Just What The Truth Is (Home #5), Cardeno C

 

Just what the truth is Rating: 5 Stars

Publisher: Romance Authors LLC

Genre: Gay Romance

Tags: Denial, coming out, haters, kids, made-for- each-other-romance

Length: 68.858 Pages

Reviewer: Judy

Purchase At: Cardeno C,  amazon.com

Blurb:

People-pleaser Ben Forman has been in the closet so long he has almost convinced himself he is straight, but his denial train gets derailed when hotshot lawyer Micah Trains walks into his life. Micah is brilliant, funny, driven…and he assumes Ben is gay and starts dating him. Finding himself truly happy for the first time, Ben doesn’t have the willpower to resist Micah’s affection.

When his relationship with Micah heats up, Ben realizes has a problem: his parents won’t tolerate a gay son and self-confident Micah isn’t the type to hide. If Ben wants to maintain his hold on his happiness, he’ll have to decide what’s important and own up to the truth of who he is. The trouble is figuring out just what that truth is.
Just What the Truth Is is set in the Home series where the books are linked by theme or world. They are independent and can be read in any order.

Review:

I was smiling from the first page of this book and couldn’t get the big goofy grin off my face for most. I loved Ben and Micah right away; Ben was fun, in denial, but such a dag. Seriously it was like a lunch with your best friend telling you all the gory details of their date while giving the hilarious commentary you really wanted; their thoughts on his ass, what did he smell like, did he pull your chair out? Did he comment on your outfit? Ben laughed at his own ineptness, and I laughed along with him and his own inability to act in this new situation. He was so honest, worried that Micah would be disgusted that he had hidden his true self for so long. (Sniff)

These are delicious. Perfectly ripe and I think they’re organic. Did he say orgasmic? I licked my lips. “You want to taste one? I think I nodded. Hard to remember really, because I was concentrating on swallowing. Did Micah make moans like that in bed too? Oh God.

Micah was delicious, such a gentleman, perfectly chivalrous and tender. I loved how comfortable he was with himself. He had no idea that Ben wasn’t out. And that totally blew Ben’s mind. How was it that Micah could read Ben so well, and could everyone else see through his attempts at passing as normal?

Ben was clearly unhappy living a straight life for over 30 years and boy did he have an appreciation for the male form. (He and I could have a few laughs.) But family expectations kept him living a lie. He thought he could live the life they wanted for him, be the son they wanted. I was heartbroken. When Ben meets Micah Trains, he can’t deny the attraction. Only at this point in his life he starts to face those repressed desires. After a lot of denying his true feelings, Ben finally takes the plunge. (Hoorah!) Oh and what a breathtaking, full body dive it was. I was smiling like a loon at their antics, pissing myself laughing at Ben’s crazy inner dialogue. (Still trying to kid himself? Ha!)

There was no way for me to pretend I was kissing a woman. Everything about Micah was unequivocally male. And it seemed that even if my brain hadn’t completely made up it’s mind, my body had, because it was the first time in my memory that I got rock hard while making out with somebody from nothing more than a kiss.   

Ben worked his whole life trying to please his parents, to fit into their stuffy mould. He’s blindsided by the confident, very sexy and cute as hell Micah Trains. Fun to be around, Micah affected Ben like no one had. Micah is smart, hot, he clearly adores Ben, and they were friends.

What I loved is that Ben voiced his fears about accepting the necessary Judy's Review Pic Just What the Truth Ischanges. And very carefully CC gives Ben the comfort of answers. Will it hurt? Once I do this there’s no turning back.

Micah is generous of spirit, never does he question the cautious way Ben heads into their relationship. He’s gracious, interesting and strong. All these things puzzle Ben, his whole life he has been living with the common misconceptions people have about gay people; the loneliness, indiscriminate screwing around. Micah calls Ben honey – and I loved that. And their friends use terms of endearment too like sweetheart – that right there is how we love.

Ben‘s family issues didn’t end with him questioning his own ability to be out. His brother Noah is gay too. He’s been in a committed relationship since high school with one of Ben’s former friends Clark. The relationship Ben has with his brother improves tenfold when Ben confides in his brother.

Different stokes and all that. The point is being real, being you, and not hiding anymore. You should do whatever gets you hot, Ben, and if that means being a bottom or being versatile, well, that’s what it means.” He shrugged. “What we do in bed doesn’t define our masculinity.”

Their story is real; it’s full of flaws and making up. Noah and their gay friends are a constant support for Ben, but when Ben talks openly with his brother about taking the plunge with Micah, the brothers’ relationship moves to a whole other level. I love reading about the characters from previous books in the series too, it’s like we’re all friends meeting for coffee. It’s loud and crazy and there’s always room for more.

Micah is gracious enough to allow Ben time and space to grow. Ben is brave, he’s dedicated to his family, loyal to a fault. It’s a story about healing, both on his part and healing the relationships with his brother and parents that is so important to Ben. 

I know what it’s like to deny it, to fight it, to try to change it. And I remember how scary it is when none of those things work and you finally have to admit to yourself that you like guys, that you’re gay and that you’re always going to be.

I loved reading the first person commentary, I laughed out loud so many times I wanted to dive into the book and hug CC for being so cute. When I say cute it was take the piss out of each other kind of funny. The sex is innocent, it’s explorative, and celebrates the union of two amazing people who fit together impeccably. The heat factor is scorching. I may just go back and revisit some scenes. (Giggle) Their romance is not all hearts and roses; Ben fucks up time and time again in his fear of what was happening to him. The inclusion of their collective group of friends teased out the details of Ben’s ride from buttoned down lawyer to complete slut. Wouldn’t we all be lucky to have had such a wonderful network? The friends gave Ben insight to his behaviour and bitch-slapped him when he needed it.

“Hey, I’m not judging you,” he said. “No matter how much fucking around you’ve been doing, if we compare the number of notches on our bedposts…well, all I’d have left is sawdust.”
“We’ve all had shit to go through, Ben, some of us worse than others. But wallowing doesn’t do dick to get it fixed.  

The story is written for people who have struggled with owning their sexual orientation. Again I applaud CC for bursting the bubble on people who have been pushed down their entire lives. It sings loud and proud, brings into the open the very real issues we are faced with when coming out to our families.

This edition comes complete with a Bonus Chapter in celebration of the marriage legislation change. And it was sweet, real in every sense and gave me my big goofy smile I love so much when reading CC. Go buy it, it’s bloody awesome.



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Cindi
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This looks like a really good story. I admit to not being a fan of Ben (in previous books) so I’d be curious to see how he redeems himself.

Great review, Judy.

Judy
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Judy

It’s funny how reading a new book in a series is like when you know someone in passing, a mutual friend, and until you spend time with them, you only have a limited view.. Once you get time to chat, you read mannerisms, see them interact with others, you get a feel for who they actually are. I love that I can dislike someone in books just as I do in real life. It’s even better when you get that chance to converse and make up your mind from a more informed place. Ben was very likeable in this book… Read more »

Judy
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Judy

You know how you just click with some people? Well I think Ben and I would be fast friends. He was flawed, he made mistakes but he was honest. He owned his feelings. He had to get up and change his life, my hat was off. Micah would be everybody’s friend, he didn’t have an abrasive bone in his body. Ben coming out (even to himself) was like being reborn. Once he worked through that milestone the story just eat me up. I was there. It was me. (Remember cringing at your own behaviour?) There is a whole lot of… Read more »