Guest Review: Boston Boyfriends by Maggie Church

A hot hook up at a celebrity wedding leaves Porter Campbell wanting a whole lot more of gorgeous Stiegen Lange. Unfortunately for Porter, Stiegen's career as a voice over actor is skyrocketing, and a serious relationship isn't in his plans. Their hours together in Miami were more than a booty call for Porter, but what can he do?

Stiegen finds solace in Porter's arms when his best friend nearly dies. Then, he organizes an unforgettable weekend of passion with Porter back in Boston. His feelings deepen. Saying good-bye to Porter gets harder every time, leaving him wondering whether his career can remain the center of his universe.

Because Porter's in it for love and won't settle for less.

Reviewed by Samantha

Porter Campbell has a life in Boston. He's the owner of a school that helps kids, he loves to teach, and he loves not having to be around his family all the time. His sister's marriage to a famous rapper brings him down to Florida for the wedding, and it's there that he meets and has a hot fling with best man Stiegen Lange. Against his better judgement, he wouldn't mind seeing Stiegen again, but life calls, and it's back to Boston for Porter before long.

But life never is easy. Between the sale of the building that he rents for the school, a terrible accident that leaves his sister's husband injured, and a confusing situation with Stiegen, things are a bit of a mess for Porter, and they just might get worse before they get better.

“That would be nice. She’s nuts about him. I tried talking her out of marrying into this crazy lifestyle but obviously failed.”

“It’s her life, Porter. Your mom and I don’t really get your lifestyle choice…”

Lance talked as though Porter could become straight as easily as changing hair color. “Wearing kilts is a lifestyle choice. Being gay isn’t. How about stepping into the twenty-first century, Dad?”

I'd never read this author before, but the blurb sounded interesting enough, so I decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately, I found myself struggling to get through the book, and began skimming after about sixty percent.

I had a handful of problems with the book that made it difficult for me to get through. One of the biggest issues for me was the timing of events - they just seemed off. For example, Stiegen and Porter get into a pretty big fight about expectations and relationships the second time that they meet. At that point, it didn't seem to fit for me. They hadn't really built up much of anything, and the argument came out of nowhere for me. From there on, the progression was off. I felt like I was missing some huge piece of their relationship that I never got, like they'd grown together when I blinked, it all happened and I never saw it. So when the bigger issues came later in the book, it was all just off.

Furthermore, there was a bit of a mystery toward the end - but to me, it was completely obvious the entire time. I'm also questioning a few things surrounding it, for example (and this is purposefully vague to avoid spoilers) what about insurance? This, among other things, just felt poorly hashed and inconsistent.

The ending also just kind of happened. There was no real oomph to it, so it fell flat. This may be a result of my skimming, but I'm really not so sure that it was. It felt like I was walking along and hit the edge of a cliff all the sudden.

All of his is not to say that there weren't good things about the book. For one, I enjoyed Petra. She was certainly my favorite. The writing itself wasn't bad either. In terms of the language, it wasn't particularly choppy. I think the author would do well to focus more on her outline for the plot in the future, but she certainly has potential.

Overall an okay book, but pretty forgettable.
 

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