Coming Home (Firsts and Forever #9)

Title: Coming Home (Firsts and Forever #9)
Author: Alexa Land and Greg Tremblay (Narrator)
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: January 12th 2016
Genre(s): M/M Contemporary Romance
Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
Reviewed by: Belen
Heat Level: 3 flames out of 5
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Blurb:

For 26-year-old rent boy, Chance Matthews, surviving day-to-day in San Francisco is difficult enough. Then an ill-fated road trip to Wyoming to search for his biological father throws his life into a tailspin. When a string of catastrophes leaves him stranded and desperate, help comes from the last person he’d expect. His knight in shining armor is everything he could want and then some, but Chance is sure a man like that would never want someone like him. That’s the stuff of fairy tales, and he stopped believing in those a long time ago.

Note: Coming Home is the ninth book in Alexa Land’s best-selling Firsts and Forever series, but each book can stand alone, so jump in anywhere. Includes graphic sex and explicit language and is intended for adults only.

So I almost made a huge mistake. I almost passed this up.

Why? Because it’s book #9 in the Firsts and Forever series. I thought, “Why would I start so far into a series? I won’t know what’s going on, will I?” But…this was the first audio book added (yes, that’s a head scratcher, because it’s not chronologically before the others in the series). And…it’s Greg Tremblay narrating! I mean, who can pass up Greg? Not me!).

Finally though, I remembered I read Skye Blue which is actually book #6 in the series, and enjoyed it, without ever feeling like I was missing anything…so I decided to click and try. Boy am I happy I did! This gave me all the good, squiggly feelings I love from a rent boy trope story.

Twenty-six year old Chance Matthews has been a whore for twelve years. When Finn Nolan, cop and friend of a friend’s brother, approaches Chance to teach him about sex – it opens an opportunity for both of them once they’re willing to trust each other.

He shook his head. “No. I, um…I want to hire you to do this job.” He gestured at our surroundings awkwardly.
“You want to take me to bed?”
“Oh God.” He turned away from me, but then he nodded.
“I’m going to go ahead and guess you don’t have a lot of experience hiring prostitutes,” I said.
“Absolutely none. I’ve thought about it before, but I could never go through with it. Between my job, my family….” He turned to look at me. “You could destroy me, Chance, and I’m not being dramatic. You could tear down my world if you chose to. But…somehow, I don’t think you will.”
“Why would you take that risk?”
“Because I want this so damn bad. It’s all I can think about. Please, tell me I can trust you.”
“You can.”

I really enjoyed this – from top to bottom, I enjoyed the characters, the humor, the hurt/comfort, the flow, and the narration thoroughly. I was consistently happy with the directions the story took, if not surprised by them, and didn’t stop listening until it was finished. That’s right! I listened to all 9 hours and 50 minutes in a single stretch with nary a break. Except for one meeting. Damn meetings! Always breaking into my reading time…*grumbles* With only one exception in the story I loved every other minute.

Then there’s the narration – Greg once again brings the heat and the humor and the love…I love you, Greg Tremblay!

This is surprisingly fluffy for a story about a whore – but totally worth ever fluff-filled second. It’s got some angst, but in the end it’s all kittens and rainbows! It’s terrific!!