Me and Mine by Sarah Goodwin

Title: Me and Mine
Author: Sarah Goodwin
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 369
Characters: Jude Walker, Sebastian Grey
POV: 3rd
Sub-Genre: Contemporary Romance
Kisses: 5

Blurb:

When seventeen-year-old Jude Walker confesses to his priest that he’s gay, and in fact has an unhealthy attraction to the priest himself, the last thing he expects is compassion. Father Gray surprises him with his understanding and Jude accepts his offer of help in overcoming his condition.

When Sebastian Gray extends an offer of help to a troubled teenager, the last thing he expects is that it is Jude that will save him. Yet Jude steadily breaks through the priest’s barriers, bringing him out of his self-imposed exile and into the world.

As the two find surprising parallels between their lives and obsession gives way to affection, both men begin to understand that their love may cost them their souls. Jude stands to lose his family to the truth of his affections, and Sebastian could fail in his original task; saving Jude, no matter what the cost.

Review:

Wow! When I first started Me and Mine by Sarah Goodwin, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I’ve never read anything by this author before, but after I read the blurb of this story, I was anxious to see how the characters relationship would develop after starting out with such unusual circumstances. When I received the book, I had intentions of putting it aside for a few days before starting in. But being the curious reader I am, I decided to take a quick glance at it before I set it aside. WRONG! As soon as I started reading this book, I was immediately gripped into the lives of these characters and the story they told. I read all of the 369 pages in one sitting and was sleep deprived for the next day because of it.

I realize that because of the religious content of the book, and since Jude and Sebastian first started their relationship with Sebastian being a Catholic priest may turn some readers off, and that’s a shame. When seventeen year old Jude confesses to Father Sebastian about his desire for him, it petrifies the priest. For one thing, both Sebastian and Jude believe that homosexuality is a sin and for the other, Sebastian has also fought his own homosexual desires for years and hearing Jude’s attraction to him brings all of those feelings he’s managed to keep at arm’s length for some time now, front and center, and now Sebastian must fight them again. Sebastian tries to help Jude fight these feelings, but in the process ends up falling for Jude as hard as Jude has for him. As the months progress, a deep respect and friendship develops between them and it is after Jude turns eighteen before anything sexual happens between them.

Even then, their sexual relationship is pretty mild. It’s a gradual process and even though both of them feel intense guilt over it, they still know that the love and affection between them is truly real and undeniable. But Father Sebastian wants Jude to have a life. He realizes Jude is very young and needs to find his own way without the shame and scandal of being with him will bring. He leaves the priesthood and Jude, and both men have a long period of time where they have to go on with their lives without each other.

When they meet again, it was truly a beautiful and bittersweet moment. I cried like a baby from the years they missed being together. It’s a rocky road for them, but both men are determined to make their love last and they work hard to build a life together.

I loved, loved, loved this book! The author really stuck her head out and took a chance in writing about these two heroes. I loved watching their relationship develop from friends to lovers and thought they truly were perfect together. I do feel like I need to point out that there are some editing issues and the book is told in present tense. But, the editing problems didn’t bring me out of the story and after a few pages I quickly got used to this type of viewpoint. In all honesty, reading the story was worth any little knick picky things I came across.

Both Jude and Sebastian go through A LOT of self-growth as the story progresses. Both men are humanly flawed and wonderful characters and I found them very likeable and complex men. Their journey together isn’t an easy one, but it’s a very special and beautiful one and I loved every minute of it.

I’m looking forward to reading more this author. I loved her ability to bring this reader deeply into her lives of her characters and keep the story moving pretty smoothly. If you are looking for an emotional read with amazing and well written characters, this book is definitely for you. Just make sure you don’t start reading it before you go to bed, or you’ll be as sleep deprived as I was! Highly Recommended!

Reviewed By: Gabbi

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