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mattdoylemedia's review against another edition
4.0
***ARC given in exchange for an honest review***
Background: German born Mel Gough currently lives in London, England. She has been an avid reader form a young age and A World Apart (released September 18th 2017) is her debut novel.
The book is a M/M contemporary romance that follows bisexual cop Ben Griers as he deals with both the breakdown of his marriage and his growing attraction to a redneck named Donnie Saunders. The book comes with a content warning due to the mention of childhood abuse and the warts and all portrayal of serious medical issues.
The Good: I’m going to start with the content warning here, specifically the medical side of things. I won’t spoil what exactly is being put across in the book, largely because I feel that would lessen the impact for readers, but it’s safe to say that the warning is needed. Mel does not try to lessen the effects of the conditions being portrayed, nor does she dance around the very real consequences of both the illness and the necessary treatments. This is in itself a real positive for me because, while it does make for some uncomfortable moments, it gives the scenario the respect it deserves rather than romanticising it.
I also want to give a shout-out to our protagonist Ben here. Sure, he comes across as a nice guy, and you certainly feel for him given his circumstances, but it’s actually the way that his sexual orientation is shown that I like the most. Bisexuality has so many misconceptions surrounding it, so to see a story where he the lead likes both males and females, isn’t put in the ‘it’s a phase, you’ll have to choose’ scenario, and doesn’t play up certain stereotypes is excellent. I also liked that he felt the need to look after Donnie, as there are plenty of people who don’t feel settled without someone to look after, and to see this put across in an authentic manner was a nice touch.
Donnie is an interesting love interest for Ben too, and discovering his backstory as the tale progresses is a Helluva ride. Meanwhile, the other characters that we encounter are, while not as fleshed out as our leading pair, more than capable of fitting their roles and holding your attention. In particular, Ben’s former partner Helen deserves a mention, as she forms a realistic depiction of someone who is conflicted due to the mix of their relationship falling apart and the fact that she’s a reasonable person.
It should be noted here that the book does contain a handful of erotic scenes. While not an erotica reader myself, I can appreciate the way these were set up. Rather than simply providing titillation, the scenes genuinely move the plot forward and help show the development of Ben and Donnie’s relationship. As such, they never feel shoehorned in, and actually add to the tale.
The Bad: So, like I said, the content warning is there for good reason. If you’re squeamish about medical stuff, or simply can’t stand erotic scenes at all, then they’re worth considering. At the same time, if you prefer your sweet romance to remain sweet and avoid too many hardships, then you may struggle with the harshness that A World Apart depicts.
Moving on though, I only really have one criticism. Now, I am not really a contemporary romance reader. I tend to stick with speculative fiction for the most part because it just fits with my tastes better. The reason I mention that is because what I’m about to say won’t actually bother most regular readers of the genre. You see, I have a preference for slowly built romance. There’s nothing overtly wrong with love-at-first-sight or whirlwind romance, it’s just that neither are my personal preference. As such, the speed at which Ben and Donnie’s relationship moves was outside my normal tastes. It’s understandable, as the circumstances that they’re both facing would make them need to reach out, and that may make people move quicker. I would also say though that while it doesn’t fit with my normal romance tastes, the book is well written enough for this not to be a major negative. If anything, I liked the moments of sweetness as a contrast to the cold, hard reality of the leads lives.
Final View: A World Apart is a quick, easy read that provides an interesting slant on the M/M romance genre. The story weaves together a healthy mix of harsh moments, sweetness and some decent representation for a number of different types of people. Well worth a read, though you may get more out of it if you’re a more seasoned M/M romance fan.
Final Score: 4 / 5
Background: German born Mel Gough currently lives in London, England. She has been an avid reader form a young age and A World Apart (released September 18th 2017) is her debut novel.
The book is a M/M contemporary romance that follows bisexual cop Ben Griers as he deals with both the breakdown of his marriage and his growing attraction to a redneck named Donnie Saunders. The book comes with a content warning due to the mention of childhood abuse and the warts and all portrayal of serious medical issues.
