Title: Nothing Ever Happens
Author: Sue Brown
Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Buy Link: Amazon.com
Genre: Contemporary M/M
Length: Novel (280 pages, word count unlisted)
Rating: 5+ out of 5 stars, DIK
A guest review by Buda
Summary Review: Andrew and Nathan struggle through seven long years, three marriages, children, a death, and a nosy neighbor with a clipboard to finally get their Happy Ever After. Beautifully drawn characters and an epic love make this book so worth suffering along with them.
***This review contains what might be considered spoilers.***
The Blurb:
Andrew’s life is a cliché: he’s a gay man trapped in a loveless marriage, thanks to his religious, overbearing mother. Then a new couple moves in down the street, and Andrew finds himself falling for Nathan in a big way. Nathan is straight, married, and just about to be a father, but after one fateful night out together at a club, Nathan has to face the fact that his feelings for Andrew go way beyond that of a friend and neighbor.
When Andrew’s wife asks for a divorce, both men’s lives are thrown into disarray. Arguments about their responsibilities to their wives and children, doubting themselves and each other, and some harrowing lies pull them apart… but they never leave each other’s thoughts.
The Review:
First, if you haven’t figured it out from the blurb, let me state up front that Andrew and Nathan fall in love and have sex while each is married to women. While not together, they each have sex with others. I know that these can be auto-reject issues for a lot of readers, so if one of these is your hot-button issue, this book may not be for you.
Andrew, a photographer, is married to Stephanie. They’re the best of friends, but are not in love. They married at sixteen when Stephanie became pregnant with their son Colin, who at book’s open, is nearly ten. Andrew had been abused as a teenager by his homophobic, bible-thumping mother and her belt-and-buckle-wielding pastor, who tried to beat the gay out of him. His reaction was to sleep with Stephanie. She got pregnant. They got married and settled into a life together for their son. Their marriage is in name only because they have both come to accept Andrew’s homosexuality and the love they share is not romantic.
Nathan has just moved to the neighborhood with his very pregnant wife, Alex. The two couples meet at a welcome-to-the-neighborhood party at Allison and Jim’s place. Nathan has just graduated with his teaching certificate and will be teaching fourth grade, Colin’s class, at the local elementary school. Upon their initial meeting, Nathan and Andrew spark a friendship, beginning a tradition of cutting out of the parties early to play soccer in the park with Colin and Nathan’s dogs.
Over the course of the next few months, Nathan and Andrew’s friendship grows closer until Nathan finds a gay porn magazine in between the cushions of Andrew’s couch, seeing Andrew credited as the photographer. This triggers a lot of issues for Nathan, but he mans through it for the most part. A few months after a rather traumatic birth for Nathan’s son, Daniel, Nathan accompanies Andrew and Gary to a gay club for the first time. Gary, Andrew’s best friend and fuck buddy, is very protective of his friend and lays the groundwork for his role in the rest of the book–Drew’s guard dog. It is because of this club visit that Andrew and Nathan’s friendship faces its first very serious crisis.
The first time I read the book, I devoured the first nine chapters without pause. I only stopped because I worked early the next morning and required sleep. The second time I read the book, it was the same way. It is in Chapter Nine that Andrew’s world begins to explode when Stephanie asks for a divorce because her boyfriend Joe has proposed.
This is a difficult review to write because so very much happens that it’s hard to talk about how our heroes change and grow without giving away secrets or getting into the details of events in the seven year span of the story. Instead of that, I will say that after reading this book the first time, I couldn’t stop thinking about Andrew and Nathan and all they’d been through together and separately. Andrew is, simply put, a good man. He stood by Stephanie and Colin when she got pregnant at sixteen and would have probably continued putting his son first had Stephanie and Joe not decided to get married. He fell irrevocably in love with Nathan but refused to pressure him to leave his wife so the men could be together, leaving Nathan to slowly, slowly find his way on his own. I find Nathan honorable. He never expected to fall in love or lust with another man. He and his best friend, Gabe, had fooled around once, but that was it. Then when he finds himself feeling so deeply for Andrew, he’s torn between staying with his wife and supporting his child or losing his family, his career and his comfort zone to pursue Andrew. It is not an easy place for either man to be and is, occasionally, a difficult read. I set it aside several times when scenes were too intense, but found myself seeking it out again after only a short break. Reading a second time did nothing to diminish either man and has only caused me to think about them more frequently.
