Tag Archives: Patrick Doyle

Pierre and Bill Now by Patrick Doyle-a sequel review

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Pierre and Bill Now by Patrick Doyle-a sequel review

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A novel about gay men as lovers, parents, children, and friends.

Pierre and Bill have been together for 35 years ever since Bill was a kid. Neither related nor romantically involved, their relationship began with a third man who has long since passed. Like everyone, they face challenges. Theirs, though, are acute as are anyone’s who lives outside the norm. But they overcame those obstacles and in the end, each found a partner and all four men settled down together—along with one little girl.

‘Pierre & Bill Now’ opens several years later and Pierre and Bill are alone once again. Life’s rollercoaster ride has taken its toll. There’s been a separation, a custody loss, and a death. Age, too, has become an issue and, for Pierre, new challenges arise. Bill, on the other hand, is at his peak—professionally, at least. While he engages in sex on occasion, he’s given up on love. So when his job is threatened by insidious allegations, his world falls apart. Until he fights back. And that fight gives Pierre new life. Even now, he’s a scrapper.

Litigation, illness, and ghosts from the past rise up to destroy them. Some will be defeated and others held at bay. There will be losses, though, but they won’t face them alone. Pierre isn’t the center of only Bill’s world. He’s the center of many. Bill, too, has a following. Some of his colleagues may believe the claims made against him, but his students do not. Neither does the new caregiver assigned to take care of Pierre. He cares a lot.

With elements of mystery, erotica, and romance along with a good dose of humor, the novel follows many trails. But love takes center stage. Whether as parents, children, lovers, rivals or friends, everyone wants love, fears losing it, and struggles to make room for more. This is a story about family, too. The family that you choose.

[‘Pierre & Bill Now’ follows an earlier novel, ‘Pierre & Bill: A Love Story’, but can be easily read on its own. The story is new and events from Pierre and Bill’s earlier years are fleshed out so that the reader will have no trouble entering their world.]

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REVIEW:PIERRE AND BILL NOW by Patrick Doyle is the sequel to the author’s contemporary, adult PIERRE AND BILL: A LOVE STORY, a LGBTQ+ erotic, love story of family and friendships. This is the continuing story of octogenarian Pierre Tremblay, and forty year old, high school teacher Bill Harris. PIERRE AND BILL NOW can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary but for back story and cohesion, I recommend reading PIERRE AND BILL: A LOVE STORY.

Told from single omniscient third person perspective (Bill) PIERRE AND BILL NOW focuses on the relationship between Pierre Tremblay and Bill Harris. Pierre Tremblay had helped raise Bill Harris from the time the young man was five years old but the death of Bill’s father left Pierre Bill’s only ‘guardian’, a position he would hold until the end of his life but all was not well with Pierre, and Bill was struggling with the inevitable. A high school art teacher Bill found himself the at the centre of a scandal, and Pierre would be targeted by a ghost from the past. In desperate need of help, Bill reconnected with, and sought help from an unlikely source, another young man whose life once revolved around Pierre Tremblay.

Most of the previous story line characters return as secondary and supporting players including Pierre’s one-time love Danny, and his ‘granddaughter’ Ruth, as the ‘family’ must take up proverbial arms against those striking where it hurts the most.

PIERRE AND BILL NOW is a love story of family and friendships, relationships and love; betrayal and vengeance, greed and obsession, homophobia and lies. The premise is captivating, edgy and thought provoking; the characters are desperate, animated and tragic.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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Seeing Sean by Patrick Doyle-a review

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Seeing Sean by Patrick Doyle-a review

 

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 21, 2023

A story of love at first sight. Then everything, including reality, gets in the way.

When Wyatt meets Sean sparks fly. Their Zoom encounters, although work-related, generate the most unusual electronic reactions. But when they meet in the flesh he forgets all about contacting technical support because Sean is even more electrifying in person — an unusual experience for a Grindr-jaded Wyatt.

But the interference continues and every time they meet Sean appears to get cold feet. Wyatt’s no fool. He knows the attraction is mutual. Neither is he desperate for attention. He gets plenty of that on his own. Sean is either up to something, he figures, or he’s frightened because he keeps coming back but retreats every time.

Two worlds collide. Disillusioned at thirty-five, Wyatt leads a life that suits him. Affable to all but open to few, he’s more-or-less content, a little bored, and not bad on his own. As far as he’s concerned, he’s seen and heard it all.

Sean is different. Brimming with enthusiasm, he stumbles into Wyatt’s life like an overgrown puppy. Almost unnaturally handsome, he comes with none of the personality traits of the physically endowed. Yet, beneath the spectacular appearance is a man who’s awkward with people and reluctant to talk about himself.

Each is fascinated by the other and neither wants to make the first move. Sean appears to hesitate and Wyatt, normally a hook-up pro, is lost. Despite his growing frustration — or perhaps because of it — he persists in hoping they’ll get together one day. And when that day comes the intimacy is greater than he’d ever imagined.

