Jeff Erno

I submitted a prompt to the M/M group for the Love is Always Write 2012 event. My prompt was claimed by the talented Jeff Erno.


STORY PROMPT:

Jason looked at the older man standing across from him and wondered how they'd gotten to this moment. He'd grown up immersed in the vitriol his father spat over his ex-business partner, that Jason believed everything his father had said. Until Jason met the man himself, and found out that events weren't quite as his father had made them appear, and his soon to be husband, was nothing like his father had portrayed him to be.

SUBMITTED BY: Penumbra

STORY INFO:
genre: contemporary
tags: intergenerational; May/September romance; coming out; familial issues
content warnings: none
words: 24,214



This is the review I posted directly at the Love is Always Write - With This Ring thread:



I'm crying at the beautiful happy ending! Thank you Jeff, for choosing my prompt and writing this wonderful story. It has angst, Love and the HEA that I crave for my endings.

There are so many great things I want to say about this story I don't know where to begin. The first is the background story that had to do with the prompt. I don't know how you came up with the idea, but it was thorough with the technology information and Jason's mother's death that it made sense in Robert's mind why he hated Glenn.

I loved that Glenn tried so hard to impress Jason when they first got together so that Glenn messed up a few times, but I'm thinking that probably endeared him to Jason even more :)

They way you handled their developing relationship was great. I like how it wasn't 'instant love' instead it was 'instant attraction' which is something that is more likely to happen between people. I like that Jason questioned how it could be possible that he could have such strong feelings for Glenn when they only knew each other for such a short time. That was realistic too.

There are so many quotes I love in this story, but my favorite has to be:

“I love your chest,” Jason whispered.

“I love your tight little bubble butt.”

“I love your fat cock.”

“I love your smooth body.”

“I love everything about you.”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

So cute, the banter between the two :)

And the phone sex! What can I say except hot! I wish more stories had phone sex.

I liked the parallel story of Jason's dad falling in love again. I liked that Robert could find happiness in his life once more after his wife's death and that he came around in the end and realized what a jerk he'd been.

This was a fantastic read and I'll say it again, I'm grateful that you chose my prompt. Thank you Jeff, for a lovely story :)

… (más)

You Belong with Me is the story of two high school students that live next door to each other. Wesley Harris is artistic and nerdy. His neighbor is Brad Johnson, the popular baseball jock. This story is told in first person through the eyes of Wesley.


This is sweet and charming, just the sort of fluffiness I wanted to read at the time. However, it's not all sugary. There was homophobia, bullying and for both Wesley and Brad, a growing understanding of who they were and acceptance of themselves.

Normally I don’t like first person, nor do I read many YA stories, but I enjoyed this one. Probably because I liked how the author wrote Wesley’s voice. Wesley is an interesting character, he’s sure of himself in knowing he’s gay and has supportive parents. But at the same time he knows his shortcomings and he believes those shortcomings will lead him to never being able to get someone as handsome and manly as Brad to like him. Brad on the other hand claims he is bi and hides this from friends and family. The only one who knows is Wesley, who Brad finds is easy to confide in. Despite Brad’s popularity, he seems more scared than Wesley.

The two teenagers begin to hang out, often writing notes to each other from their facing bedroom windows. This is similar to the Taylor Swift video of her song, “You Belong with Me.” But then I watched a gay version of the video which is here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wddIEGhzNs0 and I realized that the author likely used both videos as a prompt for his story, since in the gay version of the song, the baseball team the Blue Jackets, was the same as in the book. I enjoyed the videos so it was good to see how the author interpreted them into a story.

You Belong with Me was a quick, easy, enjoyable read and I give it a solid 4 Stars.



… (más)

I received an ARC copy of We Danced from Jeff Erno for an honest review, thank you.



We Danced is the story of a romance told through the eyes of Rex Payton, a bar owner, and Josh Billings, a veterinarian student. Later in the story we also see events through the eyes of Yvonne the grandmother of Ty.

