Review // In The Middle of Somewhere

In the Middle of Somewhere (Middle of Somewhere #1) - Roan Parrish

Published: 10th July 2015

Source: Purchased

Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQ+

My Rating:
 

Daniel Mulligan is tough, snarky, and tattooed, hiding his self-consciousness behind sarcasm. Daniel has never fit in—not at home in Philadelphia with his auto mechanic father and brothers, and not at school where his Ivy League classmates looked down on him. Now, Daniel’s relieved to have a job at a small college in Holiday, Northern Michigan, but he’s a city boy through and through, and it’s clear that this small town is one more place he won’t fit in.

Rex Vale clings to routine to keep loneliness at bay: honing his muscular body, perfecting his recipes, and making custom furniture. Rex has lived in Holiday for years, but his shyness and imposing size have kept him from connecting with people.

When the two men meet, their chemistry is explosive, but Rex fears Daniel will be another in a long line of people to leave him, and Daniel has learned that letting anyone in can be a fatal weakness. Just as they begin to break down the walls keeping them apart, Daniel is called home to Philadelphia, where he discovers a secret that changes the way he understands everything. 

In the Middle of Somewhere was a book I think I added to my TBR because it appeared on a romance recommendation list or something. It has been on my Kindle for so long so when I rolled the Romanceopoly prompt to read a romance with an M/M romance I chose it to give it a shot. I actually kind of thought I might DNF at first because it had been unread for so long, there surely had to be a reason for that right?

I found the start a little slow as we began with Daniel leaving a job interview in Michigan driving through the woods and getting into an accident where he subsequently met Rex for the first time. It then seemed to hop in time to him being back home in Philadelphia. It hopped again to him starting the job he interviewed for in Michigan. He meets Rex again and their instantly getting it on by a tree. The start just seemed to hop from place to place with little context for the change in time. I found it confusing and it really took my our of the book as I had to flick back and see if I missed something when i was reading. I liked the characters of Daniel and Rex though. Daniel was this intense guy who was an English professor and he's had it rough. He wass on edge a lot ready to fight and very untrusting of people and what they said and did. He was like that stray cat ready to scratch you at any sudden movements (can you tell I've recently got a cat and need to now reference cats in every day conversation?). And the most we really learnt about Rex at first was that he was this really large, strong guy who had quite an intimidating presence. He was a sweet cinnamon roll really but that comes later. He was quiet and reserved but he disn't play games, he was very open with most things. In a lot of ways they were opposites but you could instantly tell there was a spark between them and that interested me to see how Daniel would let his guard down and how Rex would speak a little more and help Daniel and himself move forward.

I think I got to the 50% mark and it was going to go either way in terms of me DNFing but at that point I'd gotten so far and I was interested but it seemed like it was going nowhere. They were having sex and occasionally discussing their relationship, I'm all for a low angst romance that doesn't put the characters through the ringer but I needed some kind of plot direction. Thankfully, the last half of the book had Daniel and Rex exploring their relationship more and they were discussing their feelings and revealing their vulnerabiilities. It became less about their physical connection and more the emotional side, which I was much more interested in. Rex revealed his dyslexia which had led to certain misunderstandings at the start of the relationship and Daniel fully recognised his own emotional constipation and inability to ask for help or demonstrate his feelings articulately which is funny considering he was an English professor.

I think Rex revealing his past and his dyslexia was the start of this book getting interesting as the characters became more human and real. Daniel then received shocking news from his family which led to him returning home for a few days with Rex and that exploration of his past and the environment he had grown up in helped again move their relationship forward. The great part was what I expected to be the third act break up for them, Daniel potentially moving away when he was told about a job back in Philadelphia, instead this brought the two of them together and led to them discussing what they wanted in the future as a couple and it was lovely.

I think I've read too many angsty romances as I expected far more conflict in this book and that just wasn't the case here. Instead, whilst there were stumbling blocks to get past their relationship itself was always solid. In fact, I finished the book contemplating reading the next book which centres around Daniel's brother, Colin, which is a big change from potentially DNFing. I just worry there will be higher angst in the next one as Colin has a lot of internalised homophobia to overcome.

 Have you read this book, do you agree with my own thoughts? And have you ever found yourself contemplating DNFing a book at 50% and only then discovering what the hype was about with it?