In the Middle of Somewhere

Is Roan Parrish even capable of writing a bad or even mediocre book? So far nothing that I have read by her has indicated that such a thing is even a possibility. Anyone that is not homophobic and is looking for some really over the top romances should give her books a try. In a small town in northern Michigan we meet Daniel Mulligan who is a tough, inked-up guy with a sharp tongue on the outside, but it’s only a cover for his insecurities brought on by a lifetime of not fitting in, particularly with his family. Daniel has three tough “manly” older brothers and a father that… while not exactly ashamed of him…never took the time or the effort to see how special his youngest son actually was. When Daniel lands a job as an show more English professor in a rural town in northern Michigan, a place where everyone knows everyone else…he feels that it’s just another place where he’ll be an outsider. An accident that stranded Daniel in the middle of what he thought of as nowhere …introduces him to Rex Vale, a strapping flannel-clad man with a kind demeanor who took Daniel’s breath away. When their paths cross again, their chemistry is explosive…but in order for them to have a future they both must learn to trust. I can’t say enough good things about this authors writing. It is beautifully phrased and can readily bring tears or laughter to the reader. The quality of the storytelling is right up there among the best I’ve read. It’s charming, delightful and just plain fun. Oh…the small town just outside of Travers City, Michigan where the story takes place…is as real as it gets. (Book contains explicit sex) show less

When Philadelphia native Daniel nervously takes his first professor job at a school in the middle of nowhere Michigan, he doesn't plan on falling for Rex, a shy local. This romance novel follows the two as they negotiate an unexpected relationship and try to figure out how to work one another into their very different lives. I loved this story, not just for the relationship between Daniel and Rex (which was great), but for the spot-on portrayal of what grad school can do to a person and the exploration of Daniel's friendships and his complicated family life. Recommended.

This was a beautiful book and narrator Robert Nieman was a big part of that. I loved the way he moved between Daniel and Rex though it took me awhile to pick up the difference, ie the drawl he gave to Rex. The gift in this book is how we get to know these two characters in more and more depth as they fall for each other.

Daniel is closed off, and Rex is isolated. They have instant chemistry but the chemistry only takes them so far. They have to open themselves up to trust someone else and to care about each other. The latter comes naturally to Rex, he is a caretaker. Cooking healthy food, providing a home, going out of his way. All this he showers on Daniel. Daniel turns round one day and asks himself what he gives to Rex - sounds show more simple, but the self-involvement that absorbs most people, especially people who live in defensive mode, the care Rex showers on him, it's a revelation to Daniel, and he starts to include Rex in his life.

Daniel blooms under Rex, and Rex is kinda 'rescued' by Daniel.

No one does this sort of thing better than Roan Parrish, who has a real sensibility for these angst ridden characters. I was surprised to see this was her first novel, released in July 2015. She's since published 19 novels!

Her empathy with her characters shows up in subsequent novels. But I also agree with another commentator here that In the Middle of Somewhere is a bit too long, and a bit over the top. Luckily I listened to the talking book and didn't notice all those "um" utterances in the dialogue. That would have driven me crazy too.

The audiobook is 13.5 hours, which is way too long and it could have done with some judicious editing of some overly long angst laden sections. A few sub plot lines, such as with Daniel's gay brother, or the young skateboarder, were left dangling, but perhaps they are picked up in other books in the series. show less

Overall a pretty enjoyable book, but the writing is a bit too awkward at times and kind of... over the top, plot-wise (e.g., Daniel and Rex's first two intimate encounters) at a few points to earn that fifth star for me.

It started off a bit... off-putting. I really dug all the angst in Daniel's backstory, and that helped get through the rather awkward opening first person perspective. It doesn't help that it feels like certain chapters were written without rereading others? Like we were reminded of some things twice? Like Daniel explains one of his academic things, to himself, twice, like he's explaining it the first time. And that happened with two other things and I was just like... okay? Also, how did Daniel handle paying for his show more wrecked rental?

In other ways the writing was just... oh it got me. There was one section concerning Colin near the end of the book that - and this isn't a criticism - I just had to put the book down and go do something else. It's like Parrish was reading my brain, but changing the pronouns, and it just got to me. So much of Daniel's admission of his understanding of Colin and his feelings towards Colin... like the way that section is written is just almost word for word how my relationship is with my sibling and it just... it was rough. Very good, wonderfully written, but oof.

