Bully & Exit is the first story in the 'MIdwest Series'. It stars Nathan Rhodes, ex-hockey player, and Caleb Stockwell, a theater student. This is told in third person from both Nathan and Caleb’s pov.



This book is character driven. It’s about Nathan trying to apologize for what he did to Caleb on prom night and win him back. Caleb has spent the past four years trying to forget Nathan and bury the pain deep inside. When Nathan finds himself at the same party as Caleb, he decides it’s time to apologize, but Caleb wants nothing to do with him. As the story progresses it’s revealed how hurt and devastated Caleb was by Nathan’s words and behavior.

The story was emotionally intense, at least for me. I like to read fluffy, happy stories, especially since there are depressing events that are happening in the United States today. I didn’t find many grammar mistakes and the writing was smooth and transitioned well from scene to scene. However, I didn’t like the flashbacks to high school. They disrupted the flow of the main part of the story. The flashbacks read as young adult, even though Caleb and Nathan were eighteen at the time. They both felt like they were about fifteen or sixteen. So the college part of the story they are both about twenty-two, new adult/adult. Switching from teenagers to adults repeatedly throughout the story was annoying, especially since the flashbacks weren’t a page long, but a whole chapter long. It was like reading a short young adult story and that’s not what I wanted to read. When I read the flashback of the breakup, it was horrible and it made perfect sense why Caleb wanted nothing to do with Nathan. I personally don’t think Caleb should have given Nathan a second chance, which I’ll explain further on.

The main and secondary characters are well written. Caleb didn’t trust many people. His mother and his best friend, Lowell Prescott were his closest confidants and Caleb hadn’t even told Lowell about Nathan until Nathan showed up. Caleb loves theater and just wants to graduate and move to Chicago where he can bury his past forever. Nathan disrupts that plan. I didn’t care for Nathan. The whole time he’s pursuing Caleb he doesn’t take no for an answer even though Caleb makes it very clear to leave him alone. Nathan is really all about Nathan and Caleb has every right not to trust him again. Nathan never came out because of fear of what his father would say and because he couldn’t play hockey. Only after he stopped playing and after his father passed did he decide to come out and apologize to Caleb. That is the sign of a coward. It’s only after the obstacles are removed is he willing to put everything on the line, which isn’t much of a line any longer. How can Caleb trust that if life got tough again, that Nathan would hang around or turn on him like he did in high school and the past four years? He can’t, because Nathan has proven himself untrustworthy. It’s only when life is easy does Nathan take steps to change his life. Caleb forgave Nathan far too easily in my opinion. Once he heard Nathan’s excuse for what happened prom night it was like Caleb thought, “Oh, that makes sense, I believe him now. Everything will be okay.” Too fast, too easy. The forgiveness felt rushed and unrealistic to me after all the heartache leading up to that point. Nathan should have suffered far more heartache on his part. Nothing he could have ever done would make up for the pain he caused Caleb.

I liked Lowell, and Brent, who was Nathan’s best friend. I believe they get their own story in the next book and I’m eager to read that.

There is an inconsistency in the story that bothers me involving both Caleb and Nathan. Numerous times throughout the flashbacks and even in present time, they mention how they loved the other person. But suddenly at a point in the story, I think it was Caleb who thinks it was just a crush and he wasn’t really in love. Nathan near the end thinks that he isn’t in love with Caleb, but that he could be some day. All I could do was shout, “What??? What are you saying? After all that repeated build-up on both their parts of saying they loved each other and feeling they loved each other, suddenly whiplash! They’re saying they weren’t really in love it was just a crush???” That inconsistency really annoyed me.

Things I liked: All the characters and the plot as long as it was while Caleb and Nathan were in college. What I didn’t like: the long flashbacks to high school which I found disruptive to the flow of the plot and which I wanted to skip. It was too out of place. Lastly I didn’t like how fast Caleb forgave Nathan, Nathan’s stalking, and the back-tracking on whether or not the two really loved each other when it was mentioned often that they did. Despite that, the college scenes were interesting and I would recommend this book to others as long as they don’t mind reading a young adult story mixed in with their adult novel. I’ll also read the follow up stories because Lowell and Brent sound like a great couple.

I give Bully and Exit 4 Stars.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. ( )

This is a book about the pain of first love and the mistakes we all make when immaturity, hormones, and meeting expectations all combine into making bad decisions. It’s also a story of second chances and forgiveness. This story unfolds in the present (aka 2013, as I assume that is when it was written) with intermittent chapters in flashback (to 2009) as the events in the present trigger a character memory. This helps the reader get both characters version of the important events in their previous relationship.

