Sidecar

There aren't enough words to express how much I loved this book and the characters of Casey and Joe. It had to be one of the most heart wrenching, yet most beautiful stories I have ever read in some time. Thank you, Amy Lane, for this treasure. I would have expected nothing less from you. The story covered 25 years with these two wonderful men that loved one another and made a life together in a time when it wasn't generally accepted. They dared to build a future and even raised a child...a baby that was one of twins born to a 15-year-old crack mother who didn't want anything to do with her tiny boys...one of whom died a few days after birth. Casey had been one of Joe's boys he rescued when Casey was 16 years old and had been thrown out show more of his parents' house. Joe was a nurse that worked 14-hour days and spent his weekends and evenings searching the freeways for people that he found struggling from cold, or heat, and hunger...both boys and girls. Casey was the only one he kept, and that decision took a great deal of soul searching on is part, but Casey refused to leave. The story is extremely character driven. It's filled with emotions that you know are real. It's an m/m romance, and yes there is sex...but the story itself and especially the last few chapters will have you reaching for the box of tissues. show less

Once my kids are older, they will probably run from the house like it’s on fire every time I start a new Amy Lane book. Why? Because I can always count on her to leave me sleep deprived and cranky. Not that I am complaining. Her books always keep me up until the wee hours of the morning because I simply can’t put them down. Sidecar was no exception.

It’s no secret amongst the Bibliojunkies that my favorite type of book is a romance. Throw in a forever boy and I am in heaven. Sidecar delivers both - an absolutely loveable forever boy (Joe Daniels) but also a beautiful romance that slowly grows over the years.

Sidecar does not contain the angst that Ms. Lane writes so well. And for that I am grateful. Even without it I found myself show more wiping tears off my face during little moments through out the book. With in the first two chapters both Casey and Joe become such a part of you that your heart hurts for everything they experience. The good and the bad.

Joe Daniels is pretty simple. He lived the carefree lifestyle of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. But then he decided he was done. No big dramatic moment made him change. He just decided he was missing the space and quiet of where he grew up. So by the age of 27 he is comfortably living in his own home far enough away from civilization to enjoy the quiet but close enough to drive to his job at the hospital where he works as a nurse. Although a little scary looking with is broad shoulders, long hair, handlebar mustache/soul patch combo and a giant Harley, Joe is an all around NICE guy. He believes in helping people. His family taught him that it was the right thing to do. He helps his aging neighbor that lives 20 acres away; he makes friends with patients at the hospital. Even if they aren’t his patients. And he takes in strays – dogs, cats and you guessed it, kids that he finds helpless on the side of the road. He has no ulterior motives. He is just that kind of guy. Who doesn’t want this guy? He is perfect. I was imagining Aaron Eckhart a la Erin Brockovich (just change the hair color to black) while reading this. Can I just say forever boy AND totally biker hot?

But here is the thing….although Joe Daniels is the forever boy in this book, I found that I was absolutely smitten with Casey. I think that the YA reader in me was drawn to him instantly. He is so young at the beginning of this book (16 years old) and has had a pretty rough experience. He isn’t broken by any stretch of the imagination. He has an inner strength and outward feistiness that allows him to stay standing no matter what life might throw at him. His instant love and hero worship of Joe in the beginning is almost heartbreaking in its sincerity and hopefulness. I think the parts that made me cry the most were watching Casey grow up. So many of his chapters made me want to put my book down and hug my children.

There is always a risk of making the reader uncomfortable when building a romance between two people that start out with a guardian/child relationship. But that isn’t the case here. This story is so well crafted and paced that you can only cheer these two men on as they slowly reach that point where everything comes together. And when it does come together? You better watch out. Their first kiss is literally smoldering. And although the sex scenes are few, the few that are there….oh, my. My book almost burst into flames from the heat.

Watching the relationship develop and change between Joe and Casey over the span of 25 years is beautiful and romantic and heartwarming. I absolutely love books like this. They settle in and become comfort reads when I need something to brighten a gloomy day. It is a guarantee that I will be re-reading Sidecar next time I need a pick me up.

