Knight of Ocean Avenue

By: Tara Lain

Narrated by: K.C. Kelly

Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's Summary

How can you be 25 and not know you're gay? Billy Ballew runs from that question. A high school dropout, barely able to read until he taught himself, Billy's life is driven by his need to help support his parents as a construction worker, put his sisters through college, coach his Little League team, and not think about being a three-time loser in the engagement department. Being terrified of taking tests keeps Billy from getting the contractor's license he so desires, and fear of his mother's judgment blinds Billy to what could make him truly happy.

Then, in preparation for his sister's big wedding, Billy meets Shaz - alias Chase Phillips - a rising-star celebrity stylist who defines the word gay. To Shaz, Billy embodies everything he's ever wanted - stalwart, honest, brave - but even if Billy turns out to be gay, he could never endure the censure he'd get for being with a queen like Shaz. How can two men with so little in common find a way to be together? Can the Stylist of the Year end up with the Knight of Ocean Avenue?

©2015 Tara Lain (P)2015 Dreamspinner Press

Light and slow for me

This story was too slow paced and uneventful for me. I don't think there was anything the narrator did but I was easily bored. I know many people like angst free reading, but I am not one of them. i don't need it overly angsty but this one was just meh on the emotional draw for me.

I found Billy's confusion as to his sexuality a tad baffling at his age, but I liked the growth in him as a result his relationship with Shaz. Shaz, on the other hand, was too over the top for me. While Billy was just oblivious and clueless, Shaz was like Boy George's cousin. I just couldn't connect with anyone in this novel though I found the family dynamics interesting.

If you like light and fluffy, then you will probably love this one.

*Special thanks to Dreamspinner Audio for the audiobook given in exchange for an honest review.

Great coming out listen

This was a wonderful coming out/GFY story about Billy, a blue collar construction worker who is 25 and can't figure out why none of his relationships with women work out. He has a close knit family and a domineering mother who is always putting pressure on him to settle down with a nice woman. Then he meets Chase (aka - Shaz) and his world is rocked; in a good way. The story is told from both POVs, which I love because I want to know what each character is feeling. There is a little drama, a little angst and a lot of good feeling; it is a great comfort listen. The narrator does a really good job on most of the characters, except Rue, Chase's best friend. Both Rue and Chase are out and proud flamboyant gay men and I think he just goes slightly over board with Rue. He interpretation of Chase and Billy are spot on. Overall, I really enjoyed it.

Fantastic!

Everything I was looking for!

I hesitated to try this book because other reviews complaining about Rue being over-the-top, even borderline a homophobic portrayal of a gay guy. that's ridiculous. the truth is lots of gay guys are just like that, art reflecting life and all that. several of the best laugh out loud comments in the book for me came from his calm comments.

that being said, I loved the lead characters in this book! an unlikely couple for sure, but together they do a great job of describing the various shades of the gay experience. playful light happy, a colorful cast, and a believable setting. if you're looking for an enjoyable story with gay characters enjoying love and sex together, this is the book for you!

Good story with the wrong narrator

This was a charming story. The characters were a little implausible but it was sweet and charming and fun. The identity politics are handled with a degree of strength by the MCs and because of that the happy ending was earned which isn’t something all romances can say, especially not the fluffy ones like this.

The downfall of this audio book is the narrator and how utterly tone deaf he is to the subject matter. He sounds far too old and his execution of the more effite gay men was borderline offensive. There has to be a way to read effeminate men w/o sounding ludicrous and mildly offensive. His Shazz was bad enough but his Ru was awful beyond belief. I am just staggered by the fact that with a story about self-acceptence as the theme, the narrator doubled down on hypercamp as their go-to way of reading gay men so that you will know FOR SURE that he's reading a gay man. Even for the characters who were, in fact, campy it seemed over the top and he also came off as too old for a group for construction workers and fashionistas 20somethings running around SoCal. Take this same voice, cast it on a love story about 40-60 year olds and possibly some actual drag queens and you’d have had a real hit.Hes a genuinely poor match for this series. The narration brought down an otherwise lovely book to the point where I just flipped through the other ebooks in this series rather than getting the audio to find out what happened to the other characters in later books. YMMV but I am totally thrown.