I really enjoyed this story. The characters are well-rounded and while they both have their faults I was rooting for them. The way the story is told reveals information in such a way that you’re never quite sure whose side you’re on in their previous break up, but the way Nathan is written meant I was eager for Caleb to forgive him. Caleb had his heart broken by Nathan (and his father left him and his mother when he was young) so he has hardened his heart.

The secondary characters are great too. Brent, Nathan’s best friend and former lover, and Lowell, Caleb’s best friend and roommate, both act as excellent sounding boards for the MCs and help move the relationship forward. They also had a spark of their own and I’m looking forward to reading their story.

Themes: Second chances. Forgiveness. College/Uni setting. Closeted Jock. Theatre geek. Bisexual MC. Hockey player. Coming out.
If any of these tropes float your boat, then I’d recommend this story. ( )

This is a book about the pain of first love and the mistakes we all make when immaturity, hormones, and meeting expectations all combine into making bad decisions. It’s also a story of second chances and forgiveness. This story unfolds in the present (aka 2013, as I assume that is when it was written) with intermittent chapters in flashback (to 2009) as the events in the present trigger a character memory. This helps the reader get both characters version of the important events in their previous relationship.

I really enjoyed this story. The characters are well-rounded and while they both have their faults I was rooting for them. The way the story is told reveals information in such a way that you’re never quite sure whose side you’re on in their previous break up, but the way Nathan is written meant I was eager for Caleb to forgive him. Caleb had his heart broken by Nathan (and his father left him and his mother when he was young) so he has hardened his heart.

The secondary characters are great too. Brent, Nathan’s best friend and former lover, and Lowell, Caleb’s best friend and roommate, both act as excellent sounding boards for the MCs and help move the relationship forward. They also had a spark of their own and I’m looking forward to reading their story.

Themes: Second chances. Forgiveness. College/Uni setting. Closeted Jock. Theatre geek. Bisexual MC. Hockey player. Coming out.
If any of these tropes float your boat, then I’d recommend this story. ( )

****Some possible spoilery things****


At first I thought this was going to be just another going to college gay romance book. I was so wrong! I really liked the way Ms. Vaughn tied together what happened in high school between Caleb and Nathan with the present, and slowly revealed _why_ what happened did. I didn't expect what had occurred with Nathan, and was completely behind Caleb's reasons for not wanting to give him another chance, regardless of his present intentions--which was sort of silly of me, because I do think people deserve second chances; it's just hard when you have been hurt, and I identified with Caleb, but at the same time was a little frustrated by his inability to forgive and move forward. At the same time, I'm twice his age and have learned a lot in that time. People learn a lot just in the time they are in high school at 17-18 years old and then graduate from college, for that matter, which is really part of the theme of the book, I think. Four years can make a big difference. To find out that Nathan really _did_ have a strong reason, in his mind, for his actions the night of the prom--and I think it was brilliant to leave that until later in the book--made me reconsider his actions in the present completely. He really did mean what he was telling Caleb. He had thought he was protecting Caleb from his father, and Nathan was afraid of his father as well.

While Caleb had the freedom to express himself and the support of his mother, Nathan being stifled by an overbearing father took the heart out of his life. I love that they reconnected at the party and it made Nathan determined to rectify what he'd done in the past, despite Caleb's incredible stubborness. I really liked that Nathan wanted to take the job that wasn't the easy, cushy one because he could do more good there, as well as it being in the same place Caleb was going to be.

The development of the secondary characters was also really good. I loved Lowell. Everyone needs a friend like him. The kind that will give you no-nonsense advice, and then feed you ice cream. And Brent was interesting as well--sort of wishing he could do what Nathan was in terms of coming out but still not quite sure. But Lowell was adorable.

I am looking forward to the rest of the books in this series, as well as exploring other books by Brigham Vaughn. This was the first book of hers I've read, and I wasn't disappointed. I keep finding new authors I like! I am happy and horrified at the same time, because my TBR list is expanding exponentially. :-) Which, I suppose, in the long run is a good thing. It will be a long time before I run out of good things to read.

I would definitely recommend Bully & Exit. I didn't even mention Nathan is a hockey player, did I? Or that Caleb is into theatre. I think there's a reason my reviews are so odd. I write about the feels and forget some of the other, somewhat important details. Nathan being a hockey player is part of what prevented him from coming out in the first place. And one of the reasons his father was so macho with his, "I will not have a gay son." (Well, I think his father had a lot of issues, personally). But yes, hockey scholarships for college. Sorry about that. ( )