there a sequel please tell me there is, . . I hate it when books end like that! This one moved way too slow for me, I ended up skimming quite a bit in the middle of the book, Once the event at the truck took place, I was all in though, They finally started spending some serious time together, Such a build up and we didn't even get to "see" the first penetrative sex scene, That's assuming they had that kind of sex, They talked about sex but I'm not sure, Maybe I missed it in my skimming but I don't think so, I will say that ifwas out I'd be reading it seeing as the end left us wanting,
this is book one in the Rainbow Connection Series
Beau is the all American athlete in HS.
The perfect jock, good girlfriend etc, . He heads from Tn to Chicago to go off to college and be himself, He is gay and has been buried deep in the closet,
He meets Vin, the president of the Rainbow connection, They both like each other, but it takes them forever to admit it to each other, They become best friends, and eventually fall in love,
I wanted to love this book, I found it was confusing and hard to keep up with at times, It jumped from one thing to another, This had dual point of views, but it took a bit of reading at times to figure out who's point of view you were reading.
I loved the chemistry between theMC's, The sex scenes in this book were kind of skipped over, They had passion, but the author provided very little follow thru, Tootsie:Sweet Peas for Roll by Lynn Townsend Cover: BS Clay sitelink mrsconditreadsbooks. com/p Excellent read
It was very well written flows well, I didn't put it down, I loved this book can't wait for the next one,
I received my copy from the publisher through Love Romances and More and rated it,stars.
Leaving rural and ultra conservative Tennessee for college, Beauregard Beau Watkins at last has the opportunity to be who he really is.
Having pretended his way through high school with a cute girlfriend he doesnt feel anything for and a lifestyle that lives up to everybodys expectations, he should now be free to explore the feelings hes been hiding for years.
His desire to find out who he really is leads him to the Rainbow Connection and Vinyl Vin Elvis Reyes.
Vin is everything Beau isnt completely out of the closet, loud, extravagant and extremely rich, The two young men soon turn into close friends, Vin might be eager for something more between them he doesnt stand in the way of Beau exploring his new found freedom through a string of shallow affairs.
It is only when an old foe of Vins gives Beau a beating that leaves him hospitalised that the two of them give in to the mutual attraction.
With their backgrounds and lifestyles so very different Beau and Vin have a few obstacles to overcome and that is before Beau is forced to come out to his family and Vin shares a shocking discovery about his past with Beau.
As my rating indicates, Im a bit conflicted about this book, There was a lot to love about this story, Beau and Vin were wonderful characters to read about as were the other members of the Rainbow Connection, The contrasts between Beau and Vin were perfectly painted as was the love between them,
Something I liked a lot less was that on a few occasions the story seemed to cut off just when it started getting interesting.
Vin asks Beau to dance and even while Im thinking oh yummy, dance scenes can be so exciting, the next chapter starts with a new scene at a later date.
The same thing happens when it has snowed, Theres talk about ambushing friends, Vin and Beau go outside and then the chapter ends on: “In the end the ambush was epic.
” I cant help wondering if it ever occurred to the author that her readers might enjoy experiencing the epicness of that ambush
On the other hand, there were moments of tenderness that nearly took my breath away.
I loved Vins honesty when talking about his feelings,
“Ive never been in love before, Its kinda scary. I feel like Ive been given something rare and precious and terribly breakable, ” Vin to Beau
And I loved Vins vulnerability, despite all his privileges and money, and his ability to show it to Beau.
“You are who you are, and I love you because, despite and sometimes in spite of it.
If you cant say the same, if I cant be enough with the money, . . ” Vin
The moment when Beau confronts his brother and throws away years of carefully hiding who he is in order to stand up for the man he loves was wonderful and inspired.
“Ive always been gay, Vin didnt have anything to do with that, All hes ever done is make me feel happy and loved for who I am, ” Beau
And the wish Vin makes when blowing out the candles on his birthday cake is one most of us should pay attention to:
“I wish to never take any of the good times for granted.
” Vin
Just when I thought the things I loved about this book far exceeded the things I didnt, the book ended apparently midstory.
And while Im not a huge fan of cliffhangers I can live with them provided I know to expect one.
