Sinfully Good Gay Book Reviews: C. Koehler

Title: Tipping the Balance (CalPac Crew #2)

Author: C. Koehler

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: October 26, 2020

Genre(s): M/M Contemporary Sports Romance

Page Count: 380

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

Tipping the Balance is the second book in the CalPac Crew series, featuring newly-graduated rower Brad Sundstrom and Drew St. Charles, Coach Nick Bradford's BFF. As the first book ends, Drew is very interested in Brad, while Brad is beginning to realize he may not be as straight as he thought.

That dynamic continues as Brad struggles against even saying the word "gay" much less coming to terms with his attraction to Drew. Brad has a lot of emotional baggage and has a difficult time dealing with being less than "manly":

Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod .... Was he gay? Bi? He didn't know. Both terms conjured images that he didn't recognize; that he prayed didn't apply to him. The lisping faggot, the limp-wristed theater crowd, the c@cksucker. Even at relatively liberal California Pacific, there'd been the divisions between the jocks, the real men, on the other hand, and the .... not-manly-enough guys on the other. [...] But, somehow, to like guys sexually was to be less than a man. He couldn't shake that idea from his mind.

Brad continues in this mindset throughout the book, gaining little in the way of personal growth or understanding of his sexuality, IMHO.

There is a lot going on here - Brad working for his horrid homophobic father in the family construction business, Drew, Brad and Emily putting together a bid to restore a historic property in town, issues with the college oversight committee and Nick and Morgan's coach/teacher relationship, and Brad becoming Nick's assistant coach. Brad gets up at the crack of dawn to work with the CalPac crew, works part-time at his father's subdivision sales office, works part-time restoring the historic house, takes classes for his contractor's license, attends oversight committee meetings, AND is in a relationship with Drew.

But wait, there's more .... criminal activity, rampant miscommunication, as well as an extended medical situation, and by the time we get to 91% Drew and Brad still have all their issues without any substantive discussion or resolution. At almost 400 pages, the pace is very slow, yet there is little in the way of personal growth, relationship building and communication. With too much telling versus showing, Brad and Drew's relationship feels very lightly developed, despite the huge amount of POV narratives from both characters.

This book just did not work for me for several reasons - the lack of character development and growth as well as the lethargic pace and convoluted plot. 2.5 stars and I cannot recommend this book, although "your mileage may vary." I welcome your comments!

I received an ARC from the Publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Rocking the Boat (CalPac Crew #1)

Author: C. Koehler

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: September 28, 2020

Genre(s): Contemporary Sports Romance

Page Count: 240

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

In this contemporary M/M sports romance set in the world of collegiate rowing, the author does a great job of providing readers with an understanding of the sport and the hard work it takes for the coxswain (think "onboard coach") to perfectly synchronize eight rowers in a 60' shell and turn muscle into motion.

Rowers have been called the world's best conditioned athletes and in Rocking the Boat we are introduced to student / rower Morgan and graduate student / Coach Nick Bedford and all the streneous work it takes to perfect their bodies and skills. And once the two men begin a relationship, the author gives us some very sexy, sensual scenes featuring those perfect bodies. The heat level of this book is nicely toasty!

On the way to their relationship, there is plenty of angst, worry and backtracking, covered in great detail. When Morgan spots Nick at a gay bar with his BFF Drew, Nick panics, saying he is not gay. He sets up Morgan and Drew on a bad date, is unreasonably jealous of Morgan, and vacilates between wanting a relationship with Morgan but worrying about repercussions of a coach dating a student.

There is much made of the difference in their ages (28 vs. 21) but on-page Nick reads less mature most of the time. Or maybe it's that Nick comes across as being very un-self-aware. He takes his anger at Morgan out on the rowing team without realizing his actions. He stresses communication is crucial for everyone on the team, yet he doesn't communicate to his rowers, and fails to communicate with Morgan personally as well.

The book caught my interest at the start with the rowing crew, and the sparks of interest between Morgan and Nick. The middle slows as Nick struggles to finally enter a relationship with Morgan, but in the midst of all this, there is some pretty exciting racing action. The author really excels in giving us the drama and excitement of rowing.

And if rowing has captured your attention as well, I would strongly suggest watching the excellent PBS American Experience documentary "The Boys of '36" about the University of Washington rowing crew that captured the gold medal against Hitler's elite German rowers.

Overall, I'm giving "Rocking the Boat" 3.5 stars because although there were some elements that just didn't work for me, I like the general setting of the series, the amazing rowing and the also pretty amazing sex scenes. This is the first of four books in the CalPac Crew series and I will look forward to reading more in this series.

I received an ARC from the Publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.