Caught Running by Madeleine Urban [Buddy Read]

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

Dee, Fran and I are going to buddy read Caught Running. Anyone is welcome to join us - or feel free to make comments as we go.

Please note: this is a M/M romance.

I'm right to start from Friday, but I'm flexible about the timing if this is too soon...

[Dee]

whenever works for you guys - friday sounds good for me

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

Just read the first couple of pages (looking good), and getting ready to really settle in for the evening :) (What better way to spend Friday night out in the country?)

[Dee]

i'll start tonight (hopefully)

[Fran, Moderator]

I will start today too :)

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

Sorry girls - I'm devouring this book. I'm up to page 191 (of 237)... Loving it.

I was a bit concerned about some upcoming conflict after the first sex scene (around p136) when (view spoiler)[they realised no condom had been used and Brandon thinks that it 'was far too long ago, and too many standard checkups ago to even think about...' (hide spoiler)] but fortunately it doesn't appear to have gone there. *phew*

[Dee]

lol...yeah, I haven't even looked at it - but it doesn't surprise me - the other books by this writing duo made me do that ;)

jane if you haven't you need to read the Cut & Run series (book 4 due out in october) and The Archer (just by roux, but really good)

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

I've bought Cut & Run AND The Archer. It's just a matter of time - fitting all these fabulous books in. And I want to read Duck! and Hot Head this month... And I have Faith & Fidelity AND Promises waiting. These are pretty much ALL your recs (bar Duck!). In the meantime I have my 'normal' books to get through *grinning*

[Dee]

Duck is really good too! and I would say throw Make You Sweat on the pile - I finished it last night and loved it...heck, you should just check out the m/m romance group ;)

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

;) Another group, another buying spree! My husband will love your influence on me Dee!

Will now go read the precis on Make You Sweat and check out M/M group :)

[Dee]

well, at least you are overseas and he can't hunt me down ;)

[Fran, Moderator]

Jane, my favorite m/m is When Irish Eyes Are Sparkling. You may have to add that to your list too. I have Promises to read also, haven't gotten to it yet. I actually bought that whole series recently on Fictionwise when they had a 60% off sale- those can be so dangerous!

[FlibBityFLooB]

I just finished this for the sports category in the challenge this month.

I really enjoyed it, but did anyone else feel like it was unfinished?

[Fran, Moderator]

I'm only about 40 pages in but it's a slow go for me so far.

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

I still haven't quite finished it, but it is a very soft storyline which I really enjoy every now and then. No amazing feats of strength, no need for incredible deductive skills, no excessive drawn-out sex scenes - just straight out relationship development. Yeah - I'm just really enjoying it...

...I'll let you know if it feels unfinished to me in about 30 mins! :)

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

Just finished it (chooks kept interupting me!)...

It did feel a tad unfinished. The climax was pretty minor, but I'm not sure how else it could have been closed without causing one of the characters to take a step OUT of character... But yeah - it just ended.

I found it a very sweet love story. I liked the fact neither H/H were TSTL, which often happens to create conflict in a 'sweet' romance.

I sure I'll be reading this again sometime when I want to chill out...

[Dee]

i think that is one of the things I like about m/m - you don't see the TSTL as often as you do in normal romances....I know both Abigail and Madeline have been asked if they are going to do a sequel and i think they plan on it eventually, but not any time soon

[Fran, Moderator]

I finished it this afternoon. There were things I really liked about it and things I wish could have been more fleshed out. I agree Jane that it's a sweet love story with no extra drama, plot twists, unnecessary angst.

*Spoilers*
But....I also felt like I didn't get enough of the guys' back stories. How did they feel about being gay in a school environment, in rural Georgia, having to hide their sexuality from everyone, all the time. Did they plan on living in secret there for the rest of their lives? Jake hinted at moving but not really about if they felt they had to in order to be happy. Did any of them have serious relationships before they met each other? They almost never talked about their love lives before they got together. And Jake's best friend was so accepting so quickly, it didn't ring true. I was also a little annoyed with the POV flipping constantly. It tended to pull me out of the story a bit.

I really liked Brandon a lot, I am a sucker for a hot nerd. I'm glad he ended up happy. I liked the story overall, just felt there was more that could have been done with it.

[Jane (PS), Moderator]

I know what you mean Fran - there wasn't much background and the flipping POV was too frequent and therefore disrupting. I have to say, I got the impression they would definitely move to California or somewhere more accepting. But I really liked both characters - I loved how affectionate they were toward each other, esp Jake. I would have liked to have seen wider acceptance of Brandon in the school environment - having said that - I don't know that I would have wanted a longer novel...

[Dee]

finished this up last night

the flipping POV didn't bug me too much because i've read other stuff by this writing duo and they do similar - where some writing partners do a few pages and switch - these two take each character and write them

I think they did move to Cali, but also not surprised that his friend accepted them so quickly - he has made a few comments that makes me wonder if he is gay/bi as well - mostly with the hotel debacle during the trip when brandon and jake ended up in the same room...so maybe that is why i didn't bug me so much - but I'm not a fan of past relationships in stories...the mention of the photos of jake and the other guy were enough for me...I don't care about who they were with previously

[Fran, Moderator]

Dee, that's exactly how I felt about the flipping POV, like each character was written by a different person. I just felt it didn't flow very well. It's not that I needed to know so much about their past, I felt like they didn't ask each other anything about their pasts and that made me feel like they didn't know each other as well as they could have.