Hard Truth's opened with a bang but fizzled out pretty quickly. I loved the premise but this felt more like a rough draft than a finished book. More character and plot development would help.

Both our MC's, Issac and Logan, are well written full characters with both good and bad character traits. They are real and flawed, which I appreciated. They are smart, nerdy guys with sass and wit.

They were also surrouned by some great characters but there was a lot of them, which was sometimes hard to keep track of.

The conflict in the book was his Issac's relationship with his homophobic parents, and their reaction to him coming out, which was both heartbreaking and frustrating.

I did however feel like there was quite a bit unresolved at the end when it came to Issac. His relationship with his friends was settled but I'm not sure it wouldn't happen again with his insecurities. And his relationship with Logan's friends was just left hanging, I'm honestly not sure why it was brought into the book really. I suppose that's life though, nothing is perfect all the time but it in a story it just feels unfinished.

Like I said in my write-up of Mysterious Mr Quin, I went through a bit of a spell with the blog, real life and reading in general. So, I decided that I wanted to read something fast, fluffy and something that didn’t involve much thinking.

Sometimes, we all need a candy-floss, beach read.

It was going to be one of two NetGalley eProofs: either this or Tight Quarters by Annabeth Albert. I leaned this way more as I believe this is shorter out of the two stories.

Isaac didn’t expect to fancy his sister’s date at the Christmas dinner at his parents. But when her date hits on him, Isaac decides to tell her what happened at once - only to find out that her date is a fake date. They aren’t dating and that Logan is gay as well, and wants to see him again.

As the two begin to date, Isaac has to find a way to come out to his “unworldly” parents. Coming out to them could mean losing his family. Unfortunately, he can’t see his real family who are right beside him and, if Isaac isn’t carefully, he could lose everyone around him…

Ok, where do I start with this adult gay romance?

Well… I read this over the course of two days during the World Cup. Yep. That’s how fast I read it. Two days. That it kinda helped with me wanting to read a sorbet story. It refreshed my reading pallet (which is probably why I half-fell, half cling-to-dear-life) and it was nice to have something I could power through, or something that I wanted to read in such a short space of time.

But there are problems. This book, I feel, does have some triggers that some readers will want to know in advance. This is with Isaac and his sister’s, Sue’s, parents. They are not great parents with how they treat both children and they views can be seen as a bigoted. Also, as you read a paragraph or two back, Isaac hasn’t come out to his parents (which he does at some point during the book), and their reactions are negative and dangerous, so if you’re trigger is a negative coming out or with emotional/physical abusive parents, avoid or read this with caution.

It’s an ok read, and it did what I wanted it to do. Refresh my reading pallet and getting self ready to get my teeth into something a little more meatier (though I am planning to read a lot more fun and more grown-up stories in the future…)

Isaac loves his parents, he just doesn't like them much. Another forced holiday with them is not his idea of a good time. When his sister brings her boyfriend to the festivities it's a little different. The man is a tattooed wonder. Isaac’s attraction isn't appropriate until the boyfriend grabs his butt and he realizes that the man is not his sisters after all.

Logan is doing a good deed and in the process finds someone very interesting. When Isaac and him get together it seems so right. Their relationship turns serious very quickly. Logan ask him to move in but doesn't want to be a secret. He tells Isaac when he admits to his parents that he is gay, they can live together. Isaac struggles with telling them the truth. When he tells them it turns out worse than he could of ever possibly imagined.

In the aftermath he loses even more. Not sure his previous life is recoverable, he is devastated.
Can he get his life back to the way it was?

This book was probably a 3.5 for me but I bumped it up because the beginning and ending of the book were good and Logans character made it interesting. The middle dragged a little. It seemed all the characters were a bit immature which took away from the story.

Isaac and Logan meet at a family dinner when Isaac's sister brings Logan as a fake date, in an effort to deter their parents from commenting on her love life. Isaac, closeted from his family, can't look away--and Logan, noticing, slips Isaac his number. The two men begin dating and all is well, until their relationship becomes serious enough that Logan refuses to move forward until Isaac outs himself to his family. Isaac's disclosure results in a surprising act of violence, and his relationship with Logan takes a nosedive in the aftermath.

Whitehall's "Hard Truths" has a charming opener, but it can't quite decide what kind of story it's telling. Is it a meet-cute love story? Is it something more serious? the narrative attempts to marry the two, but isn't successful. Isaac's parents initially come off as close-minded and racist, but in a way that doesn't hint at the violence that later erupts. Isaac's later isolation from his friends and loved ones doesn't jive with the earlier events of the novel, and the result is uneven.

Isaac had to face some really hard truths and it hurt, both him and me, seeing how difficult he was finding to let go of this absurd idea he had about family. He was afraid, not ready to see the ugly truth he had in front and the marvelous future he was going to have if he just opened his eyes and let go of a toxic situation.

Some parts were hard to read, some were harder because if was so easy for me to see how that behavior wasn't okay so I wanted to shout and make Isaac see how awful that was!! I wanted him to run!!

