Title: Handle With Care Main Characters: Ben Lethbridge and Brian “Ollie” Jones Authors: Josephine Myles Genre: Contemporary Romance Length: 149 pages Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd. Date of Publication: April 24th, 2012 Story: The best things in life aren’t free…they’re freely given. Ben Lethbridge doesn’t have many vices left. After raising his little sister to adulthood, he wasted no time making up for the youth he lost to responsible parenting. Two years of partying it up—and ignoring his diabetes—has left him tethered to a home dialysis regimen. He can do his job from his flat, fortunately, but most of his favourite things are forbidden. Except for DVD porn…and fantasizing over Ollie, the gorgeous, purple-haired skateboarder who delivers it. Their banter is the highlight of Ben’s lonely day, but his illness-ravaged body is the cruel reality that prevents him from believing they’ll do anything more than flirt. Not to mention the age gap. Still, Ben figures there’s no harm in sprucing himself up a bit. Then one day, a package accidentally splits open, revealing Ben’s dirty little secret…and an unexpected connection that leaves him wondering if he’s been reading Ollie wrong all this time. There’s only one way to find out: risk showing Ollie every last scar. And hope “far from perfect” is good enough for a chance at love. Me and this book: People, this was written by Josephine Myles. The author who made the most awesome threesome love team that was The Hot Floor. If you don’t know what that is I suggest you read it and find out. After reading that book, I immediately searched for more books by her and found this precious little gem. Now, imagine you were me. I came from a world of gay fan fiction and this story definitely plucked my interest almost immediately. I mean come on, a guy who pawns over his violet haired, tattooed, twink of a delivery boy? Who doesn’t want that? Most of the fan fiction I’ve read and written have the same kind of plot, where one character admires another character that he thinks is totally out of his league. So I kid you not that I read this in just one go. Plus, Ben’s condition and the procedure he did in this book was well done as well. Being a nurse, I was very familiar with it and was hoping to read something that’s wrong but I didn’t found one. Kudos to you Ma’am Josephine. You did your research right. Review: This was about the somewhat complicated love story of Ben who’s a 33 years old diabetic guy who lives alone and a 20 years old skater boy who dreams of one day opening up a little café down by the skating ramp. So how did these two meet exactly? Well, everything started with Ben. Taking care of his sister while growing up, Ben forgot about taking care of his own body and ended up with diabetes. He had to do a continuous peritoneal dialysis on himself and that’s not something he’s willing to share with anyone. This causes him to have a tube on his abdomen which he uses to remove waste products from his blood. Basically, this is the one thing Ben hates about himself, that he can’t live a more normal life anymore and has to do dialysis at home every day. And somehow the only thing that drives him forward was the little moments he has when this violet haired delivery boy comes by to give him his ordered packages. Ben actually lusts over our delivery boy who comes by the name of Ollie. But yet again, his self-confidence wasn’t up par with the way Ollie flirts with him and that would usually leave him awkward during their conversations. Which was driving Ollie crazy. So one day, Ollie decided to take matters in his own hands and shamelessly rips open one of Ben’s ordered packages to satisfy his curiosity on why Ben orders them every week. Guess what happened when he found out it was a gay porn dvd? Uh huh, finally, right? So that’s how everything started. With a few twists and turns, Ben ended up with an armful of Ollie in his hands. He was somewhat terrified and relieved at the same time. Terrified that Ollie would see how ‘broken’ he was and relieved because finally, FINALLY, someone noticed him for who he was. There were a few steamy moments between the two but life wasn’t through with them yet. Throughout the book Ben would eventually question Ollie’s affection for him and accuses him of using him. In what way I won’t tell, I’ll let you read that dramatic angst part of the book on your own. In the end, this was a simple light read that’s appropriate for anyone who loves reading about a love that grew between the two most unlikely people. Plus, you’ll fall in love with Ollie, everyone does in the end anyway so what’s stopping you? If reading about romance that’s not full of deception, past mistakes and complicated trials is your thing then this is one book for you, just sit back on your patio with a cup of tea on hand and read on. Don’t bother with sweets though because Ollie has got you covered. |
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I have come here to grace this blog with my unprofessional and witty reviews on MM (gay) books. Granted, I am not the most influential person and no one might even give their time of day for this blog but it doesn't matter. This blog will serve as my personal diary, a place where I can vent out my frustrations or profess my love for a book and you guys have a front row seat to it all. Books and me go way back and it's about time I give back. Books are my friends and I want the world to know all about them.
For the past years I have carefully ventured out into the world of MM (Man to Man) books. Yes. Gay books. Is there something wrong with that? Of course not. It's a world were I wouldn't ever regret living and frankly, I just might stay a while. I am not gay to be honest but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the power that these books portray. I have cried, laughed, choked, drooled, cringed, freaked out and probably almost mentally died while reading these and I'll do it all over again with no questions asked. It's just a joy to read them and I know if there are any fellow readers out there (doesn't matter if you read MM or not), I know you know what that means. That feeling of finally acquiring a book in your hands that you've waited since forever, that excitement of finding out all the stories of each character (all the nooks and crannies), the euphoria of reaching the end and that never ending emptiness you feel after closing that back cover. It's just simply amazing. So yeah, that's about it. A little book review blog for everyone to enjoy. I'll see you in my first review and I'm so excited to make it. PS. If you're my bestfriend, I blame and thank you for pushing me to create a book review blog. Love yah! <3 |
about meJust another M/M book lover who has lots to say. archives
February 2016
"Without a doubt, there was no place, nothing as exotic or rare, as that moment right there with him. Never again could I claim miracles didn't happen." |