Rush by Nyrae Dawn ~ Review

Rush

By Nyrae Dawn

Synopsis:

For the love of the game.Brandon Chase has always defined himself by one thing: football. Tough and athletic, he is a great college player who enjoys the hard hits and the sweaty grind of the gridiron. But when Brandon is injured, only one person can help him get back on track-a forbidden love he's desperately tried to put behind him. 

Alec Andrews has never quite forgiven Brandon for walking away when their friendship turned into something more. But he can't deny help to one of his closest friends. As the two spend the long, hot summer working together, their old attraction comes flooding back.

Now as Alec thinks about coming out to his conservative family and Brandon considers revealing he's a gay football player, the two men must be strong to fight for a love that could be the greatest rush of their lives.



Review:

What would you do if you weren’t free to show the love you feel, not because the one you love loves someone else or doesn’t love you in return, but because the person you love happens to be the same gender, and there’s a very vocal pocket of society that wants you to keep your love locked in the closet?

Brandon and Alec struggle with this every day. They’ve struggled with their sexuality and what it means. They’ve struggled to understand the feelings they have for each other. They’ve struggled to meet the expectations of those around them. They’ve struggled to find a little bit of happiness with each other in stolen moments. They’ve struggled to love each other. The only thing that wasn’t hard was falling in love. Keeping that love will be the hardest struggle of all.

Nyrae wrote such a touching rendition of a love story. Brandon and Alec are young teenagers when they meet for the first time. Neither have ever had a relationship with another boy, but they know they are drawn to each other. They get to spend four summers together during Brandon’s family summer vacation to Lakeland Village, but it’s always in secret. Alec’s father is a class A homophobe and Brandon is on his way to playing college football. Neither of them is comfortable coming out of the closet. But in spite of all of the reasons they shouldn’t love each other, they do. And, that love never diminishes, even when their relationship ends.

Both Brandon and Alec are heartbroken. Neither is living a full life, merely trying to make it through the day. However, when the phone call comes that Brandon needs him Alec doesn’t hesitate. He is going to be there for the man he loves, even if it is only as a friend. Sometimes when you’re tired of fighting you give up, but other times you finally decide that if you’re going to have to fight, you might as well have what you’re fighting for beside you.

Rush is so emotional. You will feel for Brandon and Alec. You’ll feel their pain and the brief moments of contentment. This book is such a great story about love. There’s a little heat to it, but that isn’t the focus. If you can walk away from this book and not feeling the love these Brandon and Alec share on the page, I would be shocked.

There are bits of Brandon and Alec’s story in Four Summers, which is Charlie (Alec’s female BF or beard, if you like) & Nate’s story. Four Summers is a YA book. I read them in reverse order. When I went back to read Four Summers, I was afraid I would rush through Charlie & Nate to get to the snippets of Brandon and Alec, but Charlie & Nate’s story is just as engaging. You can read Rush without reading Four Summers, but I would recommend reading Four Summers as well because it’s a good book, & you should never pass up a good book.

Reviewed by Liz