About Life or Something Scary like That
Written by TC Blue
131 pages/55000 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-323-9, 1-60370-323-3
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When Jack Cutler's roommate Paul ditches him to move in with his pregnant
girlfriend, Melissa, he recommends someone else to take his place: Melissa's
brother, Cliff. Cliff is young and hot, but Jack is sure that Cliff is straight. And even once
Jack learns the truth, he knows he's not right for Cliff. Cliff wants the real
thing, commitment, and Jack's not heading down that path again. When jealousy
flares once Cliff starts dating someone, Jack must re-evaluate his position on
long-term relationships and whether he wants to risk one with Cliff.
When Cliff gets sick, the shaky foundation of Jack and Cliff's relationship is
tested. Even so, sometimes true love really does conquer all, for the moment,
anyway.
Review
Alexa Snow, author of Clear Cut and Sleeping Stone, writes: When Jack's
best friend Paul bails on their new roommate situation in the first week
in favor of living with his pregnant girlfriend, Paul offers up a
questionable solution -- for his girlfriend Melissa's brother to move in
instead. It's not as if Jack can say no; he can't afford to pay for the
apartment on his own. So Cliff -- gorgeous, buff, almost certainly
*straight* Cliff -- moves in, and Jack is instantly attracted to him.
But it isn't until Cliff gets himself into some trouble that Jack
discovers his feelings for his roommate are deeper than he'd realized.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable story from start to finish. The
characters are smart and self-aware, the writing smooth and colloquial.
It's the kind of story that is nearly effortless to read, and one in
which the supporting characters are almost as much fun as the main ones.
A charming, modern romance that's definitely worth your time -- don't
miss it!
Sample
Jack was still grinning happily as he nearly trotted up the single flight of stairs to his new apartment. Of course, he figured he had good reason.
Here he was, just entering his second year in the graduate program, and he was finally off-campus. He’d found an amazing two bedroom place that was actually affordable, which was a minor miracle in that part of Southern California, and was close enough that he could walk to the university in under half an hour if he felt like the exercise. The second bedroom was going to be occupied by his best friend Paul, who was in a different department but shared the same busy schedule, which only made things better.
It was going to be different, and Jack knew it, but not by much. He and Paul had been roommates for the last five years, after all. They knew each other better than they knew pretty much anybody.
Hell, Jack figured, the main difference was likely to be the fact that they now had their own bedrooms, which meant no long, boring nights hanging out at the student union because Paul was "getting busy" with his longtime girlfriend Melissa.
By the same token, it was going to be damned fine to have a place to bring someone, himself. Assuming he ever hooked up with anyone for more than a quick dance and grope against the back wall of the Frat House.
Maybe, he thought with a grin, he'd actually make the time to try to find someone. Not an actual boyfriend, of course, because he couldn't do that, but at least a semi-regular companion of sorts. Someone he could take his time taking the edge off with. He couldn't really look for more, and he knew it. There just wasn't enough time in the day to deal with research, his TA gig, and working on his master's, and still have an actual relationship… even if he'd wanted one. He had no idea how Paul managed it.
Still, something more than nameless, meaningless hand jobs in a limited number of dark corners would be good.
Jack had moved most of his things in over the weekend and had even gotten Paul's boxes put into the other bedroom, though he hadn't bothered with unpacking his friend's things. Paul had always been extremely picky about his stuff, which Jack totally understood. No matter how close they were, he wouldn't want Paul pawing through his things, either.
His grin didn't fade even slightly when he unlocked the door and went inside, finding a surprisingly still Paul-less silence. The guy was obviously running late. He probably got caught up in traffic or something. Or he might have gone by Melissa's place first, which would mean that Jack might not see him until some time the next day. Those two crazy, lovestruck kids had been apart for more than a month, after all; they were probably anxious to get reacquainted.
"Ah, young love," he said to himself, chuckling even as he flung himself down on the large, bright red leather sectional couch that was his father's contribution to the new apartment -- not that it had been a hardship for Tom Cutler to give it up. The damned thing had been sitting in his basement for years, and regardless of what the man said, Jack seriously doubted his dad had been saving it for the day Jack "became a real grown up with a home of his own." Of course, the tiny dig had been accompanied by a grin that was teasing enough that Jack hadn't been able to take offense. Not that he'd wanted to, of course, because while his dad might not understand Jack's pursuit of education, the man was still damned proud of him.