After being outed at his old school and kicked off the hockey team, Jock has come to Calapooya College for a fresh start. His brother Tank is a member of the Theta Alpha Gamma fraternity and the guys seem to accept him with open arms, especially since they have a few other gay members. But Tank and the fraternity guys may be just a bit too protective; Jock just wants to move on and enjoy being an out guy on campus.

Toby is friends with several guys from the fraternity and when he spots Jock at a party, he is immediately interested. But after a hot hookup between them, Jock doesn’t seem to want any more, much to Toby’s disappointment. Jock seems more interested in meeting new guys and hooking up than anything serious.

With the fraternity in temporary housing due to a fire, a small group decides to take the spring semester at the Calapooya campus in France. Toby ends up going along as the Resident Advisor, giving him some additional income while completing his master’s thesis. And is turns out, Jock decides to go as well, looking for an escape from the sensationalism that seems to have followed him once the racy picture of him on his knees from his old school surfaces, and suddenly everyone is talking about him once again.

With the guys all living together in the beautiful French countryside, sparks begin to fly again with Toby and Jock. It turns out much of Jock’s desire to play the field came from fear of a relationship, as well as the sexual expectations that may come from being in a relationship versus a hookup (namely an expectation to bottom at some point). But once Toby and Jock get together again, the heat flares back to life between them. As their relationship builds, the guys realize that there may be something long term here between them. But for that to work, they must deal with a house full of crazy fraternity brothers, move past Jock’s insecurities, and figure out if what works in France can still work when the guys return home.

Poster Boy is the fifth (and I believe final) book in Anne Tenino’s Theta Alpha Gamma series, all featuring the TAG guys and Calapooya College. This story collects threads from previous books, primarily the storyline from Sweet Young Thang where we first meet Jock and learn much of his back story, as well as where we see the fire that leads to the fraternity living in temporary housing (in fact I think parts of this story may overlap the SYT timeline). So while this book could be read as a standalone and most of the basics are covered, there is a lot of background in SYT that would enhance your reading of this story (not to mention recurring characters from other books in the series).

If you have been following along, when we start Poster Boy we have already met Jock and know about his very public outing. The fraternity knows about it as well, and as they have been going through a lot of issues surrounding their gay members, they are very open and supportive of Jock. But at times it is a little too much support. These guys are all in his business and making him a little crazy. And when the picture gets out publicly and things heat up even more, Jock jumps at the chance to escape to France.

Once there, the story focuses both on Jock and Toby’s developing relationship as well as on the rest of the fraternity gang who are in France with them. I did really enjoy Jock and Toby’s story, as it brings up some interesting issues. Jock is struggling with his views on what it means to be gay and manly and how that fits with his idea of himself as an aggressive athlete. He is freaking out about bottoming, not because he is scared of the act, but because what it might mean about his manliness. He has a lot of stereotypes about how he should behave and struggles with figuring out what he wants and should be. Given Jock’s age and the fact that he just came out, I think these struggles make perfect sense. And yes, at times he is a bit of a jerk and I wanted to yell at him. But this story is really about him figuring it all out, and with Toby’s help, he does. So I found these guys sweet and romantic and enjoyed them together.

The other major part of the storyline is the TAG brothers in France. As much as I enjoyed these guys in the others books, here I must say they were too much for me. Maybe because they played a much bigger role here, but rather than occasional comic relief, they were somewhat exhausting with their over-the-top behavior. So on one hand, these are sweet, sensitive guys who mean well. But they are like overgrown children with barely a functioning brain between them. They pout and get their feelings hurt over everything. They are practically childlike in their naiveté and stupidity. They refer to themselves as “the bros.” They are planning something called the Beer Terrorism Response Team (that I still barely understood even after the numerous times it’s explained), which involves in total seriousness practicing evasive maneuvers to protect their beer while visiting a historical site in the French countryside.

Now I won’t say they were without their charm. For the most part I liked these guys. But I was just exhausted by their unbelievable levels of immaturity. Not like normal college kid drinking too much immaturity, but more like childlike immaturity, if that makes sense. I guess part of the issue is that in this series we meet Brad, Collin, and now Jock, all of whom are fraternity members and in serious, mature relationships (all with older men). And then on the other hand, virtually every other guy we meet in the fraternity is basically an imbecile. If I am going to believe these guys are capable of the relationships we see them in, how is it possible the rest of them are such a mess? Ok, so yes, maybe I am just not having enough of a sense of humor about all this. I am guessing many people will find them charming, as I did in earlier books. So truly your milage may vary, they just didn’t work for me so well here.