In all the drama, though, humor sparkles. After the first club visit, Nathan and Andrew take Colin and his friend Bobby on a weekend camp out. Bobby is an obnoxious little boy who never shuts up and constantly gets himself in trouble. On the drive to the camp site, Bobby keeps up a constant stream of chatter, driving Nathan crazy:
He glared at Andrew, who was looking pretty fucking relaxed. Fucker! As soon as they started the journey he’d put his earphones in and blanked everyone in favor of something with a really irritating beat. What was worse was the mindless humming and the leg slapping. Oh yes, the leg slapping really pissed Nathan off. He wouldn’t put it past Andrewto start playing air guitar with his leg.
And yes, there it was.
Fucker!
I did have a couple of niggles. Often, I was unsure of exactly what Gary and Gabe’s relationship was, though it seemed to be as much in flux as Nathan and Drew’s. Several times, the timeline lost me. At least one time was intentional, as it lost Drew as well. Also, Andrew was referred to as “the older man” far too many times. It wasn’t enough to annoy me, but enough that I noticed. Probably one or two more of the phrases would have hit the Annoy Buda button. (No, Wave, you can’t have one!) Lastly, at the end, when Nathan finally comes to Drew, I wasn’t entirely convinced he did it of his own volition. When he says he’s just gotten used to being bi, I wanted to cuff the back of his head. Seven years after first sleeping with Andrew? Slow learner much? Andrew is hesitant to accept that what he’s wanted for the last seven years has finally come to pass, but eventually Nathan convinced us both.
Though the first reading left me a bit emotionally unsettled because of all the men go through on their arduous journey to their Happy Ever After, I couldn’t stop myself from delving back into their lives. I freely admit to being an angst whore, and this book delivers in abundance. Sue Brown wrote two incredibly flawed, genuinely human, incredibly adorable men I couldn’t help but fall in love with.
Highly recommended.
Oh my. Gotta. Have. This is totally up my alley. Thanks for a wonderful review, Buda.
Oh man, does that irk me. Almost as much as overuse of pet names.
Thank you, Lynn. I hope you love it as much as I do. As for the pet names, I would have to read it again for confirmation, but I do remember there being a conspicuous lack of them. Perhaps not even a single instance. Refreshing.
Ooh, this sounds so me – I must get it! Thanks for the tip 🙂
Thanks for the comment, Anne. Hope you love it!
Bought it, read it, absolutely loved it – thank you!!!
That is awesome. Thanks so much for letting me know! :hurrah:
That’s one of my pet peeves as well. I read something not too long ago that referred to “the younger man” and he was like three years younger than the other guy. Maybe it’s because I’m old, but I don’t feel like that is a good descriptor. :sceptic: BUT this sounds wonderful. I just love the books that I have to put down and walk away from because they are so intense. I just loaded this onto my Nook and it will be next up. Thanks for the great review, Buda!
LOL Marilyn, that’s about the age spread between these Nathan and Drew. As the book begins, they start about 23 & 26, respectively. Intense books are one of my favorite types. I just don’t like to have to set something aside because it’s bad. No worries with this one. Let me know what you think of it. 🙂
Thanks Buda, great review!
I’m an agnst whore too, so this book is right up my alley….now I can’t wait to read it!
Ugh, I can’t type today…angst not agnst.
Thanks, Jaime, and no worries. I found so many typos in the review during re-read. I just hope I fixed them all! 🙂 Set aside a length of time to get really going on this one. You won’t want to be interrupted! Let me know what you think of it.
