ARC Review + Giveaway: How to Save a Life by Andria Large

Book Title: How to Save a Life

Author: Andria Large
Series: Standalone
Release Date: May 24th, 2016
Genres: Contemporary Romance, M/M Romance

How do you save someone’s life?

There’s the obvious way of physically saving them from a tragic end.

Then there’s the more subtle way of saving someone who doesn’t know they need to be saved. Someone who is drowning emotionally and has no idea that they are slowly dying.

Ezra Whitmore is one of those people. After tragically losing his wife, he’s still going through the motions, but not really living. All he has now is his son, Spencer, and his career as a dentist. The life he thought he was going to have has been torn apart. The things he had once enjoyed no longer feel the same without the person he had shared everything with.

That is, until Ferris Jenkins crashes into his life. Not only does the lifeguard save his son from literally drowning in the ocean, but he also slowly starts to bring Ezra back to life.

As soon as Ferris lays eyes on Ezra, he can’t get the gorgeous dentist out of his head. He knows nothing will ever happen between them because…well, Ezra is straight and he’s gay. You can imagine Ferris’ surprise when Ezra gets drunk one night, kisses him, and admits that he’s always been attracted to guys. This gives Ferris hope that maybe, just maybe, he can land the man of his dreams.

***Warning: You know the drill! For mature audiences only. Contains some graphic m/m sex scenes. Please remember that this is a work of fiction and comes from my own imagination.***

How to Save a Life by Andria Large is the exact kind of MM read I look for. Specifically gay-for-you romance. There's nothing hotter for me than taking an otherwise straight virile fella and put him in a room with the one guy on this earth he'd switch teams for. The guy that is a complete deal changer. The guy he can't resist. It's steamy and angsty and the anticipation is scorching. But I digress....

Dr Ezra Whitmore is a widower at a fairly young age. Couple that with parenting a 14-year old boy all by himself, he hasn't had much of a chance to return to the dating world. When his son Spencer is saved by a young, hot lifeguard, he finds himself actually looking to date...a man.

Ferris Jenkins knew it was a bit weird ogling this obviously straight dad right on the heels of saving his son from a near drowning but he's seriously attracted to him. Their glances linger but he's unwilling to be this guy's "one night stand of gay," then finding himself alone and heartbroken.

When Ezra runs into Ferris again at a LGBT counseling center, it seems the stars are aligning just right for them. If only... Ezra needs counseling for his son who is coming to terms with himself being gay. And Ferris is his new counselor. Let the chemistry and combustion between these two men begin...

How to Save a Life was a fairly quick yet perfectly paced, steam hot male-male romance. Just enough plot to give a depth to their love story but also has a great side story revolving around family and struggles with coming out. It's finding the one guy Ezra is willing to officially admit he's bi-sexual and venture into a committed relationship with.

It'd be fun to see a future sequel story for Ezra's son Spencer and his first love Jesse. I look forward to more male-on-male hotness from Andria Large.

Advanced copy received by author in exchange for my honest review.

I'm a self-published M/F and M/M Contemporary Romance Author. I don't like to follow the rules, so you will find both M/F and M/M books mixed into some of my series. I like to think that I’m in charge of what books I write, but it never happens; my characters tend to tell me what to do. Yeah, I know, I sound crazy. Aren't we all a little crazy, though? 

I'm a stay-at-home mom of two girls, and I have a wonderfully supportive husband. I grew up in Philly, but now live in Jersey. If you ever get the chance to talk to me in person, you'd find out that the Philly in me will never die! I use a lot of slang and pronounce things the wrong way - it's really the right way. ;) 

I enjoy reading as much as writing, even though I don't do nearly as much reading as I used to. Writing books was not something I set out to make as my career. I actually wrote stories for myself, as a hobby. I started in high school, writing Backstreet Boy fan-fiction (staring me, of course) in notebooks. Then later, I came up with my own characters and wrote stories about them. No one but my husband knew about them, so you could imagine my family's surprise when I told them I published a romance novel. 

I consider myself open and friendly, so feel free to send me a message if you have a question or just want to chat. 

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