I just want to mention one other thing I found kind of weird, and that is the description of Jock. He is described many times as blond with light eyes. But at one point it says “Jock had never been a black dude that Politically Correct White People pandered to…” which seems to imply he is black. So maybe he is just a blond, blue eyed, black man. And it doesn’t really mater in the end. But the descriptions were just confusing and seemed somewhat inconsistent and so I had a really hard time picturing him in my head. Not a huge deal, just sort of strange.

But there was more than enough in this book to enjoy that I would still definitely recommend it, especially to fans of the series. I liked Jock and Toby together and found their story very interesting. I also really liked the detour to the French countryside and the bits of history and culture incorporated in the book. So another enjoyable installation to the series, and one that I think is a must read for fans of the series.

Want a fun and enjoyable read? That’s what you will get with Anne Tenino’s newest release in the Theta Alpha Gamma series, Poster Boy. For those of you not familiar with the series, this is the fifth book, in the line-up. I don’t think it is mandatory that you read every book, in the series, to get the full enjoyment of this one. However, there is an incredible back story that leads up to this one, with lots of details and events that you would be missing out on. There are past characters that make an appearance, more than once, in Poster Boy, which IMO, add much enjoyment to this story. The author done an amazing job with the timeline, merging this release into the ongoing plot, never missing a beat, giving you a smooth transition.

The story opens up with the guys at a party, which is very appropriate considering these are college boys in a fraternity, with Toby and Sebastian, in the kitchen, mainly observing. Toby is supposed to be working on his thesis, but he can’t seem to get in the groove to get anything accomplished. He feels a little left out since it seems all of his friends are now in relationships, even Collin, who he had a “friends with benefits” relationship. Things are about to change though since Tank’s little brother, Jock, has now joined the fraternity. Everyone knows Jock is gay since he was kicked off his college hockey team, for that very reason, and came to TAG.

Toby, sex extraordinaire, needs to get his life together. He has no motivation to finish his thesis for his Master’s, he’s going to have to ask his parents for more money in order to stay and finish, if he doesn’t get kicked out first. An opportunity opens up for him to supervise some of the TAG boys on a trip to France. This will be perfect for him as it gives him a roof over his head, food, and some extra time to complete his school project. After a one-night stand with Jock, he feels even worse, when Jock pays him no attention. This trip could not come at a better time. What will happen when he finds out Jock is coming also? The one person he was trying to put some distance between, will be in close surroundings with him, for three months.

Poor Jock, he’s had a rough time lately. He got kicked off his hockey team after he was ousted by a video on-line showing him in an awkward situation with another guy, on his knees. If that wasn’t bad enough, his brother Tank, has broken confidentiality, and told all of the TAG members. Just when things were starting to quiet down, the video reappears and everyone at his new fraternity, has now seen, as well. Sounds like the perfect time to take a school trip to France for a few months, hopefully, when he gets back, everyone will have forgotten or, at least, moved to a new topic. There is just one problem – Toby. Jock knows that Toby has experience when it comes to sex. Something that Jock has very little of, and quite frankly, he is scared to death that Toby will want him to bottom. So to avoid the issue, he avoids Toby. Once the trip gets underway, Toby and Jock, can’t stay away from each other. They are good together as long as Jock can keep taking the lead. The rest of the group, on the trip, adds much excitement, as well. They are a great bunch of guys who get into a little mischief, pulling Toby in with them. What will happen if Toby gets kicked out of school? What about the other guys in the group? It is a very entertaining three months, with lots of hanky-panky, a few surprises that you will not expect, new friendships and close bonds are formed

This is a long story, with many different situations and new developments, always occurring. The author moved the plot forward showing much character growth and maturity. The story never felt weighed down, due to the length. I prefer the longer books as they allow you time to get to know your cast of characters, become part of them, without skipping relevant pieces, and continues to move ahead. Ms. Tenino has done all of those things and more. You will find yourself very invested with the guys and the shenanigans they get themselves into, and before you know it, you are approaching the end. This story has many amazing side characters that kept the story very interesting and funny. There will be surprises that you don’t expect and I think the author has left the storyline open enough that if more books were to follow, there will be many different and interesting characters to pick from. If you have not read the TAG series, I would recommend it to anyone who likes to laugh, loves humor, likes a little mystery and suspense, and loves college age boys getting into mischief. Above all, there are some amazing relationships built with the Theta Alpha Gamma boys.