This is a great book, I enjoyed it very much. I very much liked the time line. Think they needed the time to get together. No insta love here!
Thanks for the comment, Ingrid. I’m so glad to see you liked it, too. You’re so right; Drew and Nate did need time to get together.
One thing that I appreciated so much was that Sue Brown had the opportunity to make Alex into a villain, but she refrained. She made her human instead. I couldn’t hate her for what she did, and was not surprised that Nate didn’t either.
Grr, Buda, you beat me this time to reviewing this – and now I know for sure I’ll have to get it anyway. Thanks for the review, which I enjoyed, but boy are you bad for my wallet!
Ha! Now you know how I feel when you get all the Bittersweet Dreams, Feliz! :grumble: Sorry about the wallet, but I think you’ll love this book. Let me know!
First of all thank you again for this book Dreamspinner and Wave, since I got it as a freebie at the site 😀 lucky me 😀
As for the book… :crying2: 😥 I had to keep my hankies handy. I was hopping for a bit more of romance and happiness (at least with their best friends Gabe and Gary: I didn´t feel there was actually a relationship between them except the obvious) but I know is difficult since in their situation a lot of people was bound to get hurt. I felt the ending was a realistic kind of HEA: they are together but things are not perfect. Anyway, this has nothing to do with the fact that is a great and touching book worth checking without doubt :yes:
Thank you for your review 😎
Oh, Helena, you are so right! The emotions evoked in this book are powerful. Both men had so much riding on their every decision–or indecision, as the case may be. I’m pretty sure my eyes leaked a couple of times, too.
I’m hoping (without confirmation from the author) Sue Brown will write Gary and Gabe’s story.
I’m glad you enjoyed the book and the review. Thanks for the comments! 🙂
No sequel. No. Never. This was one book I could never follow up.
Aaawww Sue :god: maybe a short (free) xmas/valentine/4th of july/ thanksgiving/chanukka shot???? :flowers: pretty please :girl:
LOL You covered all options there!
Of course 😀 I do not want to limit you in your choice
LOL @ Ingrid!
Sue – I can understand how you wouldn’t want to tamper with the story. And considering Gary & Gabe’s story would have to be told concurrently, it would be a logistical nightmare. So, to spare you all that work…what is the deal with them? Do they ever get together and make it work? Or did they morph into just friends? Inquiring minds and all that, you know. 🙂
How do I know? I haven’t written the story yet? Tbh, I never even thought of them. The only sequels I’ve ever thought of was wrapping up the story of Nate’s sister and Rich’s early story with his ex.
Ah, sorry. I thought you might have a sense of how it worked out with the Gs. No worries. I would love to read Rich’s early story. He was a great character.
I’ve been waiting to see if someone emailed me before I was brave enough to read the review. I got a READ IT NOW.
Thank you so much.
Aw! That’s terrific. I’m glad you were pleased. As you can hopefully tell, I absolutely loved the book and Andrew and Nathan. Those boys go on a wild ride and definitely have to earn their HEA. I’m so glad they got it after all. But I worry about Nathan being able to be with his kids. *chews lip*
I’ve been eying this one, but now I’ll have to put it at the top of my TBB pile! I also get annoyed by too much “older man/younger man” phrasing, but if it wasn’t too much to hit the Annoy Buda button (where does one get those? 😛 ) it will also hopefully miss the Annoy Jessica button. Even if it is a bit much for me, sounds like the rest will more than compensate for that minor peeve.
Hi again, Jessica. 🙂 I hope you’ll enjoy the book as much as I did. These two men go through hell and back, but their story is really beautiful. I think you’ll be safe from the Annoy Jessica button. *g*
I.Want. Right.Now. Buying. 🙂 (um, I really can do coherent sentences I swear 😉
Thanks Budda 🙂
LOL Don’t get used to coherent sentences, Sirius. By the time you’ve read the last lines, you’ll be too verklempt to write them! Hope you enjoy it!
