StrangeLove

The Young Americans Series, Book 3

By: TL Bradford

Narrated by: Corey H. Bennson

Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Archer:

The year began great for me.

Became the starting quarterback for an NFL team—check.
Secured a multi-million-dollar contract—check.
Moved to LA and lived the glamorous life—check.

What could possibly cause me any issues?
Oh yeah, one more thing. I'm gay.

I was outed a couple of years ago to my former team and my family, but it hasn't been made public knowledge yet. Well, that is, until now. I'll be known as the first LGBTQ+ active player in the league's history. And if I stick to the conditions of my contract, it won't be a problem. The thing is, I'm not really a guy known for playing by the rules.

Most people think of my personality as the three B's: bold, brash, and blunt. My mouth has gotten me into more predicaments than I can count. Even my best friends have told me I'm stubborn as a mule and have the delicacy of a bull in a china shop. This presents a big problem for me, because I have my eyes set on winning over the guy who stole my heart years ago, only he doesn't know it yet.

Getting his attention is going to be challenging. It's a good thing I'm tenacious.
Unfortunately, it's not great timing, and could get me into a whole mess of trouble.
Why does falling for a guy need to be anyone's business but mine?

Kai:

The past couple of years were a whirlwind of activity. My career took off after my guest shot appearance in Americana. I appeared in a few indie features and finally got a shot at my first major motion picture release. The work came as a great distraction from my personal life, which took a further nosedive after I found out the guy I was falling for had already fallen for someone else.

Why should I be surprised? He was another in a string of failed relationship attempts. I swore I wouldn't get involved with anyone else, choosing to stay focused on my career instead. That is, until the force of nature known as Archer McMillan came storming into my life.

To be the pursued instead of the pursuer was not in the cards. To top it off, he's everything I'm not. Yet, there's something to be said for a guy who can make you laugh when it's the last thing you want to be doing. I'll admit he's got a playful and determined spirit. Archer also has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I've ever known. Not the mention the cute way he…Hold on. What am I doing? We cannot be a thing. Nope. Not gonna happen. Ever. Right?

Follow Kai and Archer as they cross the lines as friends and partners-in-crime to discovering a love beyond boundaries that needs no definition.

StrangeLove is a funny, heartwarming, slow-burn love story. It contains a cast of fully developed characters that encounter romance, laughter, and life lessons. It contains adult language, mature themes, and is best enjoyed by those over the age of 18. It can be listened to as a standalone, but if you would like to know the backstories of some characters, check out the prior books in the series.

©2022 Tia L. Bradford (P)2023 Tia L. Bradford

Good engaging story

I like this book. I think I liked the MC’s growth the most over the course of the story. Hopefully we get to see more of that in a future book.
Although this is a standalone, I think I need to go and get the first two books in the series.
I look forward to book 4. Good listen.

Okay story….lots of potential

This one was interesting and different than what I was expecting in some ways. It pulled me in and held my attention for the most part but there were times I had a hard time connecting/staying connected to the characters and times that I was a little pulled out of the story as it was a little awkward and felt inconsistent sometimes with the characters and their reactions. These two are a little strange and so the title definitely fit them. They have a lot of obstacles to overcome in order to start and have a relationship between them. The story does give a lot of build up but it did feel necessary for these characters. This story does not clear up all issues that they are facing but it doesn’t leave you on a huge cliffhanger either. Their story will continue in the next book in the series.
The narrator was okay. It wasn’t always easy to tell who was talking or switch in characters just by voice but it wasn’t bad.

The Dancer and the LA Ram

'StrangeLove' begins with gppd banter among the friends and. later, between MCs Kai and Archer. I really like that the author incorporates the whole ‘YA tribe’ into the story. Zander cracks me up and Olive is such a good friend to everyone, I wouldn’t have minded their POVs being featured on the happenings with these guys. Archer’s so optimistic it’s hard not to love his can-do attitude, despite his past hardships.

With Kai, Bradford's writing presents a problem, in my opinion. It’s obvious Kai is having trouble forming a truly intimate relationship with Archer due to something in his past, but the reader is only given tiny hints of what’s causing it. Bradford should have revealed this by the end of the book. Let readers know in the first book, so they can better empathize in the second while Kai and Archer’s love conquers all.

