Caught Running

I picked this book up because I have seen it everywhere on Favorite Male Male Romance books.I can see why its is so popular. Parts of the love story and topics are really great and thoughtful but some of the basics of the writing and the romance genre aspects are rough.The heroes have that opposites attract mojo going on. I love that Brandon and Jake are both teachers and love their work with students. The slow burn of the romantic connections is well done and the relationship is sweet. However, we get a HFN and I wanted more really.The book takes a thoughtful look at high school cliques and politics at the teacher and student levels. The thinking about coaching and also extra work of tutoring is compelling as is the hard work of student be they athletes or academic high achievers.The writers also look at the damage high school and college athletics do to the body and we venture into pain pill addiction but the hard work recovery is left for after the book ends and that was disappointing.Not so good:Some of the side characters are interesting but all the women are not drawn with complexity. The changing of pov are pretty awful and hard to track who is thinking and the third person subjective point of view is.... not working.So, I like a lot of it but think the over book hints at these writers desire to write something romantic but not romance and in more of a long running series which is what happens later.

I am an absolute sucker for the nerd/jock romances. I really liked that this story was about older career driven adults rather than the high school/college age boys that this pairing is usually about. I really enjoyed both characters, and enjoyed the way the relationship progressed. There was a lot of humor, and overall the story itself was great. I have actually read this book more than once, but am just now getting around to reviewing it.The only thing that really took away from this story is that, especially in the beginning, the POV switches and time frame jumps happen from one paragraph to the next without even so much as a blank line in between to give the reader a heads up that it's switching. It's confusing and clunky. For example about mid way through the book Jake and Brandon are just getting back from a trip to the supermarket and we are seeing things from Brandon's perspective, then in the very next sentence they are waking up the next morning, and it's Jake's thoughts that we see. A simple page break would have signaled that we were moving on. I normally don't mind POV switches, especially when the book is not written in the first person, but this was too much to follow easily. I enjoy the escapism of fiction, and don't really want to have to think and decifer what is being written on the page to follow along. It throws me out of the story. If I didn't like the characters and the story plot so much I would have given this only 2 stars for the writing.

I bought "Caught Running" with a bit of trepidation stemming from some comments I heard in the other reviews, but what I found was a thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing novel with complex and nicely-nuanced characters.Jake Campbell was a former star athlete through high school and into college until the sad day when it was realized they worked him too hard and he now had too many injuries and pain to continue as a player. Brandon Bartlett was one of the intellectuals (nerds) in the same high school that Jake went to. Though Jake never bothered Brandon when they were in school, he was well aware of the taunting and derision that Brandon endured. Both now teach at their old high school; Brandon in science and biology, Jake in phys ed and health. Jake's also the head coach for many of the varsity teams, and one day, when there were a shortage of coaches, Brandon is told he would have to help coach baseball. Brandon's a well-known science "nerd", and the other coaches have reservations, but Brandon has such a love of working with students, they soon realize he's a pretty good coach and is a great help to all. Forced to work together, both Jake and Brandon each start feeling strong physical attraction to the other to the point of distraction. Both are gay, both keep it in the closet, and each thinks the other is straight. Until one morning when the attraction can't be denied any further....What I particularly enjoyed about this book was that it took its time to develop the characters and their situation before jumping into the romance. All characters (even secondary ones) are nicely nuanced, with their own distinct personality traits. The strong writing skills let you easily envision the characters and situations and helps the various settings and circumstances seem real. The authors wisely let you get to know their characters first, and grow comfortable with them, before the more intense emotions are explored.Another strong point is that both main characters are examined in just about equal detail. During several scenes in the story, the writers switch you back and forth between the feelings and thoughts of each character so that you can see both sides of their relationship. For example, a scene may be an interaction between Jake and Brandon. At first, focus is on Jake as you gain access to his thoughts and feelings as he views Brandon and tries to determine what Brandon is feeling. But then you switch to Brandon and then realize what his thoughts are feelings are, and are privy to how he's trying to interpret Jake's expressions and actions. Their interpretations of each other are not always accurate, and that adds a bit of friction into their relationship and heat into the story.The pacing of the book is very good. It engages you quickly and moves quickly enough to keep the story interesting, but not so quickly that the characters aren't given enough time to develop. The first half of the book is the buildup to the eventual expression of Jake's and Brandon's physical attraction, and the second half of the book becomes much more sexually charged, while still maintaining a good pace. If there's any flaw in the book, it's towards the end with a minor attempt to build suspense. The event seems a little out of place in that the reader doesn't perceive it as a real threat to the characters, making the event unnecessary. Still, it passes quickly and the book quickly sails to a grin-inducing ending.To me, the best part of the book was that when it ended, I felt like the characters were real. It's always a testament to the author when you wish you could meet the characters in his or her book, and I did very much want to meet Jake and Brandon, and even Troy (a very fun secondary character).

