The Same Breath

The Lamb and the Lion, Book 1

De: Gregory Ashe

Narrado por: J.F. Harding

Teancum Leon, who goes by Tean, is a wildlife veterinarian. His life has settled into a holding pattern: He loves his job, he hates first dates, and he only occasionally has to deal with his neighbor Mrs. Wish’s cat-related disasters.

All of that changes, though, when a man appears in his office, asking for help to find his brother. Jem is convinced that something bad has happened to Benny, and he thinks Tean might be able to help. Tean isn’t sure, but he’s willing to try. After all, Jem is charming and sweet and surprisingly vulnerable. Oh. And hot.

Then things get strange: Phone calls with no one on the other end of the line; surveillance footage that shows what might be an abduction; a truck that tries to run Tean and Jem off the road. As Tean and Jem investigate, they realize that Benny might have stumbled onto a conspiracy and that someone is willing to kill to keep the truth from coming out.

But not everything is as it seems, and Tean suspects that Jem has been keeping secrets of his own.

©2020 Gregory Ashe (P)2021 Gregory Ashe

Astounding!! I love these two!!

Wow!
Simply, wow!

These two characters are so very different from each other: one a wildlife vet, the other a grifter.

What they have in common is trying to find a missing man: a friend to one, a brother to the other.

The mystery of missing Benny leads them into dangerous territory. As much as this aspect of the story hooked me, what really drew me in was how the two men interacted with each other.

They were awkward, funny, real, and shielded. I kept waiting for secrets to drop, for tidbits of truth to come out & it had me on a wonderful edge.

Tean, the vet, made me laugh with his constant grim statistics. Jem, the con man, delighted me with his quick thinking. Both men held pain in their past, and they slowly, so very slowly let it out.

The two do solve the mystery. The two do get together. Tean does find out about Jem’s past. Do they get past it? In a way.

Are they still together at the end? As Jem said, like two rovers on the opposite sides of Mars.

Can I wait for the next audiobook? No!! I may have to read the next one straightaway!!

Things to watch out for:
1. Tean’s ex/not ex/but is married/and Mormon. He’s a piece of work.
2. Tean’s inability to say no.
3. Jem’s lies & cons.
4. Trivia.
5. SLT traffic.

Great performance by JF Harding, although a few times I had trouble telling Jem and Tean apart.

Awesome!

I keep coming back to this authors books because it’s hard to find anything about gay people that isn’t either too artsy or too pornographic. I like mysteries and like when the romantic interest isn’t straight, because I already have to live in the world. But his other series are so unrelentingly depressing that I keep saying I just don’t prefer this author. So glad I read this book!! I do like that he writes about the terrible things that are true in the world. But there is matter of fact-ness and humor in this book that reflect the resilience which can also be true. The characters are both flawed and likable and they show growth over the book without becoming perfect. The narration is excellent! Can’t wait for the next installment of the story.

slow start

So glad I stuck it out ! Great narration & story. Slow start keep going!

A Great Combination

One of the best gay-themed authors combined with one of the very best readers makes for a very enjoyable audiobook. The main characters are fully 3 dimensional, maybe a little broken and really, really interesting. The plot has multiple twists. It's believable story line and not too messagey - the bad guys are individuals, not some faceless, evil corporation..

Beautifully narrated by J. F. Harding!

What an incredible breath of fresh air Mr. Ashe gives us with this novel that takes place around Salt Lake City, Utah. We encounter Teancum Leon a veterinarian who works for the Division of Wildlife Resources whose staid life has disrupted a series of disturbing events that start shortly before Benny--a crusader for mother earth--is driven away in a dark SUV. Benjamin Guthall's foster brother Jeremiah (Jem) Berger solicits Tean's help to locate him as it appears a conspiracy is behind his abduction. This book combines so many elements incredibly well! We read of the beauty of the Salt Lake City area where Mr. Ashe invests time and words describing the topography, flora, and fauna. We see two very different men come together and grow through their circumstances, especially their relationship with each other. Each man has experienced and processed life very differently. Tean is a gay Mormon with all the baggage that comes with it including the deeply disturbing relationship he has with a married bisexual Mormon police detective. Jem is an illiterate con man that suffered severe emotional, sexual, and physical abuse as a child. Both find each other and hold on desperately as the mystery unfolds and come to a conclusion revealing greed, manipulation, and corruption.

Wow – Really Interesting Story

The Same Breath is the first book in a unique mystery series with a slowburn romance that spans the books. The plot was well crafted with fascinating and interesting characters. Tean and Jem are complicated men with flaws and blindspots which add a level of depth to their characterization. I truly enjoyed this book, and the audiobook was just as enjoyable and entertaining.

Slower but still great

This series, after coming from Hazard & Somerset, is definitely a little slower. Though that being said, I still THOROUGHLY enjoyed it. I adore how unique Tean is, and the way he sees things always makes me laugh.

Interesting and intriguing

I love the narrator. Jem and Tean are opposites and their characters are great. I do feel like Tean is Eeyore always seeing the dark clouds in everything. There is a lot going on but overall I liked it.

4.5 Tean and Jem stars

This was amazing and so much fun. JF Harding did an amazing job bringing the characters to life, especially while delivering Tean’s dry sarcastic humor that not many people get. I found myself loling so hard.

“People suck,” Tean said, letting Scipio off the leash. The dog park was busy on Friday afternoon, and Scipio ran off to join Bear, a hundred-and-thirty-pound St. Bernard who dwarfed Tean’s black Lab but had still become a regular playmate.
“Ok,” Hannah said with a sigh.

I agree with you Tean, People suck.

The Same Breath is another amazing series from Gregory Ashe, at this point I am just a stan and with this book my stan level has gone up. This one is set in Utah and I loved the scenery description.

MCs:

Tean – A wildlife geeky veterinarian, who loves his job and animals. I fell in love with Tean. His geeky, weird sense of humor and good heart drew me in. He is so naïve sometimes and very relatable. Damn! Tean got under my skin and is going to stay there permanently. He is just so lovable and adorable.

Jem – Jem! Jem! Where do I start? What a complex, heartbreaking, annoying, lovable character. One-minute I wanted to hug him, the next to strangle him. What a piece of work, but at the same time he is relatable too. Jem is your everyday guy, the one that your mom, sister, brother and everyone in your village warns you about, but you can’t hear them because he is broken and adorable.

The mystery was interesting, and kept me glued to the end. The characters we meet along the way were very interesting.

Tean and Jem are two opposites but they got some mad chemistry and work well together. I am really interested to see how their relationship will develop. Their conversations and trivias were fun and very enjoyable. I love that Jem got Tean’s sense of humor.

Ammom can just go to purgatory, that said, I did get why he was here and his character is not that bad once you understand where he is coming from.

This is a great start to what I hope will be an amazing series.

A copy of the Audiobook was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Nature Nerds!

Really glad I gave this audiobook another try - I love Tean!

Can we have more wildlife nature nerds as romantic leads, please? The outdoor elements and science facts sprinkled in were a great addition to the mystery and romance, and I'm very curious how the rest of the series will play out.