I have mixed feelings about this story.

It’s interesting to see this audiobook has currently been classified as Erotica/Fiction. I agreed to review because I thought it was an M/M title and, in many ways it is, but listeners ought to be aware there are M/F relationships and sex scenes within this story.

The first and last parts of the story I found interesting and enjoyable with the interaction and conflict between the three main male characters. There was the potential here for a love triangle and that was where I thought the story was heading, but I didn't think that wasn’t developed sufficiently. I was hoping the story would focus on Mike and Hank’s relationship after they hooked up, but that sort of fizzled out. Paul was generous with his financial support of Mike, but he was not a nice person. It was a two-way street—Mike used him too.

The competitive swimming and training scenes were well written and exciting, and the Olympic dreams of MIke and Hank remain a major part of the story.

But when the story goes along a completely different track quite early on I was bewildered. Mike starts thinking about being a ‘grown up’ and wanting to start a family rather than chasing his Olympic dream. Both Mike and Hank enter relationships with women and are tricked into getting them pregnant. Much of these M/F scenes are conversation heavy and domesticated. The conversation is repetitive and the sex scenes are perfunctory and not erotic in the slightest.

Mike is prepared to sacrifice his sexuality to support Rachel and her baby, and Hank happily considers that he might not be that gay after all! Hank might well have been bisexual, but I don’t think it was ever stated. There were a lot of issues dealt with in this book and not all of them entirely successfully. There were inconsistencies in the characters, as well as the timeline and events. I was left with a lot of unanswered questions at the end.

I enjoyed the sports-themed arc and the MM storyline the most, but was disappointed with how the story developed.

The narrator was new to me and easy to listen to. He matched his voice well to the various characters and he narrated the story at a clear and steady pace.

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1 person found this helpful

Excellent narration

This story was engaging yet in ways I found Mike Sloan one of the characters to be fickle. He I believe lead his mentor and lover Paul Sturgess on. Yes Paul was older, Paul pressured him for decisions he wasn’t ready to make. Mike was still young in college and wanted to go to law school, also to pursue his dream of going to the Olympics. Yet Mike went behind Paul’s back had relations with a fellow student and his best friend Rachel whom he got pregnant.
It wasn’t till a few controversial pictures where brought to light
during the trials for the Olympic try outs did Mike decide he needed to make some major decisions in his life. This story deals with a controversy that hopefully someday will no longer be. Who you can and cannot love.
I was given this audible book by the author and Audiobook Boom💥 for a fair and honest review. I also want to mention I enjoyed the narration by Alex Alvarez.

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Different, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing

If you like your books on a level and with a basic story line of boy meets boy, then this is not the book for you.

I have to admit, that it took me a while to get into the book. Although it is well written and expertly narrated, I found it a bit difficult to like any of the main characters for the first part of the book.

The story bounces around the relationships between Mike and Paul, Mike and Hank, Mike and Rachel, Hank and I’m sorry I forgot her name. For the most part the narrative works well, but there were little inconsistencies in the story that bugged me at times.

The thing is, I actually found myself getting more into the story as it went on. I found myself wanting to see how the relationships between the characters would pan out and if we would get a sense of closure.

I think the main thing for me was the way the narrator bought the characters to life, his voices were great, especially for Hank, the awkward loner guy who we find out has Aspergers.

All in all, I may not be able to give this book a five star review, however, I did end up really enjoying it. I would reconmend this book to anyone who likes a M/M book, but doesn’t mind a bit of M/F as well.

I was given this review book for a honest appraisal

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Really enjoyed this book

This book is so very good, I've read a lot of mm genre, this is on another level.
Michael Character was wonderfully written,
Hank also another fabulously written character, without going into details, Hank has something serious wrong with him. He a sweet guy.
Once I became invested in the book. I was hooked. Not your average MM book. It's more.
The characters sometimes are frustrating, I wanted to say to Michael for crying out load, on a lot of occasions.
This author is new to me. But I will be looking for more books by them.
Beautifully written, great details to these characters.
I will definitely be listening to this again. Very entertaining p
Highly recommended
I was given this audible for a honest review. Which I can truly say I have.

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