Nat show less

Sidecar was my first and definitely not last Amy Lane book. It's probably one of the sweetest gay romances I've ever read, but without the cookie-cutter kitsch undertone I don't really care for. I usually grade books by my enjoyment factor, additionally, I tend to categorise them into comfort, guilty pleasure, hottest sex scenes reads (... to be continued endlessly) and this one is definitely part of the first one. Everything in Sidecar is about comfort and the good in people, about taking chances in life and trying for the best. Thank you, Amy Lane, this is a straight A for me!

(LOL, I am contemplating installing an additional "historical" shelf named 1980s. The story starts in 1987 and boy did I enjoy the feeling of that era. About show more the only things missing were glitter and shoulder pads *g*) show less

4.5 Stars--Didn't you ever read about a couple in a novel, you read about their happy ending, you get an epilogue and you're satisfied but you want to know if they really make it in the long run?

How about reading a 25 year span of the simple yet epic love of Casey and Josiah Joe" Daniels?

We are introduced to their end and got to learn their tumultuous start between Casey, a 16 year old gay runaway and 28 year old Quaker RN and dogooder, Joe. Casey, a Virgo and ever the smart mouth (I'm team Casey all the way because us Virgos must stick together) was hands down my favorite of the two men. He's loved Joe from the beginning and no matter what came their way (and with such a large time span and the setting spanning the late 80's and 90's, show more it's quite a bit)

There's mention of VD, boyfriends cheating, a trip to Europe, helping runaways find a new life, death, 80's rock bands to name a few. Interested yet?

No?

Well believe me I never planned on reading this book because of the cover (Thank goodness to Kukko for selecting) I shall never doubt an Amy Lane novel again. Judging a book by its cover - that I still need to work on.

Drama? Yeah there's drama. Love? This book is saturated.

If you haven't read this yet, give it a chance. Joe and Casey's love story is pretty epic, plus it's like a fun way of reliving the 80's and 90's." show less

*Re-read 8/10/14 for Re-romancing the Faves Challenge- *sigh* I miss the 80s. Even though I was a little kid in the 80s, I absolutely loved the music, and I'm still obsessed with 80s pop culture.

The AIDS scare... YIKES! I just recently saw The Normal Heart, and it was so heart-breaking. I'm glad Joe was smart enough to use condoms, and that he taught Casey to use them too.

This book had plenty of angst, which I love, but it also had a few funny moments, like Joe walking in on Casey and Dev, Casey's purple "I'm having sex with Joe" luggage, and Caleb wiping his booger on his mother's pants.

It was nice to see a religious family that was supporting their gay son instead of condemning him, with the exception of Cheryl (That was Joe's show more bitchy sister's name, right?!) of course. Cheryl was clearly miserable in her life and felt the need to bitch about everything and make everyone else miserable too. Was good to see Casey stand up to her. I hate weak MCs who never stand up for themselves. And we have Joe to thank for Casey having the self-confidence to do so. These two supported each other through everything, and they definitely deserved to be together and be happy.


*Originally read 8/16/12- I absolutely loved this book. I am a big 80s and 90s pop culture fan, so all the references to bands, songs, clothes and movies brought back some great and funny memories for me. And I remember the whole AIDS epidemic even though I was young then. I remember the first time I heard about the disease, and how it became this huge thing, and how scared I was that I could get it and die. I totally understand why Casey and Dev freaked out, and I never actually saw anyone dying from the disease like they did.

This book made me feel the same emotions as the characters as they were going through them. I was on the roller coaster with Casey every time he tried to push Joe, and Joe only turned him down. I get why Joe was saying no at first, but then, like Casey, I got annoyed because why was he using age as an excuse to Casey but then started dating a young woman only about a year older than Casey?! Thank god Joe came to his senses cuz I think I would have wrecked my kindle had Joe and Casey not gotten their HEA! And you have to absolutely LOVE them for taking in Levi especially considering the baby could have any number of issues growing up and how young Casey was at the time and not really knowing if he wanted kids himself, but wanting one bad enough for Joe that it didn't matter. These guys are one of my favorite couples of all time! show less

*Re-read 8/10/14 for Re-romancing the Faves Challenge- *sigh* I miss the 80s. Even though I was a little kid in the 80s, I absolutely loved the music, and I'm still obsessed with 80s pop culture.