The Good: I’m going to start with the content warning here, specifically the medical side of things. I won’t spoil what exactly is being put across in the book, largely because I feel that would lessen the impact for readers, but it’s safe to say that the warning is needed. Mel does not try to lessen the effects of the conditions being portrayed, nor does she dance around the very real consequences of both the illness and the necessary treatments. This is in itself a real positive for me because, while it does make for some uncomfortable moments, it gives the scenario the respect it deserves rather than romanticising it.
I also want to give a shout-out to our protagonist Ben here. Sure, he comes across as a nice guy, and you certainly feel for him given his circumstances, but it’s actually the way that his sexual orientation is shown that I like the most. Bisexuality has so many misconceptions surrounding it, so to see a story where he the lead likes both males and females, isn’t put in the ‘it’s a phase, you’ll have to choose’ scenario, and doesn’t play up certain stereotypes is excellent. I also liked that he felt the need to look after Donnie, as there are plenty of people who don’t feel settled without someone to look after, and to see this put across in an authentic manner was a nice touch.
Donnie is an interesting love interest for Ben too, and discovering his backstory as the tale progresses is a Helluva ride. Meanwhile, the other characters that we encounter are, while not as fleshed out as our leading pair, more than capable of fitting their roles and holding your attention. In particular, Ben’s former partner Helen deserves a mention, as she forms a realistic depiction of someone who is conflicted due to the mix of their relationship falling apart and the fact that she’s a reasonable person.
It should be noted here that the book does contain a handful of erotic scenes. While not an erotica reader myself, I can appreciate the way these were set up. Rather than simply providing titillation, the scenes genuinely move the plot forward and help show the development of Ben and Donnie’s relationship. As such, they never feel shoehorned in, and actually add to the tale.
The Bad: So, like I said, the content warning is there for good reason. If you’re squeamish about medical stuff, or simply can’t stand erotic scenes at all, then they’re worth considering. At the same time, if you prefer your sweet romance to remain sweet and avoid too many hardships, then you may struggle with the harshness that A World Apart depicts.
Moving on though, I only really have one criticism. Now, I am not really a contemporary romance reader. I tend to stick with speculative fiction for the most part because it just fits with my tastes better. The reason I mention that is because what I’m about to say won’t actually bother most regular readers of the genre. You see, I have a preference for slowly built romance. There’s nothing overtly wrong with love-at-first-sight or whirlwind romance, it’s just that neither are my personal preference. As such, the speed at which Ben and Donnie’s relationship moves was outside my normal tastes. It’s understandable, as the circumstances that they’re both facing would make them need to reach out, and that may make people move quicker. I would also say though that while it doesn’t fit with my normal romance tastes, the book is well written enough for this not to be a major negative. If anything, I liked the moments of sweetness as a contrast to the cold, hard reality of the leads lives.
Final View: A World Apart is a quick, easy read that provides an interesting slant on the M/M romance genre. The story weaves together a healthy mix of harsh moments, sweetness and some decent representation for a number of different types of people. Well worth a read, though you may get more out of it if you’re a more seasoned M/M romance fan.
Final Score: 4 / 5
emhamill's review against another edition
4.0
***1/2 rounded up to ****
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I’ll issue my usual disclaimer: please don’t take my hot-and-cold views of romance stories as gospel. This is a good, quick read and enjoyable for any M/M romance fans out there.
A World Apart is a love story about Ben, a cop whose marriage is disintegrating after years of indifference, and Donnie, a recovering addict.
I’ve said before that I’m extremely picky about romances—my primary reading genres are science fiction and fantasy with the occasional lit fiction. This story is very sweet, but the romance feels rushed to the point of disbelief. The two meet at an AA meeting the morning after Ben falls off the wagon because his wife tells him it’s over. Ben’s certain he’s falling in love with Donnie after just a couple of meetings, and there are serious circumstances *no spoilers* that would be a challenge for any couple, let alone a brand-new one, which Ben hardly blinks at. His desire to take care of Donnie feels like a desperate rebound.
