Title: Who We Are
Series: Bear, Otter and the Kid, #2
Author: TJ Klune
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 12 hours and 42 minutes
Narrated by: Charlie David
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (10-1-13)
Heat Level: Mild
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 (NO 10!) Hearts
Reviewer: Tams
Blurb: Sequel to Bear, Otter, and the Kid Bear, Otter, and the Kid survived last summer with their hearts and souls intact. They’ve moved into the Green Monstrosity, and Bear is finally able to admit his love for the man who saved him from himself. But that’s not the end of their story. How could it be? The boys find that life doesn’t stop just because they got their happily ever after. There’s still the custody battle for the Kid. The return of Otter’s parents. A first trip to a gay bar. The Kid goes to therapy, and Mrs. Paquinn decides that Bigfoot is real. Anna and Creed do… well, whatever it is Anna and Creed do. There are newfound jealousies, the return of old enemies, bad poetry, and misanthropic seagulls. And through it all, Bear struggles to understand his mother’s abandonment of him and his brother, only to delve deeper into their shared past. What he finds there will alter their lives forever and help him realize what it’ll take to become who they’re supposed to be. Family is not always defined by blood. It’s defined by those who make us whole-those who make us who we are.
Purchase Link: http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Who-We-Are-Audiobook/B00FJJFCUU/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1393901869&sr=1-1
Review: Bear, Otter, the kid, Creed, Anna and Mrs. Pauinn are back in this explosive sequel that just may be better than its predecessor. Bear, Otter and the Kid have moved into the house that Otter bought for them. Otherwise known as ‘The Green Monstrosity’ and are building a strong foundation for their new family.
The kid is getting ready to start school and has a new friend, Dominick. Bear as well is going back to school and still struggling with everything that has happened in his life over the past few years. He is now basically a father, fighting the mother that abandoned him and the kid for custody of the kid. Juggling his home life, school, work and jealousy. One of Otter’s exs is now the Kid’s new teacher, and a stranger at college shows an uncontrollable interest in Bear.
And then a series of unfortunate events brings Bears life to a screeching halt. Let’s just say, when it rains it pours! Faced with losing everything while finally gaining something he’s been fighting so hard for, Bear has to do some serious soul-searching. What we do, the lives we lead, and the decisions we make really do define, Who We Are.
This book, hell this series, has really been a roller coaster ride of emotions for me. I think at one time or another throughout I have experienced every spectrum of emotion on the scale. I’ve laughed, cried, screamed, jumped for joy, clapped my hands and that was just in the first hour! Klune has written one of the best coming of age, the most amazing finely tuned love story I’ve ever read. This wasn’t insta love or even a slow burning love. It is an ever-growing, constantly evolving story of love and family.
The kid completely stole the show in the first book, but in this book, Bear really comes into his own. His inner monologues left me laughing hysterically. He completely works out every scenario in his head, in other words, he over thinks EVERYTHING. And the reader gets a front row seat inside his chaotic mind. And Otter is right there, holding his hand and helping him escape the earthquakes through it all. Their love as well continues to morph into so much more; very passionate and intense. Where Bear is enthusiastic and slightly psychotic, Otter grounds him and brings him back to reality. He makes Bear and the kid feel safe, loved and at home. He is their home, and he is theirs, everything else is just gravy.
Narrated by Charlie David and he is just absolutely amazing. As I’ve said before I think, the fact that he is a gay man gives him an edge for M/M books. He can completely relate to the characters, their struggles and the stories when he reads them. There is always this almost uncontrollable emotion underlying as he reads, like he’s just so excited just to be reading for us. He changes nuances for characters and he really conveys every moan and groan expertly.
If you don’t read anything else ever, you should read these books. Intense, dramatic, passionate, endearing and realistic… they will pull you in and you’ll get completely lost in the world of Bear, Otter and the Kid.
** 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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