Family isn't only people you are related by blood. Family really is someone willing to support you during hard times, who wouldn't abandon you when you make mistakes and who would accept you for who you really are.

Meh, this was just an okay read for me. The synopsis was promising, but once we get into the story, I found myself losing interest. It started out on a high note though, so it's disappointing that it fell flat after that start.

Logan is Sue's (Isaac's sister) fake boyfriend at Christmas dinner with Isaac's family. He gives off the tattooed, pierced bad boy biker vibe and Isaac's parents are less than impressed. But Isaac can't help but find the guy incredibly hot, which he finds wrong since that is his sister's boyfriend after all, right? But then Logan corners Isaac in the hallway and makes it very obvious that he's into Isaac. Then of course we find out that Logan is just acting as Sue's boyfriend but is in fact gay and likes Isaac.

Isaac is gay and still in the closet to his parents. His parents are quite frankly bigoted, homophobes, racist jerks, so it's no wonder that Isaac doesn't want to tell them he's gay.

Isaac and Logan go on a few dates after that Christmas dinner and begin a relationship. It's cute and sweet, but the fact that Isaac hasn't come out to his parents plays a big part of the plot of this book. Logan wants him to come out before they move in together, but only because Isaac himself said that he'd come out to his parents when he's in a serious relationship. Some people see that as Logan making an ultimatum, but I got Logan's point and was all on his side on this one. It's hard to be completely committed to someone when they're hiding a part of themselves from those that are close to him.

This all blows up when Isaac comes out and it is not pretty, AT ALL. I was just heartbroken, but at the same time, mad at Isaac for being a little pushover, once again. I just didn't get his infatuation with making sure his parents didn't hate him when it was obvious they weren't very nice people and would always look down their noses at him if he were gay, dating someone not white, etc. He let them get away with what is literally a crime and that just didn't sit right with me. They may be family, but that doesn't make it right.

Then there's the whole drama with their friends and Isaac's insecurities with people liking him and who is really his family. I mean everyone should know that family can be your friends, not just your biological family. His argument was flawed to a certain extent and he was not very nice in voicing his opinions. And we never get an resolution with Logan's friends and Isaac. I don't know if they came around or if they were still a bit standoffish.

I really wasn't a big fan of Isaac by the end of this book. He was just too big of a wuss for me. I did like Logan though. He had that bad boy look with a big heart. Yes, he had his flaws, but they weren't severe character flaws like Isaac.

I also had a problem with the writing style. It seemed like the story was rushed with nothing to back up their love story. They go from having had 3 dates to having been together a month just a some paragraphs later, all without any details of the in between. In general, a lot of details were left out that could have made the relationship more believable. The dialogue wasn't bad, I just didn't like that the author left out the building blocks of the relationship. There's a such thing as having too much detail in a book, but this one was severely lacking. This was my first Alex Whitehall book, so maybe that's just the norm for this author and I didn't know to expect that.

"Family is made up of people who love you, not people connected by blood. . . ."


The synopsis of the book basically sums up the whole book with not a lot else. The synopsis was like watching a movie trailer with all the good parts only in the trailer.


The story became redundant. Isaac had a mental constrict where it came to family and everyone tried to tell him throughout the whole book even after he realizes the hard way he still doesn't get it. Which was the redundant part and while that was happening the growth of Logan and Isaac was quick paced and a bit superficial. I didn't feel the substance of this couple.

It was cute at times but also a bit forgettable minus the douchebag family parts which weren't forgettable because families like that are hard to forget.

This was my first Alex Whitehall but even though this wasn't my favorite I would give the author another try to win over my heart.

I think this is the first time I've read a book in the perspective of a guy who has yet to come out to his parents knowing that they will likely not accept him. It was unique and I loved reading it from that point of view. My one complaint was that I needed less of the parents and more about Isaac & Logan. Reading about them getting to know each other. It's my favorite stage of a relationship.

I had a bit of a hard time with this one. On one hand I really liked the characters. Isaac and Logan are both great guys that have good and bad character traits, like every one of us. They're real and flawed. I also liked the writing for the most part. It was sarcastic and sassy and clever and a lot of fun most of the time. 

The basic storyline follows Isaac and his struggle with coming out to his parents and finding out what family really means. There are also a lot of side stories regarding Isaac and Logan's friends and their day to day dramas. So far so good. 
What stood out to me when I finished the book, though, was how...unsettled I felt for Isaac. He worked through some stuff with his friends and everything was good in the end but I felt like it will only be good until the next thing comes along. He can never just *be* with his friends. There was also never any closure regarding Logan's friend group and Isaac's worries that they didn't like him. In part this is all Isaac's insecurity talking but there were also some real concerns in there. In a way I like that it's not wrapped to neatly. Life goes on after the HEA after all. But idk...in this case I was hoping for Isaac to have a little more of a safety net. 
I also didn't feel like I got any kind of closure regarding his parents.
So all in all this was a little too "all over the place" for me...

