Truth & Betrayal

De: K.C. Wells

Narrado por: John Solo

All the light went out of Jake’s life when his older brother Caleb died in a traffic accident. Getting through the aftermath was always going to be the hardest thing he’d ever done, but finding out that the tall stranger at the graveside was the one driving the car? At least Jake now has a target for all the rage inside him. Because the man responsible for stealing Caleb’s light from the world has no right to intrude on their grief.

Liam had known deep down that it was a mistake to go to Tennessee, but he’d hoped saying good-bye to Caleb would ease the pain inside him. The hostile reception from Caleb’s family and friends comes as no surprise, and Liam flees before things get ugly. They obviously know nothing of Caleb’s life in Atlanta, and maybe it’s better that way. Caleb’s secrets can die with him.

When Jake turns up at Caleb’s apartment to collect his brother’s possessions, what he discovers is the first shock in what is to be a series of revelations, turning Jake’s world upside down. New knowledge brings fresh pain and anguish.

Jake isn’t the only one who’s hurting....

©2018 K.C. Wells (P)2018 K.C. Wells

Jake & Caleb

When Truth & Betrayal first came out in e-book format I was hesitant to read this book mainly because of the trope but after reading other books with the same trope I decided to give this book a shot and it broke my heart. Both guys lost someone that they loved so much.

Such a powerful story.

The gut wrenching feels in this book were delivered straight to my heart. I’d previously read this book, but John Solo brought it to life. The loss, the exploration, the love. This book makes me feel like “I’ve lived a thousand lives”. It was just so REAL, and felt so important. It has given me audio hangover for sure.

beautiful Story of loss and love

Jake is stuck in a town that has lots of prejudice. the only person he can talk t is miles away and hasn't been coming around. then one day he receives the devastating news that his brother was killed in a bad car wreck. He is sent to collect his rother's things to find his brother had more than one secret he was hiding.
Jake has to deal with his feelings and then meets Liam and finds out he is part of a deeper secret of his brother.
This was such a beautifully written heart-wrenching story. A lot is going on as we watch Jake grow up and grow into his sexuality. It is a story of love, hurt/comfort, firsts, and interracial romance
John Solo takes this story to an another level with his soft voice and the way he inflicts all the excitement. I highly recommend the audio if you can get it.

A Beautiful Story!

Truth & Betrayal is book 1 in the Southern Boys series. I love this beautifully written, true to life, tragic, emotional, sweet, slow burn, coming of age story about being gay and in an interracial relationship in the South. It's sad that the scene in the cemetery still happens today. Liam just wanted to pay his respects to Caleb, his boyfriend, but was turned away and told he didn't belong there. Honestly it's no wonder Caleb didn't spend much time with his parents, especially after he and Liam got together. After Caleb's funeral his younger brother Jake went to his apartment to pack up his things. That's where Jake found out that Liam was Caleb's roommate, and later his boyfriend. I think it was Jake's curiosity about his brother that had him wanting to spend time with Liam, their friends, and even Liam's family, a place he became comfortable. Jake had to tell his parents about him and Liam and I was a little worried about the out come of that conversation. His parents did surprise me though. I love that Jake and Liam ended up together. They really are good for each other. I just love the cover of this book. Definitely recommend and definitely one to enjoy again.
Narrator John Solo does an amazing job.

Beautiful!!

This book is definitely one if my favorite book from K.C. Wells. So to have John Solo doing the narration if this story was just perfection! This is a long audio but I loved every minute of it. John just brings these characters to life that makes me fall in love with all over again!

All the feels!

This was a great story of two strangers brought together by a tragic circumstance. As a huge fan of all things KC Wells, I already knew I'd love this book before starting it, but the extreme range of emotions this story brought on were definitely NOT expected. The highs and lows experienced by the characters were captured expertly with her words. The anger and grief of losing a loved one. The need to find someone to blame. The need to find someone to share your grief with. The highs of falling in love for the first time. The crushing weight of secrets and not being able to be yourself. The fear of disappointing your loved ones. The heartache of being separated from those you love. All of those emotions were navigated so well by these characters. Discrimination also plays a big part in this story and I give Kudos to KC Wells from not shying away from it. This is still a thing many couples face in one form or another be it: race, orientation, education, political affiliation, social status, religion, nationality, or just the wrong side of town. Showing two characters who are determined to overcome those obstacles and will do anything to be together is always a beautiful story and it offers hope to those who need it.

John Solo is still not one of my favorite narrators, but I feel like he did an ok job. His voices are decent, and I never have an issue knowing who's speaking. I also feel like he did a slightly better job getting the character's emotions across. I just feel like he is missing that spark, or connection to the story and character that really brings them to life for me. For that reason, while I don't feel he took away from this fantastic story, I also don't feel like he really added to it either.

I really enjoyed this beautiful story

Truth and Betrayal is a beautiful story of love, secrets, bravery and bigotry. I admit I cried few times while listening to this story. Throughout the book there are some very heart-wrenching scenes written so well and narrated so beautifully that I was feeling Jake's pain and couldn't help it. I loved Jake and Liam, they are both strong and amazing characters, and I enjoyed following their relationship growing from strangers to falling in love. Narrator did a great job, I loved his voice for Jake and for Liam as well as for every other character in the book. I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy love stories with hardship, some angst and HEA.

