Out with the Old

by G.B. Lindsey

All Trey Braddock wants is to celebrate his best friend’s wedding. His Christmas list does not include wait staff dressed as reindeer, nor a tipsy bride with tinsel on her train. Certainly he never asked for Sandy Hackford, the high school jock who, ten years ago, walked off with Trey’s heart.

But it is, after all, the holidays: a time for friends, family, and giving thanks. Sure, there will be horrible toasts, an awkward dance or two, his first crush in a three-piece suit ... Trey has it handled. He’s made a career out of ignoring Sandy. It’ll be a piece of precariously balanced wedding cake.

Except Sandy is no longer ignoring him. No matter the holiday, though, this is no time for forgiveness, and Trey isn’t ready to pardon the thief of his first kiss ... even if it means there will be another.

Genres: M M Romance, Novella, Christmas

93 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 7, 2019

About the author

G. B. Lindsey was born and raised in California, where she earned her undergraduate degree from UC Santa Cruz before moving to Northern England for her master’s. Her first love has always been writing: as a child, she cultivated such diverse goals as becoming “a cowgirl... and a writer” or “a paleontologist... and a writer.”

Aside from her salacious ongoing affair with the horror genre, she engages in dedicated flings with sci-fi, romance, historical fiction, and short stories. Other hobbies include singing, the occasional period drama movie night, and devouring scary film after scary film. When she’s not working in kidney transplant or studying up on Arthurian myth, she relaxes at home in California with a good book and her cat, Hadrian.

Reviews

[Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, this was not for me. I couldn’t help but feel that there were so many long held grudges and thoughts and actions jumping around, I was just frustrated quickly and it continued to the end of the book. I don’t think this writing style is one for me.

I received a copy of this book and am giving an honest review.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A semi-holiday themed friends to enemies to more than friends story that gave me whiplash with the back and forth from present to past. The entire story takes place within a few hours at a wedding reception as the narrator rehashes his relationship with a former friend.

It’s hard to explain my reaction to this book. The angst, the feelings, the situation all have me wanting to like it. The problem is I feel like I know nothing about the protagonist EXCEPT his angst and hurt feelings. We get virtually no background on him. What is his job? Did he go to school? Where? We know he hates his job because he mentions it a couple times in the beginning but that’s it. Where does he live? Has he maintained his best friendship with the bride? What we do know of him I don’t think I really like. He seems whiny and he’s holding on to a ten year grudge since high school for god’s sake. And a significant part of that grudge is based on his belief someone did something that not only does he not know if they did it but his best friend tells him no way would they have done it. Just seems pretty immature. I really need to know and have feelings for the MCs in a book in order to fully enjoy it. That may just be a personal thing for me so if it’s not necessary for you then you may enjoy the book more than I did.

Additionally, it’s all so vague. The story feels unfinished...like we walked in on a movie already in progress, missed some parts when we stepped out to use the bathroom and then left before the end.

Not sure I’d recommend it.

[Jamie Lee Zonneveld · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out With The Old by G.B. Lindsey was my first story by this author. I liked the story but it felt a little unfinished to me. I liked the characters but would have liked more interaction between them.

[Kaila · Rating 4 out of 5]

so.. the beginning was confusing for me.. i wasnt sure what all was going on to be honest.. but then it did flow better and it caught my attention and i really really enjoyed it.. i had a lot of fun reading this story once i got it haha. very enjoyable

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing style on this one is a little different, but I totally dig it. At first, I was a little confused with the timeline, but when I stopped trying so hard to figure it out and just let myself sink into it, I was completely immersed and enjoyed it immensely. I’m all for a good 2nd chance story. This was full of misunderstandings, first kisses, difficult conversations, and finally a HEA/HFN

[Audrey Pott · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars I would have preferred to read the past first instead of going back and forth, this is a very slow burn romance between Trey and Sandy, I loved Amanda-Claire quite a character, which was where Trey and Sandy got their second chance at the reception.

