Out in the Open

Browerton University, Book 1

By: A.J. Truman

Narrated by: Alexander Cendese

Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Libraries are meant for studying - not sex.

College sophomore Ethan Follett never says what's on his mind and never wants to rock the boat. After a high school social life spent anonymous and alone, things are finally falling into place for him. He's found a group of friends just as studious as he and is on track for a promising legal career. Out in the open, things couldn't be better, but secretly Ethan yearns for some real excitement in his life.

He finds it in cocky frat boy Greg Sanderson, who challenges every rigid, preconceived notion Ethan lives by. Soon, their sparring relationship turns sexual, and these enemies-with-benefits "get their freak on" all over campus. Yet the more Ethan comes out of his shell, the more Greg retreats into his, working overtime to keep his ladies' man public persona intact. As the sex gets hotter, and they get closer to getting caught, one part of their arrangement can't stay hidden any longer: love.

Contains mature themes.

©2014 A.J. Truman (P)2019 Tantor

Enjoyable, Funny, and Sexy

If only it had been longer, instead of rushing to an end too early! The characters are well drawn and the narrator is really good. We get everything through Ethan’s eyes but there’s plenty of hot descriptions and it all works together. More of the same please AJ Truman, and longer novels!

Better than I thought it would be!

Thanks to the plus catalog I found this freebie from A.J. Truman. I've found a couple of other Truman titles and they were misses so I almost passed this by. It helps that Alexander Cendese was at the helm - he's such a funny character voice actor - so I was able to immerse myself into the world of Ethan and his tipsy topsy relationship with Greg. This was told from 1 POV in 3rd person - which in audible titles I don't usually like - but it didn't matter because of the performance. There were some sizzling scenes but the emotional scenes were heart felt. Definitely loved Ethan's character developement.

4 stars - worthy of a repeat listen

story was not what I thought

first things first I changed the speed at which the story is being read at from 1.0 to .85 after that story speed felt a lot better. the book starts off feeling like a story on a fanfiction site. but as the characters develop little by little the story hooked me in more and more. and by the time I knew it I was at the end of the book. I will say the person narrating the book although, he may not have a wide range of voices(there were moments I had no idea who was saying what). I really did appreciate the constant amount of enthusiasm through the book.5 🌟 for effort all in all not bad.

Worth Reading

Studious Ethan arrives late to a class and the only seat open is next to an obnoxious frat boy, Greg. Sitting together through the semester, they are like oil and water. Until something changes.

This was an opposites attract and bisexual awakening (or FTG) troupe. I agreed with the book reviews that say the book would have been better if we could have seen Greg’s point of view; dual POV. I liked the story and will probably listen to the rest of the series.

Narration is subjective. One person could dislike a certain narrator, even if they are a fantastic actor. Having said that, I do not know why anyone would hire this narrator for anything other than cartoon voice acting, at which he would be excellent. I honestly do not understand why someone would write a book, a labour of love, and then hire someone to play the characters as if they are cartoons.

I avoided this series, as well as many other books, because of this narrator. But then, I became obsessed with South Rock High, book 3 which takes place after this book. The two MCs, Greg and Ethan, are hilarious as secondary characters in the South Rock High book. So I finally listened to this one. I guess my dislike of the narrator is less than my dislike of actually reading.

good book

Saheel was my favorite. even though he was only in the book briefly I loved his accepting attitude towards Ethan and Greg... YEAHHH RAINBOW!!!

Fantastic!

This book was so good. In the movie Happiness Adjacent the main character was often reading the book while on a cruise. Good movie, so I wanted to see what book he was reading. SO glad I did.

A Relatable Read for the College-Age Gay Man

One things I can say about this book that I can't say about most of the romances I have read, is that I find it relatable. It felt real, with just enough fantasy mixed in to keep it exciting. Hearing Ethan's inner monologue throughout reminded me of myself when I started college, and I found myself wanting so badly to impart wisdom onto him. It was nice to see how he grew and developed as a character.

Ethan and Greg's relationship is something amazing, and I enjoyed following it through all the ups and the downs that happen throughout the book. I found it exciting, adorable, and extremely hot. I felt so invested in their relationship, I found myself smiling, "awing" out loud, and on the verge of tears right there with them. I haven't felt so invested in book characters since middle school!

The narration from Cendese is phenomenal. His voice really brought the characters to life, detailing both their demeanor and their emotions. I was impressed, and even went to his page to see what else he had narrated. I am looking forward to rest of the books in this series, as he narrates all of them so far.

Fair warning, there is a lot of sex in this title. If you like that, then this is a great book for you. Still, the book isn't all about sex. So if you don't mind it, it is worth getting through to enjoy the great story. Highly recommend.

Welcome to Browerton

I’ve read many A.J. Truman books but I was late catching up on this series, now I’m hooked and will read the series.

A young person's very limited perspective

I was looking for more stories performed by this narrator because I loved his joint performances in another MM series. Alexander Cendese brings an enthusiasm that rarely comes through in audiobooks and he did not disappoint here. However, the story was very hard to get through. The main protagonist had challenges that, while somewhat realistic, got tiring really soon. The character just seems to be written by a very young person for a very young audience, and not even college-aged crowd like the story is supposedly set in. I found myself rolling my eyes at Ethan's problems and descriptions of his personality growth. And the nonchalance of his college hookup feels like a teenage imagining of what college hookups are glamorized to be. For a while, I rather enjoyed his struggles with his different social circles more, finding those more relatable to the college experience. But even that got old and eventually resolved so quickly, it didn't feel genuine. Unfortunately that turned me off the rest of the series even with the promise of Cendese's fantastic performance.

Oh the memories...

This is a sweet story of two coming og age All American boys, that familiar forbidden fruit feeling and adrenalin rush of realizing the feeling is mutual. It does feel a bit repetitive after the first rush, but overall a nice ride along the way.