That quibble aside, it DOESN'T mean I hate the book and I look forward to reading the next installment.

Narration by Cory H Bennson is great. I feel he did a good job at conveying the distinct personalities of both Archer and Kai.

Stand alone

But does end in somewhat of a cliffhanger, I have not read or listened to the previous of the series and they do reccommend doing so saying it's not essential and while this is kinda true I think there is a lot of intermingling that makes it more pertinent than I had thought and would have been better if I had read/listened to the previous especially in preparation for the HFN cliffhanger I was given because there really are no resolutions to any problems they were facing and some were not even addressed at all which was disappointing mostly to me personally but overall it's a great story with fantastic characters and excellent narration.

Kai and Archer

I love this series and completely enjoyed this book. Kai and Archer were total opposites. Archer is such a big-hearted guy who was treated poorly by a lot of people that it was heart breaking at times. Kai was so stand-offish and reluctant about starting a relationship with Archer that it made it hard to truly like him at first. I don’t think that it’s necessary to read the first two books in this series, but I highly recommend doing so as they are really well done. The narration by Corey H. Benson was so easy to listen to and made the book come more to life.

It was just alright.

Didn’t love it, definitely not enough to move on to another book. I will note that I didn’t read the two books pervious to this one. I did enjoy Archer and Kai towards the end, it was a long fight to win me over. But I feel like the characters were too young for me. I understand it’s called “Young Americans”, but I felt like they were high schoolers at times. They just came across much younger than their ages. Hated Kai’s mother. So pushy, not a big fan. She detracted from the story and honestly, Kai as well.

I did love the narrator, Cory H. Bennson. His voice was nice and soothing. I would listen to him again. This was my first time listening to him.

Good story

Well written and good narration made this an enjoyable listen. Great story that really hits the truth about how people act and treat others that are different.

Almost perfect

There were many different parts of this book that I really did love but there were some things that were really hard for me to get over as a reader. While both Archer and Kai were great characters, there were times where it felt like one or the other were causing issues in their relationship that just weren't there. I think the story was cut down just a little bit, it might flow a little better. The biggest issue I hade with this book was that all of Archer's friends seemed really mean toward him, even though he was so sweet to them! Despite that, I enjoyed this book a lot and listened to it in almost a single day! I loved seeing these two grow closer to each other and I look forward to the next book in the series! This is the first book I have listened to from this narrator and I really enjoyed it!

Solid Narration that brought the story to life

I listened to the audio version of StrangLove and I have to say the Narrator did a spectacular job of bringing the story to life
It is a full-length audiobook at just a little over 14hrs that focuses on Archer and Kai's kind of, sort of, head over heals, time will tell relationship - lol -
Yeah it is that complicated

Archer is so... naive is not the word I am looking for but it is in so many ways, you'll see what I mean. Archer is missing that brain-to-mouth filter so many of us have and he also tends to act without thinking -
Which gets him in so many predicaments.
However, despite those quirks, he is probably one of the most loveable characters I have come across. He loves with everything he has. He doesn't mince words or hide behind false niceties - Not always a good thing -which is reflected in the messes he keeps finding himself in - but it is never done with ill intent
When the opportunity to hook up with Kai is presented - he grasps it and gives it all he has

Kai has been hurt before when it comes to his sexuality and relationships. He does not intend to go back into the closet but even he can't resist Archer. Kai is hesitant but he desires what Archer brings to their "tentative" no strings let's see where it goes relationship

This is a tissue and teddy read at times.
The bias that Archer faces and the at times cruel treatment he undergoes broke my heart.
At the same time, he never loses the pep in his step - which just endeared him to me more

Great secondary characters that brought so much to the story
Lots of humor, heartache, and hope
I could babble for days
This is to be continued ...

Got better as it went along

I didn’t care for either of the MCs at first, but they grew on me as the book went along. I did not realize it was NOT a HEA, and there were some kinda major things left unresolved that I guess will be addressed in the next book? Overall I liked it, but not sure if I will continue to follow the series.