tl:dr- if you don't mind head-hopping this'll probably be a 4 star read. If in doubt, go read the sample chapters.So many good things about this--the story, the pacing, the style, the characters--but two major issues marked it down for me.I'm cool with having a dual POV but having the POV changing between characters with each paragraph...it was just too hard for me to read. I thought I would adjust to it after the first couple of chapters but nope. Obviously I finished it, but I felt like I couldn't settle into the story when I had to go back and scan through to figure out who was where and how and what? It broke me out of the narrative so consistently I was frustrated coz I really wanted to love this.Up until the end I was ready to give it four stars but then it just kinda...stopped. There were so many really interesting questions left unanswered, I was shocked actually. Yes, the important question was answered but still...I could have done with some closure on several counts.Both of these things are pretty personal to me so I would definitely recommend checking out the sample chapters because there was nothing wrong with the writing as far as I could see.

With this book getting 4 and 5 star reviews I was expecting much much more. The book is a basic simple male to male love story. The fact that its based in a sports environment gets lost in the book, apart from the team loose a game and the main coach gets angry. We are told that the main coach got broken up in sports early in his career but he solves that with pills and beer. We are told that there is a female teacher trying to get her claws into the coach, but she goes away after an argument. The sex between the 2 main characters is a little look warm and as about as graphic as a wet lettuce. Anyway if you like very simple love stories which end happily ever after then this is for you.

This is the usual "jock" falls for the "nerd" story. I'm very fond of those, maybe it's something to do with She's All That but I find the theme both charming and alluring (if done right). Now I'm a sports nut, meaning I like my football, hockey, basketball etc. Hell I can even stomach American football. But baseball is the one sport that makes me roll my eyes (Jesus it's rounders). So the fact this book was heavily surrounded by the theme of baseball, literally bored me to tears.So the story is about two teachers, both teaching at the high school they attended as students. Jake was the "jock" and Brandon was the so-called "nerd". One good things the authors did do, was they didn't make Brandon out to be the skinny geek. Throughout the story, the authors made sure they mentioned that Brandon was just as manly as Jake (in regards to physical shape). So they got a point there.However, the story started off very slowly and it didn't help when the story was filled with typos either. Concentration is not spelled with an "s" and for is not spelled "fir". The publisher is small, but as a business you cannot get away with obvious mistakes. As a paying customer, I do not want to see your editors sloppy mistakes. If these editors are working for free, you need to buckle up and pay someone whose job is along those lines. Run a business, like a business.The story in itself wasn't so bad, once the characters starting merging together. Brandon and Jake together were cute, but the writing was very fan-fiction like. Both men didn't really have any arguments or anything angst worthy, but I can forgive because their relationship was something like 7 weeks (so really how much can you argue?). In the end was book was alright, the typos annoyed me, and the story was decent enough. But if I were given the chance, I'd return the book. It was still very under-par in both writing and characterisation.However the characters of Troy (Jake's best friend) and Jonathan (assistant coach) were both very adorable. If the authors ever want to write a story about these two, I'd be more than happy to read it. As long as they structure their story more, polish up their plot and stop being cheesy. Though the authors claim that these two guys are "straight" - I don't know, but these two scream queer to me.Since amazon has listed the publisher "unknown" the publisher is Dreamspinner Press.

I absolutely love the author's 'Cut & Run' series, and much prefer that, it's wonderful!. I have to agree with one of the other reviews in that it is a little bit sloppy in parts, and don't forget everybody, we are talking about baseball, the male version of rounders (hated that at school)! A lot of the technical jargon meant absolutely nothing to me I'm afraid. That being said, Brandon was a nice character, and Jake improved as the story went on. Considering that this story was only published a year ahead of the start of Cut & Run series, the improvement in the author's characterisations and overall plot lines was immense!

Well glad I bought this book. Was a little unsure of what to do reading some of the reviews but in the end thought sod it.Glad I did. A really sweet story enjoyed it a lot Would of like to have seen a bit more drama that I thought it kept building too. But on the hole a good easy read