Nachos & Hash

Mary's Boys, Book 1

By: Brandon Witt

Narrated by: Gerrod Larkyn

Length: 3 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's Summary

Darwin Michaels is living his dreams in the Mile High City. While Denver offers the perfect job, scrumptious dining, and whirlwind dating options, Darwin is losing hope he’ll find love - until he sets eyes on Cody Russell.

Cody has just accomplished his life’s goal - get the hell out of Kansas. In one fell swoop, he lands a job at Hamburger Mary’s and gets a newfound family. All that’s missing is someone special. But when Darwin shows his interest, Cody is sure it’s too good to be true. After all, what can Darwin possibly see in the high school dropout serving him nachos?

As Darwin falls in love, Cody struggles to realize his worth. When his past threatens the fragile life he is building, Cody spirals into a moment of dark desperation. But Darwin is determined to show Cody that love and family and home are there for him...if Cody can accept what is offered.

©2020 Brandon Witt, Wings of Ink, Publications, LLC (P)2020 Brandon Witt, Wings of Ink, Publications, LLC

Great characters, emotional story

When this book was released on audio several years ago I listened to it. The narration wasn’t great but the story grabbed me. When I saw the book was being rereleased with a new narrator, I leapt at the opportunity to grab the book. And I’m so glad I did. Gerrod Larkyn was perfect for this series. He had great voices for all the characters including the ones from the south whose accents were important to the story. I enjoyed the book far more with this narrator and plan to dig into the entire series.

Here’s my original review:


Darwin!


Ever since I listened to The Shattered Door, I’ve been waiting to hear Darwin’s story. Being gay in the small town of El Dorado in the Ozarks was really tough on him. He found someone who supported him during a crisis, after which his parents became supportive. He’s been in Denver for a while now, working in a great job with some audacious twin women who are a hoot.


Cody is also a newcomer to Denver, but his story is quite different. This big and accepting city can be overwhelming for a sheltered small-town boy, but he’s landed a gig at Hamburger Mary’s as a bartender. He’s gay, and being around such accepting people is wonderful for him. Other members of the staff are protective of him, so when Darwin shows up and catches Cody’s eye, he has to prove himself worthy of the younger man’s affection. Add in Mandonna the Drag Queen, as well as Steve and Pat, the owners, and it is quite a cast of characters.


This is a novella, so the insta-love is more noticeable, but it’s clear very quickly the two men have more in common than just coming from small towns.


Both men are easy to love. One wants a husband, children, and a family – believing himself worthy of those things. The other would like more than one-night stands. He isn’t sure he is worth more than a quickie, though.


A crisis bonds these men together as Darwin has an opportunity to step up and prove his love for Cody while Cody is finally able to see and accept the truth about his life.


I won’t lie – my heart was with Cody because I know that dark place. I was so glad he had Darwin and, in the end, a family he didn’t even know he had. Since I enjoy all of Brandon’s books, I can’t wait for the next one in the series. Novellas are hard to write, but this one was wonderful.

Emotional listen.

Darwin and Cody's story is an emotional listen that i just love. This story just has such a real aspect that I could feel as I was listening. This is definitely a sweet story but also emotional. However i coildnt get enough of it. Gerrod Larkyn does such a great job with this narration. He bring the emotions right into this story and pulled me even more into this story. Such a beautiful and touching story.

Touching love story with wonderful MC’s!

Expertly written, touching love story with wonderfully authentic MC’s who struggle(d) with mental health issues, which I think is depicted in a convincing and sincere manner. Cody and Darwin fall for each other after a sweet meet-cute, and while part of their connection is definitely adorable and romantic, a kind of sadness also hovers over the story as Cody struggles with depression and low self-esteem as a result of his upbringing. ManDonna and the team at Hamburger Mary’s make up a great cast of secondary characters, a family bringing light and warmth to Darwin’s and Cole’s lives. Only novella-length, but definitely a story that grabs your attention and wreaks havoc on your heart. Recommend!

Narration: Gerrod Larkyn does an amazing job with his performance of Nachos & Hash. His voice is very expressive and uniquely suited for both the humor and the deeper emotions in this story. Every character gets his own, distinct voice that fits their personality perfectly.

Emotional story of healing love

Darwin and Cody were adorable characters who I fell for right away in this sweet, sexy, emotional romance. Darwin was young, but he was in a great place in his life. Now that he was looking for love, he found himself smitten with waiter Cody.
Cody was a bit younger, and he was just experiencing life as an independent gay man. There were still a lot of issues that Cody needed to deal with, and Darwin provided some of the stability he needed. Of course, love isn't the cure for every problem we have, and Cody and Darwin had to go through a very upsetting time. I loved them and rooted for them, and I was very satisfied by the end of this book that the two would be happy and healthy together.
The narrator did a great job. I look forward to listening to more from him.

