Trust the Focus

In Focus, Book 1

By: Megan Erickson

Narrated by: Marc Bachmann

With his college graduation gown expertly pitched into the trash, Justin Akron is ready for the road trip he planned with his best friend, Landry, and ready for one last summer of escape from his mother's controlling grip. Climbing into the Winnebago his father left him, they set out across America in search of the sites his father had captured through the lens of his Nikon.

As an aspiring photographer, Justin can think of no better way to honor his father's memory than to scatter his ashes at the sites he held sacred, and there's no one Justin would rather share the experience with more than Landry. But Justin knows that he can't escape forever. Eventually, he'll have to return home and join his mother's Senate campaign. Nor can he escape the truth of who he is - and the fact that he's in love with his out-and-proud travel companion.

Contains mature themes.

©2015 Megan Erickson (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Equal parts sexy and sweet, Trust the Focus is full of heart." ( RT Book Reviews)

Another story ruined by negative stigmas...

There were one or two pronunciation errors that were easily overlooked, and the only one that really sticks in my head is the mispronunciation of labret when discussing piercings.

The huge problem with this book is the use of the term "Clean" to denote a negative HIV status. Not only does this perpetuate a horrendous stigma, but it also insinuates that people living with HIV are "Dirty" or "Unclean"

Unfortunately, that terrible faux pas ruined an otherwise pleasant story. Hopefully, the author won't continue to enforce negative stigmas and alienate people.

Tamer than I expected

Sweet friends to lovers story. Well written but very tame- so if you are looking for more sweet than sexy you will like this audiobook. Narrator was okay.

Trust The Focus

ok... I am going to try and put aside my personal feelings for Justin the Jerk to write a review about the actual book. LOL. But man does he make me so flipping Angry during like 70% off this book. I just want to Hug Landry, and tell him to run every time Justin opens his mouth and speaks, He treats Landry like crap. But then thinking about it.. Justin is just taking out the horrible feelings he has about himself on Landry, and Landry ends up getting the brunt of his anger. My feelings for Justin aside; this book was really good, Megan did a great job on the subject and progression of feelings and story. The entire book was really believable like it totally could have happened in real life. Like we were actually following along with the real story of two boys driving around to different places to spread the ashes of their father. I mean I am sure someone somewhere has done this.
Audio - I really liked Marcs narration. There is just something about his voice I really just like listening to. He made these characters story come to life with the emotions thrown in.

Great beginning to a series - great narration

Justin’s dad was the only one (besides his best friend Landry) who “got” him. His conservative mother certainly doesn’t. He’s gone to college, gotten the degree and now he’s slated to go work for her, for her campaign as the manager, this fall. But before he consigns himself to a future he hates, he and Landry go on a cross country trek spreading his dad’s ashes at his favorite places.

Along the way Justin realizes he can’t keep hiding his true self. He’s an artist. He’s gay. He’s in love with his best friend.

Unfortunately, he makes a lot of mistakes along the way, fortunately Landry’s the forgiving sort.

**

I really, really liked this story. I loved how real and sincere Landry was and how realistically the couple acted and responded. They both screwed up – ran away, lied, hid, did other stupid things – they’re kids! But in the end they make the right choices and “man-up”.

The sexy-times were appropriate to the age level – some but definitely not the focus.

I also liked how – sort-of- Justin’s mom comes around. It felt authentic.

The writing is excellent, the characters were great and fully developed and the romance so sweet and touching!

My only complaint was that I got a bit fed up with Justin’s waffling. There were times when I thought he’d figured things out but since the story still had places to go he waffled some more… but that could be my own impatience with wanting the happy ending to come quickly!

Audio
Marc Bachmann is a great narrator. He's easy to listen to and handles the emotions, dialog and smexy times very well. He does enough with the voices so that we know who's speaking without going over the top.
Highly recommended in either form.
4.5 of 5 stars

Good story

Good story. Performances was easy to listen to. Like the idea of in the store. Would listen again.

The last two hours were great...

I could have taken one, or maybe two, of Justin’s tantrums, but they seemed to take up at least half of the book. He was absolutely horrible to Landon, and left my stomach churning.

If I were to read this again, I would read maybe the first half hour for the backstory, then skip to the last two hours. I am glad to leave this behind. The next book in the series has some very good reviews, so I will give this author another try.

Awesome

This is by far the best book I have ever read! When I first started it I wasn’t sure about it but by the end i had experienced so many emotions that it will go down as my all time favorite

Too long and the Justin is a jerk

I hated Justin. Landon was a sweetheart and no way deserved to be treated the way Justin treated him regardless of the circumstances. Not a fan of the narrator. story was too long and had too much unnecessary detail. I was happy to have it end.

Tedious

I finished this book but it was difficult. I think the narrator lacked the correct intonation in addition to sounding too mature for the main characters POV. I enjoyed supporting character personality as it carried the story. I will avoid this narrator but will research other books by the author before passing too harsh a judgment.

Loved the story; the narration, not so much

Trust the Focus was my first-ever read from Megan Erickson back in 2015, and it was the beginning of my love affair with her In Focus series. I've been itching to listen to the audiobooks ever since I found out that there actually were audiobooks of the series and with me finally trying out Audible Escape for three months, I decided these four In Focus would be my first in the romance audio program.

Justin Akron and Landry Jacobs have been best friends for years, and now that they've graduated from college, The next few weeks will be spent visiting twelve different locations that held significance to Justin's late father. Their mode of transportation? The Winnebago that Justin's father left him. This may well be the last time Justin will be able to indulge in his love for photography, but could it possibly be the first time he'll finally be able to indulge in his love for his best friend? And how will the openly gay Landry feel when he realizes that the best friend he thought was straight wasn't all that straight after all?

Now, when it comes to audiobooks, more often than not, it's difficult to separate the story from the narration because the latter tends to affect the former. That doesn't always hold true; however, in the case of this book (and the rest of the series for that matter), it did, which is why I had to take a couple or so days after having listened to the audiobook before writing this review. Almost five years after I first read Justin and Landry's story, I still loved how they were best friends who became so much more.

Megan Erickson penned a romance that had me going through a myriad of emotions, particularly when it came to Justin and his (mis)handling of a whole lot of what was happening during the cross-country trip with Landry. I love when an author is able to evoke varied thoughts and feelings from me. I confess, though, that I wasn't a fan of Marc Bachmann's narration. Maybe it was because the voice he gave both Justin and Landry didn't sound the way I thought they should have in my head, but it made the listening experience far less than I had hoped for, especially since I was already a fan of the story. So, I'm giving Erickson's story five stars and Bachmann's performance two stars, leaving the audiobook for Trust the Focus with an average rating of three stars. ♥