I appreciate it when the author doesn’t take the easy way out (like bitch/crazy wives etc.) and this one seems like uncharacteristic story for romance, at least romance I’ve read lately. But, I’m on the mystery/suspense and/or happy/funny roll right now. So, I’m putting it on my TBR list, but it will wait there for a while.
Thanks, Buda, for a great review! It’s clear the book has affected you greatly.
Hi, LadyM. When you feel the need for an emotional roller coaster, you’ll know just where to turn. Sue Brown takes no short cuts here. There are no villains and no unblemished heroes. It’s romantic drama at its finest. I look forward to hearing your thoughts when you get around to it!
Buda
Do I get a thank you for handing this one to you? You do remember I emailed you and said “here’s something I think you would love, you angst whore” or something along those lines. DO I GET A THANK YOU? lol
Sue was so afraid of this review but I told her to be cool because the right person was reviewing the book. 🙂
I’m happy you love Nothing Ever Happens. I don’t know if I could read this one twice – once would be enough.
Great review Buda.
:god: :god: Oh, Wave. Thank you. Thank you so much. :god: :god:
I believe the phrase you used was “the King of Angst.” Yes, it was all capitalized and everything! You know me too well, and for that I’m extremely grateful. You rarely lead me astray–though there was that one that even traumatized poor Cole. (Thanks again, Cole!) This time, you hit it out of the park.
I’m glad I didn’t let you or Sue down. Nothing Ever Happens was brilliantly done. How many 5+’s have I handed out before? One? Two? Yeah. ‘Nuff said.
So, thank you for giving me first shot at the book. And thank you again for the kind words.
Can I stop sucking up now? *g*
Maybe … if you send me chocolate. 😆
Where in hell did you find those bowing green balls? They are awesome.
Uhm, I think you still owe me Chocolate and a man. :p
:god: Those things? They’re down there in the list.
Hey, Buda. Great review. You have had excellent luck with your reading over the past several books. I’m impressed that you gave this a 5+. It must be a keeper, indeed. 😀
Thank you, Patty. 🙂 Yes, indeed. I’ve been reading some really great stuff lately. Only a couple of clunkers in the last few weeks, so nothing to complain about. Nothing Ever Happens is definitely a keeper.
You said three marriages between them? If they are both married when they meet, then each divorce. Where is the third? *g*
Oh, tsk tsk, Lasha! :censorship:
lol You’re going to have to read to find out exactly what happens. If I gave away that secret, I might as well tell everything.
Did I mention the second time the guys have sex? No? Oh. Huh. Sorry ’bout that. 😉
Thanks for the comment, though!
I don’t read infidelity stories, but I was intrigued about the three marriages thing. Thanks anyway. Great review. 😀
Hey, Lasha. If it helps, Nathan feels incredible guilt about cheating on his wife, Alex.
Should I do it? Should I tell you? Oh, why not. Anyone who doesn’t want to know about the 3rd marriage, stop reading now.
.
.
.
After Drew and Stephanie divorce, a lot of things happen to Drew, and he and Nathan go their separate ways. During this time, Drew begins a relationship with a wonderful man named Rich. They marry.
I understand infidelity stories aren’t your thing and I completely respect that, but this is a very good book. I hope you enjoy it if you decide to read it.
LOVED this book and so glad it was well-reviewed here. I particularly liked that there were no easy answers and no caricature, over-the-top, evil wives. The sex scenes were never gratuitous (and very hot!). A wonderful book. (I’ve never commented about a book before, other than to try to win one…so that’s saying something).
Hi, Amy! :wave: Thanks so much for commenting. I’m thrilled you loved the book enough to do so (for the record, my first ever comment on a book was at Amazon for Amy Lane’s Keeping Promise Rock–which was way angstier than NEH). I love the sex between them, even when I know it wouldn’t be nearly enough for me in the same situation. I was actually pleasantly surprised there wasn’t an extra partner at least once. You’ll know who I mean. I liked it better keeping it just between the two of them.