Donnie, on the other hand, is a delicately drawn character, much more nuanced for me even though the story is primarily from Ben’s point of view. I could feel his distress and his awful homelife. The dingy house he and his brother shared was clear in my imagination. The author doesn’t hesitate to tackle some very heavy issues in these pages and does so responsibly.
In terms of bi-rep (yay!), I absolutely loved that there was no “Oh, my god, I might be gay” gnashing and wailing going on, and that Ben already owned his bisexuality. Big points here, especially since with his alpha-male best friend/partner, there could have been plenty of ugliness, and it was a relief there wasn’t.
In terms of writing, there are some really lovely, poignant turns of phrase in the prose, but dialogue-wise, the author has chosen to use phonetic spellings to convey Donnie’s style of speech, which is a tricky art. It’s distracting for me.
The story might have been better served as a longer novel, because the bones for a solid story are there, but as it is, suffered from the fantasy-love that keeps me away from most adult romance novels and stuff just happens too fast for me to believe. Does that make me cynical that I’ll believe in insta-lust but not insta-love? Yeah, probably.
A World Apart didn’t make me fall in love with it, but I think it will appeal to a lot of other readers out there. It’s a quick, HFN read, so don’t hesitate to pick it up if you’re on the fence!
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I’ll issue my usual disclaimer: please don’t take my hot-and-cold views of romance stories as gospel. This is a good, quick read and enjoyable for any M/M romance fans out there.
A World Apart is a love story about Ben, a cop whose marriage is disintegrating after years of indifference, and Donnie, a recovering addict.
I’ve said before that I’m extremely picky about romances—my primary reading genres are science fiction and fantasy with the occasional lit fiction. This story is very sweet, but the romance feels rushed to the point of disbelief. The two meet at an AA meeting the morning after Ben falls off the wagon because his wife tells him it’s over. Ben’s certain he’s falling in love with Donnie after just a couple of meetings, and there are serious circumstances *no spoilers* that would be a challenge for any couple, let alone a brand-new one, which Ben hardly blinks at. His desire to take care of Donnie feels like a desperate rebound.
Donnie, on the other hand, is a delicately drawn character, much more nuanced for me even though the story is primarily from Ben’s point of view. I could feel his distress and his awful homelife. The dingy house he and his brother shared was clear in my imagination. The author doesn’t hesitate to tackle some very heavy issues in these pages and does so responsibly.
In terms of bi-rep (yay!), I absolutely loved that there was no “Oh, my god, I might be gay” gnashing and wailing going on, and that Ben already owned his bisexuality. Big points here, especially since with his alpha-male best friend/partner, there could have been plenty of ugliness, and it was a relief there wasn’t.
In terms of writing, there are some really lovely, poignant turns of phrase in the prose, but dialogue-wise, the author has chosen to use phonetic spellings to convey Donnie’s style of speech, which is a tricky art. It’s distracting for me.
The story might have been better served as a longer novel, because the bones for a solid story are there, but as it is, suffered from the fantasy-love that keeps me away from most adult romance novels and stuff just happens too fast for me to believe. Does that make me cynical that I’ll believe in insta-lust but not insta-love? Yeah, probably.
A World Apart didn’t make me fall in love with it, but I think it will appeal to a lot of other readers out there. It’s a quick, HFN read, so don’t hesitate to pick it up if you’re on the fence!
xanthe87's review against another edition
3.0
Finding this quite a hard review to write as overall I enjoyed the plot line of the story and how things ended up for our MC's, Ben and Donnie, but throughout things stood out as not quite working for me. I will always recommend that regardless of my thoughts, everyone should give a book a go as everyone enjoys books in different ways.
Things developed very quickly and harshly for Ben and Donnie; with Ben's marriage finally coming to an end, Donnie's health problems for Donnie, Donnie's brother causing trouble then disappearing. It comes across as a huge tale of woe with occasional snapshots of happiness. Ben seems to jump in headfirst when it comes to a relationship with Donnie but with very little conversation happening but circumstances bring them together. I didn't really get a feel of a connection between the two but Ben's attraction to Donnie came across well with his POV. Donnie's POV was slightly confusing with things coming as an inner monologue (thinking to himself) and then the next sentence being about him.