I voluntarily reviewed an arc of this book for my honest opinions of which I’m under no obligation to do so. I do recommend this book. I will read another book of GB’s.

[Faye K · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay story. Fast paced in first person for Trey and Sandy. "Reminiscing times" of the group going from School to Uni and moving onward. One moment in time explodes for their friendship. A short novella with secrets and communication bust ups. An okay ending with very little romance included.

[Edga · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started to read this, I thought, it was going to be a light hearted Christmas romance. It certainly made me smile, however, as I read, I realised that it wasn't simply a cute and funny romance, but a bittersweet and emotional story of two men who'd lost their way. It certainly wasn't what I expected, but I still absolutely loved it.

As boys, Trey and Sandy have a wonderful summer, then one wrong decision rips the two friends apart. As a result, Trey carries a lot of bitterness around, which eventually, he believes, turns to hatred. Finally, he unearthes the truth and reality sets in, but, he realises it could be too late to right the wrongs.

I fell into the story right from the start, I've never read any of Ms Lindsey's books before, but I'll certainly remedy that in the future. She somehow managed to emit the emotions of Sandy and Trey across the pages. I totally felt what they were going through. They were immaculately depicted, and I fully understood, with the help of flashbacks, why things worked out as they did. As I said, this isn’t just a romance, it’s also a tale of growing up and learning from your mistakes, as you hope to find love and happiness.

It's a really entertaining read with a HEA, it's not very steamy, but that didn't matter within the context of the story. I would've loved an epilogue to see how Trey and Sandy fared, and would really like to catch up with them again. It's certainly a book that I'll read again and recommend it highly.

[Kendra T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sandy and Trey were at their friend's wedding, but Trey wanted nothing to do with Sandy. There was history that the author spread out for us like flashbacks throughout the story, but it built up to them finally getting together at the end. I really couldn't get into this. The story wasn't horrible and was somewhat interesting, but I couldn't find myself really connecting with the characters. Perhaps it was the fact that we see Trey hate Sandy so much, but not really hate him because he's too attracted? It was a little weird for me. By the time we figured out why Trey was mad at Sandy (with help from the flashbacks), I was too far annoyed with Trey and feeling sorry for Sandy. The end was more of an HFN. I wish we had more of them together and working on things rather than it being so contentious due to Trey's anger. I didn't leave convinced that these guys would work out in the long term. This was probably more of a 2.5 star read for me, but I am rounding up because the writing wasn't horrible; it just didn't sit well with me personally.

I am voluntarily reviewing an ARC provided by LesCourt Author Services

[Patricia Hoffstaetter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unusual but intriguing slow-burn MM holiday novella romance with a second-chance theme. The plot is interesting & focuses on the flashbacks of the past & present. The characters are somewhat well-developed & portray realistic emotional feelings although one of the main characters seemed to have some old grudges due to past events.
There is: a young man (Trey) with some unpleasant memories is trying to enjoy his friend’s (Amanda-Claire) wedding while at the same time he is trying to the best of his ability to ignore an old crush & high school jock (Sandy) but it seems as if Sandy is romantically pursing him, drama, memories, some verbal banter, old grudges, attempted conversations, a judgmental attitude, admittance, apologies, misunderstandings, guilt, confrontations, disagreements, frustration, realization, declaration & a HFN.

[Georgiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

~3.5 STARS~

I found the beginning a bit confusing. I didn’t feel like the writing flowed enough for me to understand completely what was going on and then the flashbacks were thrown in, that confused me more for a minute.

BUT, things did start to flow and I found I like this story. I wasn’t a big fan of Trey’s years long grudge. Personally, I feel like at some point he should have grown up and gotten over it, but I understand it’s what makes the story.

This is told from Treys POV and I thought overall it was well done. I didn’t feel the need to know what Sandy was thinking, except maybe at the very end, but it wasn’t enough that I felt I missed anything.

