September

Pride and Joy, Book 1

By: Robert Winter

Narrated by: Kale Williams

Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

A May-December contemporary gay romance for lovers of second chances.

David James is smart, successful, handsome...and alone. After the death of his lover, Kyle, from cancer, he buried himself in his law practice and the gym. At 48, he is haunted by his memories and walled off from the world. When David injures himself working out, he’s assigned to Brandon Smith for physical therapy. The vibrant young therapist is attracted to David and realizes he needs a hand to get back into dating. What begins as a practice coffee date escalates to friendship, passion, and maybe something more as they navigate a new relationship in Washington, DC, and the gay mecca of Provincetown.

But David remains trapped behind the barrier of fear and guilt. Will he remain loyal to Kyle’s memory if he moves on? Can he and Brandon manage a 22-year age gap? Brandon thinks he understands David’s concerns, and for him, the answer to those questions is yes. He wants to be with David, and he believes he can overcome David’s barriers. But Brandon fails to account for the world’s reaction to a handsome young man attached to an older, wealthy lover.

David’s memories, Brandon’s pride, and an unexpected tragedy might cost them something very special....

©2016, 2017 Robert Winter (P)2018 Robert Winter

It was ok

3,5 stars

September was my first Robert Winter book, which is oddly fitting as I just noticed it was also his debut novel. It was an endearing and realistic May-December story about a man who's forgotten how to live and the man bringing him back into the world. For the most part it’s a (very) steamy and a low angst read about two men finding love where they least expected it, it’s not always easy and the issues that arose were handled beautifully.

David is still mourns the loss of his late partner a few years earlier. The loss isn’t that, raw and crushing kind – anymore – but David still feels it deep into his bone. His days are the same as the last one, working at the office and a rigorous workout at the gym. Existing one day to the other. He wants to reconnect to the world but doesn’t know how to. An injury during a workout session forces him to physical therapy where he meets Brandon.

Brandon is barely scraping by, but he’s happy with his life as a physical therapist. He dreams of one day owning his own clinic. But that’s way off in the future when he’s got a more solid ground to stand on. Love isn’t high on his priority list, but when David walks in he starts to salivate and wants nothing more than to help this intriguing silver fox.

David's late lover Kyle is present throughout the book, but it never gets crowded or overwhelming if you know what I mean. It's more fitting than that, he's there in form of memories, a voice in David’s head, helping him to move on. So even though David still misses Kyle, it's not that soul shattering grief that will tear you apart. At least not anymore. I loved how the whole Kyle thing was portrayed, no unnecessary drama and with a lot of respect that it deserved.

I have to admit that I wasn't too fond of the writing style of this book. There was just something about it that made it feel like I was kept at a distance. I wasn't a part of the book. For me to truly enjoy a book I need to be immersed in it, I need to be in the story, feel what the characters are feeling but I never did that with this book.

Another thing that didn’t sit well with me was the first two thirds of the book. There was just too much on page sex for my liking. I know that this won't be an issue for a lot of readers, but long and abundant sex scenes bore me. And it's even worse when you listen to them in audio, there's no skimming them. I want the characters to connect on an emotional level and not only the physical - so for me to the sex should have meaning, it should bring the story forward and not only to get the characters off. It gets repetitive after a while and having more sex scenes than actual plot is never good. (Unless we’re talking erotica, but that’s a whole other story).

However, the last third of the book changed everything for me. It was by far my favourite part of the book. The emotions I'd missed before was there, I wish this had more of a presence in the book and it wasn't dealt with during such a small part of the book. There was so much more to be explored. It added such depth to it all and it drew me in like never before with this book.

Kale Williams did a great job narrating this book. He had distinct voices and accents for all the characters and there was never any problems following along with the story. He narrated the book with a lot of feeling and truly did a wonderful job. I will happily listen to more of his narrations in the future.

For a debut novel, September was a strong effort and I will be looking forward to reading more of his stories in the future.

A copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review

Great start, middle... DNF

Any additional comments?

I just couldn't bring myself to finish it.
I enjoyed the start, the middle but it kept dragging out. Then the accident happened and I thought, really? Testing him again. And then we got that dragged out.
If we had wrapped up at the break up/make up. It would have been a perfect story.
I loved the insecurities that these two had. The friends and how they played such important roles in the lives and decisions. Even the inner voice of the dead lover, but after a while, to me, I needed a conclusion.
I hope the best for them. They will sit unfinished on my player.

So amazing, both story and narration

Would you listen to September again? Why?

This story was so amazing. The beginning of the book was a bit slow in that we were learning a lot about the characters and their hangups (and boy did they have hangups), but as the story progressed and we finally get to a part where David and Brandon are finally going to be together, it isn't as simple as one could hope. This is where the story got even stronger. The last third of the book was intense and so amazing. Most of the book was a 4 star book for me until the last third. I wasn't expecting to be moved as much as I was, and I was wrecked for a bit reading it.

What was one of the most memorable moments of September?

I wish I could answer this, but it would be way too spoilerish. David was a lucky man to find such deep love with two different, amazing men. I had 3 favorite characters in this book. David, Brandon, and Kyle.

What about Kale Williams’s performance did you like?

He had such a great performance of David and Brandon, as well as all of the characters. I was pulled right into the story, and he delivered it all so wonderfully.

Really Well done.

Really well done. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Can’t wait for Winter’s next two books to be available on Audible.

Loved the ending and narration

This was actually a pretty hard book to rate for me - I would have said I wasn't a fan until the last part of the book.

