Down Low

Down Home, Book 1

By: Parker St. John

Narrated by: Daniel James Lewis

Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

His broken bones could finally mend their broken bond....

Bull-riding was the only thing that calmed the thrill-seeking, self-destructive beast inside of Calvin Craig. It allowed him to escape a small-minded town and the pain of his troubled youth, fleeing to bright lights and big city fame without looking back.

One trip on the horns of the wrong bull changed everything. Cal is forced to come crawling back home for the first time in 10 years, his body broken and his riding days behind him. But not everyone is happy for the return of their local celebrity.

Eli Jackson was once the tall, dark, and sinful preacher’s son who had Cal wrapped around his little finger. Now the steely-eyed sheriff of Sweetwater, Eli is hell-bent on running him right back out of town. He’s never forgiven Cal for the spectacular implosion of their relationship. Even though the lingering tension soon has them burning up the sheets, he refuses to be tamed.

Cal is surprised to find himself rising to a new challenge: breaking the bull that is Eli Jackson. He might have run out of luck, but he’s not out of miracles...yet.

©2020 Parker St. John (P)2021 Parker St. John

I give up

I tried, I really tried to like this book. It's so nice to read a book, for one thing, about actual gay guys, and not "I thought I was straight until I met you" tropes. I liked the narrator a lot. I liked the fact that Eli is the sheriff, and I like books that take place in a small town. And the writing was very good.

However, as soon as we were introduced to Cal's sister Faith, the book went downhill very quickly. Faith is the worst type of character in literature--a character who is completely loathsome, but the author, and consequently the other characters, are unaware of how loathsome she is. From the beginning, she does nothing but rage at Cal, for... well, I never really understood what she was so mad at. Cal was abused, and escaped, and she's angry that he wasn't around for her. No, it doesn't matter that he sent her money, and how DARE he question what she did with it (spoiler alert: she bought drugs). Yes, she makes very little money now, has a child with a felon, and lives in a hovel, and that's Cal's fault too. And Cal feels guilty about it because he agrees that it's his fault.

But WHY? Why is it his fault? Sisters, as Annie Lennox has reliably informed me, have been doing it for themselves since at least the 80's. Faith is an adult, and yet she blames all her problems on Cal, though she never really explains exactly why. Oh, he was horribly abused? Well get over it!

This would be fine--terrible people exist in the world, after all, people who blame their own problems on everyone else--except for the fact that the author clearly agrees with Faith. YES, she shouts as loudly as she can from every sentence on every page, it is CAL'S FAULT that Faith is in the mess she got herself in. He's RIGHT to feel guilty, and the rest of the book will be Cal's atonement for his many sins, of which we're aware of none. And it's not just Faith--Eli treats Cal like he's diseased, because, as far as I can tell, Cal left him when Eli refused to come out for him. A sad situation and not entirely Eli's fault, but a perfectly legitimate reason to break up with someone, honestly. Cal meets an acquaintance from his youth in a diner who stood by and watched Cal be beaten horribly by the class bully, and cheered him on. "You just stood there while I was beaten to a pulp!" Cal accuses. "Well," he responds, "You sort of deserved it." REALLY???

So a book that held a lot of promise for the first, oh, let's say half hour, became an absolute slog. I began to find excuses to listen to other books, or read something else, or watch television, or just about ANYTHING else but listen to more abuse get heaped upon this poor character who honestly did nothing, as far as I can tell, to deserve it. It began to feel as though the rest of the book would be Cal's redemption, and I resent the fact that the author feels as though he has anything to redeem himself for. He was in a horrible, abusive situation and he got out of it. He was a kid. End of story. I don't want to finish. If I read a spoiler somewhere that Faith falls down a manhole at some point, or accidentally gets her face caught in a thresher, I might finish it someday. Until then, I give up.

A beautiful and emotional top-of-the-shelf story!

