Blindside

Mark's Story: Blind Faith, Book 3

By: N.R. Walker

Narrated by: Michael Pauley

Mark Gattison has avoided love and commitment his entire adult life. Not interested in more than a one night stand or a brief encounter in a bathroom stall, he is the epitome of a good time.

Will Parkinson is the guy who defends him, the guy who puts up with him, the guy Mark calls his best friend.

When Will becomes unsettled and a little distant, Mark takes it upon himself to find Will a boyfriend. Not familiar with the concept himself, Mark thinks Will needs someone to make him happy.

What Mark doesn't know, is that he's about to get blindsided. He's about to get knocked off his feet by the one thing that's been right in front of him the entire time.

©2013 NR Walker (P)2019 NR Walker

Blindside, Mark's Story, Blind Faith 3

Mark.... What can I say about Mark... lol

We met Mark in the first two books of this series. He was initially Carters best friend, but now him and Issac have bonded to become besties' as well. lol. Mark is super laid back and funny. Everything is a joke to him.

From meeting Mark in the previous books, I thought for sure this book would be a lot lighter and super funny and mostly ridiculous with its comedy, but only parts of this book were. It was more of a "story" than I was expecting, which was great. I was really happy to see we got to meet ALL of Mark in this book, hes not just the goofy guy, but he actually has all kinds of layers to him too.

The name of this book "blindside" is pretty perfect. Mark is completely blindsided by his feelings for Will. Will is Marks new best friend ever since Carter moved away to be with Issac. The absolute funniest part of this book is Marks reaction to realizing his feelings for Will are more than just being friends. He is literally ridiculous and it was amusing to hear his reaction. LOL.

This book was a really good addition to the series. And i kinda wish there was another book or a short story or something with all these guys.

Audio - Michael Pauley was great with Mark, making his personality really shine through. Overall I can't say anything negative regarding this audiobook. It was really well done and I enjoyed it.

My favorite of the series!

This is book 3, but focuses on Mark, Carter’s friend. He is a giant kid, totally oblivious and completely sure of himself. His new best friend, Will (after Carter moves away), and he go through a bunch of ups and downs. This book has lots of snarky snappy banter and great friendships. The depth of the character development one of my favorite things about this book. Michael Pauley is always amazing as a narrator!

What’s right in front of us

Isaac and Carter are settled in their lives. At the end of Book 2 of the series, Isaac proposed and Carter accepted with enthusiasm. Now they’re preparing for their wedding. Their best friend Mark is still hours away, toiling away in a job he doesn’t enjoy, doing hook-ups that don’t fulfil him, and generally missing the tight relationship he had with his best buddy Carter. That his friendship now extends to Isaac speaks to the strength of the bond between the men.

But Mark is missing something in his life. A year ago, Will came to work at the same company and the men sit in adjoining cubicles. They banter back and forth (much to their boss’ dismay), and often go out together. As friends, of course. In fact they go out so often that people mistake them for being a couple. But they aren’t. When Mark senses Will’s unhappiness, he decides his friend needs a boyfriend. So he sets about setting Will up. The first blind date doesn’t end well, but then Will meets a man on his own and the two become tight. So tight that Mark feels excluded. He’s not jealous – or so he tells himself. But his concern for Will manifests itself as interfering and things take a turn for the worse. Suddenly the two men aren’t as close as they’ve been.

Sometimes we don’t see what’s right in front of us. Will tries to sever the friendship and Mark is mystified as to why. It was obvious to me, but Mark is REALLY slow on the uptake. Eventually Carter and Isaac have to intervene as Mark is spiralling downward fast. Despite his contention he’s fine on his own, he needs his friends. He needs Will most of all, but is slow to recognize it. As I often say, this is a romance and I get my happy ending. There were a few times when I wanted to bop Mark over the head, but in my heart I knew things would work out. This story is told entirely from his point of view, so his slowness at catching on was irritating. But sometimes we don’t see what’s in front of us. I’ve said that, right? But it can be absolutely true.

The epilogue to the story wraps things up nicely. The men are happy in with their chosen career paths and have forged a strong bond between the two of them. Happily ever after, eh?