What the story does give us is that there is hope of someone out there for us all, regardless of where we come from and the circumstances.
I received an ARC and am happily giving a review
Things developed very quickly and harshly for Ben and Donnie; with Ben's marriage finally coming to an end, Donnie's health problems for Donnie, Donnie's brother causing trouble then disappearing. It comes across as a huge tale of woe with occasional snapshots of happiness. Ben seems to jump in headfirst when it comes to a relationship with Donnie but with very little conversation happening but circumstances bring them together. I didn't really get a feel of a connection between the two but Ben's attraction to Donnie came across well with his POV. Donnie's POV was slightly confusing with things coming as an inner monologue (thinking to himself) and then the next sentence being about him.
What the story does give us is that there is hope of someone out there for us all, regardless of where we come from and the circumstances.
I received an ARC and am happily giving a review
ezichinny's review against another edition
2.0
I would describe reading this book as getting into a vehicle where the author took me on a high-speed car chase where I was hoping it would end well but my heart was in my stomach a lot.
It started with a very dramatic courtroom scene. The entire book, I kept waiting for the courtroom scene to tie in, but it didn’t really impact the story as I thought it would. There was such potential but it wasn’t realized here as there was no real foundation laid for this romance nor real chemistry amongst the characters.
The main characters met when Police Officer Ben Griers saw his best friend and fellow officer Jason being overly aggressive with a suspect. Ben stepped in and insisted that Jason release the suspect Donnie Saunders since Jason had no evidence connecting Donnie to an alleged hit-and-run accident. Donnie was grateful and went on his way. It seemed that something passed between them although it felt like sympathy, a bit of pity and gratitude.
Later at an AA meeting, Ben ran into Donnie and there was a recognition of sorts. Two struggling people trying to find their way out of their predicaments. Ben was having problems in his marriage so the reader was supposed to understand why and how Donnie evoked feelings that seemed dead in Ben. Other than having substance abuse issues that they were working through, I don’t see anything these two had in common. The author didn’t really set a foundation of loneliness for Ben, though it was clear that Donnie had a very troubled past and no real support system. Ben quickly stepped into Donnie’s life and started helping him with his illness with no hesitation. Considering he has a daughter and a wife, it was unbelievable that he didn’t even give a second thought to how this would affect their lives. Ben's wife seemed like a reasonable person. I am not entirely sure what was the real problems in their marriage and why it couldn't be addressed via counseling and effort.
There was a very heavy subject with serious issues all around, but they weren’t worked in carefully. The subjects of bisexuality, addiction and severe health condition should have made for a great hurt-comfort read but unfortunately, it didn’t deliver. Ben’s wife, daughter and even best friend Jason were all relationships that I didn't really comprehend because there was no real depth to the dialogue nor real expression of emotion amongst these characters. They all seemed to be good people at heart, but seomthing just wasn't right so they were glossed over. The writing was so uneven that it felt like I was holding on for dear life through this rather shallow journey of the character's lives.
This author is new to me but I had high hopes for the book based on the enticing blurb. I was disappointed with this one.
It started with a very dramatic courtroom scene. The entire book, I kept waiting for the courtroom scene to tie in, but it didn’t really impact the story as I thought it would. There was such potential but it wasn’t realized here as there was no real foundation laid for this romance nor real chemistry amongst the characters.
The main characters met when Police Officer Ben Griers saw his best friend and fellow officer Jason being overly aggressive with a suspect. Ben stepped in and insisted that Jason release the suspect Donnie Saunders since Jason had no evidence connecting Donnie to an alleged hit-and-run accident. Donnie was grateful and went on his way. It seemed that something passed between them although it felt like sympathy, a bit of pity and gratitude.
