Release Day Review ~ Do You Trust Me by B.G. Thomas
Title: Do You Trust Me?
Author: B.G. Thomas
Release Date: February 3, 2017
Category: Contemporary
Pages: 200
The path to happiness starts with acceptance, and sometimes the chance for a bright, loving future means letting go of the past.
All his life, Neil Baxter has buried a large part of himself—the part that’s attracted to other men. He married a woman and denied that side of him existed. And he plans to keep right on pretending to be straight after his beloved wife has passed away.
To help him deal with his grief, Neil’s sister-in-law convinces him to vacation at a dude ranch. There, Neil meets Cole Thompson, a young, gorgeous, unabashedly gay wrangler—who is unabashedly attracted to Neil. And try as he might, Neil cannot deny he feels the same way. But desire soon becomes something more profound as the two men get to know each other. Cole is much more than a sexy cowboy: he’s kind, spiritual, and intelligent. In fact, he’s perfect for Neil… except he’s a man, and Neil isn’t ready to let go of a lifetime of denial. If he cannot find the courage to be true to himself, he might let something wonderful slip through his fingers.
First Edition published as Trust Me by Amber Quill Press, 2011.
4 Stars!
While overall I quite enjoyed the story of Neil and Cole, there were more than a few moments which I had a very difficult time liking Neil and had to question whether or not I could get past the way the author portrays him. While I understood Neil's past caused him to have confusing thoughts of himself and homosexuality, his attitude and his actions disgusted me quite a bit at first. Yes, it seems to be common for stories in which someone who was blatantly homophobic turned out to be so deep in the closet they had no clue they were even gay but I kept getting the feeling that Neil actually knew he was gay. There was no hint that his family had problems with homosexuality so his behavior felt asinine to me.
Luckily, as the story progresses and we got more of Neil's background, the way he was raised and the way he was treated by his mother, the more everything made sense. His relationship with his late wife and the way he views himself, sex and everything made a lot more sense to me and I was finally able to enjoy the story. I actually found myself feeling sorry for him and hoping that he would be able to be true to himself as well with his family, friends and the world. He was a very sad character and until about the halfway point of the book, I didn't realize it was more than just my perception of him but his actual character.
For the most part, I enjoyed Cole's character, although I would've liked a little bit more background on him. I was very interested in finding out what drew him to older men and if any of it had to do with his past experiences in his life. I'm not gonna lie, his nickname of "Big Daddy" for Neil irritated me to no end. His use of the nickname in front of people and in front of Neil's own daughter just didn't seem right to me.
In the end, though, I quite enjoyed both Neil and Cole together and thought they made a good couple I was happy to see Neil actually become more human and I thought that had a lot to do with finally being able to admit who he really was. Would I recommend the book? Yes, I think it's a good book about self-discovery, family and love and if you're into May/December romances, this one's definitely for you.
*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement.***
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