Between Sinners and Saints

De: Marie Sexton

Narrado por: John Solo

Levi Binder is a Miami bartender who cares about only two things: sex and surfing. Ostracized by his Mormon family for his homosexuality, Levi is determined to live his life his own way, but everything changes when he meets massage therapist Jaime Marshall.

Jaime is used to being alone. Haunted by the horrors of his past, his only friend is his faithful dog, Dolly. He has no idea how to handle somebody as gorgeous and vibrant as Levi.

Complete opposites on the surface, Levi and Jaime both long for something they can find only together. Through love and the therapeutic power of touch, they'll find a way to heal each other, and they'll learn to live as sinners in a family of saints.

©2011 Amber Quill Press, LLC (P)2015 Marie Sexton

Lovely

When the sinner becomes a saint because he’s a sinner. An absolutely amazing story about redemption, forgiveness and happiness.

Thoughtful slow burn, happy ever after gay romance

'Between Sinners and Saints’ by Marie Sexton epitomizes the thoughtful, slow burn but ‘happy ever after’ gay romance novel.

As vividly brought to life through John Solo’s perfect narration, the story of a developing trust and eventual love between Levi Binder, a 30 year old Mormon bar tender, and Jaime Marshall, a frightened, lonely massage therapist, is incredibly moving.

As the story begins in Miami, Levi is interested in only two things - surfing and sex. Jaime is leading a troubled existence with only his work and his dog, Dolly, to fill his days.

The situation changes - slowly - when Levi is referred to Jamie for help with recurring muscle and nerve pain.

Addressing some of life’s most difficult issues such as abuse, rape, and the destructive nature of the beliefs of many organized religions, Sexton certainly doesn’t sugar coat their traumatic effect.

Ultimately though, through patience and understanding, Levi and Jamie find the love and happiness they both truly desire.

With increasing family acceptance, they move to Charleston, SC to begin their new life together where they realize their own ‘happy ever after’ ending.

A Must Read! Worth 100 Stars!

What made the experience of listening to Between Sinners and Saints the most enjoyable?

This story is about sacrificing your old habits and putting someone special first.
Levi is real shallow and take risks he shouldn't have. Then he realized that sleeping around wasnt everything. He had alot to give up before he round all of his rewards and learns family is everything.
Fantastic story and should be on your wish list for Christmas.

WONDERFUL M/M ROMANCE!

This was such a wonderful m/m story about putting someone else first. I just loved Levi and Jaime. I loved how tender and patient Levi was with Jaime. I felt so story for what happened to Jaime but with time and the love of Levi he was able to move pass his tragic pass. I'm so glad that Levi and his family were able to overcome their issues with him being gay. John Solo did a great job narrating the book.

Heavy on religion

Not a bad story, and, unfortunately the LDS church position on homosexuality and gay marriage are real issues for many families - but the religious aspects of this novel are not just incidental to the story. It wasn’t a “light” read, even with an unlikely HEA.

Good narration; okay story

Any additional comments?

I thought John Solo did a really good job with the narration - conveying the situations presented and narrating the different character voices. I enjoyed the narration and wouldn't mind picking up other stories narrated by him.

What I liked most:
~ I loved this is a hurt/comfort story that deals with some really heavy subject matters.
~ I loved the story is told from both Levi and Jamie's POV.
~ I loved Jamie and the way Sexton handles Jamie's past trauma, the aftermath, and, ultimately, his healing. Jamie is what kept me going through the story.

I eventually liked Levi, especially his handling of Jamie and Jamie's past. It helped my respect for his character to grow, which is good because I really hated him for the first 50% of the story, then mostly disliked him for the next 10%, then eventually liked him. His actions, thoughts, behavior...I wanted to punch him. But he grows, through his love of Jamie, and that helped me like him better.

I knew going in that the story has an association with religious themes, so I didn't find the subject matter to be surprising. I did find it heavy handed at times, but those times usually passed pretty quickly and I tried not to dwell on them. Levi's family, and their religious battering, no matter how well intentioned, grated at me terribly even as I respected their growth and willingness to alter their opinions.

Ultimately, the story is about the power of healing, family and love. Fans of hurt/comfort should check this out, especially the audio version.

Such a good story about the real meaning of faith

I've always liked Marie Sexton's stories and not for the first time, I feel that they have a larger meaning than just what the words represent. I'm not a religious person, so it is amazing to me that there is such belief in old stories written by man and acted upon by people who say they are doing God work or hurting someone in Gods name. Those who use faith as a way to isolate and condemn human beings for not living or believing the same thing. Whenever I hear about those who put those religious beliefs before love and the well-being of a member of your own flesh and blood is truly appalling to me. I'm glad that through this story, we were given a view of how one family might handle the difference in beliefs and still manage to love each other. To me, that is a true sign of God.

Such a sweet story

When I saw this book was on audible I was so excited because I’ve read my kindle version too many times to count and just had to have the audio version! I was a little iffy on the voice but it honestly grows on you after a while and by the end I couldn’t imagine Jamie or Levi with a different voice!

A Master Story Teller

After reading two of her books — this one and “Damned if You Do” — I think that Marie Sexton has mastered storytelling in the niche she’s chosen, gay romance. How can a woman nail us gay men so well? Beats me, but she describes our sex when it’s hot as if she’s right there between our sweaty bodies.

Sexton makes her characters real because she takes us INSIDE their experience in way that few fiction writers can.

John Solo’s world-class performance helps to make it all deeper than story, and more human.

I was trained to know and savor literature, with a doctorate from an Ivy League school whose name is a four-letter word. I share this not to brag, but to say that I’ve used all that training here, and that I don’t lavish this kind of praise often.

She’s good.

A heart felt look at both sides of the coin.

What I loved:
The way that the family still lived each other even though they had such differences in opinions.
The relationship between the two main characters. Levi isn't a saint and it is hard for him to be patient in the beginning. Jamie wasnt a complete martyr who could do no wrong. They are both written so realistically.
Narration was great!
It dealt with very rough subjects. It was hard to listen to at some points but dealt with very well.