Between Sinners and Saints

Title: Between Sinners and Saints
Author: Marie Sexton and John Solo (Narrator)
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: December 1st 2015
Genre(s): M/M Contemporary Romance
Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
Reviewed by: Belen
Heat Level: 3 flames out of 5
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Blurb:

Levi Binder is a Miami bartender who cares about only two things: sex and surfing. Ostracized by his Mormon family for his homosexuality, Levi is determined to live his life his own way, but everything changes when he meets massage therapist Jaime Marshall.

Jaime is used to being alone. Haunted by the horrors of his past, his only friend is his faithful dog, Dolly. He has no idea how to handle somebody as gorgeous and vibrant as Levi.

Complete opposites on the surface, Levi and Jaime both long for something that they can only find together. Through love and the therapeutic power of touch, they’ll find a way to heal each other, and they’ll learn to live as sinners in a family of saints.

I thought John Solo did a really good job with the narration – conveying the situations presented and narrating the different character voices. I enjoyed the narration and wouldn’t mind picking up other stories narrated by him.

What I liked most:
~ I loved this is a hurt/comfort story that deals with some really heavy subject matters.
~ I loved the story is told from both Levi and Jamie’s POV.
~ I loved Jamie and the way Sexton handles Jamie’s past trauma, the aftermath, and, ultimately, his healing. Jamie is what kept me going through the story.

Spoiler Trigger Alert

Jamie was raped by his uncle as a young boy.

I eventually liked Levi, especially his handling of Jamie and Jamie’s past. It helped my respect for his character to grow, which is good because I really hated him for the first 50% of the story, then mostly disliked him for the next 10%, then eventually liked him. His actions, thoughts, behavior…I wanted to punch him. But he grows, through his love of Jamie, and that helped me like him better.

I knew going in that the story has an association with religious themes, so I didn’t find the subject matter to be surprising. I did find it heavy handed at times, but those times usually passed pretty quickly and I tried not to dwell on them. Levi’s family, and their religious battering, no matter how well intentioned, grated at me terribly even as I respected their growth and willingness to alter their opinions.

Ultimately, the story is about the power of healing, family and love. Fans of hurt/comfort should check this out, especially the audio version.

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