Unforgiven

By: Ruth Clampett

Narrated by: Eric London, Iggy Toma

Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's Summary

Would you live a lie to hold onto the one you love?

Dean and Jason are best friends, like brothers since boyhood, now architecture students and college roommates. They've always had each other's back, but when one walks in on the other with another man, everything changes. How do you explain to your best friend that he's the one you've always wanted, that until now your life has been a lie?

Desperation and shame are two dirty words that run through Jason's veins. He carries the scars from a wayward priest who stole his innocence and left him shattered. Meanwhile for years he's watched Dean pursuing woman after woman, as his own heart slowly breaks.

When their world blows apart, they learn the powerful bond between them has more fire than either understood. Can two broken souls find the light in their darkness and come together to make a whole, or will sins of the past be forever unforgiven?

©2017 Ruth Clampett (P)2017 Tantor

kinda dissapointed

First of: Im not that big of a fan of audibooks with 2 narrators and I blught this one course of Iggy Toma. Sadly this book was moostly read from Deans prespective so I didnt get as much Iggy I had hoped. Not that Eric London didnt do a good job, actually suprised me. I just dont like when you get used to one persons narration and someone els do the voices different.

Now for the book... Im not one to complain about a little agnst here and there, but in this its so maxed out of agnst and missunderstandings that I found myself getting a little angry when I listened. And Dean didnt make things better with what an asshole he was to Jason when he found out he was gay. He made it out that now his life was so out of order he didnt know what to do with himself, so he go all out on being an idiot!
It was still an interesting story, just wish it had been better. Also I was hoping for a complete m/m romance but there are some m/f that Dean insist is ok, but once Jason hook up Dean explode. =__= Sigh!

6 people found this helpful

Great book! 💘

this book was so good. Jason is a gay man who is in love with his childhood friend Dean but he feels wrong for loving him because at an early age he was molested by his priest who told him he was sinful for the feelings he felt for boys, so he plays straight for a while. Dean who is straight doesn't know what his friend went through but he catches him one day with a man, and that just sets him on a confusing emotional roller coaster of jealousy and. curiosity about his own sexuality.
Dean can come across as a butt hole a lot in this book but then in the same breath he redeems himself by being the rock in Jason's life that he desperately needs. Jason is of course a broken man, so he has lots of weak, vulnerable times in the book.
I loved the book I could have listened to another 10hrs. I hope there's a book 2 just so I can revisit these characters, I like how Dean tries in vain to resist Jason, and how his love grows so deep for Jason. this book is worth the credit/money, and reread.

3 people found this helpful

ABSOLUTE GARBAGE!

Would you try another book from Ruth Clampett and/or Eric London and Iggy Toma ?

NO NOT AT ALL

What do you think your next listen will be?

A BETTER BOOK

What didn’t you like about Eric London and Iggy Toma ’s performance?

THEIR VOICES WERE EXTREMELY ANNOYING

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Unforgiven?

LITERALLY ALL OF IT

Any additional comments?

I am so angry that I spent even a second listening to this book. First of all, it was literally written like a fan fiction. The most tacky, embarrassing, and unrealistic sex scenes were in almost ever chapter of this book. I'm not over exaggerating when I say this, but you could find something written like this on fanfiction.net. The author also made sure the two main characters were as sexist as possible which was obnoxious to listen to because it was so obvious that it was written by a woman. ALSO MORE THAN ANYTHING THE AUTHOR DIDN'T DO HER RESEARCH. The book is set in Salt Lake City and the only reason she picked that was because she wanted to set the book in a religious town to make it even harder for the characters. BUT HERES THE THING. I am from SLC and I am gay and I have only been welcomed with love. SLC is an EXTREMELY LGBTQ friendly place and the fact that she picked this town as the place where it is set just because of STEREOTYPES is offensive to say the least. Yes, there are Mormons here obviously but there are far more non Mormons or ex Mormons then actual active Mormons. AND the people that are Mormons are still VERY FRIENDLY TO LGBTQ PEOPLE. Honestly, theres no other way to put this but this book is tacky and offensive. If you are LITERALLY just looking for a book that has a badly written sex scene in every chapter I guess this book is for you.