Stunning

Loved this story. I had soo many feels for Jake he had sooo many downs in life. So many feelings so many tears. Liam was a wonderful character. There was grief and goodbyes but love grows and the end is so wonderful. Enjoyed this story so much and the narrator did a amazing job making you feel the characters. Great listen

A tough but worthy listen

When I heard about this book, I was intrigued. There has been a lot of debate whether covers with People of Color can sell as well as covers with Caucasians or just a generic design. Since KC Wells’ covers all have men on them, I was thrilled she took the risk to bring both Jake and Liam to life on the cover. I have no idea about sales, but I know a great book when I read one. I had hoped it would come out on audio so I was thrilled when that happened. I was even more pleased when I saw it was John Solo who would be narrating. This is a very long audio for the genre and at times it felt like the pace slowed but that worked given the subject material.

And that material was deep. Losing a family member is tough, but losing a beloved brother while you’re even younger is beyond rough. Jake still can’t get over the fact his brother Caleb is dead, let alone the horrific manner of the death. The police have assured him it was an accident, but his desire for revenge is strong. His manner of coping is difficult to watch as it takes a really long time for the family to finally bury Caleb. The strange man showing up at the burial snaps Jake out of his grief for a moment and into the realm of rage. In the weeks that follow, that rage simmers down and a bleakness settles in.

Finally deciding they’ve kept their heads in the sand long enough, Jake’s parents send him to Atlanta to retrieve Caleb’s belongings and then Jake really gets a shock. It turns out that Jake never really knew Caleb at all and his discovery of his brother’s secret life brings fresh waves of pain.

I don’t want to give too much away because I went into the book not even having read the cover. I knew race would play an issue and suspected homophobia would as well. I wasn’t wrong but that didn’t make it any easier to watch the story unfold.

I consider myself progressive and liberal-minded. I’ve been accused of being intolerant of people with other views. In other words, I don’t have much patience for racists, bigots, and homophobes. Is this a bad thing? To be accused of not being patient with people who aren’t open and understanding? I didn’t think so, but I’ve come to see that the way to change the hearts and minds of the intolerant is to talk to them. If they can’t see the error of their ways, that’s fine. But to write them off so summarily without giving them a chance? Well, that’s a path that is often taken but perhaps is just a bit too easy.

I recommend this book because, aside from the deep emotions of the surface issues, there is a level of pain that is only felt when someone so young is lost so violently. Jake has to deal with his grief, his family’s beliefs, and his growing feelings for the man he believes responsible for his beloved brother’s death.

The story is very much a slow burn. The first twelve chapters are all in Jake’s point of view and I wondered if the entire story was going to be that way. Once Liam’s voice came in, though, I was thrilled. Because his story is just as compelling, his grief just as raw.

Which leads me back to the question – do we ever truly know a person? Can we know what’s in their hearts, their minds, and their souls? We often, with some hubris, believe we do. This brilliantly written book reminds us that even the tightest of relationships have to let in some light, some space between the lovers. It is also a story of redemption on so many levels. Can we atone for things in our pasts and move forward with only love in our hearts? It’s a question this book attempts to answer and does a fine job.

John Solo handles the southern accents quite well. Deep enough to get the timbre but not so deep as to make the words incomprehensible. A challenge for most narrators, he walked the balance and brought this wonderful story to life. I highly recommend the book. Be prepared to be challenged in the best way possible.

Why did I wait so long to listen to this?

It's been awhile since I've read a book by K.C. Wells (shame on me) and I've only recently discovered audiobooks by John Solo (love them) so when I got the opportunity for a complimentary copy of their recently released audiobook, Pride & Protection, I jumped at the chance. What you say? this is a review for Truth & Betrayal! Why yes, yes it is. 😊

Since Pride & Protection is the second book in the Southern Boys series, I really wanted to read book one first. I already had a copy of the ebook but decided to add the audiobook to my collection, too and I'm so glad I did.

Once again, John Solo has given a fantastic performance. I know I would have liked the story if I just read it but hearing John perform it really brought it to life for me. The audio book is nearly 13 hours long and I listened to it almost in just one session. I had to stop for a few hours to attend a previous commitment but I jumped right back in as soon as I could.

The blurb for the book tells you the basics of the story so I'm going to tell you why I loved it so much. You can guess from the blurb what is going to happen so it's not a spoiler to tell you that Liam and Jake end up in a relationship. How they get to that point is the guts of this book.

The things they go through would make you think there is no chance they will end up together. From Jake being resentful that Liam dares to show up at his brother's funeral, to his surprise at finding out his brother hadn't confided in him – it all points to there being no way for them to ever get together.

The story takes place primarily in Tennessee and North Carolina – not exactly known for being gay friendly – and the small town where Jake lives isn't exactly welcoming to people of color either. Jake's parents are old school and getting them to accept that Jake and Liam are together is no small task.

This is really getting to be too long so I'm just going to close with this: If you love a good angsty story, with one very accepting family (the other not so much), lots of hot, sweaty, sexy time and a nice HEA, you should love Truth & Betrayal. OK, one more thing… there are great secondary characters and one, in particular, is the MC in the next book, Pride & Protection. I can't wait to listen to another great performance by John Solo.

***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***