Stay tuned after this story because it is followed up by the short story, Twelfth of Never. The story is from Will’s point of view, which was a treat. It has been five years since the men first met and their relationship is as strong as ever. Now there is the issue of kids. Mark’s not convinced he’ll be a good father while Will yearns for fatherhood like almost nothing else. When a family comes into the shop, his heart breaks just a little bit. Fans of the Turning Point series will love the cameos.

Mark isn’t unaware of Will’s internal conflict, and his first step to resolving the rift comes in the form of a peace offering.

I enjoy books where characters have opposing views that threaten their relationship. That’s real life. Things are not always wrapped up in a bow and happily ever after often involves bumps in the road. This story provided me with another perfect happy ending.

The entire series was narrated by the wonderful Michael Pauley and he did a great job. His performances are always solid and the voices of the various men are always clearly differentiated. He is the perfect choice for this series and I truly enjoyed it.

Best friends to lovers at its best!

Blindside is the third and final book in this series. Contrary to the first two books this one focuses on Mark, Carter’s best friend. It can also be read as a standalone if you haven’t read Carter and Isaac’s story yet.

There are different ways to be blind and in Marks case his eyes does work – but he tends to miss what’s right in front of him. Will and Mark have been best friends for about a year. Only for Will it’s always been more than friendship, he’s always wanted something more from Mark. But Mark was oblivious to that fact.

However he wasn’t too blind to see that Will was becoming restless and increasingly unhappy. So, afraid to lose another friend Mark embarked on a new mission – to find a boyfriend for Will in order to keep him from leaving Hartford. So Will starts to date. Only now Mark is the one that’s increasingly unhappy. Standing on the side-lines looking at Will with other men, missing his friend and loathing the other men in Will’s life.

There is some angst in this story, but it wasn’t overdone. More than once I really wanted to hit Mark over the head to make him see what, and who, was right in front of his eyes. I mean it was obvious from the beginning that Will and Mark belonged together. That they already were a couple in almost every sense of the word. Everyone could see it – but Mark.

Michael Pauley did a great performance of Blindside. With his distinct voices for the different characters and great pacing and enunciation he makes this listen effortless and pleasant. Sure, there were a few instances where the voices were mixes up, but they were minor and easily overlooked. The story is told solely from Mark’s POV, and Pauley so wonderfully makes the listener feel his confusion when his relationship with Will changes, the desperation to keep things as they were, not to lose him. He brought them both to life and made you a part of their story.

This audiobook also included the novella Twelfth of Never that showed the boys during Christmas a couple of years later. We get a small glimpse of their future working in their café. We see them (mostly) happy and settled and so much in love, and true to form with big gestures and surprises. Their happily ever after was beautiful. Their official relationship might have started slow, and they sure have had their ups and downs, but it was also just right for them.

Sometimes all you need to do is open your eyes to see what’s right in front of you – it might just be the best thing of that ever happened to you.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes.

Can be read as a stand alone

Listened to this book only out of the series and still loved it! It was very cute and funny!

Such a roller coaster

This audiobook is a roller coaster of emotions. It’s very well written, an easy to follow story line, and amazing characters. Mark stole my heart in book one of this series. He’s funny and an absolutely awesome friend. While he partially has himself to blame for what he went through, my heart broke for him until he finally got his well deserved happy ever after with Will. Will is a great fit for Mark and im glad will gave him a chance. I also greatly enjoyed the little extra story at the end.
Michael Pauley, as always, did an amazing job narrating this book. He gave the characters fitting voices and didn’t change the previous books’ characters’ voices.

Where is the plot

I am half way through this story and am trying to figure out the plot. First, grown men, hetero or homosexuial, don't talk like this. Next, the basics of this story is so dull and repetitive that I knew every move before it happened.
if not for Michael Dean's narration, I would have returned it.
I expect more form the author.
Don't get this book.

Not for me but not bad per se

I didn't care for the book because Mark is just so very clueless and it's not only hard to believe but also extremely frustrating as a reasonably intelligent person to observe the ridiculousness and then care what happens to him .

Also the end has the two MC's making decisions and choices that have no prior knowledge base established AND a completely unrealistic time line

One small example There's not a single realtor or landlord in this country that allows two weeks notice to vacate OR to move in.