Great story but...

I really enjoyed this book; however, I was not a fan of the narrator's voice for Ru AT ALL - it was actually really off-putting. It probably doesn't help that I listened to Ru's story right before this one though. I usually listen to audio books' full series back to back, and one of the things that really bugs me about audio books in general is having the same characters throughout the series with different voices - regardless of whether or not the narrator is the same. Thankfully in Ru's book, he doesn't sound anything like he did in this one...

I loved it

Sweet love story of a late bloomer coming out when he finds the right one.
I really liked the characters. The way the story was written, I got to know each one and what they were thinking, which added much more to the story. It’s why I like third person writing way more than first person.
I also liked that the violent prejudice against gays was well expressed but without including graphic violent scenes.
Each character had many sides and we got to see them, some subtle, others with gusto.
Narrator is great, one of my favs.

Love this series.

Sweet and genuine lovable characters, made even better by the amazingly enjoyable narration.
Awesome book.

Definitely worth getting.

This is a series really worth getting. The stories are interesting, funny, and they flow. There is not a dull moment, no unnecessary language or characters, and each book is fun to read or listen to. In this particular book the narrator is really great, I enjoyed him immensely. This is a series worth reading again and again.

Sweet love, Hot sex

The MCs are very sweet together. They build each other up and support one another. A coming out story without all of the usual drama. Which is refreshing. The Love story is slow and they take their time. A nice realistic approach. The sex is hot hot hot.
The Narrator brings the characters to life. I love the voices for the two MCs. The only thing I didn't like was his choice for one of the side characters. Rue's voice got on my nerves. Which was sad because I enjoyed the character.
Overall I really liked the book and the Narrator. I will definitely be searching more from both out.

Fun if predictable

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

It was a fun little romance. While some of the story beats were predictable, the details and some of the dialogue kept me invested.

What about K.C. Kelly’s performance did you like?

Kelly, as always, did a solid job of voicing each of the characters. I think one of his strengths is going between some of the characters.

Any additional comments?

Overall, I would give this a cautious recommendation. While there are moments that are easy to predict, the details leading up to those moments are fun and Lain does a good job of matching the development between Billy and Chase's romance to external factors. Overall, an enjoyable listen.

The cat's meow

The story is a proper feel-good, all obstacles overcome, no lasting contention.
The audio is very good, comfortable narration, hot scenes made hot. Would listen to K.C.Kelly again.
Chase didn't sound as described and the voice for Ru was rather odd, but it didn't hinder enjoyment. Absolutely loved the cat's meows though, they made me grin every time.

loved it

Would you consider the audio edition of Knight of Ocean Avenue to be better than the print version?

have not read the book, but did enjoy the audio edition, The Narration we really great. The different characters were easily distinguished and the reader was not monotonal but his voice flowed like I would imagine it in my head if I had read it .

great story, but the narrator...

I really liked the story and I have no complaints about it. but about the narrator though... he really was good with expressions and I like his voice, EXCEPT the voice he makes when portraying an effeminate character... especially Ru... it sounds more like they have some kind of disability 😕 had to knock off a star for that, sorry.

A true delight

Not many stories such as this are able to treat you to both tasteful description and also treat you to plot and story.

There is a lot to learn from this novel and it's a true delight to come across something that includes a detailed analysis of one's coming out story and the way it affects themselves and their world around them both negatively and most importantly, positively.

Knight of Ocean Avenue is funny, intelligent, sexy, well paced, intense and above all, I can honestly say I cared about every character in this. The fabulous, the devious and the pure of heart.

Superb narration, unhindered by its mature but entertaining content.

A sexy tale that is both generous in the bedroom and treats you like an adult.