Between Brothers

Title: Between Brothers
Author: J.M. Snyder
Series: N/A
Rating: 5/5 stars
Review:

Brian hasn't been to his childhood home in over fifteen years. But when his younger brother calls him one day and asks him to come home, he comes running. But Brian hasn't been avoiding his family for nothing - he's been hiding a secret. He's in love with his baby brother, Joey.

The first thing I need to say, is either J.M. Snyder grew up in South Jersey or she did a lot of research. I grow up in South Jersey and I was amazed at how accurate some of her word choices and details were. I've read a couple books by authors from New Jersey that haven't been this accurate.

Snyder also did a great job of creating real characters. I was often very moved by some of the things her characters said or felt. I've never seen characters like hers before - none of them were anywhere near a stereotype. Brian wasn't a perfect character - he had plenty of flaws just like real people do. Joey seems perfect, but since the story is told from Brian's POV, I think that's more of how Brian see's him, rather than how he is.

Her plot was excellent. Though it focused on solely internal conflict, it was excellently done. Most of the time I prefer a mix of internal and external conflict but the internal conflict in this was so convincing and real, it worked. I have to say though, I think my favorite parts of the story were the flashback scenes about the brothers as kids. They were cute and touching and it gave great insight into how the boys grew up. (And made me go "Awwww" out loud.)

The only thing that I didn't like was the tenses. I'm used to reading things in past tense that having this in present tense was a little jarring at some points. I got used to it fairly quickly though and I think it worked pretty well for this story.

To some this up, I absolutely loved this novel. I am really glad I was able to read it and I'd highly recommend it to others. If you only read one romance story this year, I'd go with this one. It's filled with realist characters, plausible situations and great detail. Rather than finding a novel about incest, I've stumbled upon a novel of deep love and devotion between brothers.