Paint the Sky

By: Lily G Blunt

Narrated by: Joel Leslie

A love of art....

A mutual interest in art draws two shy university students together. Ben admires Vinnie's painting of the university building, so Vinnie invites him to an exhibition of his artwork. From a wealthy family, Ben purchases some of Vinnie's art and arranges for the artist to personally hang the paintings in his apartment.

Starry, starry night....

Ben commissions Vinnie to paint his portrait, in order to spend more time with the artist. On the night of the sitting, Vinnie fingerpaints the starry night on Ben's chest... and they kiss. They begin a relationship beneath the night sky, God's own canvas.

But every relationship has its ups and downs and so it is with theirs. When Ben thinks Vinnie spends too much time with a fellow artist, his jealousy drives a wedge between them and forces Vinnie into the very thing Ben dreads.

Hold tight to your dreams....

Ben and Vinnie will have to walk through fire before they can find one another again. But if they believe, and if they keep their faith in the night sky and each other, just maybe they can make their dreams of love come true.

©2014 Lily G. Blunt (P)2015 Susan Haines

great story with great vocal performance

the vocal performance was pretty good...i'm an american so i love the english accent - A LOT. he offered several voices for the characters as well a solid performance, sucking me into the story and keeping me interested throughout.

i LOVE this cover – so hot and perfect for the story! The writing was pretty good…I love English books – their spelling and slang is different than ours and I love it. It seems like this could be the start to a series…I’d love to see books about Vinnie’s brothers – Theo and Finn.

When we first meet Ben he seems a bit snobbish and shallow. He’s also a bit of a man whore…only partaking in quickies in the back room of the club he frequents. When he finally finds the courage to introduce himself to Vinnie and gets to know him, he starts to get a good figurative look in the mirror. Vinnie has had to work hard for the little he does have and is not interested in being another notch in Ben’s bedpost. Ben realizes that if he wants anything to do with Vinnie, he’s going to have to make a change or two. While in their relationship with Vinnie he really is a sweet, affectionate guy. He also gets along well with both of Vinnie’s brothers. He matures quite a bit during their time together and truly becomes a great man. He suffered a bit of a tragedy as a child which Vinnie helps him through.

Vinnie is a bit shy and reserved. He lacks self-confidence in his work and even while in a relationship with Ben is easily manipulated by someone else (not going to say more here as I don’t want to add a spoiler). As he becomes more successful and gains more confidence he really becomes a great man too. By the end, the two of them together are the perfect pair.

The secondary characters are really great – I’d love to see a couple of follow up books about Vinnie’s brothers – Theo and Finn. There was a pretty good setup for their stories in this book.

The angst in this book was so heart-breaking. It brought tears to my eyes several times. I just wanted to hug each of the boys. Theo and Finn were really great to Ben during the time of trouble.

One of my complaints about the book is that we didn’t get to see Vinnie’s reaction to Ben’s tattoo. I think that could have been a magical moment.

Overall, a great listen or read!

Super sweet

The love story was beautiful but the drama not so much there are a lot of parts I was shocked that the author add how can a person love his brother and try to sleep with his ex. Overall worth every penny such a great book.

Masterpiece

I loved the insta connection between Ben and Vinnie and the slow progression. Angst and growth from both characters pulled me through to the end of this captivating story. The finger painting was enthralling. The narrator brought a beautiful story to life for me.

Loved the audio

Thank you for the Audio, I voluntarily give this book an honest review. I just loved Ben And Vinnie's story. Ben has watched the amazing artist for a while but always from a far until one day giving change to his normal obsession. Moving Vinnie in his home seemed the right thing only both have issues from a past, causing the mistrust to set in. Can the two make a go or will Ben lose Vinnie to another guy? This was a amazing sweet story that has a such an emotional and physical struggle. Narrator Joel Leslie did a wonderful job.

Ben yes, Vinnie no

I enjoyed listening to Mr. Leslie narrating this book and the voices he gave the many characters. Emotional and complicated, the relationship between Ben and Vinnie starts really good and I hoped for a more balanced story. Ben is hopelessly in love with Vinnie, and does so many things to show it too. Vinnie comes across as immature, I don't like him too much when he chooses to throw all that away for one who abuses him. Why?
I am glad there is a HEA though so it is not all lost.

Feelings all mixed up like swirling colors.

I would start by saying that I enjoyed Joel Leslie's performance. His performing skills are incomparable specially with different accent variations.

