Title: My Roommate’s a Jock? Well Crap!
Author: Wade Kelly
Narrator: Jason Lovett
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 9 hours and 21 minutes
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press 01-16-14
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥ 3.5
Reviewer: Tams
Blurb: It’s easy to become cynical when life never goes your way.
Cole Reid has been a social recluse since he was fifteen, when he was outed by his high school baseball team. Since then, his obsessive-compulsive behavior and sarcastic nature have driven away most of the population, and everyone else hates him because he’s gay. As he sees it, he’s bound to repulse any prospective friends, let alone boyfriends, so why bother?
By the time Cole enters college, he’s become an anal-retentive loner—but it’s not a problem until his roommate graduates and the housing department assigns Ellis Montgomery to move in with Cole. Ellis is messy, gorgeous, straight, and worst of all, a “jock”!
During a school year filled with frat buddies, camping expeditions, and meddling parents, Cole and Ellis develop a friendship that turns Cole’s glass-half-empty outlook on its head. There must be more to Ellis than a fun-loving jock—and maybe Cole’s reawakening libido has rekindled his hope for more than camaraderie.
Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4707
http://www.audible.com/search?advsearchKeywords=My+Roommate%27s+a+Jock%3F+Well%2C+Crap%21
Review: Cole Reid is not only cynical, he’s neurotic and slightly OCD. He’s been a loner since high school when he was embarrassingly outed in the locker room and then pummelled by the jock he was eyeing. He tried to live in the dorms when he started college, but the more private apartment style housing worked better for him. His current roommate moves out and Cole can’t find a replacement before the new term, so he is assigned one, much to his dismay.
Ellis Montgomery is a star soccer player, a jock, and now he’s Cole’s new roommate. Ellis is outgoing, laid back and anything but a neat freak. Cole is very glass half empty, while Ellis is glass half-full, which makes for some very interesting situations throughout this story. An amusing romance ensues between these two. Cole has almost always known he was gay, but Ellis was assuredly very much straight, right? There is a lot of give and take to be had here, and both guys have to learn that mere attraction won’t sustain a relationship. Communication, trust and compromise are what will keep them together in the end.
I think I would classify this story as a romantic comedy with a dark edge to it. Cole has this inner monologue running throughout that borders on psychotic at times, but it will having you laughing aloud. Ellis figures out he’s attracted to Cole early on, it’s how to deal with that attraction and their budding relationship in public that will prove challenging. There was a struggle for Ellis in the story with the sexual aspect of their relationship that was very unique. I don’t want to say too much and give it away, because it was a welcome surprise for me to have an author word it the way Kelly did, so I’ll leave that part for you to discover.
Narrated by Jason Lovett who himself sounds like a neurotic college kid, so it was kind of perfect. His voice comes across as shy, insecure and young, which really worked for these two characters. Both Cole and Ellis are conflicted by their growing feelings for one another, and it was nice that even though there was a connection from the start, it wasn’t an instant love type of story. Their romance is rocky, inexperienced and at times volatile.
There were just a couple of times when the story and the characters didn’t connect. Slightly disjointed I guess you could say. But overall, this was a great story with some brilliant one-liners and good narration. And while the sex scenes weren’t over the top erotic, they weren’t just alluded to either. The romance fits the age of the characters very well. If you like a story with laugh out loud moments that will surely put a smile on your face, you should grab a copy!
** I received a copy of this audio book from Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review through MM Good Book Reviews **
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