Life After Joe by Harper Fox
M/M Romance
June 28, 2010
EBook
Carina Press
Why I read: Two of my favorite authors LB Gregg and Josh Lanyon both recommended this book.
Favorite Quote: …and when I returned the embrace in kind – hesitantly, because something about him made me shy, even after my recent performances – he smiled against my ear. Ah yes.
Matthew is no longer with the love of his life, Joe who left him for a woman, and he is not handling it well. He spends his days missing school and rounds as he tries to become a doctor, and spends his nights drunk, on pills, and having sex with any warm body he can find at the clubs. He is lost, and seriously spiraling out of control.
One night at a club, he notices a very attractive man at the bar. This man happens to be Aaron, an oil rigger home on break. They make eye contact, but at that moment, Joe is busily going down on another man – that is until he gets thrown out of the club. As he is walking home, Aaron saves him from a brutal beating. Something clicks between Aaron and Matt and they soon become inseparable. Aaron helps Matt deal with his drinking and drug use, and Matt knows he is giving Aaron comfort, but he is not sure why he needs it. Problems arise when a mystery person named Rosie comes out of Aaron’s past and Matt’s past is about to haunt him too when Joe comes crawling back.
Life After Joe is a dark book that gives us a story told in Matt’s point of view and it is of a man who is very broken. He literally does not care about his life anymore. He cannot fathom a life without Joe in it, Joe he has known since his teenage years. So he has decided to self destruct, and it is not a pretty picture. Aaron arrives on the scene as his angel of hope. Actually Aaron tells Matt, why don’t you just not drink,and Matt goes, Oh. Like that thought never occurred to him. And then he pretty much stops. It seemed a very easy solution for a man who is apparently that far involved in drugs and alcohol. At the same time, I like the raw, gritty details Harper Fox gives Matt. He does everything to the extreme, and then goes home to this perfectly clean, lonely house. The contrast really stands out.
We don’t learn a lot about Aaron. By the end his history is revealed more and we understand why he latches onto Matt. BUT – I wanted to know more about him. I know he has green eyes and is a sexy lover. Although this is told through Matt’s voice, I still think there could have been more time devoted to getting to know Aaron.
This is a different type of story. I was intrigued the entire time I read it and there is something intense and dramatic between these two men. For all chaos Matt throws out, he is a very endearing character and you just can’t help the “awww” factor when Aaron comes in to take care of him.
Life After Joe is the debut book by Harper Fox and I hope to see more from her in the future.
Rating: 3.5/5
Recent Reviews:
Jessewave – 4.5/5
Love to Read for Fun – 3.5/5
I really love the sound of both men and I never grow tired of a dark and gritty story. I'm going to check out this CP release for sure :)
Great review Mandi!
I too saw this on LB Gregg's site and just had to have it. I had some problems getting into the book initially. I think it was the long sentence structure – at times I lost the thought of what the author was talking about. But other than that I really liked it!
It took me a few pages to get into the writing, too – I think we're awfully used to really simple sentence structure! I got sniffly several times while reading, too.
I like intense and dramatic. Nice review Mandi.
I'm going to read this too. I saw Gregg's and Lanyon's recs as well which piqued my interest. Loved your review!
I was looking at this one but think it might be too depressing for me. Nice review :)
Sexy and green eyes, yes I would have wanted more too. But as long as as the story works I am fine.
Thanks for the review that sounds like one I'm going to have to get ahold of.
Dark and gritty and m/m. I can't wait to read it. Thank you Mandi for a fantastic review!