Another stellar writer I’m a lifetime fan of, has shown me what talent and dedication is. Author St. John pulls me into a story and doesn’t let go; I’m engaged in every word, situation and thought that she puts her MCs in and I saw the scenes, felt the emotions and pain, building towards the HEA. An authentic romance. That is what talent brings you. And Daniel James Lewis didn’t tell me a story, he made me live the story of Cal and Eli. Brilliant! I’m looking out for Down and Dirty, narrated by Daniel James Lewis. ❤️

Second chance success

This was a much better book than I expected based on the first reviewers comments that appeared below the story summary. That reviewer felt Cal’s sister, and Eli his old lover, were mean and hateful to an extreme degree. My take was that there were hurt feelings because Cal left abruptly, no goodbyes, and didn’t come back for a decade. Cal felt he had good reason to leave and not look back. When he returns from 10 years in the rodeo circuit he’s broke and injured. Parker St. John then weaves Cal back into the lives he deserted. At first the three protagonists are at odds and lots of mean words are exchanged. Over time, and after Cal becomes a hero through a selfless act, each character shares their experience and feelings and it turns out that there was a break down in understanding fueling resentment. Cal failed to communicate, he was young and selfish, but he was in an untenable situation those ten years ago and just escaped. I think the author did a good job revealing the underlying layers of emotion and responses each character possessed. Humans are complex and when misunderstandings and mistakes occur between one another, it’s not an easy task to sort things out. And forgiveness is not a given.
Good narration by Daniel J Lewis, realistic accents.
I enjoyed the book, and think it’s worth a listen.

Don't Let That Bad Review Stop You!

It makes me a little crazy that the first review that pops up for this book is a negative one because the reader disliked an ancillary character. I didn't have to try to like this book. It pulled me in from the beginning. The main character is a bull rider coming back home to his only family, his estranged little sister, his only family, because he has nowhere else to go. He's suffered a career-ending injury and sold most of his possessions to pay medical bills and rehab. He's coming home to the place his heart was broken as a gay kid. His sister, who has a young child, is not overjoyed to see him. Even though he sent her money when his career was going well, he walked out of her life when he was 17 and she was 12, leaving her in the care of an alcoholic uncle, and has not been a part of her life since then. She's obviously struggling financially and not overjoyed to see him. And then, there's the man who broke his heart when he was 17--back in town and working as a deputy sheriff. I really enjoyed this book and wish that the next two books in the series were available. I've followed bull-riding over the years, a dangerous sport where the question isn't if you'll get hurt, but when. I found the characters likeable, and their individual realities relatable. I've listened to this books several times ,and if the next books in the series came out on Audible, I'd race to buy it. While the narrator isn't perfect, he's very good. If you like complex characters and m/m romance or a western/rodeo setting, please don't let a bad review deter you. Try this book. I loved it. You may, too.

Best purchase I’ve made yet!

I don’t usually do a full review for books but I had to for this one! The narrator did an amazing job not only bringing the story off the page but conveying the emotion too! I found myself captivated and often stopping whatever I’m doing to just sit and listen. Will definitely be listening to it more than once!

A load of bull

The strange over excited narration style, not apparent from the sample, made this tale difficult to continue with. Gave up 1.5hrs in.

Easily arroused feelings if injustice

The drama in this book leans heavily on one source: injustice. If only X knew more about Y.... Keep your characters from communicating. State they are stubborn to hide poor craftsmanship. And maybe nobody will notice this story is very thin an unoriginal.

Didn’t like Eli

The story seemed written well and the narration was good, but the characters and dynamics were really flawed. I really disliked Eli and never came round to forgiving him for the way he acted. The whole town failed Cal and were dismissive of what he went through, and Cal ends up doing everything for everyone, and they don’t do anything for him. This book left a bitter taste in my mouth and I would hope for better for Cal.

Amazing 💥

Omg this was amazing I love every minute
narrator was fantastic well written can't wait for the next one💖