Book Review: College Boys

Book: College Boys (Men of Holsum College book #1) by Daisy Harris

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

When soccer star Chris Fischer moves next door to an openly gay classmate, he doesn't realize the wall between their rooms will be so thin he'll hear his neighbor's every move. But soon he and Peter become friends, and Chris is intrigued—imagining what happens on the other side of the wall.

Active on the Queer Student Council, Peter Cohen wishes he wasn't so damn hot for his straight neighbor. He can't tell if Chris is flirting or in denial or what, but Chris's innocent overtures lure Peter into flirtation that throws his world into chaos. Peter doesn't want to date a closet case, but he desperately, passionately wants Chris.

Soon Chris must choose whether to run away from his new feelings or embrace a relationship with the guy he loves. And Peter must decide if he can give his heart to a guy who hasn't yet figured it all out.


Rating: 4 stars

Review:

This is the first time I have read anything from this author and even though I wished the cover of the book was better (it's a little cheesy), I thought the story was good. It's a little racy but as I said in a previous post, I don't have a problem with sex being in a book as long as there is an actual story.

And the story was actually quite sweet. The story was about Chris Fischer, a 21 year old college soccer player who was tired of a lack of privacy decides to change dorm rooms. But he's in for a surprise because the walls of his new dorm room are so thin everything can be heard. On the other side of the wall is Peter Cohen, an active member of a school council, who is gay. Peter is someone that Chris finds intriguing initially as a friend, they weren't exactly strangers they had met during a college camping trip for incoming students (Chris is a transfer student), but this gave them a chance to possibly become friends. As the story progress, you can tell that slowly Chris' thoughts and feelings were changing to something more than friends towards Peter but he wasn't sure what that meant or said about himself.

Peter however, knew exactly how he felt about Chris and it was driving him crazy because he knows there is something there between them. But with Chris not sure about what he's feeling, was it even worth it for Peter to put his feelings out there.

Although this was a short story (less than 200 pages) it was interesting, funny, sweet and sexy. It also dealt with the issue of perhaps the stigma surrounding male athletes willingness to open up about being gay. Because in Hollywood and the arts there doesn't seem to be much prejudice compared to the world of sports, be it professional or otherwise.

I think there are readers who wouldn't give books like this a chance because they don't think reading about gay characters would be relatable. I'm not gay and that shouldn't stop me from reading an interesting story. Don't we all know what's it like to like someone but not sure how they feel. Should it matter if the characters are of the same gender? Those feelings and emotions are still the same.

I thought the author did a really good job with both the story and the characters. Both characters had interesting personalities and good character development. It had me wondering if they were going to date and if Chris would finally realize how he felt about Peter. I also thought Peter's best friend Nathaniel was also really amusing especially with his outgoing personality.

So, overall I would say this was a very good read. However, I do wish the story had been a little longer but since this is a series maybe the characters will appear in another story.