I surprised myself by liking this one rather a lot.  Contemporaries aren't my favorite and I am really tired of the whole "in the closet" trope, and so I probably would not have read this if it weren't a group read.  But I found both of the characters relatable - Noah was stuck in a rut, but he was working on himself and trying really hard to be a good person and contribute. And I totally get why Adrian pushes him to change. It isn't just for his own happiness or the relationship - it is to keep Noah from smothering himself out of misplaced sense of duty.

I also liked that they both had jobs they cared about and were good at. I pretty much saw how the job situation would work out

 from nearly the beginning of the book, but I appreciated that

The author did a good job with the families and coworkers too. They seemed like real people.

This was very sweet and cute, and not just because of the dogs, though they certainly don't hurt. :D

Noah is a closeted professor at a conservative, parochial university and grew up in a conservative family with an abusive, domineering father. As such, he's super repressed, to the point that he's never even had sex, or even a kiss. He's convinced himself he doesn't need it and all he really needs from life is to make tenure. Adrien is a gamer geek and programer. Even his tattoos are geeky. He's outgoing and loud and has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth. He's great at long-distance relationships. A little too great. He uses them as a crutch for his own insecurities about relationships.

I really liked that these guys could learn things from each other, and not just be all lusty. I mean, there was lust, and the mandatory sex scenes, but this was really more about them getting to know each other - and themselves - because they each offered something the other was missing. 

I don't think I buy the whole road trip snow storm on Thanksgiving thing. Someone who lives out that way, does it actually snow that time of year? It's still autumn. Would've made more sense for there to be some sort of mechanical failure with the RV that then needed repairs to strand them, but whatever. I can be flexible sometimes if the story is worth it, and I think it is in this case. 

I also really appreciated the balance given to Noah's coming out. Too many authors think that conservative = hates all the gays. And yes, this is a larger problem with that demographic than it is among liberals, but there's also a spectrum. Not everyone meets the stereotype checklist, so I liked that Noah was met with both understanding and acceptance by some and misguided "help" by others.

I don't know if we'll have another book with these two later, but I hope so. I'd love to catch up with them at some point.

Narration: Sean Crisden isn't my favorite narrator. I find his regular reading voice to be on the droll side, but he voices these two well, and doesn't do that high-pitched thing for the women voices like some guys do, and he hit the emotional queues pretty well. 

"Adrian kissed like he was in charge. Like he expected to be the one in charge. And something inside Noah opened up and said yes. Yes, in a way he'd never been able to before. Yes, with a thousand small exhales. Yes, with his lips parting, welcoming Adrian's tongue, welcoming Adrian taking over his mouth, taking over his person."

This book made me so, so happy!

And not just happy as in "this was such a sweet and well-written story and I had a great time reading it" happy, but as in "this book made me fall so hard for its MCs and their crazy ass chemistry and gave me all the fuzzy feels that I had a constant grin on my face" happy.

Noah and Adrian - though being so very different from their upbringing and their own personal dealings with being gay - just felt right together from the start. They both gave each other so much and they were both just so genuinely nice and good-hearted people that I couldn't help but root for them to fall in love and get their HEA.

This story ticked so many of my boxes:

• ga(y)mers
• men with dogs
• a spontaneous RV road trip
• a hipster
• a virgin

And cuddling. Sweet Baby Jesus, so much cuddling.

Usually, when I read "35-year-old virgin", this is my initial reaction:

So kudos to Annabeth Albert's mad writing skills to make this part of Noah's background absolutely believable and comprehensible to me.

The building trust between Adrian and Noah was a delight to witness and each step of their relationship was a joy to get lost in. I loved how Noah finally came out of his shell and how Adrian was so sweet and patient with him.

Oh, and you should totally get the audiobook. Sean Crisden already is a favorite narrator of mine, but once again he brought an already great book to a higher level with his performance.

I can't wait to reread this again. Perfect romance is perfect.

Highly, highly recommended!

Thanks to Julie & Marte for the BR!

 Audio edition, narrator Sean Crisden

6 hours 55 minutes

 

Overall: 4

Performance: 5

Story: 4

Update: July 2016:

I'm so happy I went with the audio this time! I read this book in January this year and I really liked it. It was very cute and sweet story about the tightly wound and closeted geo-archaeologist, Noah, who at the age of 35 is still very much unexperienced with anything sex and relationship wise, and the more open and charismatic Adrian, a 25 year old game developer.

I loved the slow build and their interest and careful (sometimes not with Adrian, lol) flirting and approach to coming together. I loved the game nerd references. I loved Noah's professor-y speak and Adrian's ability to provoke it with his flirty comments, making the ten year older professor blush like a virgin. Wait, he is one. ;) I loved the age difference too, and that Adrian was more the "leading man". They were so sweet together!

There is some brief angst. I get that Noah had his issues to deal with, but he gets his head on straight. I feel bad for Noah having been so tightly wound, I don't know, at least 15 years, struggling with being gay and feeling guilty and keeping away from his family for those reasons. I'm happy everything turned out great!

An uber-cute ending!

Sean Crisden nailed the narration with different voices and everything. He really made the book for me!

Recommended!