora of different gay characters, like the two couples, Paddy and Tom, and Donnie and Sam, Andy’s young nephew, Craig, and so on. All of them are described with enough details to give the reader an idea of their role, but not so much to divert the attention from the main characters, that are Luke and Andy.

I also liked the trick the author used here and there to maintain the tension at an high level: somethine he stopped a chapter just after reaching a revelatory moment, to then starting the chapter after apparently changing the matter; the reader had to read some paragraph before finding how the previous chapter was really concluded.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1453848789/?...

[Deeze · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet and simple feel good read.

I enjoy Drew Hunt stories even though they are pretty fairytale-ish.

I know going in these will not be totally realistic, but I still find them a pleasure to read.

A few minor niggles with the way some chapters ended abruptly only to be revisited later on. It messed up the flow of the story for me.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off really good! Then... kindof... just.... tapered off. Really didn't hold my interest after Luke officially moved in.

[Rob Colton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books. I've read three times now.

[Emeziel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was thinking is it ever going to end?
It started really good. First part is four to five stars. But I guess after their first time together it lost all the charm and juat dragged and dragged. I should say it should be half the size but then it would become the same size if the writer tried to complete the chapters about the issues that were actually really important.
Like that kiss. It was so wrong. Howsoevermuch Andy loved his nephew, he should have stopped him being a jerk long time ago. It got real old real soon. Loke just stop being a perv.
I dont know how people can have no control when they know right from wrong. Or maybe they dont care whom they are going to hurt in the process.
And all Andy is worried about is his anger. Like dude, it was supposed to be there. Luke is steering him towards a shrink, which is right thing to do but not the exact thing that should have been discussed at that time.
And when Luke said 'its alright that you felt that anger because it was for an instance', Instead of 'its alright you felt that anger because we really were being dickheads' i just wanted to stop reading.
Honestly this book should have ended at like 75 percent. Also then I would not have to read how brave kind Andy wished Roger would hurry up and die.
2.5 stars. All for the beginning.

[Charly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little rushed in places, but I really liked the emotional aspect of the relationship

Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

Rating: 8/10

PROS:
- I love that the characters in this story aren’t both model-gorgeous: Luke is rather perfect physically (which is understandable given that he’s a porn star), but Andy is horribly scarred all along one side of his body. As is the case with many such people in real life, he’s very self-conscious about the scars, but Luke hardly notices them; he’s too in love with Andy as a person.
- Both main characters are likeable and down-to-earth in a way that made me want to be friends with them. They’re thoughtful and considerate of those around them, and occasionally Andy does things that I found hilarious. When he sits down to watch a porn flick at one point, for example, he finds himself analyzing the farm equipment in the background rather than devoting his entire attention to the action.
- There are enough details about Andy’s pig farm to create a well-rounded picture of the setting without becoming boring or too intrusive. The same is true of Luke’s experiences in the porn industry.
- Some of the exposition is very funny, especially when contrasted with Andy’s stoicism and tendency toward near-silence.

CONS:
- Hunt does an excellent job of developing a level of affection between the two main characters that steadily increases as time goes on. And along with that emotional affection is sexual attraction. The first sex scene, though (of 3 total, if I remember correctly), occurs approximately 65% of the way through the book, at which point the two have been in love for weeks. I found the super-long wait (as well as the fact that the first time they perform anal together, it’s basically a fade-to-black scene) to be extremely frustrating.
- There’s a lot of “fast” storytelling in this book, which is to say that oftentimes sentences like this appear--“Christmas never really recovered from that point”--and then the story skips ahead by several days without filling in many of the details.

Overall comments: I enjoyed the book quite a bit: the romance is incredibly sweet, and all of the characters--even the secondary ones--come from painful pasts, which makes the hurt/comfort level in the story decidedly high overall. I did feel a little let down the book’s treatment of sex, though. I think I would actually have liked it more if all those scenes were fade-to-black rather than some being shown in a fair amount of detail and others (important ones) simply being mentioned in passing.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were a lot of things I liked about this book. It was refreshing to read about someone in the porn industry who wasn't traumatized and happened to like his job, for the most part.

I also liked how the teenager in the book was portrayed - actually acting like a teenager instead of an adult. Based on my own teenage experience, the mood swings seemed spot on. Although the leads were a little too comfortable having their amorous encounters overheard. I don't think I'd be comfortable getting in on knowing there was a teenager just outside on the inflatable mattress. LOL

It was also nice to see all the loving gay couples in the book. I would love to read their individual stories! I want to see the relationship between Tom and Paddy developed after their sad childhoods. And we never did learn what Tom does for a living! I also wanted to know more about the doctor and lawyer who like BDSM. There has got to be a story there! Pretty please, Drew Hunt?

