Gone Stumping [Kindle Edition]

** spoiler alert ** First time published author Braden Williams brings us a story that sets itself apart from many others that I've read lately. One of the biggest reasons this book stood out for me was due to Aidan's last name. JK! No, really it was the interesting story line. Here we have a young man who wants more than anything to become someone more than he is. And, how many times in real life does this happen, how many times do we catch ourselves thinking wow, what could I do to make life easier? How can I ...more First time published author Braden Williams brings us a story that sets itself apart from many others that I've read lately. One of the biggest reasons this book stood out for me was due to Aidan's last name. JK! No, really it was the interesting story line. Here we have a young man who wants more than anything to become someone more than he is. And, how many times in real life does this happen, how many times do we catch ourselves thinking wow, what could I do to make life easier? How can I attain an upper class status, or a promotion at my job?

Well, Aidan Montgomery thinks he has it all figured out. When I met the young man, he was in bed with an older man, graying at the temple already and it ends up being the Senator. Oh I can so see this happening! I mean how many stories have we heard about our leaders of this country doing things they try to keep us from doing? So many of them ignore gay rights, and refuse to acknowledge these fine men and women, yet how many of them have indulged? Was it just last year we all found out about some government official cutting down gay rights and gay people only to find out that he was gay himself?

This senator in this story reminded me of that guy. Only out for himself and that is it. And I suppose you can say that Aidan is guilty of the same thing, I mean he's sleeping with the guy to...climb the cooperate ladder. The senator is just using the guy to fulfill his sexual needs and to have someone to boss about. I mean Aidan is a great campaign manager, taking care that his boss looks his best, says the right things, blah blah, and even having sex with the guy. That senator is a piece of work let me tell you. He hides the fact that he's having sex with Aidan, on a nightly basis, I mean Aidan lives in the mansion with the guy but has to use the back door so no one sees him, so he's really not suffering but still. There is no love at all whatsoever.

Braden did a wonderful job building those two characters and early in the story I came to hate the heartless senator and feel bad for Aidan for a couple different reasons. The poor guy thinks work is all that. He wants what the senator has in material senses but he totally misses out on the act of real love.

Enter into the story bigger than life, Rafe McCafferty. OH my hell. This man is a modern day lumber jack, big husky tall and fine looking. Guess what he's caught doing early in the book? Yep, he was caught with his hands down his pants in the middle of the woods he was ordered to strip bare to make room for a Casino. Guess who caught him? NO...not Aidan, it was a land surveyor.

However, Aidan kept binoculars nearby the window that looked out over the woods and guess what? Not telling.

So, one morning, while Rafe and his crew were out working, a strap came loose from the logging truck and it went flying and Rafe and another of his workers who could have been killed ended up injured. It was an intense scene, just thinking, oh no, someone is going to die here! So, immediately the mystery begins and I wondered, okay, now who wants Rafe and his team out of those woods?

In the midst of the greedy senator getting ready for re-election, young Aidan finds the man in bed with a much younger man and that marks the end of Aidan's affair with the greedy older man. You'll just flip when you find out who the senator is bedding. This of course means Aidan is no longer living the life of luxury though. He does go through some soul searching, and thankfully he thought with the right head.

Braden Williams did a marvelous job bringing his characters to life, even the secondary ones. He built the setting with a clear enough vision without overdoing it and the dialogue very well done. I found myself unable to put the book down, I just had to get it all read up in what may have been 1 sitting if I didn't have the evil day job going on. I'm a fan of Braden Williams for more than one reason now.

In his position as Senator Phillip Brenton's campaign manager and lover, Aiden Montgomery thinks he finally has just what he's always wanted. Wealth and status are important enough to him that he's willing to settle for a man he's not really into to get them. Then Aiden meets logger Rafe McCafferty. When Aiden and Rafe stumble onto something Phillip Brenton wants to keep hidden, will Aiden make the right choice?

I had a hard time getting into Gone Stumping. Aiden came across as so shallow in the beginning that I didn't really like him. His first scene was in bed with the Senator, which didn't help. Rafe was a lot more likeable, but not as well-developed as I would have liked. The storyline of political maneuverings was interesting, but everything happened too quickly to generate much suspense. Gone Stumping isn't a bad book. It was entertaining enough to hold my attention, and the opposites attract premise was nice. It just didn't stand out, which was disappointing.

Cassie
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Originally posted at: [...]

Sometimes it takes opposite personalities to find the biggest spark. Aiden is a typical political climber in many ways. He's concerned with the money, the prestige, and the material goods. He doesn't mind sleeping his way to the top either. Yet when he meets logger Rafe, their ideals and goals butt heads even as their chemistry ignites. Aiden starts to realize the life he always envisioned for himself may not be the road to happiness and perhaps the rough and tumble Rafe is onto something.

Gone Stumping is a quick, easy story to read about two men whose preconceptions change once they meet. The characters are obvious stereotypes but the point is to show that two men can change through their association together. They can step outside the box they've created and become different, better people together. Aiden is the classic plastic gay trope, obsessed with perfection and money. He's also somewhat lazy as he wants to get to the top but he'd rather sleep his way there than work hard. When Aiden meets Rafe, a logger who abhors the stereotype Aiden presents, the sparks and animosity fly.

Beyond the romance between the two men, the story has a political corruption background. This is pretty weak and very transparent. It plays on just about every political story and offers nothing especially new or interesting. By itself, this aspect of the story isn't really fun to read but the characters save this. Although they are stereotypes, they feel like authentic, real men that grow and change. Both men need to step outside of their comfort zones to take chances and that is the most interesting part of the story.

If you're looking at this as a political thriller, you're likely to be highly disappointed. Instead this is more suited for those romance fans that love to see how love can change people. In that way, the story delivers a decent romance with some interesting characters.