Blog Tour- Just Between Us by J.H. Trumble

Title: JUST BETWEEN US
Author: J.H. Trumble
Publication Date: September 24, 2013
Pages: 320 pages
Publisher: Kensington
Find it: B&N | INDIEBOUND | Amazon
| Goodreads
Genre: Fiction | Romance | Contemporary

Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Luke Chesser is trying to forget his spectacular failure of a love life. He practices marching band moves for hours in the hot Texas sun, deals with his disapproving father, and slyly checks out the new band field tech, Curtis Cameron. Before long, Luke is falling harder than he knew he could. And, this time, he intends to play it right.

Since testing positive for HIV, Curtis has careened between numbness and fear. Too ashamed to tell anyone, Curtis cannot possibly act on his feelings. And, Luke—impulsive, funny, and more tempting than he realizes—won’t take a hint. Even when Curtis distances himself it backfires, leaving him with no idea how to protect Luke from the truth.

Confronting a sensitive topic with candor and aplomb, acclaimed author J. H. Trumble renders a modern love story as sweet, sharp, and messy as the real thing, where easy answers are elusive, and sometimes the only impossible thing is to walk away.

I absolutely loved Trumble's debut (and I have a blurb from that review listed in this book and her previous one, Where You Are, under GuysLitWire) and was excited to be a part of this blog tour so I could fit reading this into my schedule. So many books, so little time! I still haven't gotten around to reading her second book, Where You Are.

To start off, I'd like to say that if you haven't read any of Trumble's books yet, read them in order. They're all separate stories, but there are characters that make appearances in each book. One of her guest blogs on this tour mentions each of the gay characters in each book. I'd completely forgotten that both Luke and Curtis, the main characters of this book, make an appearance in Don't Let Me Go (and in Where You Are). Then there was the inclusion of Robert, who had his own story in Where You Are, and it just makes me want to re-read her debut and read the second book to see all these connections.

Anyway, this was another wonderful story from Trumble, tackling the HIV issue so gracefully. I'm dealing with my own medical issues currently (not HIV) and reading Curtis' chapters after getting his prognosis felt extremely similar to how I currently feel about my diagnosis. It really affected me in a big way, and his reaction is so realistic and the reader really feels for him. Luke was also a wonderful character and it's nice to learn more about him and the way his mind works in this book.

Trumble just has such a way with character interactions. They're so believable and there's so many different relationships going on, as there's a lot of characters and they're all talking to each other. She makes each character believable and a fully realized individual. I particularly liked Luke's little brother Matt, Curtis' twin sister Corinne, and Curtis' roommate Jaleel (who wasn't around too much, but I liked their scenes together).

Overall, just another awesome book from Trumble. I'm even more excited to read Where You Are now, and am looking forward to more books from her. It's great to see an author writing these wonderful, poignant gay romance novels. Fan for life here!

Find J.H. Trumble:
Facebook | Website | Twitter | Goodreads
J.H. Trumble is a Texas native and graduate of Sam Houston State University. You can visit the author online at http://www.jhtrumble.com as well as on Facebook and Twitter.


Also, along with the Rafflecopter contest below, each blog on the tour is giving away a copy of Just Between Us to a lucky commenter! US residents only. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post by Monday, Sept 30 at 9pm and you'll be entered! Good luck to all!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


FTC: Received ARC from publisher. Amazon link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.