There was only one thing that I didn't like. There were several scenes that seemed to stop abruptly and do a time jump. For example, when Luke shows up at Andy's, we don't get to see their initial interaction; instead it cuts off and resumes the next day. I am not sure if it's the writing style or an editing issue. In any case, sometimes I had to go back to make sure I hadn't accidentally missed pages.

Overall, this was a sweet story with some hurt/comfort and a lot of personal growth for the MCs. I liked that Andy, in particular, went to a therapist. It is refreshing to see MCs ask for and receive help instead of love just magically fixing everything on its own.

If you liked the porn star and the veteran aspects of this book, I recommend Gathering Storm by Alexa Land. It's part of a series, but you can read it as a stand-alone.

[kasjo_peja · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored the book. It was romantic, sweet and funny.

I had an eye on Drew Hunt since I read "Something About Trevor", which was an interesting novella, although I was confused by the jumping in time back and forth (also present in this book, though in lesser extent).

    "Surface Tension" is a story of two men with complicating past, who have to overcome their preconceived notion that everybody sees just one thing about them – Luke's job as porn star and Andy's scarred face. Although the setting is a bit unusual (the book so deserves the place in “Gay Romance Fiction Featuring Interesting Jobs” listopia, lol), both men felt real to me. Like somebody I could really meet on the street. They struggle with their emotions, they grow, they become more wholesome in the end. There's also a great set of secondary characters, with Luke's shitty ex-boyfriend and Andy's cheeky gay nephew.
    I was a bit afraid how the author is going to handle Luke starring job (could be tacky) and Andy's pigs farming (well... not romantic per se). I'm happy to say that the matter-of-fact approach with some comic moments worked really well.
    The story is rather light on sex. I wouldn't call it vanilla, because Luke's and Andy's relationship is not “rainbows and roses” all the time. It's just one more aspect of the realistic approach I so valued in the book – people do not hop to bed the second day they meet and move on to planning future together. So when the time comes for Luke and Andy to have sex, it's after many events testing their trustworthiness, reliability, generosity and feeling for each other.

[Kukko · Rating 3 out of 5]

MM romance between a pornstar (Luke) and a pig farmer (Andy), set in the Yorkshire dales in the UK.

I was attracted to this book, in anticipation of the promise of a pornstar MC - expecting flawed characters and loads of hot sex. I was surprised at how little sexual content there was, although, both MCs and some of the secondary characters were flawed. I guess I don't understand why you would have a pornstar MC and not take advantage of the obvious.

The story had some editing/formatting issues - a couple of the chapters ended mid-sentence, and at times it seemed that large portions of the story were missing.

Apparently, the aim was to write about "real" characters…I don't mind that (actually the characters were really well crafted), I just wish the story had been a little more engaging.

[Yvonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this weeks ago. The most interesting part of this story was one character was a pig farmer & the other was a porn actor. This is not a combo I would have ever dreamed of & I have to wonder what inspired the author. It was actually a kind of sweet story but it could have used a lot of ruthless editing. Writers shouldn't be afraid to chop, chop, chop off the excess. Also no offense to pig farmers, but we learn a lot of details about what it's like to be a pig farmer, none of which was remotely romantic.

[Trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

the characters were loveable and their rocky road to forever was sweet and slightly angsty, but I was almost thrown out of this story when a major piece of the plot was missing. I thought it was a mishap in the editing process, someone accidentally hit delete and didn't notice. but, there was a flashback attempting to correct the stumble, so I guess it was intentional. otherwise, I really enjoyed Luke and Andy's struggle to get together despite themselves, and am curious about a prequel for Tom and Paddy, maybe even a sequel for Craig.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it is wonderful written. The characters are for real and it's refreshing to read a story that's not all about sex, perfect bodies and always well endowed equipment. the story has sad moments but there is also lots of humor especially if it involves Andy's nephew. And i loved how Luke made some huge changes in his live after been beaten up badly and goes from being a pornstar to work receptiondesk at the gym.

Thank you Drew for this book i loved it very much.

[Meggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mm, the story get my attention and I liked the story till end. It's romantic, enjoyable plot and both main characters, Andy and Luck, are fun to fallow. But it was just to simple and I just couldn't get the connection to feel the characters. Andy is just to simple and nice for my liking and Luck too. The story starts to drag at the end.

[Barb Gilmour · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gorgeous, sweet story! A porn star and a pig farmer, a match made in heaven! I am normally mad for angst but I loved the fact that this story didn't rely on any major angst to move the plot. Just a beautiful love story.

[JenMcJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

read

[Gwengwel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it while it was free.

[Cerulean · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 to 3 stars

[Betty Alford · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not the book I read. The book I read was by Christine Kling.

[Heather K (dentist in my spare time)]

For those that don't mind reading paperback, this is on sale through the publisher for only $2.50!

http://www.jms-books.com/index.php?ma...

[Suzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

love this book and have read it 3 times so far x

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple sweet story. three stars