There was however nothing to indicate that this book might be the first instalment in a series, I checked Amazon after I finished the story to see if maybe there had been a warning there that I had missed but no.
This book is being sold as a oneoff complete story only to end with what appears to be a setup for part two.
And I might not even have minded that too much if it hadnt been for the fact that my copy of the book says nothing about an upcoming sequel or when it might be expected.
To summarize it all: This was a charming, not particularly graphic, comingout story that managed to capture my heart even as it occasionally let me down.
And despite my frustration about the way the book ended I cant help hoping that there will be a sequel in the not too distant future.
Ive grown fond enough of Beau and Vin to want to spend more time with them,
Could have been so much more, A good book though Good book, but what the fuck was up with that ending Talk about a sudden stop.
It really made this story feel unfinished even if it probably had a good thing going till about,of the way thru. So I think this is part of a series, but it's more like serial fiction with a few elements left dangling at the end.
Unsatisfying. A sitelinkHearts On Fire
,HEARTS "Roll" by Lynn Townsend is a college, New Adult romance set in Chicago, It Tennessee farm boy freshman, Beau and the older possibly junior, don't remember any specification, poor little rich boy, Vin.
Beau is a blonde, looks like a jock and finally has a chance to come of the closet, He joins the Rainbow Connection, his college's GLBTQ social club and steps into a different world, He can finally be himself, Beau finds friends in his gay student alliance especially a close friendship with Vin, the alliance's president, As the semester passes, the two men become closer, good friends and lovers, Unfortunately during this time, there are homophobic attacks, Beau's family who knows nothing about Beau being gay and Vin's family secrets to deal with.
Is it readable
Yes, However there are minor editing issues, It's funny at times, not overly sweet and felt more realistic in tone, It'snew adult and read like one, Both MC's are real characters with real life issues, And faceted characters always make for a better read, in my opinion, And I love dual POV!
There was an ease with Beau that I enjoyed, He was closeted for most of his life and some things were new for him to experience hooking up with a man, experiencing homophobia first hand, etc.
but he never took the coward's way out and confronted them head on, I really felt like I knew Beau, When he dealt with his family, it was great, Can I say my favorite part of the book is with Aunt Lucy and Beau It pulled on a heartstring or two.
I also enjoyed the author letting Beau explore before jumping into a relationship, If that is not your thing and you want automatic sexy times between the MC's, you might not like the book.
The MC's are friends first, months pass and no hooking up between the two until about twothirds in And since Beau was a gay virgin, I liked the pacing of the sex.
The sex is not explicit and sometimes not graphic at all, I wouldn't classify in the Erotica category, It was steamy for a couple of parts,
Vin was a rich character that I actually believed was rich, There have been a number of romances where authors introduce a rich character and basically name drop and include trips to their dream vacations but not read realistic.
Vin was spoiled and he likes to spoil his friends when he can, But there was more to him just being rich, Besides having one of the weirdest names I've read Vinyl Elvis, he was also an enjoyable character, He sort of knows who he is but is still learning, I liked being inside his head, watching him fall for his friend, his reasoning for not asking Beau out from the moment he met him.
Both characters are likeable, they acted their age, make mistakes and move on mostly, And there was time to get to know each other which I also enjoyed,
Issues Yes, Beau was a country boy through and through, However sometimes he plied his accent a little too think, his dialogue to match, I'm not the biggest fan, Sometimes he played this up but I didn't feel it was necessary, The most glaring problem transitioning, It can be jarring when you're not sure when the next chapter will start, sometimes it time jumped a day, a number of days, months ahead.
There were a number of chapters that ended at odd points, coupling with the odd time jumps with sometimes no foreshadowing, makes reading "Roll" not as smooth as it could have been.
Would I read more from the author Yes, I definitely will read more of this series, I'm not sure if it plans to follow the couple throughout which I don't think is necessary or will introduce new characters since the Rainbow Connection GLBTQ club is good setup for fresh new characters.
The secondary characters from the group and Vin's bodyguard/driver were great!
The story does end with a cliffhanger of sorts but it's more geared towards one of the main character and has nothing to do with their relationship.
The story ends with the boys' relationship in a good spot, No other man lurking in the wings, if you're hesitant,
A good read, not without issues but I liked overall, .