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Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance, M/M
Release Date: September 7, 2017
My Rating: 3.5 stars
Summary From Goodreads:
Ben Emerson has lived by his minister father’s rules most of his life. Born into an ultra-conservative church community, he’s finally brave enough to break free and move to San Francisco. Distancing himself certainly helps create a new mindset, but living as an openly gay man takes some getting used to. When he reaches out to Xavier, a childhood friend who lives in the city, Ben isn’t sure how he’ll respond given their thorny history. Ben hopes the familiar connection will help him right some wrongs as well as provide the solace he’s been craving.
Xavier Ramos is who he is, and he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks. Whether it’s eyeliner, nail polish, tattoos or his love of hooking up, he uses his body as a form of self-expression but doesn’t let anyone get too close. When Ben reenters his life, Xavier helps him experience the city and feel comfortable in his own skin. Seeing the world through Ben’s eyes, he begins to wonder if he’s also not living as freely as he thought.
When Xavier challenges Ben’s beliefs about sex, it becomes explosive—for both of them. Xavier breaks apart Ben’s sheltered world and shows him what it’s like to live out loud. The more time they spend together, the more Xavier begins to long for Ben in a different way—one that both surprises and scares him. But real life doesn’t fade into the background, so when Ben’s past comes knocking, old habits are hard to break. Testing the foundation of their deepening connection will take a trust that will either bind them…or tear them apart.
My Thoughts
I was super excited to read Living Out Loud because I really enjoy Christina Lee’s novels. I admit that some of her past works have been more of a hit or miss for me, but Living Out Loud was worth the read.
Living Out Loud follows the story of Ben and Xavier, two guys who used to be best friends until Xavier moved away and they lost contact. Now that Ben is in San Francisco, he decides that he no longer wants to live this sheltered lifestyle and tries to break free from his past. Of course, it won’t be easy to do alone so he takes a chance and contacts Xavier for help. This leads to a whole new point in Ben’s life where he tries things he never would have done before, including a trip to a nude beach and new adventures in the bedroom.
Personally, I felt like the plot of the novel was fairly simplistic (guy tries to live freely with help of another, develops feelings, some drama happens, then the resolution). So while the plot perhaps wasn’t the strongest, I thought the characters definitely made of for it. I honestly don’t know who I like more, Ben or Xavier. I love how Xavier is so carefree about himself. He’s out and proud about it, and he’s not afraid to just be himself which is something I admired. On the other hand, there’s precious Ben who’s so new to everything and still trying to acclimate himself to his newfound freedom (seriously, I want to protect this child). I really liked his character growth from self-consciousness to self-acceptance and being more open and willing to stand up for himself. I honestly felt sad when finding out the details of his past, and I think his struggle with sex positivity is a relatable theme for people who have similar struggles. I really appreciated how Xavier respected Ben’s boundaries but was also there to give him the little push he needed to explore and come out of his shell. It’s definitely apparent how much Xavier cares about Ben by the way he treats him.
The secondary characters weren’t particularly special/memorable aside from Penny. The rest of the backgrounds character’s didn’t play an integral part of the story (not counting Ben’s family since the plot revolves heavily around the stigmas his family has towards the lgbtq+ community).
The novel is also written in dual POV, which I actually think helped to add a bit more insight to the developing feelings of each character towards one another. The downside was that sometimes Xavier would have some long monologues/thoughts of him just describing things, and I ended skimming some of those paragraphs. The writing style was also a bit repetitive when it came to sex scenes. I get it, Ben is really sexy, you’ve only told me like 10 times already. It isn’t necessary to declare that every time things are getting down and dirty. Lol. But other than that there wasn’t anything else that stuck out to me (in a negative way).
Overall, the plot of Living Out Loud wasn’t as strong as I expected but the character’s definitely drew me in and had me cheering for them the entire time. I highly recommend this book to fans of contemporary romance and M/M.
Excerpt
“Get your ass down here.” He frowns and I pat the floor beside me. “I’m serious, B. Get your ass down here. You can take it off when I’m done if you don’t like it. How doyou know if something’s your style if you’ve never done it?”
I blow on my fingernails trying to get them to dry. Ben doesn’t move right away, but then he slides down to the floor beside me. My pulse kicks up a notch. I don’t know why I want this so much for him. He puts his hand on the table and I paint the first nail.
“I feel stupid,” he tells me.
“Do you think I look stupid with it?”
“Hell no. You look hot but—”
“But nothing. Be quiet and let me work.”
He chuckles. “You’re bossy.”
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” I reply before getting back to work on his nails. His fingers are long, thicker than mine. His hands are beat up from his work, rough and abused with little scratches on them. “I can’t wait till you can touch me. I love rough hands.”
“Oh shit,” he says with a thickness to his voice that tells me he’s getting turned on again.
I finish the first hand before saying, “Now, the other.” He sets that hand on the table, but I grab it, suck one of his fingers into my mouth, even though I hadn’t planned
to touch him again tonight.
“Fuck, Xavier,” he says and his eyes roll back in a way that really gets me hard.
“Good?”
“Yes.”
“You’re trembling,” I tell him as his hand gently shakes.
“That’s because I’m really turned on right now.”
About the authors:
Whether she’s writing young adult, new adult, or adult you can always count on a healthy dose of romance from her books. She likes to tackle tough subjects, and believes everyone needs to see themselves in the stories they read.
Nyrae is living her very own happily ever after in California with her gorgeous husband (who still makes her swoon) and her two incredibly awesome kids.
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| Christina Lee |
Once upon a time, I lived in New York City and was a wardrobe stylist. I spent my days shopping for photo shoots, getting into cabs, eating amazing food, and drinking coffee at my favorite hangouts.
Now I live in the Midwest with my husband and son—my two favorite guys. I've been a clinical social worker and a special education teacher. But it wasn't until I wrote a weekly column for the local newspaper that I realized I could turn the fairytales inside my head into the reality of writing fiction.
I write Adult, New Adult, and M/M Contemporary Romance. I'm addicted to lip gloss and salted caramel everything. I believes in true love and kissing, so writing romance novels has become a dream job.
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