Yes, Forever

Title: Yes, Forever
Author: Bailey Bradford
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Release Date: April 12th, 2016
Genre(s): M/M Romance
Page Count: 162 Pages
Reviewed by: Jaime
Heat Level: 2 flames out of 5
Rating: 2 stars out of 5
Blurb:

John’s said no in the past, but now he has a chance at forever—if he can move past his doubts and say yes.

John Weston’s misspent youth has left him a more cautious man, one who doesn’t dare take a risk. He works, comes home, and every day seems like the one before. It’s what he deserves—it’s all he deserves. That’s what he’s convinced himself.

Added to his past mistakes, John has struggled with depression off and on for years. He keeps to himself, but he might come to realize that his reasons for doing so aren’t what he believed them to be.

One man appears, and John’s going to have to figure out why he prefers to hide from life, and if he’s ready to reach for something more.

Benji Marks, with his beautiful eyes and bright smile, makes John want things he never thought he could have.

Nothing comes easy, and heartbreak is a risk that John must weigh as he tries to sort out who he is and why he’s made the choices he’s made in the past.

Publisher’s Note: This book is also available as a five part serial.

2 Stars – Missing Depth, no character development, Just felt wrong

So, I really hate rating a book below a 3 star but I cannot honestly give this book more than 2 stars just because it lacked in multiple areas.

First, overall character development – for instance the MC, John and Benji – I couldn’t connect with them because I felt like the author gave me the cliff notes version of their backstory. Then let’s add it the author using a very serious topic to shape one of his MC, mental illness, yet skirting the issues, care, feelings, and everything else that goes along with a major illness.

Second, I think I was able to identify a plot, our MC John used to be a promiscuous man and he has reformed himself, blaming his past ways on untreated depressive episodes and self medicating with drugs and alcohol. This was sort of annoying because as I am well aware that bipolar illness and yes even major depression can cause you to act strangely and hyper sexuality is a part of bipolar disorder, John blaming his entire sexual history in depression is really a stretch. Then while this book was set in the south, and I understand that the south is known for being the Bible Belt..it felt like the author was trying to preach a bit of religion through their writing. With such statements in the book that were supposedly from Johns mother about waiting for a relationship prior to sex, and numerous mentions of HIV/AIDS/syphilis it really felt like the author was using the book to write about their own view points on sex before marriage and ridiculing those who partake in it. There were even mentions of “by the Grace of God I was spared” meaning the MC didn’t get any STD/STI while being promiscuous and using drugs and alcohol.

Third, So I understand that every book is an extension of an author but I also think that if an author is going to take an entire book and basically preach about their viewpoints under the guise of a m/m contemporary romance there should be some better story development and character development to go along with it. At least give us a good story while you lecture us, that’s all I am saying.

So overall I can say I would not recommend this book unless you want to give it to a teenager you are trying to talk to about safe sex — unable to connect with this story at all, felt the one MC Benji was nothing but a brat and the other was too busy self-flagellating himself to be happy. This book was previously published in serial style installments and from what I can tell it was a chapter or two at a time as the overall book is less than 200 pages – I would have really been upset had I read this book and paid for each couple of chapters – 2 Stars

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