Shelter

By: Douglas Lloyd Jenkins

Narrated by: Toby Webster

When twenty-one-year-old builder Joe Wright meets Leo, he falls in love hard, and seemingly for ever. Mature, philosophical and intensely handsome, Leo teaches Joe an appreciation of music and literature, and, most importantly, a passion for the beautiful old buildings that are disappearing from Auckland's central city.

But when Leo suddenly vanishes from his life, then drifts back again years later, Joe—now a powerful developer of heritage architecture—is unable to move on from this first affair. As the years pass, and Leo stays just out of reach, can Joe open his eyes to new possibilities?

©2022 Douglas Lloyd Jenkins (P)2022 Isis Publishing Ltd

Interesting Story

This has to be one of the more interesting romance stories I've listened to lately. It took me quite a while to get in to this book because the narrator lacks any kind of energy. His voice sounds beautiful but it just lacked any feel of actual story telling.
The protagonist in this story is not immediately likeable which is unusual for a romance. However it works. His love interest also has issues and struggles with his sexual identity. He is flawed and for a large chunk of the book I found this irritating. However what I did like is that the author was not drawn in to tying everything up in a neat little bow. Without wanting to spoil the story, this novel doesn't end up where you would expect it to. And that's what makes it good.
Despite the lethargic narration it's still well worth a listen. Especially if you don't enjoy the usual MM romance tropes.
Edit: I've read another review that expresses frustration over the sexual identity issue. My thoughts are yes it's frustrating but in real life you don't get to force someone to define their sexuality the way you see it. I found it interesting that his journey doesn't take the obvious path.

Not as good as it ought to be

I feel conflicted about leaving this book a lousy review, because it's an immensely well-written book, but honestly, having read it, I can't say I enjoyed it and I even think I'd go so far as to say I hated it. I've been overdosing lately on GINO literature (Gay In Name Only), which is impossible not to do if you want to read about gay relationships. You all know what I mean: books about male/male relationships written by straight women who have no idea what it's like to be a man, let alone a gay one. These not only constantly fall back on the same tired tropes, but revel in them, proclaiming them sometimes in the very titles of the books themselves (how many times have we all seen "A best friend's brother, bi awakening, age gap romance!" glaring at us in the title line). So I was particularly interested to read a book that is written from, let's say, a different perspective.

So imagine my disappointment when it turned out to be total garbage. The writing, as I've said, was good, and the narration was great. I'd go into exactly why I didn't like it but it would require spoilers, and also I'd actually have to think about the book for another second and I don't want to do that. One thing I will say is that "gay for you" is not a thing in real life, and while the GINO authors can get away with it because they don't know any better, I expected more from this author. No man is attracted to women in general and also one man for some reason, I'm sorry to say, all you sexuality-is-a-spectrum people. If Audible will let me return this atrocious waste-of-eleven-hours book for a refund, I will.