[Belinda Zamora · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a new to me author and I'll admit the writing style threw me for a loop but I'm really glad I persisted because I enjoyed it.
Trey and Sandy became friends through a mutual friend, Amanda Claire.
They always had some sort of rivalry between them because teenage boys don't talk so something was always setting someone off or being misconstrued.
After they share some intense moments, things pretty much go to hell in a handbasket.
They're suddenly avoiding one another and Trey believes Sandy is now the bane of his existence.
There was some pretty funny banter along with a nice dose of angst that's resolved.

[Mac Paterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great novella about a second chance romance. This story is about Trey and Sandy who went to school together and meet up again 8 years later at a friend’s wedding. It’s told from Trey’s POV and goes back and forth between present day and when they were in high school.

This one definitely pulls on your heart strings, the writing is very descriptive and I felt everything Trey was going through. The flashbacks are well done, not always a fan but here they fit the style of the book perfectly. They really provide an insight into why Trey feels the way he does.

Very enjoyable read.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, the use of flashbacks and present day storytelling takes a bit to get used to as it happens, but the story and the characters in it are heartfelt and relatable that you can't help but read to the end to see what happens. The story is a second chance romance between Trey, who's POV we read, and Sandy, who broke Trey's heart ten years previous. This is a sweet read with a great couple!

[Denise GremoryKohta · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw the blurb for this book I was instantly intrigued. Being a new to me author I was curious about her work. I was able to get an arc from LesCourt and boy am I glad. The style of writing threw me at first but after I finished reading it I can’t imagine a better way to get Sandy and Trey’s story. I am definitely going to be looking for more by this author. Can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

[Celine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was definitely not what I expected and it made it even better.

I loved the way this story was written. I loved the trips down memory lane.

I loved Trey, he is a complex character and I loved Sandy, thought I would love to see his side of the story.
I loved how through the story you can see the characters evolve and grow

It's a great book that is very different from your usual wedding shenanigan, sorta second chance romance

[Rachwithheadinabook · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* second chance.

This is a book about how the past colours everything we know and remember about that time.

I found this book to be quite confusing at the start as nothing is set up or explained, but once you get past that, this is a sweet, part Christmas, part wedding all second chance read. Overall it is a good read I’m just not sure there is enough, I would have liked more interaction between Sandy and Trey as it finishes quite abruptly.

[Kitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a different, somewhat confusing, writing style. The mix of past and present made it hard to follow sometimes, especially early on. Better delineation could have improved the flow. However, I enjoyed the theme of the story, the hurts, misunderstandings, and grudges. Funny how things can affect us and how we sometimes carry perceived slights long after we should just let them go.

I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

[Nichole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick read of an friends to enemies to lovers. I love the back and forth in time of this story. The current wedding events and the look back into the past of how their story was created. The friendship that was out of a summer of down time. The falling apart of two young kids. And now to the present. How love is sometimes never lost. It was an easy read that had a great portion of build up to get to HEA.

[Shawna (endemictoearth) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a truly intriguing little flashback story. Sort of friends to enemies to lovers that unfolds around a mutual best friend’s holiday wedding. We really only see them in the few hours of the reception, and in flashback, so that does limit the story a bit, but it’s all about revelations and reexamining the past, and has a great ending and for once, I was happy no epilogue. It’s just a little moment in time.

[Heather Rawlins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Out with the Old was a sweet, romantic enemies to lovers story. I liked how it went back and forth from the present to the past. Sandy and Trey were very different men, I want to know what happened next. And there’s something about having a wedding during the Christmas holiday season. I would recommend this story.

[HAYLEY SMITH · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet and enjoyable read.
It's a second chance story with an interesting back story and is written from past and present perspectives. There are plenty of emotions in Trey and Sandy's book.

[Patricia Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute, sweet, adorable, charming, engaging, endearing, and delightful story. The beginning was a little bit confusing, but it didn't take long for me to get into it.