The Same Breath

The Lamb and the Lion, Book 1

By: Gregory Ashe

Narrated by: J.F. Harding

Teancum Leon, who goes by Tean, is a wildlife veterinarian. His life has settled into a holding pattern: He loves his job, he hates first dates, and he only occasionally has to deal with his neighbor Mrs. Wish’s cat-related disasters.

All of that changes, though, when a man appears in his office, asking for help to find his brother. Jem is convinced that something bad has happened to Benny, and he thinks Tean might be able to help. Tean isn’t sure, but he’s willing to try. After all, Jem is charming and sweet and surprisingly vulnerable. Oh. And hot.

Then things get strange: Phone calls with no one on the other end of the line; surveillance footage that shows what might be an abduction; a truck that tries to run Tean and Jem off the road. As Tean and Jem investigate, they realize that Benny might have stumbled onto a conspiracy and that someone is willing to kill to keep the truth from coming out.

But not everything is as it seems, and Tean suspects that Jem has been keeping secrets of his own.

©2020 Gregory Ashe (P)2021 Gregory Ashe

4.5 Tean and Jem stars

This was amazing and so much fun. JF Harding did an amazing job bringing the characters to life, especially while delivering Tean’s dry sarcastic humor that not many people get. I found myself loling so hard.

“People suck,” Tean said, letting Scipio off the leash. The dog park was busy on Friday afternoon, and Scipio ran off to join Bear, a hundred-and-thirty-pound St. Bernard who dwarfed Tean’s black Lab but had still become a regular playmate.
“Ok,” Hannah said with a sigh.

I agree with you Tean, People suck.

The Same Breath is another amazing series from Gregory Ashe, at this point I am just a stan and with this book my stan level has gone up. This one is set in Utah and I loved the scenery description.

MCs:

Tean – A wildlife geeky veterinarian, who loves his job and animals. I fell in love with Tean. His geeky, weird sense of humor and good heart drew me in. He is so naïve sometimes and very relatable. Damn! Tean got under my skin and is going to stay there permanently. He is just so lovable and adorable.

Jem – Jem! Jem! Where do I start? What a complex, heartbreaking, annoying, lovable character. One-minute I wanted to hug him, the next to strangle him. What a piece of work, but at the same time he is relatable too. Jem is your everyday guy, the one that your mom, sister, brother and everyone in your village warns you about, but you can’t hear them because he is broken and adorable.

The mystery was interesting, and kept me glued to the end. The characters we meet along the way were very interesting.

Tean and Jem are two opposites but they got some mad chemistry and work well together. I am really interested to see how their relationship will develop. Their conversations and trivias were fun and very enjoyable. I love that Jem got Tean’s sense of humor.

Ammom can just go to purgatory, that said, I did get why he was here and his character is not that bad once you understand where he is coming from.

This is a great start to what I hope will be an amazing series.

A copy of the Audiobook was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Nature Nerds!

Really glad I gave this audiobook another try - I love Tean!

Can we have more wildlife nature nerds as romantic leads, please? The outdoor elements and science facts sprinkled in were a great addition to the mystery and romance, and I'm very curious how the rest of the series will play out.

Astounding!! I love these two!!

Wow!
Simply, wow!

These two characters are so very different from each other: one a wildlife vet, the other a grifter.

What they have in common is trying to find a missing man: a friend to one, a brother to the other.

The mystery of missing Benny leads them into dangerous territory. As much as this aspect of the story hooked me, what really drew me in was how the two men interacted with each other.

They were awkward, funny, real, and shielded. I kept waiting for secrets to drop, for tidbits of truth to come out & it had me on a wonderful edge.

Tean, the vet, made me laugh with his constant grim statistics. Jem, the con man, delighted me with his quick thinking. Both men held pain in their past, and they slowly, so very slowly let it out.

The two do solve the mystery. The two do get together. Tean does find out about Jem’s past. Do they get past it? In a way.

Are they still together at the end? As Jem said, like two rovers on the opposite sides of Mars.

Can I wait for the next audiobook? No!! I may have to read the next one straightaway!!

Things to watch out for:
1. Tean’s ex/not ex/but is married/and Mormon. He’s a piece of work.
2. Tean’s inability to say no.
3. Jem’s lies & cons.
4. Trivia.
5. SLT traffic.

Great performance by JF Harding, although a few times I had trouble telling Jem and Tean apart.

Awesome!

I keep coming back to this authors books because it’s hard to find anything about gay people that isn’t either too artsy or too pornographic. I like mysteries and like when the romantic interest isn’t straight, because I already have to live in the world. But his other series are so unrelentingly depressing that I keep saying I just don’t prefer this author. So glad I read this book!! I do like that he writes about the terrible things that are true in the world. But there is matter of fact-ness and humor in this book that reflect the resilience which can also be true. The characters are both flawed and likable and they show growth over the book without becoming perfect. The narration is excellent! Can’t wait for the next installment of the story.

slow start

So glad I stuck it out ! Great narration & story. Slow start keep going!

A Great Combination

One of the best gay-themed authors combined with one of the very best readers makes for a very enjoyable audiobook. The main characters are fully 3 dimensional, maybe a little broken and really, really interesting. The plot has multiple twists. It's believable story line and not too messagey - the bad guys are individuals, not some faceless, evil corporation..

Another great series.

I was so excited to see JF Harding was narrating another series by Gregory Ashe. I really liked this book. It had everything you’d want in a Gregory Ashe book. Twisty turny mystery being solved by two broken men. I’m rooting really hard for Gem. I cannot wait for the next book.

Another deeply entwined and intriguing story

This story takes you to new places with many new characters the author can continue to introduce us to . Hoping they are around for many future stories now that such a good back story has been laid. Very good and interesting topics, not just a typical gay novel… Looking forward to the next one.

Friendship and/or Love

There are no easy answers in this Gregory Ashe book. No clear path to happiness. Relationships require time to build and effort to maintain. But it is a meaningful journey and all major actors gain something at the end. Some of the obstacles are convincing - an old love that translates into a toxic bond, sheer lying, and using a person as a means to an end - and some of them remain in place by the end of the story. Work in progress, this friendship. Moving now to the second book in the series.

Not exactly a cliff hanger but close

Should have known Gregory Ashe wouldn't write a happily every after story.
The story itself was engaging with good character building and just different enough to be interesting. My biggest complaint is that to know how the relationship develops, you have to listen to the next book, or next several books - which aren't yet on Amazon.
JF Harding does a great job, as usual.