Review: Final Admission by Sue Brown

Reviewed by Whuppsy
Final Admission by Sue Brown
Dreamspinner Press
Novel: 230pgs
4.5 Pants Off

Blurb:
2nd Edition 

When Ethan Williams lands a job at Bingwell, Brock and Bacon, he realizes his coworkers aren’t exaggerating about James Trenchard. He really is a dick. But after Ethan is forced to work closely with James, he realizes there’s more to the lawyer than meets the eye. 

Vibrant Ethan is a desperate reason to live again as James endures silent guilt and abuse from his husband after an accident. He calls Ethan for help after a beating, and stolen moments soon become the norm, but they can’t hide forever. 

Ethan’s coworkers think he got his promotion because James is sweet on him, James is still being beaten despite his family’s concern, and the situation is swiftly becoming intolerable. Ethan and James need to find a way out of the cycle that’s hurting them both before their brand new love suffers as well. 

Review
The book starts off with a bang and barely lets you go until just about the end. We start off the very first words of the story” Trenchard is a dick”. How can you not like a book that starts off with such a bang.

Ethan is just starting a job in Seattle at this great advertising firm as an advertising executive and he is getting his feet wet with the atmosphere of the company. He’s this wonderful guy. Big, handsome, kind and very generous he’s such a sweetheart. He is smart and a hard-worker. He’s also an outish gay man. He’s not hiding it, he just doesn’t advertise.

James Trenchard is the handsome, flirty, amazing lawyer. He’s loyal and passionate. He’s got life that isn’t what it was a couple of years prior. He and his husband were in a car accident and his husband was hurt. He’s now the abused spouse resulting from the accident that changed his husband’s demeanor.

James contacts Ethan after seeing him in a bar earlier that night. He stated that he was mugged, but the hospital personnel know better. Thus begins the friendship and affair that they will embark on that will change their lives.

This is such a great story. I liked how the author brings about a subject that is rarely told. Domestic abuse in a gay relationship. How this person stays thinking that love and perseverance will help the abuser stop the behavior. His love and loyalty to his husband is the thing that he knows will probably kill him before it will ever end.

James and Ethan meeting and falling for each other is probably the best thing for both of them. Ethan has to deal with knowing that the person that he’s fell in love with is in an abusive relationship and that there is really nothing that he can do to stop it. James has to be the one. James finally has found someone that means enough for him to live for. James knows that what he’s doing isn’t really working, but he’s been trapped for so long, he can’t see a way out.

I love that the secondary characters are loving, kind people. Well, most of them. They know that they love the main characters and yet, they admit that mistakes were made. Even knowing and some not knowing the full extent of what was going on. I really liked how they all grew, all the characters regarding what had happened and what was currently happening.

I will say that the author got me a bit confused towards the end of the story. James leaves town for his rehab and Ethan is left in Seattle by himself. Like it was mentioned and the next thing you know, its six months later and Ethan is banging some twink. I think the chapter should have said, six months later. Given some clue as to what’s going on in the story instead of reading it and being like, WTF? It jarred me enough that I was pulled from the story. That sucked. I was very invested in what was happening to our MC’s and then, boom…confused.

Overall, I liked the story. It was touching and very heartfelt. I liked that Sue brought up this subject that is largely silenced. You don’t really get a lot of stories about abuse in gay relationships unless it’s in a BDSM genre. Not that all of them are like that, but if there is abuse, it’s only in that regard. I like that the person being abused wasn’t some small twink, but a big, strong man a successful lawyer. It was a really good book and I enjoyed reading it.

4.5 Pants Off