Sweet story.

I was utterly charmed by Cody from the start. He’s so sweet and light hearted. But what lurks inside him are huge insecurities. Darwin is more serious, but not any less sweet. These two together wove a story that I really liked. I wasn’t expecting such a serious incident as a suicide attempt to occur and my heart literally hurt for Cody. The author did an outstanding job of make me feel for his characters. I highly recommend this book.

sweet

Darwin has recently moved to Colorado to take his dream job at a cancer research in the College. He has tried all sorts of dating and found that he is tired of hook-ups and one night stands.On a bad date from Match.com at Mary's Burger's, he meets Cody, a cute waiter.

Cody is also from the Midwest. He has had lots of hookups but no dates. He is from a low-income family, and he loves the atmosphere at Mary's and the friends he has made there. Mary's and his other job, diving at another local tourist restaurant is his idea of dream jobs. Cody and Darwin hit it off good, but will they have enough in common to stick.

I loved this story. It was a quick, fun read with intriguing characters and lots of wit. ( yes Pun intended) If you're looking for a feel-good story to curl up with on a dreary day or even a good vacation read. I highly recommend this. Now I want the next one!

Audio review: Gerrod Larkyn Is new to me narrator. I actually liked his narration. He did put a lot of excitement and character in his work

'Nachos & Hash' is the first story...

in Brandon Witt's series 'Mary's Boys' and while I can't quite say that this is a new to me author...but with only having enjoyed 2 stories previously, it's a close call...but not quite, so let's just say he's a nearly new to me author and leave it at that.

However, 'Mary's Boys' definitely has a more humorous side to it than my previous experiences. I was a little leery going into this series that with the stories being shorter, each audio book is approximately 3.5 hours give or take a few minutes. This left me concerned that maybe the characters would fall a little flat or maybe even the story if things weren't adequately fleshed out. Thankfully this concern turned out to be a non-issue.

'Nacho's & Hash' is about Cody, one of the waitstaff at Hamburger Mary's and Darwin who starts out as one Cody's customers.

Darwin's at Mary's on a blind date. He's got his life on track and things are going good...now he just needs to find someone to share it with. As the evening progresses Darwin quickly figures out that his date is definitely not the one, but he also realizes that the cute little waiter who's been serving them food and drinks all night is far more interesting than the person he's been sharing a meal with and maybe he needs to hang around and see what could happen between them.

Despite the closeness in their age...there's only 3 or 4 years between them. I believe Cody's 21 and Darwin's 24 (or something close to this) these men are at very different places in their lives. Darwin's established and ready to settle down...Cody's finally escaped the small town in Kansas where he grew up and he's just starting to discover a life that's his and a family that loves him because sometimes the family that we're given isn't the one one we need and for Cody it's the family that he's made at Hamburger Mary's that helps him to discover who he truly is.

Darwin and Cody were such a sweet match. I loved that even though they were at very different places in their lives there wasn't a big age gap. It was simply a matter of different life experiences. While the road to love wasn't smooth for these two young men, it also wasn't filled with a lot of unnecessary drama...this one was a sweet, simple romance with just enough going on to keep things interesting and enjoyable.

'Nachos & Hash' was filled with interesting characters that I've discovered have stories that are every bit as interesting and enjoyable as Darwin & Cody's and while I got to meet some of the characters who will appear in future books I also have several new characters to look forward too.

Gerrod Larkyn was the narrator and for the most part things were ok. I had no difficulties with the voices he provided for the character there conveyed emotion and in terms of understanding them and distinguishing one voice from another this was not a problem, however, there were times that I didn't feel like a characters voice sounded the same as it had in a previous conversation and while this caught my attention it wasn't so different that I couldn't tell who was speaking or that I was distracted from the story.

It's possible that I'm assuming wrongly here but I also noticed that 'Mary's Boys' are the only audio books narrated by Gerrod Larkyn. I could be wrong about this but a quick peek here on audible.com tells me that Mr.Larkyn has only narrated the four titles in 'Mary's Boys' which leads me to the conclusion that this was his first audio narration and having said that I think it's very possible that future endeavors will produce an even better product...after all practice makes perfect...right?

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An audio book of 'Nachos & Hash' was graciously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Surprised

I was not expecting this book to go the way it did. I expected the HEA but not the middle part. I want to say it's a cute fluff book but it's not, not totally. It's a tad dark. A bad date, family drama, found family acceptance, a outspoken drag queen, insecurities that run wild, a diving gorilla?,and love. I don't know why I'm surprised I love any MM book Brandon Witt writes. The book is short but I loved every word.