The Half of Us
By Cardeno C.
Published: October 10th 2014 by Dreamspinner Press
Short-tempered, arrogant heart surgeon Jason Garcia grew up wanting a close-knit family, but believes he ruined those dreams when he broke up his marriage. The benefit of divorce is having as much random sex as he wants, and it’s a benefit Jason is exploiting when he meets a sweet, shy man at a bar and convinces him to go home for a no-strings-attached night of fun.
Eight years living in Las Vegas hasn’t dimmed Abe Green’s optimism, earnestness, or desire to find the one. When a sexy man with lonely eyes propositions him, Abe decides to give himself a birthday present—one night of spontaneous fun with no thoughts of the future. But one night turns into two and then three, and Abe realizes his heart is involved.
For the first time, Abe feels safe enough with someone he respects and adores to let go of his inhibitions in the bedroom. If Jason can get past his own inhibitions and open his heart and his life to Abe, he might finally find the family he craves.
Kay's Review
Cardeno C delivers another beautiful story, mixing sweet moments with spicy interactions, confirming a place in my must-read authors list.
Jason is an arrogant heart-surgeon who had a bit of a temper. While he grew up wanting a family, his lifestyle at the moment is the exact opposite. He is divorced and has very little interaction with his children. He doesn't believe in relationships and only does a series of one-night stands with different men.
Abe is sweet, good-natured and a teacher, kinda the opposite of Jason. But he does have one thing in common with Jason, he also yearns for a family. However he doesn't have much experience and only had two relatively long term relationships. One thing he Doesn't do is hook-up or one-night stands. Until Jason.
I have to say I loved these two from the start, Jason out trawling for a hook-up and Abe out celebrating his birthday. I loved that despite Abe's misgivings he took Jason home because of the loneliness he saw in his eye. Despite Jason being the cocky dominant one, he was actually the needy one in a kind of ironic way. Abe was always so accommodating, although he was getting what he wanted in a roundabout way. The chemistry between them sizzled throughout and I just loved the two of them together. Even the secondary character shone in this story.
However, I do have a niggle. This story was tied up in a nice pretty little ribbon, a bit too conveniently for me. I know this is a romance and happy endings are expected. But I felt that Jason and Abe's relationship was never really tested considering the subject of infidelity from Jason's past or the fact they had to deal with a troubled teenager. Every issue that came up was resolved way too easily. It was all a little too rosy for me.
I would've loved to see how Jason coped with a little temptation. Send him off to a conference for a week or two without Abe and see how he copes without sex. Would he fall for temptation or not? I don't know.
And as for Abe and the issue with Donny, that was resolved too easily too. Troubled teenagers don't really turnaround at the drop of a hat? I would have loved to see how Abe coped with the pressure of a really troubled teen that wasn't his on a daily.
That said, I enjoyed this story and I recommend it easily. Go and grab your copy.
Disclaimer: This book was provided by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Excerpt
“Are
you coming?” Jason asked, looking over his shoulder.
“Yeah.”
Abe shook his head to clear it and stood. “Yes.” He followed Jason into the
bathroom, scooping up clothes from the floor along the way and then tossing
them into the hamper. By the time they got into the shower, his brain was
mostly operational again. “How was your day?”
“Other
than finding out my son got into a fight and then coming home to a yelling
match?” Jason asked.
“Yeah.
Other than that,” Abe said with a smile.
“Not
bad.” Jason picked up the soap, lathered it, and began washing Abe’s shoulders
and chest. “There was one awkward moment when a patient’s husband and a family
friend got into an exceptionally polite fight.”
Furrowing
his brow, Abe asked, “How is a fight polite?” He got his hands soapy and slid
them over Jason’s torso.
“Well,
everyone was nicely dressed and kept their voices low, but the husband wouldn’t
stop asking the friend why he was there, and the friend did everything he could
to stand closer to the wife. Then things got even worse when the friend’s wife
came and smiled at everyone while shooting daggers with her eyes at her
husband.”
“What
did you do?” Abe asked.
“I
tried my usual trick of imagining them naked and bent over so I wouldn’t have
to focus on what they were saying.” He snaked his hands around Abe’s chest and
washed his back. “That works in almost every situation, but the
passive-aggressive comments got to be too much after a few minutes, so I went
to the nurses’ station and told one of the nurses to clear the room. She let
the patient choose one person to stay, and the rest of them had to go to the
waiting area.”
“Uh.”
Abe’s hands froze over Jason’s hips. “I have a couple of questions.”
“What?”
Jason moved Abe’s hands down to his dick.
Cupping
his hands over Jason’s package, Abe said, “Your usual trick when dealing with
difficult patients is to imagine everyone’s naked butt?”
“I
don’t limit that trick to patients. And I don’t imagine everyone naked.” Jason
slid his hands down Abe’s back and lathered up his ass. “I only do it with
men.”
“Fine.
Your usual trick to deal with awkwardness is imagining guys bent over?”
“Bent
over. On their knees. On their backs.” Jason shrugged. “I’m not picky.” He
waggled his eyebrows. “But I am blessed with a great imagination.” He squeezed
Abe’s ass.
“You’re
a major perv.” Abe gently massaged soap over Jason’s balls with one hand and
stroked it onto his cock with the other.
“And
you love it.”
“Ehm.
I, uh—” Abe dropped his chin and looked up at Jason from underneath his lashes.
“Maybe.”
“Definitely.”
Jason smirked.
Dreamspinner / Amazon / ARe / Paperback
Cardeno C. – CC to friends – is a hopeless romantic who wants to add a lot of happiness and a few “awwws” into a reader’s day. Writing is a nice break from real life as a corporate type and volunteer work with gay rights organizations. Cardeno’s stories range from sweet to intense, contemporary to paranormal, long to short, but they always include strong relationships and walks into the happily-ever-after sunset.
Cardeno’s Home, Family, and Mates series have received awards from Love Romances and More Golden Roses, Rainbow Awards, the Goodreads M/Romance Group, and various reviewers. But even more special to CC are heartfelt reactions from readers, like, “You bring joy and love and make it part of the every day.”
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