This book has all the elements of an m/m romance that I have come to expect. Both Issac and Logan are funny, smart, nerdy guys and I loved the interactions between them. Though the development of their relationship proceeded very quickly, it was written well and I was rooting for them every step of the way. Issac’s sister Sue is hilarious and a great support for him and I was glad she was part of his life. There are also two groups of friends, and I have to say that it was difficult to keep track of them. But, they were overall a great bunch and embodied the friends-like-family trope.
The major conflict in the book is Issac’s racist homophobic parents. And I really couldn’t understand why Issac felt so much for them, at the expense of better relationships in his life. For most of the second half, I just couldn’t go along with his reasoning for wanting to be a part of his parents’ life and not believing that friends could be just as good as family.
The book does have an optimistic ending but I was hoping for a bit more in the epilogue as hinted earlier in the story. Overall, despite some issues, this was an enjoyable read with nice characters and a lot of diversity.

4* Was the tiniest, tiniest bit 'tries a little too hard to include the LGBTQIA' spectrum, but a decent tale and worth a read.

This is my first tale by this author, and features a couple of leads who are part of two separate groups of friends (who don't meet or interact), and from all the name-dropping, I thought I'd happened upon an established series, but no, apparently not. It doesn't spoil the book, but you do spend time wondering about all the characters and who's with who, and the labels, but, the tale itself is good enough to make these minor whinges.

The tale does follow the blurb pretty faithfully, with some hidden twists and it works very well. I liked both characters equally and Isaac's sister who proved to be a solid ally of theirs. And yes, I know the 'parents/strings' thing all too well, but I think that even I would have taken some action over an incident that ended up with one lead in hospital, and which could have led to even more serious stuff. Still, this is me being picky.

The tale does end in the start of the leads HEA, but it felt the tiniest bit unfinished to me, despite where they ended up, at least a year after their first meeting.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Riptide Publishing, for my reading pleasure.

Hard Truths, Alex Whitehall

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: LGBTQIA, Romance

I thought I'd read books by this author before – but I haven't – so lots of new to me reads to enjoy ;-) I loved this read, heartbreaking at times and sadly, so very,very real.

I loved Isaac and his sister, Sue. They're very close, which is good as his parents are...well, my age but I feel a million miles from them.
They're old fashioned, with sadly outdated views. Mum is desperate for grandchildren to spoil, even though, as Isaac muses, she never wanted to spoil him or Sue. Dad is one of those I'm-head-of-family, my word is Law types, the sort where clear lines are drawn, he's The Man, brings in the dosh, and housework, childcare etc is Not His Province, women's work.
Despite the weird parents Sue and Isaac love them, just hate the way every family occasion leads into nagging about marriage and children.
Desperate one Thanksgiving Sue brings home a date, a fake one, just to shut mum up. He's big, burly, tattooed and ….coloured, and she knows her parents will hate him. She's asked him to be polite but play up the stereotype, so he is guarded about his job, hinting at freelance, letting them think the worst, and true to form they are reasonably polite but Not Happy and make it clear.
Isaac is shocked though when Logan discreetly makes a pass at him...til he finds out the truth. I loved that family meal!

Soon Logan and Isaac are together but each family meal means Logan stays away, and Isaac gets more lectures on finding The One and grandchildren. I felt so sorry for him, for too many families this is life. It shouldn't matter who we love, so long as we're not harming others, parents should just want their kids happy, not set conditions on happiness and love.
Of course the inevitable happens and Logan wants to be with Isaac all the time, not tucked away from his parents like a dirty secret. Its not hard to see the way things would go, although it was stronger than I expected, and once more I kept thinking “this is how life is for so many kids” Awful isn't it? I can't conceive of being that sort of parent, though I can see faint echoes in how my parents would have reacted.
In between Isaac and his family issues there's the deal of Logan and his friends and Isaac and his, both close knit groups who react differently to new people, to pressures and events. I get the feeling Logan is more confident, outgoing, able to accept others where Isaac is a bit like me, diffident, cautious, careful of feelings. There are times when he isn't sure if his friends are pushing him aside, when in fact they're probably just busy, and I can empathise with that think the worst outlook.
When the big Fallout hit its dual pronged for Isaac and I so felt for him, and Logan of course. The way that drama played out, really let emotions flow, let Isaac's thoughts run riot was just perfect for me. I love to wallow in the sad parts, and then feel uplifted when all ends well.

Stars:Five, a very real feeling drama with the perfect HEA.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and Publishers.

Hard Truths is the first book I've read from this author and based on the blurb I knew it was going to be a good read. I have to say that this book did not disappoint. It was a great read. I think readers that enjoy a good M/M read will enjoy Isaac and Logan's story. Theirs was sweet, funny, steamy and no story is complete without a bit of drama but its the friendships within this story that made it a good one. My only complaint about this story would be Isaac parents. There was no redeeming qualities in his mom or dad. I honestly dislike book with racist characters in them because I read to escape so that was my only problem with this story. However, I enjoyed Isaac's sister Sue and their great group of friends. Family is more that the people you share the same genetics with but it's the people that support you and stand by you through the good and bad times; always and forever. Isaac and Logan's story is an example of that. Would I recommend this story? Yes.