reviews_and_ramblings | Live for Today (Campus Cravings 12) by Carol Lynne

I bought this book as soon as it was out, but for a reason of the other I didn’t read it sooner. So I didn’t know that it was the last in the Campus Cravings series; I have opposite feelings about it: Campus Cravings was the first book in what I later called the gay soap-opera world of Carol Lynne, and again I want to highlight that for me it’s a strong point, not a fault, being a “soap-opera”. So obviously, I’m a little sad to see it finish, like you are when something you are familiar with ends. But rightly, it was probably the time; the series gave birth to a spin off, the Poker Night series, Zac, the first character of Poker Night is one of the football players Justin coached, and Campus Cravings also “married” with Cattle Valley, Bo, one of the cowboys of Cattle Valley is former lover and best friend with Lark, one of the students of Campus Cravings. So, it’s not really a farewell, but more a realization that it was the time to move to other beaches, the little college town of Campus Cravings it was becoming too crowded of handsome gay men to be manageable.

And it’s even more right that the last story has the same characters of the first, Luc, the single father, and Justin, his lover and coach of almost half the characters in the series. Luc and Justin are the perfect couple, handsome and middle age, they are the reference figure for all the other men in the series, the headlight they all seal around and the safe “house” they always head over when something is wrong. And so it’s also right that they give an example, managing to deal with a crisis that usually wrecks most couple. Justin, the strong man in the pair, has to face a stroke that leaves him with a temporary physical disability, but more than the body, it’s the soul that has the stronger punch. He has to face the realization that he is not immortal, that he has no all the answers, and that he is only a man, no more a leader.

On the other side Luc has to understand that he is strong also without Justin, but he is stronger with him. I like that Luc, even when the things are not good, never once let his love for Justin go, the love is always there, and Luc turns in the strong side of the relationship thanks to that love.

Live for Today is a very nice wrap up for the story, it’s the right dose of melancholy due to the fact that it’s a farewell, but overall it’s as sweet and romantic as it was the first book in the series.

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=383

Amazon Kindle: Campus Cravings: Live for Today
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing (November 17, 2008)

Series: Campus Cravings
1-2-3) Campus Cravings 1: On the Field: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/133792.html
4-5) Campus Cravings 2: Off the Field: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/165064.html
6-7) Campus Cravings 3: Back on Campus: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/232559.html
8-9) Campus Cravings 4: Dorm Life: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/305570.html
10-11) Campus Cravings 5: BK House: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/400580.html
12) Live for Today

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle