By Degrees (By Degrees, #1)

By Degrees (By Degrees #1)

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75  ·  rating details  ·  342 ratings  ·  30 reviews
Orphaned at eleven and bounced around the foster system, Tim learned young that the only thing he could control was himself. It was a lesson he took seriously, and it's the only thing that keeps him safe from more heartbreak. Conner doesn't understand this desire to control things, but he doesn't need to. He loves everything about his control-freak friend, even the way he...more
ebook, 229 pages
Published March 1st 2009 by Torquere Press
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FloJ
It is an odd fact with these m/m books how many people are only children and have both their parents wiped out in one sort of accident or another. I am sure that it is much much more frequent than occurs in real life. I suppose from the author's point of view it A- removes one or more point of potential conflict and B - allows them to explore the ramifications of not 'dealing' with the loss in a timely and appropriate manner. As an antipodean I want to say HOW AMERICAN!

With this book we have the...more
Lily
Tim Shelton is a doctor and his childhood friend Conner Lemor is a fireman. After keeping in touch only through phone conversations and the internet for ten years they finally get together in person. Con is moving to the same city that Tim lives in and is staying in Tim's apartment while looking for his own place. Con realizes he's in love with Tim and wants to take their friendship to the next level but Tim is absolutely sure he is not gay.

This was a very emotional book. There are several issue...more
Jenre
I was attracted to this book for two reasons: Firstly, I'm a sucker for a friends to lovers storyline, as long as it's done well and is convincing. Secondly, I was in the mood for a bit of angst and By Degrees seemed to fit the bill exactly for that.


We begin the book when Con comes to California to visit his long-time friend, Tim. Con is about to be transferred to the same city as Tim and Tim has offered to put him up for a few days so that he can scope out an apartment. The two men haven't seen...more
Erin
There's a lot about this book that I shouldn't have liked. It's really long for a novel so thin on plot. Tim is, for all intents and purposes, a virgin heroine, a character archetype I really dislike. The book makes strange leaps in logic sometimes—at the beginning, everyone knows Tim is gay but Tim, and the evidence for this seems to be... his collection of Johnny Depp movies?

Ultimately, though, Tim is a really likable character. He's a Doogie Hauser type, in that he's a full-fledged doctor at...more
Baywin
Tim is an emotionally repressed doctor whose only source of stability is his childhood friend from boarding school, Connor. Despite the brief year that they spent together as children, their friendship continues over a decade through desperate letters, e-mails, IMs and texts. This carries Tim through the lonely years spent ignoring the grief from his parents' sudden death and the constant shuffling from one foster home to the next. Oddly enough, Tim and Connor haven't seen each other in person f...more
Charly
Excellent portrayal of someone with psychological damage learning how to love

Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

Rating: 9/10

PROS:
- The portrayal of Tim’s psychological blockage when it comes to intimacy of any kind is wonderfully done. I can’t remember the last time I read about a character whose struggles in this area struck me as so realistic (yet not over-the-top). And his approach to figuring out whether or not he’s gay is very logical and methodical. It...more
thelastaerie
I am not repeating the storyline again, the blurb does a good job of it. What it doesn't tell you is that characterisation of the story.

The plot? I think it's doable, but must have sympathetic characters. I like dark characters, I even like a lots of a**hole characters, but I have to be able to feel their pain and understand why they act in a**hole-ways *g*. For Tim's all "I am not gay" struggles and all his hurt past - I didn't feel his pain, but I can tell he's kind of an ass and very selfish...more
Sandy
Wow! I myself feel ... repressed (during) after reading this book. The characters are not unlikable but the "Nothing" answers just really get on my nerves.

The emotion are not well described if not described at all. I guess it suits Tim character real well. He's...emotionless and repressed. I personally don't like this "hero" and find him very frustrating and everything.

I don't know where the peak in this story is. Simply because what I expected it to be turn out not. That's when Con get shot!...more
David
I liked this one.

i thought the way repression impacted one of the characters to be interesting, especially as it was an adult character. Usually these types of story lines seem to center around teens or young adults (or maybe I'm reading too many YA stories? No, never...), so it was nice to see the subject taken on by an adult.

The story doesn't dig too deeply into the causes of these conflicts, nor does it talk much about treatment. This is strictly how the two main characters dealt with each ot...more
Nik
I'm going to start with an apology because I'm going to rant.

(view spoiler)[Tim. What the hell man. I don't think there was ONE moment in this book where I actually LIKED Tim or gave a shit what happened to him, if Con would have found someone else to take up with, I WOULD HAVE CHEERED!

