“Garrett O’Mahony would like to be your friend on Facebook.”
This is new. This is something I never expected to happen.
Garrett has ignored me for the best part of a decade, ever since we lived together, ever since he snuck out of my life, too afraid to admit who he was and how he felt.
Now, Garrett O’Mahony is one of the best rugby players Ireland has seen in years. Back then, he was my roommate; back then, he was just another Irish-man desperately trying to convince himself that he wasn’t gay.
I’ve changed since then. Ireland has changed since then. I don’t know if Garrett has changed too. But I guess there’s only one way to find out?
I work with the public. If you are out there with me, working with the public, you are well aware that the world has its fair share of assholes. When I open my kindle I want to escape. I yearn to shut out the crabby, grumpy, angry people. I don’t want to read about them. Unless by chance this asshole redeems themselves…well, that’s a different story altogether. But if the angry jerk is still an angry jerk at the end? I’m probably not going to be a happy camper.
Darren is a bitchy, whiny, bitter guy. He may have his reasons, but nevertheless, he’s not a joy to be around. And it’s even worse in his head. Sadly, this is where I was stuck for 98 pages. Before we get too far, I have another bone to pick. Overuse of words drive me crazy. Especially when it’s fuck. I’ve complained about this before, but here it is again. It’s a personal peeve, and I swear I’m not a total prude, but the repetition of fuck is a sure way to lose me as a reader. There are a lot of solid reasons to use incorporate fuck into a story but it can also be used a lazy filler. 312 times in 98 pages. That’s overkill and annoying in my reading preference list.
Back to Darren and his sour attitude.
Things begin in the present and then we alternate with flashbacks to the past. Darren is shocked when Garrett reaches out to him after several years of complete radio silence. They were roommates for a short period in college and the flashbacks return us to this time in the past. Garrett is a rugby player and a damn good one at that. During college Garrett is on the hunt for a new roomie and Darren is the lucky winner. Darren is gay. Garrett is not. Or maybe not. Errr, perhaps? They share a few moments of incomplete passion and everything shatters. I didn’t buy it. I didn’t buy the romance, the broken heart, or Garrett running off.
Things were also really inconsistent. First his dick is kinda small and then it’s the biggest dick he’s ever seen. Okay? Next Darren’s tending the wounds of his broken heart (for years!) and then he tells us that maybe Garrett broke his heart. What? There was a great deal of contradictory information that left my face puzzled with confusion.
Since I’m dishing it all out, I’ll also admit the sex was not my cuppa. Fuzzy bears don’t bother me, but licking sweat and diving nose first into a hairy armpit did not start any sexy fires for me. Totally cool if that’s your thing, it’s just not mine.
When it boils down to it, we are only given a few days, which span over eight years. It wasn’t enough. I’m sorry to say, I felt nothing but frustration with this Irishman and his ‘tight end’.
I DID love the ‘Code’ at the intro…it was by far my favorite part of the book.