It started off really slow for me. David is a widower who does nothing but work and work out until he's injured and has to go to physical therapy where he meets Brandon. We get to know them but honestly it's a bit boring. Very slow pace. David and Brandon get together but David is always worried about how much older he is and Brandon is always worried about accepting gifts and letting David pay for things since he is in a VERY different wealth class. There is a lot of sex - I mean a lot of sex. Sometimes ridiculous sex. I'm still bored and wondering why I'm still listening to this book. Then the romance goes to hell and I start thinking hmm maybe this will get interesting. David tells Brandon that they have no future but David decides to fight for Brandon anyway. So they have more sex and sex without condoms even though David continues to keep Brandon at arm's length. Everything comes to a head when David takes Brandon to Provincetown and they go to a party with David's friends. His friends treat Brandon horribly - like a rentboy and David does nothing. So now I have zero respect for David. He has horrible friends who seem to be horrible people and he lets them treat his boyfriend like crap. Brandon finally grows a pair and breaks up with David - yeah! I'm at least not bored anymore although I don't like David so I'm hoping Brandon will move on and find someone else. Still a 2 star book at most at this point and then BAM - OMG! I so didn't see this coming and the book gets very emotional at this point. I'm actually crying - who would have thought. I really wasn't invested in these characters but now I have all the feels. The last quarter of the book is interesting and emotional and wow I wish the whole book had been this good.

Still in the end I'm left feeling like these two only came back together because of the incident and not really believing they can make it together. It seems they constantly need a push to stay together - both the incident and the letter.

Finally, the friends in this story - both David and Brandon's - well the saying with friends like that who needs enemies was written for them. I honestly just can't understand anyone having friends who care so little about them or people in general.

But because the last quarter of this book made me cry and had all the feels I can't not give it at least 3 stars. I also enjoyed the narration of this book. I'm not sure I would have lasted if I had been reading it.

Enduringly beautiful

This was truly beautiful and so unexpected. I skipped over this audiobook many times, and so glad I listened to this finally. The narrator did a good job. I definitely recommend this as heart warming book full of love and inspiration.

AWESOME BOOK - AWESOME NARRATION

This book is wonderful and the narrator definitely brought it to life. A wonderful experience.
Loved every seconng of it.

Emotional!

I have mixed feelings. I enjoyed the storyline. Liked both Brandon and David. The bike accident and the after affect took me by surprise. I think I would have preferred a different outcome. It was very emotional for both characters. I also liked how the author tied in Kyle, David’s dead boyfriend. Kyle’s letter brought me to tears. I love Kale as a narrator,I find his voice very pleasant and soothing.

3.5 stars- 4 stars: Some hiccups, but still good

This audiobook is proving a little hard for me to rate and review. I had some major hang-ups with some of the characters’ reactions, plot points, and some random details that rubbed me the wrong way. However, there were also some stellar parts that redeemed the not so loveable aspects; and that ending- wow! That alone was worthy of rounding up my rating.

September is a May-December romance by a new-to-me author. The writing flowed well, the dialogue kept the tempo upbeat and fit the characters, and I really liked the realistic aspects this couple faced considering their age gap and differing life experiences. While I liked both Brandon and David, and thought they complimented each other well, I struggled to really connect with David. This was exacerbated by David’s response to some external conflicts. That said, there were also conflicts that advanced the plot and developed the characters and relationship well, making September somewhat of a mixed bag. I had similar thoughts regarding the book’s pacing. The first part of the story was a little flat and slow, but that picked up as the relationship between the men blossomed. And again, the ending was just fantastic. I hadn’t expected some of the heartbreak and emotional aspects and those were developed and explained really well, leaving me eager to read more by the author, even though I had some issues with this particular title.

Although I hadn’t read this author before, I have listened to the narrator. Mr. Williams measured rhythm and voices worked well for the book and characters. This was definitely what I’d term an easy listen. Even though the story was emotional, the narrator didn’t overact or dramatize those moments, his enunciation was clear, and it flowed smoothly. I’d certainly recommend September to fans of May-December romances, or those who like second chance romances featuring a widowed main character.

*Reviewed for Alpha Book Club*

Amazing story and good narration

I’m not – in general – a fan of angst – but I am a total fan of this book! It is sooooo touching and emotional and really gripping. Our guys go through some serious hard times and the author didn’t need to dress those times up to make them difficult, just living through it was hard enough.

What I loved was the support they provided for one another and how – despite the difficulties – they managed to ride out the bad weather.


I was kinda shocked at the path they end up taking – but in the end – I guess it really needed to be something like that because… well…. Reasons. (no spoilers!)

The writing is amazing. The characters are real and make mistakes – SO MANY! – but only because they are so real.

The secondary characters (including Kyle) are also really well drawn and so intricately that I imagine we’ll see them in a future book (ie Colin).

This isn’t a book you take lightly – it’s gonna keep you with a Kleenex in your hand – but it’s reward is worth it.

My only issue – I wanted more groveling by David at the end. But that was minor.


Highly Recommended!

4.5 of 5 stars

Audio

Kale Williams does a nice job narrating this. He puts some emotions into his readings but I didn’t feel he was “acting”. He didn’t necessarily give us a lot of voices or accents but everyone was easy to distinguish.

He’s very easy to listen to and doesn’t detract from the emotions in the story.

This is a fair way to experience this story.

3.5 of 5 stars

Overall 4 of 5 stars

Porn by another name is still porn

Sadly, an insta love porn fest masquerading as a real story. If we could learn to like the MCs before they launch into a full fledged full-on contact sport it might be possible to enjoy an excellent narrator, but the content is just too jarring too quickly.

Gave up after 50 mins. No way could I contemplate a further 9 hours of the same. Once you've had excellent Josh Lanyon books it's hard to endure the like of this.