Brad is great at meeting other people’s expectations. But his own? Not so much. Take the gay thing. Okay, so yeah. It took a morning meeting with a frat brother’s hairy, naked ass for him to admit it, but he knows the truth about himself now. Let the gay life commence.

Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. He hasn’t quite determined how to come out to anyone, even Sebastian, the geeky-hot TA in his history class. Sebastian is everything Brad is not. Intellectual, suave, hairy. Out. And he doesn’t seem interested in Brad, even when Brad makes a fool of himself trying to catch his notice.

Score one for foolery: Sebastian does more than notice Brad; he takes him to bed. Brad’s been with plenty of girls, but with Sebastian, the sex is something else entirely—hot, mind-blowing, affirming, and a little domineering in a way that drives him wild. But when great sex turns into something more—dare he admit the “L” word?—Brad must face the crushing realization that Sebastian doesn’t feel the same. Unless, of course, he does. After all, even grad students can be idiots about matters of the heart.

Stats:

Back Porch Thoughts:

Review:

I seem to be on a streak of reading older titles. This is my second in a week.

I chose this because I’d been meaning to read Anne Tenino for A WHILE.
Why? Well, I met her, briefly at GRL last year — AND she’s at RT this year. Also, I won a thing she’d made for a prize at GRL’s infamous Cock Walk charity raffle. I WON A QUILTED STUFFED COCK, Y’ALL and it has become one of my most PRIZED possessions. I love that cock. It is probably my favorite cock.

From a purely artistic perspective.

Anyhoo.

Where was I?

Oh yeah.

I figured I needed to get busy reading some Anne Tenino and for some unknown reason, I chose this book.

I’m happy to report it was a delightful surprise, especially for a reader who generally stays away from college aged characters.

Main Character Brad is still figuring things out and is just a tad slow on the uptake to his gayness. And while he waffles about accepting who he is he gets over that quickly enough, but he still manages to overthink everything. Turns out, for such a stereotypical jock, he’s got a seriously tender heart. Though he’s got a lot of internal struggles and some big fears of stepping out of a closet he didn’t even know he was in, he’s shows a tremendous strength of character while he navigates his new reality.

Sebastian — wow. Lemme just say drool worthy love interest. I wanted more of him. That’s me being greedy because wow. I can’t say he’s the best welcome wagon to Brad’s first gay experiences, but that was….okay, I thought. I mean, Brad just kinda took a running leap and took Sebastian by surprise.

I wanted tons more of them interacting. Seemed like they were each stuck in their own heads. While their heads were lovely places to be, I kinda needed more of them interacting, talking, growing the intimacy. The intimacy was there…but I’m not sure I had such a good grasp on how it all came to be.

So. For my first foray into this author’s work. I’d say I picked a pretty damn decent read. I’m definitely looking forward to more of her work and seeing where the series leads.

Purchase Links:

Riptide | Amazon | BN | GooglePlay | iBooks | KOBO

About the Author:

Catalyzed by her discovery of LGBTQ romance, Anne Tenino left the lucrative fields of art history, non-profit fundraising, and domestic engineering (in that order) to follow her dream of become a starving romance author. For good or ill, her snarky, silly, quasi-British sense of humor came along for the ride.

Anne applies her particular blend of romance, comedy, and gay protagonists to contemporary, scifi, and paranormal tales. Her works have won many awards; her novel, Frat Boy and Toppy, is frequently referred to as a gay romance classic; she’s been featured in RT Book Reviews magazine; she holds the position of VP of Programming at her local RWA chapter; and she’s achieved bestseller status on Amazon’s gay romance list.

Born and raised in Oregon, Anne now lives in Portland with her family, who have all taken a sacred oath never to read her books. When not crocheting genitalia, growing tomatoes, driving teenagers around, or cooking something obscure, she can be found at her computer, procrastinating. Possibly while also lying on the couch, eating bon-bons.

Website | Goodreads