As for the story, it's given me mixed emotions. It does have a HEA but how and why they got a HEA is something I'm still struggling with. The story is being told in a very realistic progression. Boy meets boy during last term of college. They fell in love and fell out of it.

However, what bothered me the most is Vinnie. He is portrayed as this struggling but gifted artist with a gentle spirit. He is fiercely independent with a stubborn streak. He is also a bit reserved.

Ben is the hot catch, he is a musician with sharp business acumen, who used to be a player but got his act together once he got together with Vinnie. He's moved at Vinnie's pace when they finally got into a relationship.

The process of drifting apart from each other bothered me. Like any other romance stories, it all boiled down to miscommunication or the lack of it. That and quite possibly Vinnie's emotional cheating.

I could not fathom why it was SO easy for Vinnie to walk out of Ben's life and their relationship. He accused Ben of controlling him. Yet, he jumped straight into a worst relationship with James. Vinnie even admitted James was trying to take him away from Ben even when they were together. How had he kept being friends with James when he knew what his motivations were?

Ben is no perfect by any means. For example, he could have just asked. He could have talked it over with Vinnie, specially his reservations regarding James. But nope, kept it all in and hell broke lose when he couldn't process his emotions properly. AND my pet peeve, he WAITED for the PERFECT TIMING. Waited for Vinnie to pick up his paintings, Waited for Vinnie to get in touch. He just waited and waited in agony

It was so heartbreaking to hear it from Ben's perspective and understandably so. He took his time with Vinnie, earned his trust, he got Vinnie's back. Yes, he really needed to communicate better. But that should not be a breaking point.

Vinnie made really bad choices, emotional decisions but was too stubborn to admit he made a mistake, even to apologize. Instead, he got himself into deeper ugly situation and his brothers AND Ben had to swoop in and save him from himself. He clearly learned a lesson or two.

I am glad, for Ben's sake that he got his Vinnie back and they had the chance to start over. I am all for second chances. I just wish it highlighted the moment when Vinnie saw Ben's tattoo. I wanted to see his reaction, how Ben got it in memory of their good times.

Like I said, the story is being told very realistically. It's got me feeling all types of way. And yes, I will read more from Lily. She clearly knows how to get a reaction from me. Four stars, overall.

Only Redeemable Quality was Voice Artist

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Honestly, this book has a terrible storyline, simplistic writing, and is all about sex, which I guess is what sell, sells, sells. I would say that a 4 or 5 quality would be achieved by deeper characters, instead of the two-dimensional ones, more in-depth prose, and less sex.

What could Lily G Blunt have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Exactly what I said above: Deeper characters, more in-depth prose, and less sex. I don't mind the sex as long as it adds to the story, but when you start blurring the line between fiction and erotica, I find it hard to keep my eyes from rolling at how silly everything sounds.

What about Joel Leslie’s performance did you like?

He's the only redeeming quality in this whole mess of a book. His accent was eloquent, beautiful, and versatile (when it comes to BRITISH characters). I have no idea what he'd be like reading with an American, Irish, Scottish, Australian, etcetera, accent.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment for the most part.

Any additional comments?

I want there to be gay books out there, and I want them to be fun, exciting, and enjoyed by people who are gay, lesbian, straight, or whatever else. If all that's in them is erotica, I might as well be watching pornography, because I don't think there's much of a difference between the two.

True and honest

As some stories have the characters falling in love in a week, this one is more honest as it falls in over time. It’s the highs and lows and more true to real life.
The characters are believable and genuine with their lives, feelings and emotions. It’s tragedy, heartache, romance, love and life all wrapped up in a beautiful painted story.

A refreshing change of pace

It's rare to read a romance novel that acknowledges the difficulties in real relationships, but this one does. First, while the MCs admire each other from afar for quite some time, neither of them realizes the other is looking. It's only when one finally gets up the nerve to approach the other, not certain if he's even interested in men, that things begin - almost a missed opportunity. Once started, they must deal with their individual baggage, but matters proceed quickly...too quickly, perhaps, because when conflict inevitably arises, they lack the tools and solid foundation to handle it, and split for a time. To go into detail about what happens then would start too far into spoiler territory, but rest assured that there is a happy ending, despite the rocky middle.

Good MM Romance

This was a very sweet story. I loved the closeness between Vinnie and his brothers and how they were with Ben.