My Hometown

By: SJD Peterson

Narrated by: Ronald Ray Strickland

Jimmy Brink and Eric Halter grew up together in a small country town. While Eric has always been content with life as a rancher, Jimmy wanted more and moved to Chicago early on to pursue a medical career.

Life has a way of coming back around. When Jimmy's parents decide to retire in Florida, Jimmy returns to his hometown to finish his residency at a local hospital. Flamboyant boyfriend Oliver in tow, Jimmy bumps into his old friend. Eric quickly takes a disliking to Oliver, though, and for good reason. Oliver proves he's not only self-centered but also a cheater.

To complicate matters, Eric finds it more and more difficult to hide his attraction to his best friend. When the opportunity arises, he needs to decide whether to risk their friendship to pursue his feelings, but maybe Jimmy will see there's more for him now than ever before in his hometown.

©2015 SJD Peterson (P)2016 Dreamspinner Press

Hometown Boys

What did you love best about My Hometown?

The story was a good GFY love story about two best friends, Jimmy and Eric reconnecting after Jimmy took off to Chicago for college to become a doctor, while Eric stayed close to home. After the years apart, Jimmy moves back home for his residency, bringing his flamboyant boyfriend Oliver. Having to work through some changes between the two and overcoming a few misunderstandings, Jimmy and Eric find their back to being friends, even though it's obvious that they are meant for more.

What did you like best about this story?

I really liked Oliver's character, even though he was a little shit and not right for Jimmy. He definitely needs his own story and hopefully, a better fit for a narrator.

What three words best describe Ronald Ray Strickland’s voice?

Not right for the story. While he had a southern drawl, it just didn't fit right for a character who spent 8 years in Chicago. The southern tone didn't sound like a Tennessee accent, where the story takes place. Additionally, all the characters sounded the same, even the Mom.

Holy horrible accent Batman.

Not sure if the reader has ever been to the South, their accent is awful. Also the dialogue written was clearly not written by a southerner. If you don't mind those things, then go for it.

Great story

The author pulls you into the lives of the characters. The narration could have been better but it did not interfere with the enjoyment of the story.

Story seems good...but the Narrator is horrendous!

What did you like best about My Hometown? What did you like least?

I didn't get to finish the audio book. It seemed like a decent story but I couldn't get past the narrator's horrible attempt at a cowboy drawl.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I can't really tell you

How could the performance have been better?

A completely different Narrator.

Was My Hometown worth the listening time?

I feel bad because I couldn't get into it enough to give a thorough review.

Sweet GFY / country boy story

This is a very sweet friends to lovers story with a little bit of city boy/country boy thrown in. SJD Peterson is a talented writer and though I don’t read her BDSM works, I’ve always really liked her “lighter” fare.

There’s nothing terribly new in this story – friends who grew up, the gay boy in love with the straight one, the straight one confused about his feelings, the new to gay sex : super hot! – but it’s still a lovely and sweet story. I really liked how the two continued to treat one another as goofy friends right up til the end, even after their relationship shifted.

There were times when I thought the boys were a little too introspective – or at least their thoughts didn’t always match their drawl – sometimes it was a bit incongruous. Especially in audio format, hearing these guys talk about their feelings didn’t always jive with the “hick” sound. But this was a small niggle.

I enjoyed it and found the two of them together both sweet and sexy.

I didn’t really ever see how Jimmy could have POSSIBLY thought Oliver would make it in the country, so – of course – it was no surprise when he exited the picture – and I wish we didn’t have to see him and Jimmy together as much as we did. I think the fact that Eric was jealous of Oliver could have been discovered in a way that didn’t necessitate Oliver’s presence for so long in the story – especially since they’d been together for awhile.

All in all this was a good story with a very HEA ending.

4 of 5 stars


Audio

Ronald Ray Strickland definitely tries to do all that he can for this narration. He has the country part down pat, though it doesn’t exactly fit at times. Jimmy is in med school and living in Chicago and so I expected his drawl to be tempered a bit but it was just as in full force as everyone else’s. I also thought that the parts not dialog fell a little flat at times. But for the most part this was a very good way to enjoy this story.


3.5 of 5 stars

Overall 3.75 of 5 stars rounded to 4.

Internalized homophobia masquerading as fiction

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

For a supposed gay novel this is amazing condescending to the effeminate male character. The narrator used a ridicules country accent that was not believable and when he did the voice of the effeminate partner it was unbearably patronizing. Do not buy this book, you will not be able to get past the first chapter!