7 people found this helpful

NOT a good story

the drama is dragged out far too long. the story does not work. and is not believable. i stopped the book at chapter 16

2 people found this helpful

GRRRR!!!! But - It's a Keeper!

I was ready to kill Dean for over a Third of this book! But I also realized this is probably a realistic reaction for some people. Dean and Jason are an interesting and complicated dynamic. They were both really good people. I really liked Jason. It saddens me how people believe whatever the church says without any investigation or self-examination. How a parent could reject their child is beyond me. This was well worth listening to and I will listen to it again! Both narrators were good, pacing was pretty good. I am going to check into more of Ruth's writing!

2 people found this helpful

intense, sexy and at times downright scary!

i would absolutely recommend this book to anyone that likes romance novels with substance. it reminded me of Felice Stevens "Through Hell and Back Series" which you will like if you enjoyed Unforgiven and vice versa. Chapter 50 was a nail biter and it nearly overwhelmed me emotionally.

2 people found this helpful

Weak and lame

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

No. I do not like drug use and codependent relationships. Jason needs help and bring in a relationship with a person who does not know who he is just adds to his mental issues. If I were Dean I would feel extremely trapped.

Would you ever listen to anything by Ruth Clampett again?

Not if she continues to write about weak subjects with no substance. Having only a physical connection is not enough.

What does Eric London and Iggy Toma bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

They were the best part of the book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Nothing. I was pissed the majority of the book. The sexual abuse and self loathing was too much. I feel the book had too much stuff.

Any additional comments?

If it was about a strong love over coming obstacles in the past I would have enjoyed it more. Dean is the dumb jock who I could not like no matter how much I tried and Jason was a needy, winey and mentally and emotionally abused man who should have gotten help before getting into a relationship with and immature man.

5 people found this helpful

A tough listen

Warning that there are flashbacks and struggles surrounding molestation by a priest, and the love interest BFF Dean was a horrifically self-centered, insensitive, closeted a**hole for the first half. Not my idea of a romance novel but more of a drama, and I was frequently made nauseous by Dean's attitude toward and treatment of Jason for a good portion of the book. It has an HEA ending though, thankfully.

Really good book! Highly recommend

Listen , there are triggers (abuse & drug use) and the MC Dean is difficult to relate to at first - but that’s the point of a book right ? Life is messy, people don’t. Always make the right choices the first chance they get ... and that’s the point! Stick with the book. It’s very good (although there’s a few events that happen that She could have researched a little more) the MC struggle and have angst .... as do all of us.
Don’t listen to the reviews that complain “they could have solved a lot of the problems by just talking”. Duh of course they could have but then 1)the book would have been only 4 chapters and 2) just because you would handle a situation a certain way doesn’t mean everyone will.
The narrators were good but I felt like the voices were a little too similar and didn’t quite reflect the bravado that Dean has ..
it’s a realistic coming of age / coming to terms with sexuality story with depth and meaning. (Says the het white girl lol) the events are not pretty but they are also handled carefully . Reading this book helped me look at the world from a different perspective and I am so so so so glad that I didn’t pay attention to the negative reviews !

if you've read the 1 star reviews

not too much. not too much angst or crisis or anger or sex or second guessing or hope or anything really. the road described exists. it is different for everyone that travels it. and the drama/healing required to finish the journey is more than most can stomach. oh, and acting out behaviors are part of it. not necessarily the club scene mentioned. but self destruction happens.

if you cannot finish this story because it seems unreal to you, congratulations. genuinely.

and if you, like me, were tempted to look up the priest in your life to see how they are doing, don't. just don't. let's have tea. find your tea person and have tea.