Release Day Review ~ His Right Choice by Thianna Durston (Reviews)

Release Day Review ~ His Right Choice by Thianna Durston

Title: His Right Choice
Series: Men of Falcon Pointe
Author: Thianna Durston
Release Date: August 22, 2016
Category: Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Pages: 200

Blurb:

Nicholas Layton, fresh off his mission for the Mormon church, attends Falcon Pointe University with plans to enjoy his final year of freedom before he gives in and marries his long-term girlfriend. But when he meets a group of gay men, some of whom are ex-Mormons and some who practice discipline by spanking, he finds he is more comfortable with them than anywhere else. Suddenly he’s straddling the line between good Mormon and gay man.

As an added bonus—or problem, depending—he meets Ethan Kierk, who is good-looking, fun to be around, and who wants to be with him. Nick tries not to think about dating a man, but he can’t help it. He wants Ethan, and that terrifies him.

To avoid his feelings, Nick steels himself to propose to his girlfriend but breaks things off at the last moment. Instead, he jumps headlong into a relationship with Ethan, and it feels so right—until he has to tell his family. When they reject him, he shares his darkest secret with Ethan, hoping Ethan won’t reject him too.

Hoping he made the right choice.

Buy The Book:

Dreamspinner ~ Goodreads

4 Stars

**Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for a honest review**

Nick has just returned from a mission in Japan with his best friend Deke, and now they are off to attend their sophomore year of college. Nick has been dating his girlfriend, a good Mormon girl, who would make the perfect wife and mother, for quite some time. Now that he has returned from his mission, he is expected to propose and get on with his life, but something is different inside of Nick. He has always been attracted to men and not women. When he meets a group of gay guys, they befriend him. They let him know that it's okay to feel what he feels and some of them are ex-Mormons, so he feels he has friends he can really lean on and relate to. Then he meets Ethan, someone who makes his heart race and his palms sweat, and when they kiss it's like nothing he's ever felt before, but Nick is still determined to marry Kaylee, his girlfriend.

I enjoyed the beginning of the story. I loved that Ethan was so patient with Nick. He understands Nick, more than Nick realizes. The chemistry between them was great, but I guess when I read the blurb, I missed the line about some of his new friends using discipline, and even though this is the 4th book in the series, I read it as a standalone. When I got to the conversation suggesting discipline, I was taken aback. I really dislike BDSM/discipline stories. I'm not trying to insult the people that choose/enjoy to live that lifestyle, or like to read these books. To each their own, but it's just not for me. My biggest problem was that it just came out of left field, and I just didn't feel the discipline fit the storyline. It wasn't needed. The book would have been fine without it. All Nick needed was good friends and a great boyfriend to support him, and he had that in spades.

While I know his family turned their back on him and rejected him when he came out, I loved that Nick had such a strong support system in the form of his friends. Most people who are rejected by their families don't have this. I thought Nick was a very lucky guy.

Nick was a well-developed character, but I wish I'd known more about Ethan. Well, really I knew a good bit about Ethan, I just wanted to know HIM better, I hope that makes sense. This story was enjoyable, well-written, and flowed well. It was filled with steamy romance, sweetness, loving friends, and laughter. Recommended!

**Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for a honest review**

I've read quite a few books with a religious theme to them and some I've loved while others I could not stand. I think His Right Choice fell somewhere in the middle for me. I'm no stranger to Mormonism, I grew up knowing various Mormon families, some more devout than others, so the religious aspect didn't bother me.  However, I almost felt like it was too much with everything else going on in the story. 

I'm going to preface this by saying this is the first book in this series that I have read so I'm not used to all the characters yet. With that said I really felt like there was too much going on in this story and too many characters to keep track of. 

We meet Nick, a young man in his sophomore year of college struggling with his sexuality and whether to propose to his girlfriend, who his entire community seems to be pushing on him. He's Mormon and his entire life he's been raised to do what is expected of him according to the church's teachings. He meets a group of guys who all turn out to be gay and he finally admits to himself that he likes men. However, he is fighting his upbringing and is determined to continue on with his girlfriend and eventually marry and settle down with her.  When he meets Ethan, an older man, they are instantly attracted to one another so now Nick is questioning things again because he wants to get to know Ethan. 

I don't want to ruin the story so I won't keep going, but as I was saying, there is way too much going on here:

*Coming to terms with being gay. 
*being a member of a very conservative religious upbringing.
*being pressured to propose to a girl he's not in love with. 
*dating an older business man  who has a sad past of his own. 

Then we throw in:
 *Domestic Discipline and 
*A group of guys who I found a bit weird when it came down to it. 

Basically, I found myself more or less just going through the motions with the story because it was just okay. Of course, then we get to the discipline part and I was just dumbstruck, because seriously? Why is this even in here? It's completely unnecessary and frankly a little off-putting when I think about it.  Nick just turned his entire life upside down and is dealing with some very life altering changes. He needs the opportunity to work through it and the fact that Ethan sees spanking him as the thing to help, really made me mad.  He doesn't need a spanking, he needs an understanding shoulder and ear. 
  
I was glad for Ethan's best friend Deke. The fact that he was so astute and concerned about Nick was great. The way he accepted him and supported him made me smile. He was a great character and I loved his interactions throughout the book.  He was probably my favorite part of the entire story.  

3.5 Stars