Acceptance!

It’s a very angsty story, with lovely scenes as well as frustrating ones. Luke is straight until he meets Tristan. It’s a close proximity kind of thing but then Luke is not sure. Tristan hangs on to his values and love, but his mate doesn’t make it any easier. They go through heartache to finally be, to feel free to love each other. I enjoyed the book and the narration.

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new to me author

this author is new to me. I enjoyed the story. I'm intrigued and may grab the rest of the series to listen to.

I grabbed this audio as I enjoy the narrator and received a code for my honest thoughts and opinions.

I did find some places just dragged as they didn't really move the story forward. Tristan was a character that I liked but also wanted to slap across the head for the way he allowed himself to be treated. everyone has their own story about coming out but Luke ....ugh I just wanted to see someone just call him out on his behavior. overall a good listen and like I said before I would listen to the other books in this series since I do mm and mf books

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New to me, author.

I'm not sure where to start on this audiobook, the story started well, and the narration was great, but then during the character development and the story started to get more involved, I fell out with the main character Luke. Keeping his boyfriend quiet for 6/7 years even though you knew the family would be good.

Tristan and Sheila's relationship was also weird for me, pretty unhealthy. But apart from that, I did enjoy the book and finished it. I read the book as a stand-alone.

David Allen Vargo did an excellent job as usual of the audio, and he was clear, precise, and easy to listen to. However, I did speed him up to 1.50 on audible, which is usual for me.


Broken Man
McCullough Mountain, Book 5
By: Lydia Michaels
Narrated by: David Allen Vargo
Series: McCullough Mountain, Book 5
Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins

❤❤❤❤ Overall
🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 Narration
📚📚📚📚 Story
Read at 1.50 speed on Audible

I received this audiobook for free from GRR at my request. My review is my opinion and an honest review - neither the author nor GRR influenced my opinion.

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Angst and drama for days. Get your tissues

Story = 4.5 stars
Narration = 5 stars

By the middle point I was sure I was just going to rate this 3 stars. I didn't particularly like either of the MCs and their behaviors and the angst was getting to me. Then all of a sudden the drama hit and it just put everything into perspective and the ending was just so perfect that I had to give it the rating I did. Even though the characters weren't perfect the plot def succeeded in keeping me on the edge of my seat and reading this story in one read in order to find out what happened next. This story was tragic and heartwrenching but had a great ending.

The story was well written and the author did a great job tackling such a hard topic. I have never read this author before but I would again if they wrote more M4M.
The book did have great world building and it definitely got my intrigued about the other brothers but not enough to make me want to go back to reading m/f.

The narrator did a fantastic job. His reading voice was pleasant. He expressed the emotions really well and brought the story to life. He added special affects when the MC was thinking and even sang a line. He gave each character a voice that was both distinct and suiting of them. It was a wonderful listening experience.

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Great

A great story by Lydia Michaels. Luke and Tristan where fantastic characters to follow on their journey. Got very invested into them and the family. David Allen Vargo did a super job bringing the characters to life.
This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

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Luke💜Tristan

This is the 5th book in the series, however I'm sure it can ne listened to as a standalone since I was able to follow the story without listening to the others.

Luke and Tristan story was definitely not an easy path.
They fought for what they wanted and their love for each other was deep.

This is a new to me Author and I liked their writing style.

The characters were likeable and well fleshed out and the storyline was interesting.

Definitely recommend

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2 people found this helpful

Keep tissues handy.

Broken Man is the first book I’ve read by Lydia Michaels and the first one I’ve listened to by David Allen Vargo. Parts of the story seemed a bit dated to me but then I found out that the book was written over 8 years ago which explained that issue.

This was one of the most heart-wrenching stories I’ve read in a while. Parts of it seemed like the typical GFY/OFY/bi-sexual awakening story but near the end of the book things got real very quickly and I needed those tissues. Throughout the story I felt the connection between Tristan and Luke but there were many times I wanted to slap Luke upside the head and tell him to man up.

This book does fine as a standalone and if I were still reading a lot of MF books, I think I’d really enjoy all of the stories in this family saga.

David Allen Vargo did a great job with his performance of this book. The character voices were easily distinguishable and the accents he used sounded good to me. I’m certain I would enjoy listening to more books he’s performed.

A complimentary copy of this audiobook was provided to me at my request but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author and/or narrator.

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Time To Face The Truth.

MM, Sexual Awakening, Contemporary, Romance. Book five in the series and the only MM themed book in the series. The story covers some difficult themes i.e. homophobia and has some dramatic and angsty emotional moments. A book with depth and lots of detail, although part of a series it can be read as a stand-alone with no loss of enjoyment or understanding. An eventual HEA.

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Broken Man

Oh I already waited to read Luke's and Tristan's story. We already knew some things about them from the previous stories, but it was great to read their story from the beginning. I liked a lot that Lydia jumped to scenes from the other books and we could see them from Tristan's and Luke's eyes.

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A good book

I’ll quickly start with what I didn’t like. Mainly the way Luke treated Tristan. And his ‘attempts’ to put Tristan out of his mind. Which also leads to the treatment of women in the story – pretty disrespectful at times. Finally, there’s a violent scene that caught me off guard. I supposed the groundwork was laid, but I wasn’t prepared, and it hit me hard. Just offering a warning.

Okay, what I did like. Gay for You stories always intrigue me. How a guy can not be interested in men until he meets a man who captures his attention and suddenly he’s fixated on that man. And he’s not sure how it’s all supposed to work, but he’s willing to try. What I enjoy less is when that guy turns into a jerk. I didn’t always like Luke in the story, and Tristan came off as much more sympathetic.

Now, this story takes place over many years – and how the men thought they were fooling everyone was beyond me. McCullough Mountain is a series and, if I had to guess, Luke and Tristan’s love story has been in the backdrop of all the books that’ve come before – and those love stories intrigued me. Enough I might go back and check out the entire series. This book is a stand-alone, but I think it would’ve been richer had I had the entire context.

Still, a book I can recommend. David Allen Vargo was a good narrator and I’ll definitely listen to more stories narrated by him.

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