Book Title: Life or Something Scary Like That
Author: TC Blue
Publisher: Torquere Books
Publisher: Torquere Books
Publisher URL: http://www.torquerebooks.com/
ISBN: 978-1-60370-323-9
Genre: Gay Contemporary
Nymph Rating: 3 Nymphs
Literary Nymphs reviewer: Caen Nymph
Jack’s life is on the up, he’s finally got his own apartment which he’ll be sharing with his best bud Paul. But when Paul tells him he’s moving in with his pregnant girlfriend instead, Jack’s party comes to a halt. But Paul has everything figured out; he gives the room to his girlfriend’s younger brother, instead.
Jack is feeling down, he’s stuck with a potential geeky guy - but when Cliff walks through his front door, Jack takes it all back. Cliff is big and beautiful and Jack just wants him, period. But with misunderstandings and fear, will these two figure out each other’s secret before it’s too late?
Life or Something Like That is such a wonderful title for this story. I’ve read many books in this industry and I have to admit, they do publish the oddest book titles at times. At the end of the tale I’m always thinking ‘So why did the author name their book this?’ So once I had finishing reading this tale, I could finally say ‘Yeah that fits.’ The reason why I requested this book is the theme of forbidden fruit. Jack’s best friend Paul decided to move into his long-time girlfriend’s place, which leaves Jack high and dry. But Paul makes it up to Jack by saying his girlfriend’s little brother (Cliff) would take the room. Thus the forbidden fruit theory: ‘I shall not mess with my best friend’s (soon-to-be) brother-in-law’. So I really liked the premise of the story there.
Jack is twenty-four and Cliff is twenty-one, so again another theme I adore because I’m in the same age as these guys, so I enjoy reading stories about people my own age. Overall I found Cliff to be quite interesting. The author describes him as being this big strapping guy but because he’s such a naïve character, he’s so appealing. His physical description and his personality are so different that he appealed to me much more. Jack is what I’d call ‘the nice guy character.’ He was sweet, a lot oblivious and was nice to those around him.
The author introduces supporting characters in the names of Ben, Paul and Melissa. Now these characters are very close to the main heroes. But the author chose to have the supporting characters their own point-of-view’s in this tale. Naturally I find that appealing, but for me the author’s tactic and voice didn’t work. So I found myself jarred every time one of the supporting characters would have their own bit in the story. However I hope the author writes a story for Ben (one day) because he’s someone I’d like to read again in the future.
The plot in itself was quite nicely built. The flow of the story was well-done and while there were quite a few surprises here and there, it just made the tale more enjoyable. However whilst the story was enjoyable, I didn’t feel this was any different from similar other stories I’ve read. It followed a set pattern that I’ve read a few times before, and I just wish the author took a more of a gamble with the tale. I also found the dialogue to be a little too simple. The angst, or the heartfelt ‘I love you’ - ‘I like you’ were quite empty. I didn’t find much emotion in those scenes. Lastly, I didn’t feel the characters actually spoke like men, which is a very subjective matter - because for someone else the heroes’ voices would have worked for them. But for me it didn’t really happen.
In conclusion, I enjoyed this tale. I think the author has a lot of potential here and think the author will continue to do much better with any other future releases.
Jack’s life is on the up, he’s finally got his own apartment which he’ll be sharing with his best bud Paul. But when Paul tells him he’s moving in with his pregnant girlfriend instead, Jack’s party comes to a halt. But Paul has everything figured out; he gives the room to his girlfriend’s younger brother, instead.
Jack is feeling down, he’s stuck with a potential geeky guy - but when Cliff walks through his front door, Jack takes it all back. Cliff is big and beautiful and Jack just wants him, period. But with misunderstandings and fear, will these two figure out each other’s secret before it’s too late?
Life or Something Like That is such a wonderful title for this story. I’ve read many books in this industry and I have to admit, they do publish the oddest book titles at times. At the end of the tale I’m always thinking ‘So why did the author name their book this?’ So once I had finishing reading this tale, I could finally say ‘Yeah that fits.’ The reason why I requested this book is the theme of forbidden fruit. Jack’s best friend Paul decided to move into his long-time girlfriend’s place, which leaves Jack high and dry. But Paul makes it up to Jack by saying his girlfriend’s little brother (Cliff) would take the room. Thus the forbidden fruit theory: ‘I shall not mess with my best friend’s (soon-to-be) brother-in-law’. So I really liked the premise of the story there.
Jack is twenty-four and Cliff is twenty-one, so again another theme I adore because I’m in the same age as these guys, so I enjoy reading stories about people my own age. Overall I found Cliff to be quite interesting. The author describes him as being this big strapping guy but because he’s such a naïve character, he’s so appealing. His physical description and his personality are so different that he appealed to me much more. Jack is what I’d call ‘the nice guy character.’ He was sweet, a lot oblivious and was nice to those around him.
The author introduces supporting characters in the names of Ben, Paul and Melissa. Now these characters are very close to the main heroes. But the author chose to have the supporting characters their own point-of-view’s in this tale. Naturally I find that appealing, but for me the author’s tactic and voice didn’t work. So I found myself jarred every time one of the supporting characters would have their own bit in the story. However I hope the author writes a story for Ben (one day) because he’s someone I’d like to read again in the future.
The plot in itself was quite nicely built. The flow of the story was well-done and while there were quite a few surprises here and there, it just made the tale more enjoyable. However whilst the story was enjoyable, I didn’t feel this was any different from similar other stories I’ve read. It followed a set pattern that I’ve read a few times before, and I just wish the author took a more of a gamble with the tale. I also found the dialogue to be a little too simple. The angst, or the heartfelt ‘I love you’ - ‘I like you’ were quite empty. I didn’t find much emotion in those scenes. Lastly, I didn’t feel the characters actually spoke like men, which is a very subjective matter - because for someone else the heroes’ voices would have worked for them. But for me it didn’t really happen.
In conclusion, I enjoyed this tale. I think the author has a lot of potential here and think the author will continue to do much better with any other future releases.
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