The most intersting story line in the entire book was the secondary characters Jay and Rick, followed by the grandfather but, the grandmother (and I can't believe I'm saying this) I wanted to throat punch. (I'm so
...more
Elisa Ramblings
Even if he now would never admit it, Tim knows that when he met Con for the first time, he found his true love. Problem is that Tim at that time was 10 years old and Con only 12; they still hadn't reached the phase in which someone wonders about being straight or gay, and they had only an year to be together. They were both in boarding school, but then Tim's parents died in a car accident, and Con's father had financial trouble and he went to live with his grandparents. Still they remained in to...more
Meggie
I read this story for second time now, and I believe I have same emotions about the story as before. The plot is good developed with interesting characters, but somehow I just couldn't feel the attraction between Conner and Tim. Conner is real and you can get him... but Tim his cold way of dealing with his personal problems made it just harder to see his feelings as not being forced on him from Connor, Rick or Jay. But the end is sweet and positive, that's great.



JenMcJ
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand it is really well written and the emotions come across very vibrantly and realistically for most of the book. I thought it was very well thought out and the descriptions of Eric's emotional distress were compelling...

On the other hand, I did not like Eric and I thought Con was a saint. For two boys that were supposed to be life long (albeit long distance) friends, that friendship must have been very superficial because when they get together...more
SueM
by J.B. McDonald

Rating: ★★★★

I have mixed feelings about this novel - a journey of one man's self discovery supported by a friend from his past, that ultimately leads to love. I must admit, certain parts of this novel made me think 'Get real, that can't be true' until I decided I needed to research as to whether the scenario was totally implausible or not... Well, it's not implausible, and although it generally happens more with women, it can also happen to men. (yes, I'm deliberately being vagu...more
Renee
Apr 18, 2010 Renee rated it 5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Renee by: orannia
Shelves: ebook
Truly wonderful romance that really developed the characters of both Tim and Con. The book did not gloss over the issues that Tim was dealing with, nor did it take the easy route of "love heals all". The book explored the development of Tim and Con's relationship and really showed them working through their challenges. This was a wonderful friends to lovers story, and I'll definitely be reading the companion book to By Degrees, In the Rough.
orannia
Apr 08, 2010 orannia rated it 5 of 5 stars
Shelves: m-m
This book is amazing (understatment of the century). I very rarely read a book in which I can so relate to a protagonist... Add that to a beauifully written book, with humour and tenderness...if you're making a bet that I will be sending the author a gushing email you'd win :)
Rhianon
I enjoyed the injections of humor in this one, and the healthy dose of realism as well. A sweet friends-to-lovers, gay-for-you sort of story, but well crafted and well told.
Dustin Demoin
This book was hilarious at points and had a great overall story... There were way too many typos in the book for it to be completely enjoyable.
Nikki
First off, Tim irked the heck out with the whole "I'm not gay...no no wait, yes, I am gay" dilemma. I found myself, halfway through the book and wanting to skim paragraphs to get past the babble. Too much "telling" an not enough "showing" going on. Con, if he is really even human, can take more crap than any man or woman I know. I kept thinking that these characters needed to "man up".
Mara Ismine
Complex tale of working through problems that aren't fixed in five minutes. Angsty but very good.
JNL
Sep 11, 2012 JNL rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: m-m
I loved the patience for each other in this book. True friendship.
Califg70
Awesome Awesome Book! I loved this whole series. I crave for more!
OkayKim
I had trouble with the writing style.
Idamus
Apr 20, 2012 Idamus rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: m-m
Around 3.5*
Fehu
3,5 stars

I loved the book which featured Rick and Jay, so this may have affected my rating of this one.
Tim was tight wound and I had a hard time connecting to him. In the middle of the book I found myself looking at the page count and that frequently, which is just not a good sign for the book. It did work out in the end but still, I felt there were times were it was always same old problems or topic, which did lessen my enjoyment of the book.
Alli
**I just re-read & liked the story much better. I was able to understand Tim's personality, so had more sympathy for his struggles.

Good idea, well written with some great humor & sexy moments. Con was hot, and the family & friends were a lot of fun. Unfortunately, Tim was pretty unlikeable for most of the story. I know he had issues, but his snarky attitude was unrelenting & it made the relationship seem very one-sided.
Carolyn88
This was a good read. It is about a young man realizing he is gay and understanding that. He has a best friend (character not developed as well as other character) who helps him through this. The grandparents are a riot. You will laugh yourself silly reading some of the things they do.
Angela
Sep 10, 2009 Angela rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Erotica, m/m,
The Grandpa was way too funny! I really enjoyed this story. The way they worked out their problems was very touching.
Jace
Not to sure what I think about this book, at least I didn't hate it.
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By Degrees (Paperback)
By Degrees (ebook)
By Degrees (By Degrees, #1)
By Degrees (ebook)
JB has been writing fiction of some sort or another since she was eight years old, when she started with the highly acclaimed and illustrated, “Bucky the Bronco and his Missing Horseshoe.” Everyone in the McDonald household heard about it. Most even read it. Then they made the fatal mistake of encouraging it, and before anyone quite knew how it happened, JB declared that she was going to spend the...more
More about J.B. McDonald...
In the Rough (By Degrees, #2) Dragon Hunted (Dragon, #1) Off Trail Treasure Hunting (A Hunting Love Story) Dragon Traders (Dragon, #2)

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