In Too Deep

Texas Beach Town Romance, Book 1

De: Daryl Banner

Narrado por: Chris Chambers, Kai Rubio

It's the number one rule in this beach town: don't fall for a tourist.

But Jonah Lachlan isn't like any tourist I've ever met.

He's not here for a good time, that much is obvious. In fact, the brooding, boy-next-door cutie is clearly hell-bent on being miserable. Though he's here with his best friend, he doesn't seem interested in hook-ups. Or fun. The guy brought a book to this beach full of gorgeous single gay men, for crying out loud. Who does that??

And as if he couldn't be any more confusing, he seems superhumanly immune to anyone who flirts with him. Myself included.

Just one brief encounter with him on the boardwalk was all it took. Now I can't stop thinking about him. I'm sweating in places I didn't know I was capable. I'm at a complete loss to explain my feelings. I can't let this short weekend slip by and let a guy like that go. I don't care if he's a tourist. I don't care about our cardinal rule.

I'm going to break all the rules and dive in deep with this one.

Contains mature themes.

©2021 Daryl Banner (P)2022 Tantor

I like many parts of this but

I liked many parts of this but the storyline was not altogether there. I love Daryl Banner’s other works and this might be an anomaly. One of the narrators had an oddly affected mannerism that also threw me off the story. Hoping the next in the series is more tightly constructed.

I've been a young retail/food srvc worker...

and I don't know that any of us sounded like these kids or could afford a resort. I am aware it's a fantasy kind of deal, but when we're told their ages, the story lost a star for me. Otherwise, I had fun audio-reading it.

Great Start!

I always get excited for another Daryl Banner series set in Texas. This one is set in a resort town on the Gulf of Mexico. Jonah and his friend Rico head to a resort a long weekend of sand, sun, and hot guys. Kent is a local who has a rule to stay away from tourists. They’ll love you and leave and who needs that? But, rules are made to be broken.
I love the dynamic between these two guys and how they navigate the intense feelings they have in a short period of time. The town itself is a major character in the story.
I’m looking forward to more from this seaside locale and the men who inhabit it.

Daryl Banner does it again!

Wow, just wow! Great story line and character development! Look forward to the next installment!

the cross overs!

TBOY! top score! OMG! I'm in love with the cross overs! amazing story, pretty good character development.

Amazing and relaxing

It is a very nice story very relaxing and to pass the time, I hope I get to know a lot more about the rest of the characters in the future

Another wonderful trip to Texas

In Too Deep is the beginning of another wonderful series from the amazing Daryl Banner. We get to visit the town that Toby and Vann from the Spruce Texas Series moved to. And get to meet a couple of guys there for the weekend and some of the locals. I don't want to give too much away. So I will just say if you loved the Spruce Texas Series then this comes highly recommended. Daryl Banner is by far my absolute favorite author and can't wait for the next book in the series.

kinda depressing until the last couple hours

it's needed, I know, but Kent is freakin depressing, and Jonah is too, to a lesser extent. also the reader, meh, not much of a fan I guess. his pronunciation made the depression seem almost ... snooty. his accent for Rico was good though. but even the youngest brother sounded depressed.

Love Dreamwood !!

Smart and witty storytelling from Daryl Banner! Jonah and Kent are heartfelt, sexy and fun! Dreamwood Isle is another fantastic world in Texas created by Mr. Banner ! The talent of Chris Chambers is joined by Kai Rubio narrating this beach Town romance!!

Less Banner than some, but still off

Full disclosure. I only listened to this title for 2 specific reasons. First, it was included in my membership so I didn't have to use a credit. Second, having just had my first exposure to Kai Rubio in Chip Pons You & I Rewritten, I was curious if some elements of his narration is part of his approach (it is). I would never use a credit on a Daryl Banner title. I have enjoyed three of his books, and hated three more. This book was a bit of enigma in my Banner experience, but delighted I didn't waste a credit.

Everything about this book was just off enough that I didn't particularly enjoy it, but had some elements that prevented me from completely disliking it. The narration is included. Chris Chambers is a Daryl Banner go-to, he is part of so many of his books. He is fairly innocuous, although his cadence or inflection can be a bit grating. For the most part he sounded exactly the same as he did in Finding Lucky, the voices were fully interchangeable. Kai Rubio definitely has a sound. While not as sing-song as You & I Rewritten, he adds a lilt that sometimes feels a bit sappy. His voicing of the friend Rico with a very obvious hispanic accent occasionally leeches into Jonah's voice. I again cry out to the audiobook gods - please stop with the unnecessary duo narrations. Either of these guys would have done a fine job as they both voice all the characters anyway, why do we have to deal with two interpretations?

Then there is the story. Banner errs, as pointed out in other reviews, by making all these guys too young, Jonah and Rico, the vacationing friends from Houston are only 21. Yet Jonah has been in retail management of a high end clothing store for 2 years. That is so incredibly unlikely, not to mention where do they come up with the money to stay a long weekend in a beachside resort during the peak season. Then Kent, the local who becomes Jonah's love interest is 25. That tracks until he bemoans what the exploding tourism has done to the island. He talks about 15 years ago when the island felt like it was theirs, before property values and taxes went up. The whole time he's waxing poetic about how it used to be, I started thinking, he was ten when it started. How many ten year olds are versed in property values and taxes? I get that Kent was working in a funnel cake shop, so Banner might not have wanted him to be 30, but everyone was at least five years to young for the story.

Basically the story is about Jonah struggling on two fronts. The first being that he is drifting away from Rico, they don't want the same things anymore. Rico literally wants them to be tag teaming hot dudes non stop. Jonah is feeling introspective and looking to relax and read a book on the beach. Rico is non stop pressure, whether it is what Jonah is wearing, complaining about what Jonah wants to do or eat, and relentless that they are going to have tandem or group sex. He says at one point that he wants to be able to high 5 Jonah while they are each banging someone. It is a lot. So Jonah is struggling, and doing some rebelling against his friend. He also doesn't want to deal with a player - his word. So when he gets a free funnel cake from a very charming Kent, all Kent wants in return is a date. Jonah loses his mind, calls Kent the awful P word to his face, and he ends up stomping out of the bakery. Which by the ways sells cupcakes and funnel cakes, an old combo at best.

Things have to move fast as the boys are only on the island for three nights. What doesn't move fast is Jonah's self deprecating internal monologue, or Kents self deprecating internal monologue. Jonah is suspicious of everyone's words and motivations, Kent is guarded with tourists because people leave him. Oh, and his fraternal twin brother stole a boy from him once to teach him a lesson about tourists. This a pretty standard Banner stuff. Where it gets to be a lot is how detailed he makes this town. There are so many people, and we might only see them once. I also am very tired of these gay havens in Texas when we know how very different the reality is. Banner has no trouble populating his worlds with more gay men than you know what to do with - especially within the same family.

Had just a few things happened differently, this could have been a really good book. Starting with adjusting their ages, pulling back a bit on the insecurity. Make their vacation longer than three nights to allow for some plot development. Maybe flesh out more of the backstory. Rico talks about Tallahassee and what happened on that trip. It takes forever for it to come out and when it does, you're left needing more info. The reviewer that called this a slog wasn't wrong. This takes some patience, and unlike Finding Lucky - which I love, I won't listen to this again.