Product Description

You¿ll never forget your first¿ Brandon Townsend and Zachary Sherman were best friends and next-door neighbors. Growing up together in a cozy suburban town in New Jersey, they were inseparable and thought nothing could tear them apart. Then one night something happened between them, something that brought them even closer together¿ They didn¿t anticipate that what began as youthful sexual experimentation would lead them into an affair of the heart that would rock them to the core. Nor did they expect the danger of being discovered and separated by their families. At the time, neither Brandon or Zach realized that life would give them another opportunity. Then, ten years later, a chance meeting brings them together again. Let best-selling gay fiction author G.A. Hauser take you on an unforgettable journey. A coming of age story about faith, about courage, and about trust¿you¿ll never forget The Boy Next Door.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #548299 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-12
• Released on: 2008-07-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 200 pages

Customer Reviews

Wonderful, Charming Gay Love Story
This was the most heartwarming and engrossing gay love story I've ever read. I loved the way the characters were described, and the realistic way in which their relationship changed over time. As youngsters they clearly understood the danger they faced if their innocent affection for each other was discovered, this was described so well and so realistically it took me back to my own days as a gay youth.

I recommend this love story with no hesitation. The characters are completely believable as is the story line.

I read the Kindle version and could hardly stop.

The Boy Next Door by G.A. Hauser
I always love G.A. Hauser's books, they are easy to read and very romantic, with a "acid" side, it's not easy to explain, but her romances are never too sugary, since there is always a bit of naughty side in her characters.

The Boy Next Door is a coming of age book. I didn't expect that a great part of the book is dedicated to the relationship between Brandon and Zach when they where stil two teens in heat. Brandon and Zach always live next door, and since they were one years old, everything they did they did it together: the first sexual curiosity, the first hot glances to a naked body... and since they did all together, they did also the first sexual experience together and with each other. First kiss and eventually first time sex. But unfortunately their parents were not so glad of it and they torn them apart, sending Zach to Boston and Brandon to New York and Zach's parents managed to lose contact. When Brandon meets again Zach, he is a successful journalist, openly gay, and instead Zach is a soon-to-be divorced womanizer... something is happened in Zach's past. Is he ready to leave the past behind and build something new with Brandon?

I always like the story involving teens, and so I'm very happy to find that most of the book is spent telling us the story of Zach and Brandon as young boys. My only regret is that the book is relative short, 170 pages. I said "relative", since this is not a short novel, but since the two characters are so nice, and I like them, I'd like to read more, and I think it'd be interesting to read about Zach and Brandon as adults, and how they manage to be together; I feel like the second part of the story is too fast, and like I'm not just ready to leave Zach and Brandon and their story.

Brandon is apparently the shier boy, he has already realized to be in love with Zach but he fears to reveal his feeling to the other boy, he doesn't want to be reject by Zach. And so he is surprise, but happy, when the other boy makes the first move. But Zach, even if eager to be with Brandon, and always the first to push the sexual boundaries and to experiment with their young bodies, he is also the first to fear the reaction of the people, above all of their parents, but also of strangers. He thinks to be ready to give free rein to his body demands, but he is not ready to openly claim his sexuality. In this aspect, Brandon is much more adult.

After all, probably nor Zach or Brandon were enough grown for what they had. Since they were always together, they arrived too much soon to something that other people find further in their life. And since they were not ready to claim their love, it was easier for their parents to stop them. But as adults, I don't think the situation is much more different: Brandon is still the more balanced between the two, and Zach is still the one struggling with his own sexuality.

Both Zach and Brandon are not "noble" characters. This is one of the characteristic that I always find in Hauser's characters: they are men who mistake and mistake badly, but more often than not, find a justification for their action and with it an absolution; worst, sometime they also continue to behave badly, if this allow them to obtain what they want, sooner and in an easy way. So why I like them so much? maybe since they are not the perfect hero of the fable and they are more similar to the real people, and so to me.

In all the book I found only one thing that didn't ring right to me: the easiness in which Brandon and Zach approach sex, above all anal sex... it was all too simple, all went to right and without problem... don't know maybe it's only a "female" perception, and for two boys things are different.

Sweet idea, but lacks any real depth
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

Rating: 6/10

PROS:
- The two main guys are sweet, the circumstances under which they fall in love are sweet, their reunion is sweet, etc.
- I had to laugh at the antics of two high school boys figuring out sex for the first time. They progress in realistic stages, I think, and they're simultaneously tentative and enthusiastic, which I found endearing as all get out.
- I liked how easy the guys were even after not seeing each other for 10 years. There's a tense scene or two, naturally, but once they get all the hard feelings out of the way, they're right back to being best friends and soul mates.

CONS:
- There's very little depth to the story or the characters. Hauser's works tend to race along to the finish and not bother much with exploring the repercussions of plot developments or examining the characters' psyches. The good guys are pretty one-dimensionally good (and/or pitiful, which explains away most of the bad things they've done), and the bad guys are pretty unequivocally bad.
- The male characters are basically stereotypical women with male anatomy. They're very dramatic and emotional, they're tender to the point of being a bit saccharine, and they're not as much about sex as many men tend to be, especially as teenagers. The two main guys in this story always finish their homework after school before doing anything else, even when they're alone in one of their bedrooms.
- Some of the dialogue is unrealistically context-heavy. For example, when Brandon's talking on the phone with one of his co-workers, she says, "Why don't you pursue your own writing career and quit this stupid magazine?" when in reality, I think something like, "What are you still doing here?" or "Why don't you just quit?" would be more realistic.

Overall comments: This is a mindless, frothy, fun read. There's not a lot here, as is the case with a lot of Hauser's works, but I keep reading them because occasionally it's nice to see a world where reality rarely intrudes.