Even locked in Wyatt’s arms, however, Sean refuses to talk about himself. But bouts of sex and declarations of love break down his barriers, and one by one, he lets his secrets drop. At first, Wyatt doesn’t believe him. Worse, he doubts his sanity. He’d expected to hear stories of an unhappy childhood, not fantastical fabrications of a life that cannot be.

But with each secret revealed Sean demonstrates its truth until Wyatt is stuck between forsaking the world as he knows it or walking away. He hasn’t got much time, though. Sean has even more secrets and he’s not alone.

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REVIEW:SEEING SEAN by Patrick Doyle is an adult, sci-fi, LGBTQ romance storyline focusing on call-center co-workers thirty-five year old Wyatt, and twenty-six year old Sean.

Told from dual omniscient third person perspectives (Wyatt and Sean) SEEING SEAN focuses on the building relationship between call-center co-workers thirty-five year old Wyatt, and twenty-six year old Sean. Wyatt was tasked with getting to know their new employee Sean but Sean had opted to work from home. A work-place party would be the perfect opportunity to introduce Sean to everyone else but all was not as it appeared to be. From the outset, Wyatt struggled with the perfection that was the man with whom he would quickly fall in love, a man as mysterious as the events that were about to upend their lives. On the run, Sean would discover everything about his life had been a lie, and Wyatt would be the stabilizing factor in their lives going forward.

SEEING SEAN is a story of power and control, secrets and lies, betrayal and innocence all wrapped up in a science fiction narrative of what if and why. A thought provoking, haunting and imaginative tale, SEEING SEAN is both sweet and edgy, tender and tragic. The world building is told through the innocent and somewhat naïve voice of Sean, a voice that is neither naïve nor weak. Patrick Doyle pulls from several familiar and popular tropes including a much touted and successful video game turned television series

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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Van Alone by Patrick Doyle -a review

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Van Alone by Patrick Doyle -a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 1,2022

Giovanni Russo has forged a very particular life. Working in the world of rare books, he’s independent, self-sufficient, and alone. Withdrawn but combative, he engages in personal relations only to do business and, on occasion, have sex. His aloofness draws people in. Good for business, he says to himself. Good for sex. Of course, someone so enigmatic is asking for trouble.

Following his father’s sudden death, he inherits the family home, a modest place with no redeeming features other than the roomfuls of memorabilia left by his grandfather. Seeing the house as a chance to further consolidate his very private life, Van moves in. But there’s a catch. The will stipulates that neither the house nor anything in it can be sold, displaced, or otherwise moved for twenty-five years. There’s a notarized list.

One evening while moving his books out of the building where he works to his new home there’s a power failure and, from the darkness, Maurice appears. Claiming to be the janitor, he offers to help Van navigate his way. While slinking through the dark together their encounter develops into something so intense that Van finds himself obsessed. Used to living his sexuality as a series of hit-and-runs, he’s destabilized. Meeting Maurice, however, is only the first in a series of events that will disrupt his ordered existence.

He’s burglarized at both home and work, but nothing’s missing. Given Maurice’s nebulous past, Van suspects him but reconsiders when Maurice saves him from an apparent kidnapping. As he becomes increasingly attached to this mysterious man, Van’s defenses crumble and troubling events from his own past resurface. As Maurice asks him — “Why are you alone all the time? Why doesn’t somebody as amazing as you have a life?”

But Van has no time for therapy. Somebody wants something he has and they’re willing to do anything to get it. And he doesn’t even know what it is. Suddenly, he’s very popular. A woman claims to be his dead father’s fiancé. A colleague takes an interest in his movements. Another is intrigued by his family history. A neighbor is always in his face. And then there’s the thugs, sometimes masked, sometimes not, but always violent.

With Maurice by his side, Van searches not only for the answer but for the question. What does he have that everyone wants? His search leads him to a very unusual book, a hidden letter, an unresolved childhood trauma, and a fabled story of lost treasure that may be more than fiction.’

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REVIEW: VAN ALONE by Patrick Doyle is a contemporary, adult, mystery, LGBTQ, noir thriller focusing on rare book and artifacts dealer Giovanni ‘Van’ Russo.

Told from third person perspective (Van) VAN ALONE follows rare book and artifacts dealer Giovanni ‘Van’ Russo as he struggles to stay one step ahead the people trying to destroy his life. With the death of both his father and beloved grandfather, Van Russo inherited his grandfather’s collection, a collection that has caught the interest and eye of every thief, embezzler, collector and fraud. There is something hidden amongst Van’s grandfather’s collection, and Van finds himself a target of their greedy rise but Van never expected to fall for a former prisoner turned thief, his first encounter with the people taking aim at something he knows nothing about. From collectors to royalty, thugs and wanna-bes, Van must follow a trail of secrets and lies, and the ramblings of an old man who is the key to finding the treasure, everyone wants.

VAN ALONE is a story of betrayal and greed, love and loss, secrets and lies. Van Russo is a naïve young man with issues of trust, issues that prey upon our story line hero. The premise is intriguing and entertaining; the romance is subtle but seductive; the characters struggle to make sense of everything going on.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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