Rex and Josh are both responsible men with two very different goals and responsibilities in life. The story revolves around their romance and seeing if they can mesh their lives in order to find love and happiness with each other. At the same time integrating as a family and still achieve their goals.

Rex is a well-respected owner of the local bar. He’s very private and low-keyed. The author did a good job with Rex’s voice and I didn’t have any problem imagining his drawl and mannerisms. Early in Rex’s life he assumed the responsibility of adopting his nephew, Ty, and is raising him as his own son. Rex also took on the ownership of his father’s bar at twenty-two. He’s pushed romance so far on the back burner that he doesn’t believe he’ll find anyone to take him and Ty on as a family. That is until he meets Josh.

Josh has returned to Carlisle for a summer internship at the local veterinarian’s office. Josh is intelligent, kind, also private, but friendly. He is also very focused on graduating from vet school. He has wanted to be a vet from the time he was little and has never wavered in his goal. Josh is more emotional than Rex and can easily cry. I liked this aspect of Josh and didn’t find it too much in the story since the incidences where he does cry fit the situation in my opinion. After a first time visit to the bar, Josh forgets his cell phone and returns to pick it up after the bar is closed. Rex lets Josh in and from that moment instant love/attraction happens between the two and they kiss, then dance. The title of the story refers to the many times dancing is done in the book both literally and figuratively and I think it fit the book perfectly. I don’t usually like instant love stories, but for some reason it seemed to work in this book. I think Josh was more aware of being in love at first than Rex.

Ty, Rex’s nephew is quite the character. The author did a good job characterizing a boy full of energy, intelligence and interest in life. But Ty was also a child that sometimes wouldn’t do as he was told and at other times would talk back like any other kid.

At the start of the story there were a couple chapters of telling the background history of Rex and Josh. I felt the way it was written and the fact that it was so long made the story a bit dull. The same thing happened when we are introduced to Yvonne, Ty’s grandmother.

I wish there had been less monologue and more dialogue and action. The story didn’t have the passionate feel I wished for except during the pivotal events that happen toward the end of the story. That’s when I was able to feel the character’s emotions and get pulled into the book.

Lastly, I think the cover is perfect for the book.

We Danced was a fast read and a sweet romance where I had an easy time picturing the characters. However, there was a bit too much telling in describing their background history. I give this book 3 stars


… (más)

Not quite there. I like this series, all of the books I have read (except the first and Dumb Jock, the Musical, which I have yet to read ) have been highly enjoyable and nice coming of age/terms and coming out stories. This one, however, not so much.

The premise is pretty thin - Bryan, the main character of this particular story, is dealing with his parents' rejection, starting a new life in Florida away from Michigan, starting college and finding a new boyfriend, as well as dealing with the his depression, you'd think he would be feeling overwhelmed.

Yet, I never once got the sense that the character, much less the author, ever really dealt with any of the pressure he's under in this story. I'm no expert on depression (clinical or otherwise), but I would have expected Bryan to do something far more self destructive in the course of the story than stop taking his medication and run away from his boyfriend after a fight. What does happen subsequent to his running away is very bad (he's kidnapped, raped, abused, beaten and violated by a secondary character, his boyfriend and one other), but again there's no real sense the characters actually dealing with the fall out of the event. We're told that Bryan is dealing with it, but we're never shown how he's dealing with things.

I will say I did get upset along with Bryan when he opens what he hopes is a gift from his parents that turns out to be another form of rejection it's a book full of religious pamphlets on "curing" homosexuality and a Bible (and made me want to do something to the pair of them - though even pry bars don't work on the closed/small minded types).

Greg, Bryan's boyfriend, is supportive and sweet (to the point of almost being saccharine), Brett & Jeff are there for background support as are the other kids/young men from previous books, but they're just window dressing really. We never get a real sense of Greg's character, beyond the fact that he loves his mother (who also suffers from depression), and he plays a very competitive game of tennis. And that's it for Greg.

All in all a pleasant, light, story about a guy starting to find his way in the world in spite of the setbacks he's suffered, but ultimately, one empty of any real substance.… (más)