Had this in my cart and was debating on getting it, now I know I will get it, Thanks Buda :cooler:
Rock on, Laura! :cooler: You’re gonna love it!
You were right Buda (bet ya love hearing that), I loved it. Emotional roller coaster, one point I wanted to throw the book and grab a tissue at the same time, which just made me dive in deeper. Thanks for the recommend and Thanks to Sue for another great one. Just love wrapping my weekend up with a great book. :bravo:
You’re right, Laura. I do love hearing that. Especially from you. And will you look at that! I read one before you did! :p I’m so glad you loved it. Those boys. Whew. I’m tellin’ ya, they gave me an emotional work out! But it was all worth it in the end.
I bought this a couple of days ago. I’m so looking forward to reading it after your wonderful review! 🙂
Thanks, Lily! I hope you enjoy it!
I remember reading this in one sitting. I went to bed around four in the morning. It was that good.
All through the book I wanted an easier road to happiness for the two men. But the good things are never easy…
And for Rich… I wanted a solution with him alive. He was one good man.
Thank you, Buda
Alina, you’re a better reader than I am. I had to stop reading a few times when things got tough for our boys. I have to believe Drew and Nate will appreciate each other more having experienced all the hard times. Rich? Yeah, I saw that one coming, and I was hoping it wouldn’t end that way, but it had to happen. Thanks for the comments! Glad you loved the book.
I confess this review makes the book sound intriguing, I’ll have to put it on my TBR stack (which now competes with the Sears Tower)
Thanks,
Victor
Thank you, Victor. I hope you enjoy the book when you get to it. I definitely sympathize with the towering TBR stack.
Between you, Sirius and Cole, I am so broke – who needs bread when you can have books!
A great review.
Ha! Raine, you need to have Cole keep you in cake if you can’t afford the bread! Thanks for the comments. Hope you love the book.
Yes I really enjoyed it. I thought Rich was a sweet, well thought out character, he had a plot role but was a much fuller personality than
is usual in that position. Trying to avoid spoilers but still make sense.
Your review was just perfect- I agreed with all your quibbles but the book just carried me away.
Raine, I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I have to admit, I shared Nathan’s first reaction about Rich, “Who the hell is Rich?” But he was a lovely character, just the man Drew needed at that stage of his life, as even Nathan understands. Thank you again for the kind words. :blush:
I like the way Sue Brown write her stories.
I had to bite my fingers reading to the end of Nothing Ever Happens…hoping it wouldn’t end up like Night Porter..Thank Heavens,it didnt….though life isnt a bed of roses.
Monica, I am so glad you liked the book. I, too, was worried Andrew and Nathan wouldn’t find a way to be together, but I am so glad they did! Thanks for the comment. BTW – I loved The Night Porter.
I am on my way to San Francisco and was riding the bus to Boston this morning. I had loaded up my Kindle with a bunch of the books recently reviewed here at the site and I had the sample of this one. So what do I do on the bus? Start reading the sample and I am instantly hooked! LOL. Thank God for my Kindle with which I was able to buy the book en route and keep reading beyond the sample. I logged on here to just say, great review, Buda and this is turning into a great book. Okay, off to read some more…I have a nice long flight ahead of me and I am looking forward to lots of angst!
L
Hi, Leslie! Thanks so much for the comment on the go! I hope you’re having a great time in San Francisco. It’s such an amazingly beautiful city. I need to go visit again soon. I swear, my Kindle is the single greatest purchase I made in the last 5 years. I’m so glad you had one with Wifi so you could download the book. I hope you loved it as much as I did. 🙂
I really, really enjoyed this book. This idea could have been a train wreck, but Sue Brown did a fantastic job building her characters and making them and the plot completely, beautifully believable. Bonus is another gorgeous cover by Reese. Into the favorites folder 😀