REVIEW: 'Beyond the Sea' by Keira Andrews
5 HEART READ
Title: Beyond the Sea
Author: Keira Andrews
Published: March 9, 2016
Publisher: Self-Published/KA Books
Genre: Erotic Romance; Contemporary Romance
Length: 264 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; GFY; Coming Out; May/December; Bisexual
BLURB:
Two straight guys. One desert island. Even if it means quitting their boy band mid-tour, Troy Tanner isn’t going to watch his little brother snort his future away after addiction destroyed their father. On a private jet taking him home from Australia, he and pilot Brian Sinclair soar above the vast South Pacific. Brian lost his passion for flying—and joy in life—after a traumatic crash, but now he and Troy must fight to survive when a cyclone strikes without warning. Marooned a thousand miles from civilization, the turquoise water and white sand beach look like paradise. But although they can fish and make fire, the smallest infection or bacteria could be deadly. When the days turn into weeks with no sign of rescue, Troy and Brian grow closer, and friendship deepens into desire. As they learn sexuality is about more than straight or gay and discover their true selves, the world they've built together is thrown into chaos. If Troy and Brian make it off the island, can their love endure? This is an LGBT romance about discovering yourself, finding love, and eating way too many coconuts.
REVIEW:
WOW….if you’re looking for a thought provoking, emotional romance Keira Andrews’ Beyond the Sea is a must read!
Andrews’ writing is so engaging it’s like watching a movie screen within the black and white words in front of you.
PSA: Let’s get the proverbial elephant out of the closet. I know there is much debate in the M/M literature world surrounding “gay for you” versus “bi-sexual”. I am not going there. Everyone across all spectrums has their own opinion; just Google gay for you trope. Heck, even the characters in this book face the delima, trying to “identify” what they must “be” because of what they feel for one another.
Instead I am offering my opinion about what this book is.....an author’s fictional tale. I read in hopes that someone might take me on a journey I otherwise may not experience, to take me away from everyday stress and drama. To feel! If an author can do that - kudos to them. And I must say “job well done Keira” as you did just that!
Troy and Brian’s story impacted me so profoundly I still have a book hangover a week later and my thoughts continue to spiral as to how wonderful it would be for every person to be able to experience love this open, this pure…..this real!
I was hooked from the first sentence, the first scene of Beyond the Sea. When Troy confronts his brother about his drug dependency I could feel his sense of helplessness in the pit of my stomach. When all you have left to do is make a stand that makes everything within you hurt.
Then when Troy makes that stand, his first true sign of maturity, having no idea it will change his life in an instant...it is almost unbearable to imagine his feeling of defeat.
When the private plane Troy hires, to take him on a course to a planned intervention for his brother, crashes in the middle of nowhere - on an island in the Pacific - he must rely on the only other survivor - the First Officer, Brian. Together they must begin a quest for the simplest of needs: Food, water, shelter, safety…...and warmth.
As they yearn for rescue, Troy and Brian begin to navigate their guilt and regret. Troy’s guilt for hiring the plane and Brian’s guilt over it crashing. Regret for the things they may never be able to do, change or say to those they may never see again. And in so doing they discover an overwhelming need to help one another overcome internal struggles while at the same time finding witty, playful humor as the best medicine and a means of compassion and closeness.
As time passes their desire for gratitude, forgiveness, comfort, for the simplest human touch becomes palpable and I could not prevent myself from wondering “would it, could it, are they seeing it, are they feeling it, is it just a need arising from circumstance, or is this something real”?
It was so damn refreshing to see two people develop a budding relationship without societal influence. And that is the key isn’t it? Two people looking for someone to understand them inside and out. To be loved unconditionally.
It wasn’t “gay for you” but for you. It just was. The overwhelming need for another.
Without taking you to the ending, in the simplest of terms it is ironic, profound and touching.
Beyond the Sea is the type of book, the type of relationship, that makes you question how much emphasis we place on what others think instead of how we feel. A reminder of how quick we are to sacrifice our own heart due to society's views.
Yet in its finale it is an inspiring reminder that it is not our “sex” that drives our desire but our heart and soul, our need for the deep down to your core yearning for another human being.
As the Westlife song says: “When you’ve found that special thing, you’re flying without wings” and I think when you read the last line of this book you would say even Brian agrees.
Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter purchased this book to offer our fair and honest opinion.
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After writing for years yet never really finding the right inspiration, Keira discovered her voice in gay romance, which has become a passion. She writes contemporary, historical, fantasy, and paranormal fiction, and — although she loves delicious angst along the way — Keira firmly believes in happy endings. For as Oscar Wilde once said: “The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means.”
