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Sweet, Light, & Enjoyable Read
Caught running is a gay, erotic romance set in rural Georgia during the present day. The protagonists Brandon Bartlett and Jake Campbell are both high school teachers at Parkview High School, and both previously were students of the same school. Brandon, former high school nerd, teaches science; Jake is the P.E. teacher and baseball coach.
Initially the story appears to be a typical jock/nerd love story, but as the plot unfolds there are several elements which veer from this classic literary romance dynamic. It becomes very apparent that Brandon is not the geek everyone thought him to be. He proves to be an accomplished athlete in his own right. Jake doesn't exactly fit the role of dumb jock, either.
The authors seem to be making a case for the argument that jocks are not necessarily dumb, and they portray high school athletes as being model students who endure horrendous injuries, pain and suffering, and unfair stereotyping.
I found the loving relationship that Brandon and Jake developed to be very endearing and sweet, but I was unconvinced that such a relationship could survive within the context in which it was presented. Neither character was open about their orientation, and the entire duration of their romance was clandestine and top-secret. I also found it rather diappointing that Brandon felt it necessary to give up his pursuit of a doctorate degree in order to maintain his relationship with Jake; and I found it equally disturbing that Jake would dismiss an opportunity to advance his own career.
The aspect of the story which really did not set well with me, though, was the fact that the "nerd" had to be cast as a pseudo-athlete in order to even be palatable to the ego-maniacal jock football coach. What's wrong with a nerd being a nerd and a jock being a jock...and the two falling in love? Isn't that the epitome of the whole opposites attract scenario?
The secondary characters within the story were purely one-dimensional, with the exception perhaps of Troy who was Jake's best friend. His appearances, though, were very brief. There were several plot elements which were left unresolved at the conclusion of the story, including Jake's dependency upon narcotic pain medication and Brandon's unsettled grief issues after having lost his parents.
To me the book had the feel of a gay Harlequin Romance. It was sweet and light, and an easy, enjoyable read. The few problems I've mentioned did not detract from the beauty of the love scenes, and the dialogue was extremely believable and well-written. I wouldnt hesitate to recommend the story as a great "escape-from-reality" romance. It contains tenderness, passionate sex, and touching intimacy which are all befitting the type of romance it was obviously intended to be.
Ridiculously mushy and romantic, but in a good way
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.
Rating: 9/10
PROS:
- Funny characters--and not just the two leads. The two main guys AND all of their friends and their co-workers and their students, etc. say real things and act in ways that are consistent with high school students, teachers, and/or coaches.
- Extremely sensitive characters, especially Jake. Rather obviously written by female authors, to be honest, but in this case I don't care. I love the tenderness of Jake and Brandon's exchanges.
- The first sex scene doesn't happen until about halfway through the book because neither character knows if the other is gay, so the sex is passionate and emotional from the start, always with lots of kissing. Delicious.
- Accurate comments about / depictions of the nature of high school sports and athletes. There's also a great sense of camaraderie among the baseball coaches.
CONS:
- Frenetic, confusing POV shifts that are apparently typical for this writing duo. The first couple of scenes in the book are solely from one character's perspective or another (the two guys aren't physically near each other yet at that point), but as soon as they're thrown together, the POV switches to a "one paragraph from this guy, one paragraph from that guy" format. It does allow readers access to both guys' thoughts when they're doing the "does he like me?" dance, and I got used to it after a while, but it's still frustrating sometimes.
- Conflict in the final chapter that I found a little rushed/contrived. Not at all enough to spoil my liking of the book, though.
Overall comments: I first read this book about 8 months ago and have since read it twice more; it's one of my all-time favorites in this genre. Is the relationship realistic? Possibly. Is it typical of two men? No. But it's terribly sweet, so if you're a romantic at heart, like I am, you'll probably love it. There's not much excitement in the plot, but the feelings are real and the sex is very hot.
Wonderful Book
I'm not usually one to leave reviews, but for this book I had to.
I really cannot say enough about it: It is smart, well-written, and surprisingly amusing. Furthermore, the characters are relatable, the story itself doesn't lull, and the dialogue is witty in an intelligent way. This is a book I could not put it down, and was actually sad to see end.
It's a short story (too short, in my honest opinion) - only about 220 pages - so it doesn't take a big commitment to read. But even so, it packs a punch into those 220 pages.
This is the type of book you'll want to read more than once. I highly recommend it.
Bad fanfic in book form
I really expected to like this book, but the writing was suprisingly amateurish considering all the rave reviews. It was like reading badfic, especially when the authors referred to the main characters by descriptors other than then their names or a pronoun. For example, on page 43: "The science teacher leaned on the third baseline fence next to Jonathan as the younger man mused over the reasoning..." At this point, it's long established that a)the character's name is Brandon and b)that he is a science teacher. It's so jarring and unnecessary to refer to him as such, and this is usually something you rarely see in a real book. For good reason!
Also, the character POV can change from paragraph to paragraph, and in this case it's quite clunky and confusing. The plot sounded fun, but I couldn't get past the poor writing style and had to give up midway. Glad I got this book from the library and didn't pay for it!
Delicious and Funny
I love the witty banter between Jake and Brandon. There were a couple times I laughed right out loud. And there are really great sweet and steamy scenes too! I really enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it!
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