Never Hollowed By The Stare

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Never Hollowed By The Stare
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  • Home
  • REVIEWS+RECS
    • MANGA
    • BOOK REVIEW
    • SOUNDTRACK
    • QUOTE
    • TRAILER
    • DESERT ISLAND CASTAWAYS
    • BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
    • Reviews A-Z
    • MINI MOVIE REVIEWS
  • MEMES+TAGS
    • MUSIC MONDAY
    • LAST YEAR I WAS READING
    • FLICKer FADE SUNDAY
    • TAGS
    • MISC POSTS
    • PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
    • FIRST LINES FRIDAY 56
  • TOURS & BLITZES
    • COVER REVEAL
    • GIVEAWAYS
  • About + Ratings
    • ABOUT + RATINGS
    • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • Policy + Contact

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  • Uncategorized

    AUDIO TOUR: The Proposal by Piper Scott (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    July 4, 2020 / No Comments
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    neverhollowed

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    NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Kaito’s Silence by Emily Carrington (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    May 23, 2021

    NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Altered Tides by Harry F. Rey (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    March 2, 2021

    NEW RELEASE: Footsteps Of The Past by Felice Stevens

    July 22, 2021
  • Uncategorized

    BOOK TOUR: In The Line Of Fire by Jaxon Altieri (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    July 4, 2020 / No Comments
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    RELEASE TOUR: Roman by Grae Bryan (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    June 15, 2022

    BOOK TOUR: Surrogate for a Vampire by Nina R. Schluntz (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    October 11, 2022

    BLOG TOUR: A Fluid State by Rob Browatzke

    January 3, 2020
  • Uncategorized

    BLOG TOUR: The One Night Plan by Riley Long (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    July 4, 2020 / No Comments
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    NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Gay All Year by Richard May (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    August 18, 2020

    LAST YEAR I WAS READING…(May 12, 2021)

    May 12, 2021

    BLOG TOUR: Home for a Cowboy by Amy Aislin (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    June 9, 2020
  • Uncategorized

    BLOG TOUR: Back To You by Kiska Gray (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    July 4, 2020 / No Comments
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    NEW RELEASE BLITZ: The Prince and The Pencil Pusher by Kenzie Blades (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    September 28, 2020

    RELEAE BLITZ: Avarice by Rebecca Cohen (Giveaway)

    November 4, 2021

    BLOG TOUR: Love/Hate by Quinn Riley (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    February 15, 2023
  • manga,  Uncategorized

    MANGA: Bokura no Katakoi Melancholy

    July 4, 2020 / No Comments
    ぼくらの片恋メランコリー (マッグガーデンコミック uvuシリーズ) | 拓 ...

    Bokura no Katakoi Melancholy – Takuhei

    Kanei Tomoya came back to his previous high school to be a substitute teacher in Physical Education. He met his fellow teachers on his first day and everything is sailing smoothly until Seta Kousuke came, his arts teacher back in high school. Everything became worse when he accidentally broke Seta-sensei’s phone and was asked to be his lover in the span of his four months stay. Now will this “relationship” turn into something good or something bad?

    Meh, not feeling dub-con sensei. Shipping hard Math-sensei and Bio-sensei.

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    You May Also Like

    BLOG TOUR: Heart2Heart: A Charity Anthlogy Volume 4 (Excerpt)

    July 24, 2020

    BLOG TOUR: Keeping Hope Alive by Alexandria Redding (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    August 4, 2021

    RELEASE BLITZ: Genie In A Vodka Bottle by Rob Rosen (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    November 8, 2021
  • book,  Uncategorized

    AUDIO REVIEW: Just Like Heaven by T.L. Bradford

    July 4, 2020 / 2 Comments
    52968897. sx318


    The Young Americans: Just Like Heaven – T.L. Bradford

    Noah Sinclair
    Noah Sinclair is best described as an egotistical, pompous, anal retentive, asshat. And those are his better qualities. Lately, Noah has lost touch with his playboy character “Jace” on the show Americana and can’t quite put his finger on why. The studio decides it is time to shake up his character by making him an offer he can’t refuse, literally. They will introduce a new love interest for his character “Jace.” Only this time, there’s a twist.

    Josh Hill
    Josh Hill is up a creek and sinking fast. He’s got no job, no money, no credit and is about to be kicked out of his apartment. Opportunity comes in the form of a job offer from the show Americana. Everything should be perfect; only there is one hitch. He will be the new love interest for Noah Sinclair’s character on the beloved show.

    So, opposites are supposed to attract, right? Not so fast. No one said life was that easy. Both actors find themselves in untested waters. Will they be able to play a same-sex couple with no prior experience authentically? Well, they say practice makes perfect.

    Carefree, fun-loving Josh and uptight, overbearing Noah, realize they need to make the best of their bad situation and are forced to find common ground. Over time, their roles in each other’s lives become blurred. Is their attraction fake, or is it real? To top it off, Noah has a dark skeleton in his closet that can prevent them from ever moving forward.

    Can they get on the same page and save both of their careers and their relationship?

    Or will they end up yesterday’s tabloid fodder?

    (Just Like Heaven is a full-length, slow-burn love story. It can be read as a standalone. It contains a cast of fully-developed characters that encounter romance, heartache, laughter, and life lessons. The book has darker themes that may act as triggers to some readers. It contains adult language, mature themes, and is best enjoyed by those over the age of 18.)