I adore Ginger. Rex is sweet, but I wish his territoriality was dealt with a bit better? Some writers handle it by pointing out "I'm an adult, I can make my own decisions about who I date, and if you feel uncomfortable, we need to talk about it", but this never did? It wouldn't be as big of a problem if the book didn't seem to learn towards "the territoriality is a bit of an issue", but then kind of hand waved and said "yeah, it's just his way of showing concern", since both Daniel and Rex have it. I guess maybe it's a turn on for some but personally if my SO was getting territorial about my interactions with people I might otherwise date if I wasn't in a committed, monogamous relationship, I'd be pretty pissed. If it's just a turn-on thing, though, well, it's just one of the things in here that aren't for me, and that's fine, because by and large the rest was pretty good. I liked the switch dynamics for Daniel and Rex. That was good.

I went into this thinking that I'd finish it, but probably wouldn't read book 2 in the trilogy. Now that I'm done, I'm going to give book 2 a shot, because after those first few chapters and a couple sort of hiccups, the book is pretty good. show less

3.5 stars

There's a lot to really like about this book, but I also found it a bit long-winded and wanted to move on ~ mainly during the looooong sex scenes. Both MCs are complex and the reader gets to know both pretty well. I loved the closer side characters and want to know more of how the lose ends play out for Leo, Will and Colin. Ginger is a treat and just a wonderful best friend :D

I am not much for m/m romance; I vastly prefer f/f romance, simply because I'm a queer woman and that is what I like to read (I've actually been accused of being homophobic before for not liking m/m romance, which is all sorts of hilarious to me). It's not like I pick up m/m books and say, "ewww, yucky, penises are gross!" or anything like that, but I just don't find myself being emotionally drawn to the characters most of the time. But this book came so highly recommend to me that I had to give it a try.

And the person who recommended the book to me was right - I did enjoy the book, so much so that I found myself staying up way past my regular bedtime to finish it. Daniel was a tough-as-nails guy from Philly who was hiding some serious show more emotional damage, which is my kryptonite when it comes to main characters. The book was completely told from his perspective, and I know that some readers didn't like this, but I loved it - I found his internal monologue to be hilarious, and I found myself laughing out loud more than once during the book. I know some have also pointed out that Daniel tends to repeat words frequently, and I DID catch that (especially "channel," which was just a no), but it honestly didn't distract me from the story that much, and I'm willing to give new writers a little more slack in that department. I liked Rex as well. The sex scenes were okay but didn't do much of anything for me, but I really wasn't expecting them to, and I was in the book for the angst and emotional upheaval (both of which were plentiful - I just wanted to roll around in the angst and feels like a chinchilla in a dust bath - this was me throughout most of the book).

And even better, I come to review this book on Goodreads and discover that the author has already written another book in the series! YES PLEASE, DOWNLOADING NOW! show less

I wanted to like this more than I actually did. The author may live in Philly, but they are clearly a transplant, or just the most out of tune Philadelphian ever. But that's not really all that important to the plot/story. It was just little things that bugged me because it's my home town and I wanted this book to be great. It's written in.....wait for it.... First. Person. Sigh.

The protagonists were good. Daniel was a little jaded and paranoid, but once the story delves into his home life and experience with romance, it kind of makes perfect sense. And Rex was a big teddy bear; definitely fits the cliche too good to be true. There were some fun characters and some really annoying characters and I wanted to murder all of Daniel's show more family--they were the absolute worst.

Daniel, a gay man from Philly, takes a position as a professor at a college in Michigan. He met Rex after his interview after hitting a dog with his car and trying to walk the injured animal to help while he was injured himself. The run into Rex who immediately helps them. After caring for the dog and making her as comfortable as possible until she could be taken to a vet in the morning, Rex tries to care for Daniel who doesn't realize that he's pretty banged up from the accident. They have an instant connection and kiss, but nothing much happens beyond that. The duo don't see one another again until Daniel has accepted the position and has been working in Michigan for a while. Rex had kept the dog, and that kind of endeared him even more to Daniel. There is some miscommunication, lack of communication, and general stupidity that's kind of aggravating, but not so much that I wanted to rage quit the book. There was a lot of fluff and romance and sweetness. And angst.

This was just okay. I liked it, but did not love it. I don't know that I will check out the rest of the series, as I read that the next book focuses on one of Daniel's jerk brothers. Don't really want to see a redemption arc for any of them, especially Collin. show less