Tag: Christie Gordon

Secrets by Christie Gordon

4382Secrets510w-430x645Title: Secrets
Series: N/A
Author: Christie Gordon
Genre: Contemporary/ Erotic Romance/Yaoi
Length: Novel (340 Pages)
ISBN: 978-1-77111-896-5
Publisher: Extasy Books (March 15th, 2014)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥4.5Hearts
Reviewer: Lisa

Blurb: Brokenhearted after a stolen kiss in high school, a new college graduate must overcome years of bitterness to save the now desolate young man who once shattered his heart.

Logan only wanted one thing in his life, Christian, his childhood friend. But a stolen kiss on graduation night broke Logan’s heart and destroyed the special friendship they shared. Now four years later, Logan returns to his family in Santa Cruz on the verge of a new life to find Christian on a treacherous, lonely path of booze and drugs, harboring painful secrets. Only Logan’s love and acceptance can lead Christian back from the brink of destruction. Can Logan put aside old grudges to save the young man who shattered his heart and in return, accept the love he’s craved?

Purchase Link: http://www.extasybooks.com/christie-gordon/secrets/

Review: This is the first book of Christie’s that I have read and I can tell you that it will tear you up and make you feel something you have not felt in a long time. There are stories out there that will break your heart when you read it and this was one of them. To feel the pain that each one of these guys felt makes me wonder how anyone can start over. Logan and Christian have known each other since grade school. There was one secret that Logan had never told Christian and that was the fact that he loves him. That he was in love with him. On graduation night, he tells Christian and kisses him. Only Christian reacted almost violently. It had hurt Logan more than anyone would know. Nearly destroyed him to the point of no return.

Christian has always hated what he had done to Logan on the night of graduation. The problem was for over two years he has worked with his band, drank, and was doing some hard-core drugs. To the point that friends were thinking that he was going to overdose one day. There are things that he is hiding from everyone and instead of getting help. He was substituting with drugs and alcohol. It had been four years since he had seen Logan after breaking his heart. Telling Logan that he never wanted to see or hear from him again. A friendship destroyed by the move of a young man in love.

Now Logan was back and was trying desperately not to see Christian. He figured Christian still hated him and really did not want to get into that again. He found out though that Christian’s father had passed away two years ago around the time that Christian had quit college and started using. It broke his heart to find out this. However when they come across each other again it was Christian that makes the first move. A move that will change their lives forever. However, Logan knew that if Christian did not stop using there was nothing he could do but leave once more. Then one night Logan finds out the truth that Christian’s mom had been hiding from all of them. It almost causes Logan to lose Christian forever.

This story shows you what can happen when someone you love is hooked on drugs. That the only one to help them is their selves. They have to admit that they are addicts and seek help. Almost losing his life and Logan would be the one reason Christian seeks help, but in truth, one must do it for themselves. You can’t do something for someone else. It just doesn’t work like that. I would recommend reading this story, but I must warn you that it will make you cry in parts and will tear you up on others. This story will give you sexy men, pain filled days, tender story, and lots of love. It did catch my attention from the start and kept it all the way to the end. I didn’t know what the story would be like till I read it. It comes off more real than a lot of other stories do.

The Obsession by Christie Gordon

7861524Title: The Obsession

Series:   N/A

Author:Christie Gordon

Genre: Contemporary

Length:  Novel (236 pages)

Publisher: eXtasy Books (March 15th, 2010)

Heat Level:  Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 3.5Hearts

Reviewer: Eli/Mandingo

Blurb: As a senior-year art student at a Santa Barbara university, Tristan is caught in a mental prison of his own making. Sexually repressed and emotionally abused by an oppressive mother, his preference for men leads him into sexual addiction. Then a new roommate appears in his dorm—Collin, a stunning psychology major from class he’s fantasized about since the start of the school year, a young man Tristan’s fallen in love with from afar. Collin uses his charm and knowledge of psychology to pull Tristan out of his self-destructive existence and into a tumultuous affair. But Collin has a secret, a secret that could potentially further damage Tristan and send him plummeting deeper into isolation and desperation than he’s ever been before. Will Collin’s secret emerge? And will Tristan move forward and find the love he’s always craved or will he fall headlong into addiction and lose everything he’s worked so hard for.

Purchase Link:   http://www.extasybooks.com/christie-gordon/the-obsession/

Review: This book was first written in 2010 and I’m hoping that it’s in for a revival because it’s quite an interesting book.  There is lots and lots and lots of sex. So much so that after a while, the readers may find themselves skimming over some of the scenes in order to get back to the plot. Not that the sex isn’t pivotal to the plot – it is – the reader just really wants to get back to the story.  The title is The Obsession and it isn’t until the end of the book that the reader understands that it is both Tristan and Collin who both have obsessions and that their rather unorthodox relationship allows both of them to work through their obsessions.

Tristan has extremely serious psychological issues and while the story presents them very well, the ease with which they seem to be solved almost trivializes his illness by making it seem that a novice could help him overcome them with ease. So, while I love the plot of the story and how it wove along to bring the characters together and allow Tristan and Collin to bond and interact with the outside world, the notion that Collin could achieve what he did with Tristan in a mere few weeks is a tad far-fetched in reality. However, it works beautifully for the storyline and so the reader will gladly go along with suspended disbelief to achieve the outcome of the story.

Tristan when first presented seems to be introverted, sullen, invisible and full of psychoses and neuroses. Then Collin enters the picture and the reader sees Tristan begin to move from a caterpillar to a butterfly. (Insert suspended disbelief).  By the end of the story, Collin and Tristan seem to have done a personality switch and it is Tristan who’s suddenly emerged as the stronger of the two characters.  This is a necessary occurrence because half way through the story it is clear that Collin is indulging in some seriously douche-like behaviour blended with intensely unethical practices and it is only total reversal that he will in the reader’s eyes be worthy of Tristan. Of course, his selfless actions by the end of the book give him some redeeming qualities and allow the reader to actually wish to see Tristan and Collin ride off into the sunset together.

The story is well written and the character of Tristan is very well-developed, while Collin provides the necessary tool for conflict and crises in the story. And did I say there was sex?  Yes LOTS of sex! The only flaw is the timeline. For this story to have achieved perfection, it should have taken place over a longer time span – at least six months to make Tristan’s change of heart, attitude and behaviour more believable. And, that is easily achievable since the author puts specific dates of occurrences within the book – simply spread the dates out.   Without doing this, it doesn’t matter how much of a protégé Collin is, the human psyche is not a microwave and does not suddenly change at warp speed. 

The content is a little dark, but well worth the read.