    Just Like Heaven is a case of life imitating soap. It’s just as long, just as melodramatic.

    I think the author was trying to cram every popular trope possible. Noah and Josh started out as enemies, then friends then lovers. There was a slow-burn gay for you thrown in with both claiming to be straight. Then coming out issues with Noah refusing to even admit to himself he was gay because he was so traumatized by his abusive father.

    Sometime later, we get Josh admitting he had a crush on his football teammate back in high school and revealing he was bisexual. There’s even the big breakup and a second chance romance of sorts.

    All of these would have been one hell of an epic saga. However the book had an unfortunate tendency to tell rather than show. There were chunks and chunk of paragraphs of just telling.

    The book could benefit from taking out some passages. For instance, there was Noah looking back to the time he was caught kissing a boy. The same scenario was later described in dialogue by the actor to Josh in almost the same way.

    I wasn’t particularly drawn to the two MCs. Noah was as difficult as advertised. Josh was the more likable one, the type who’s friends with a person within 5 minutes of meeting them.

    Their honeymoon phase was indeed sweet but on the whole they weren’t exactly the healthiest couple out there. There were petty jealousies and possessiveness. They don’t talk properly. They had better relationships with the other people they hooked up with. So their relationship wasn’t something I could root for.

    On the upside, the other cast members were great supporting characters. I could see how their real life chemistry would translate well on screen. They were like the millennial version of the Brat Pack.

    The Hill family Christmas was the most fun part of the book. Everyone had a blast at their Christmas Olympics. This was where Noah and Josh synced perfectly together. We get a glimpse of what they could be if they were simply regular guys named Noah Sinclair and Joshua Hill instead of Primetime Emmys’ Best Couple.

    It wouldn’t be your favorite daytime soap without scandals and messy breakups. The big fight was ugly, the separation painful. But it wasn’t long before they started hooking up with other castmates. At this point, my interest petered out.

    Narrator Corey H. Bennson was a major reason why I stuck around for as long as I could. He’s one of those narrators who acts rather than just reads. I really enjoyed his style.

    I wish Noah and Josh well. I know they would eventually find their way back to each other. And stay there, hopefully.

    P.S.

    Sorry, this was supposed to be posted yesterday but my blog’s I.P. address had some technical issues.

    Thank you to Gay Romance Reviews and Audible UK for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

    Rating:
    2.5 Stars – far from hate but not quite a like

    Soundtrack: The Magic Position
    Artist: Patrick Wolf
    Album: The Magic Position

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    NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Tricks and Bids by Jacqueline Grey (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    February 17, 2020

    BLOG TOUR: Thick As Thieves by Lucy Lennox (Excerpt)

    March 4, 2022

    LAST YEAR I WAS READING…(November 18, 2020)

    November 18, 2020
  • song,  Uncategorized

    SOUNDTRACK: The Magic Position by Patrick Wolf

    July 4, 2020 / 1 Comment

    Soundtrack to The Young Americans: Just Like Heaven by T.L. Bradford

    Read More
    neverhollowed

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    5, 4, 3, 2, 1 BOOK TAG!

    August 16, 2022

    FLICKer: Foreign Lovers

    January 5, 2023

    RELEASE TOUR: Roman by Grae Bryan (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    June 15, 2022
  • Uncategorized
    July 4, 2020 / No Comments

    So let the people talk
    It’s Monday morning walk
    Right past the fabulous mess we’re in
    It’s gonna be a beautiful day
    So do the bluebirds sing
    As I take your hand
    And you take my kiss
    And I take the world
    ‘Cause out of all the people I’ve known
    The places I’ve been
    The songs that I have sung
    The wonders I’ve seen
    Now that the dreams are all coming true
    Who is the one that leads me on through

    It’s you
    Who puts me in the magic position, darling now
    You put me in the magic position
    To live, to learn, to love in the major key

    And I know how you’ve hurt
    And been dragged through the dirt
    But c’mon get back up
    It’s the time to live
    So give your love to me
    I’m gonna keep it carefully
    Deep in the treasure chest below my breast
    ‘Cause out of all the people I’ve known
    The places I’ve been
    The songs that I have sung
    The wonders I’ve seen
    Now that the dreams are all coming true
    Who is the one that leads me on through

    It’s you
    Who puts me in the magic position, darling now
    You put me in the magic position, darling now
    Let me put you in the magic position, darling
    ‘Cause I’m singing in the, the major key

    Let me put you in the major key

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    A FEW MORE QUOTES FROM MY FAVORITE BOOKS

    November 16, 2021

    FLICKer FADE SUNDAY: Bro

    March 15, 2020

    RELEASE BLITZ: A No-Strings Noel by Annabelle Jacobs (Giveaway)

    November 20, 2021
  • trailer,  Uncategorized

    MOVIE FEATURE: Foreign Lovers

    July 4, 2020 / No Comments
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    NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Kaito’s Silence by Emily Carrington (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    May 23, 2021

    NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Cold Blood by T. Strange (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    March 9, 2022

    BOOK BLAST: Clubbed Two: Anxiety, Anger, Activism by Robert A. Karl (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    February 25, 2022

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