The AIDS scare... YIKES! I just recently saw The Normal Heart, and it was so heart-breaking. I'm glad Joe was smart enough to use condoms, and that he taught Casey to use them too.

This book had plenty of angst, which I love, but it also had a few funny moments, like Joe walking in on Casey and Dev, Casey's purple "I'm having sex with Joe" luggage, and Caleb wiping his booger on his mother's pants.

It was nice to see a religious family that was supporting their gay son instead of condemning him, with the exception of Cheryl (That was Joe's show more bitchy sister's name, right?!) of course. Cheryl was clearly miserable in her life and felt the need to bitch about everything and make everyone else miserable too. Was good to see Casey stand up to her. I hate weak MCs who never stand up for themselves. And we have Joe to thank for Casey having the self-confidence to do so. These two supported each other through everything, and they definitely deserved to be together and be happy.


*Originally read 8/16/12- I absolutely loved this book. I am a big 80s and 90s pop culture fan, so all the references to bands, songs, clothes and movies brought back some great and funny memories for me. And I remember the whole AIDS epidemic even though I was young then. I remember the first time I heard about the disease, and how it became this huge thing, and how scared I was that I could get it and die. I totally understand why Casey and Dev freaked out, and I never actually saw anyone dying from the disease like they did.

This book made me feel the same emotions as the characters as they were going through them. I was on the roller coaster with Casey every time he tried to push Joe, and Joe only turned him down. I get why Joe was saying no at first, but then, like Casey, I got annoyed because why was he using age as an excuse to Casey but then started dating a young woman only about a year older than Casey?! Thank god Joe came to his senses cuz I think I would have wrecked my kindle had Joe and Casey not gotten their HEA! And you have to absolutely LOVE them for taking in Levi especially considering the baby could have any number of issues growing up and how young Casey was at the time and not really knowing if he wanted kids himself, but wanting one bad enough for Joe that it didn't matter. These guys are one of my favorite couples of all time! show less

*Re-read 8/10/14 for Re-romancing the Faves Challenge- *sigh* I miss the 80s. Even though I was a little kid in the 80s, I absolutely loved the music, and I'm still obsessed with 80s pop culture.

The AIDS scare... YIKES! I just recently saw The Normal Heart, and it was so heart-breaking. I'm glad Joe was smart enough to use condoms, and that he taught Casey to use them too.

This book had plenty of angst, which I love, but it also had a few funny moments, like Joe walking in on Casey and Dev, Casey's purple "I'm having sex with Joe" luggage, and Caleb wiping his booger on his mother's pants.

It was nice to see a religious family that was supporting their gay son instead of condemning him, with the exception of Cheryl (That was Joe's show more bitchy sister's name, right?!) of course. Cheryl was clearly miserable in her life and felt the need to bitch about everything and make everyone else miserable too. Was good to see Casey stand up to her. I hate weak MCs who never stand up for themselves. And we have Joe to thank for Casey having the self-confidence to do so. These two supported each other through everything, and they definitely deserved to be together and be happy.


*Originally read 8/16/12- I absolutely loved this book. I am a big 80s and 90s pop culture fan, so all the references to bands, songs, clothes and movies brought back some great and funny memories for me. And I remember the whole AIDS epidemic even though I was young then. I remember the first time I heard about the disease, and how it became this huge thing, and how scared I was that I could get it and die. I totally understand why Casey and Dev freaked out, and I never actually saw anyone dying from the disease like they did.

This book made me feel the same emotions as the characters as they were going through them. I was on the roller coaster with Casey every time he tried to push Joe, and Joe only turned him down. I get why Joe was saying no at first, but then, like Casey, I got annoyed because why was he using age as an excuse to Casey but then started dating a young woman only about a year older than Casey?! Thank god Joe came to his senses cuz I think I would have wrecked my kindle had Joe and Casey not gotten their HEA! And you have to absolutely LOVE them for taking in Levi especially considering the baby could have any number of issues growing up and how young Casey was at the time and not really knowing if he wanted kids himself, but wanting one bad enough for Joe that it didn't matter. These guys are one of my favorite couples of all time! show less