Later at an AA meeting, Ben ran into Donnie and there was a recognition of sorts. Two struggling people trying to find their way out of their predicaments. Ben was having problems in his marriage so the reader was supposed to understand why and how Donnie evoked feelings that seemed dead in Ben. Other than having substance abuse issues that they were working through, I don’t see anything these two had in common. The author didn’t really set a foundation of loneliness for Ben, though it was clear that Donnie had a very troubled past and no real support system. Ben quickly stepped into Donnie’s life and started helping him with his illness with no hesitation. Considering he has a daughter and a wife, it was unbelievable that he didn’t even give a second thought to how this would affect their lives. Ben's wife seemed like a reasonable person. I am not entirely sure what was the real problems in their marriage and why it couldn't be addressed via counseling and effort.
There was a very heavy subject with serious issues all around, but they weren’t worked in carefully. The subjects of bisexuality, addiction and severe health condition should have made for a great hurt-comfort read but unfortunately, it didn’t deliver. Ben’s wife, daughter and even best friend Jason were all relationships that I didn't really comprehend because there was no real depth to the dialogue nor real expression of emotion amongst these characters. They all seemed to be good people at heart, but seomthing just wasn't right so they were glossed over. The writing was so uneven that it felt like I was holding on for dear life through this rather shallow journey of the character's lives.
This author is new to me but I had high hopes for the book based on the enticing blurb. I was disappointed with this one.
abhidnya's review against another edition
3.0
it's a sweet story but the insta-love didn't do well for me. and usually I eat that crap up.
squirrely007's review against another edition
3.0
This moved really fast. It was a weird kind of insta love, but I enjoyed it.
jpjackson's review
5.0
4.5 stars.
I loved this story. Why? Because it made me think about people in my life I haven't thought about in a long time. In other words - it was relatable. It was real (to me), it resonated and yes, dammit, I was tearing up on the train ride home.
I can't say too much because I think it will spoil other people's experience with this book, but I will say this: I have friends who constantly validate Donnie's reactions and feelings and experiences.
I have been Ben. Ugh, so many feels - congrats to the author. But dammit Ben - you're a little controlling...or maybe just alpha, or too much of a mother hen. I can't decide. Still, despite those flaws, I loved Ben.
I'd also like to say that I was really impressed that Helen, the ex-wife, wasn't depicted as a raging harpy. Sure, there were some tense emotions, and understandably so, but in the end, she was understanding, patient and forgiving yet, still a human being. Well done. Nope, not saying more - read it.
Also of note: Bisexuality is a thing people. And the author made this just part of everyday life, as it should be. No biggie. Ben likes boys and Ben likes girls. It's that simple. Deal. It's okay.
Now, why I docked half a star...the only thing I can say is that many elements of this story seemed to happen just a little too fast. This is a quick read, and I think I would have enjoyed staying with Ben and Donnie a little longer.
You want a book with feels? Here you go! Enjoy.
PS - Floyd's a douche.
I loved this story. Why? Because it made me think about people in my life I haven't thought about in a long time. In other words - it was relatable. It was real (to me), it resonated and yes, dammit, I was tearing up on the train ride home.
I can't say too much because I think it will spoil other people's experience with this book, but I will say this: I have friends who constantly validate Donnie's reactions and feelings and experiences.
I have been Ben. Ugh, so many feels - congrats to the author. But dammit Ben - you're a little controlling...or maybe just alpha, or too much of a mother hen. I can't decide. Still, despite those flaws, I loved Ben.
I'd also like to say that I was really impressed that Helen, the ex-wife, wasn't depicted as a raging harpy. Sure, there were some tense emotions, and understandably so, but in the end, she was understanding, patient and forgiving yet, still a human being. Well done. Nope, not saying more - read it.
Also of note: Bisexuality is a thing people. And the author made this just part of everyday life, as it should be. No biggie. Ben likes boys and Ben likes girls. It's that simple. Deal. It's okay.
Now, why I docked half a star...the only thing I can say is that many elements of this story seemed to happen just a little too fast. This is a quick read, and I think I would have enjoyed staying with Ben and Donnie a little longer.
You want a book with feels? Here you go! Enjoy.
PS - Floyd's a douche.
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