Raining Men by Rick R. Reed

The character you loved to hate in Chaser becomes the character you will simply love in Raining Men.

It’s been raining men for most of Bobby Nelson’s adult life. Normally, he wouldn’t have it any other way, but lately something’s missing. Now, he wants the deluge to slow to a single special drop. But is it even possible for Bobby to find “the one” after endless years of hooking up?

When Bobby’s father passes away, Bobby finally examines his rocky relationship with the man and how it might have contributed to his inability to find the love he yearns for. Guided by a sexy therapist, a Sex Addicts Anonymous group, a well-endowed Chihuahua named Johnny Wadd, and Bobby’s own cache of memories, Bobby takes a spiritual, sexual, and emotional journey to discover that life’s most satisfactory love connections lie in quality, not quantity. And when he’s ready to love not only himself but someone else, sex and love fit, at last, into one perfect package.

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Dreamspinner Press

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
5 Emotional Roller Coaster Stars

This book wasn’t a romance, but more so an emotional journey of a broken man seeking redemption, healing, and unconditional love. We first met Bobby in Chaser, where he made a mess of things between Caden and Kevin, and turned into a character readers no doubt loved to hate. However, I couldn’t wait to read a book narrated in Bobby’s voice, knowing there was a lot riding beneath the surface.

Bobby is set adrift from his family in Chicago, while they hail from Seattle. He’s lost his best friend – only friend – rightfully so. Then he receives horrible news from home, losing the father whose love he always wanted to have but never received. With Dad dead and buried, there was no chance to have those conversations, to voice the pain, because the promise of ‘eventually’ or ‘someday’ was gone.

Bobby is a mess, and what follows is a journey through the ups and downs of addiction, all in a quest to find unconditional love and redemption.

There were many chapters that made me uncomfortable, but were no doubt authentic to sex addiction. Bobby’s characterization never wavered, except to evolve and learn while caving to his demons and later winning the battle.

There is a thread of romance, as that is what Bobby is ultimately seeking, yet always looking in the wrong place, with two potential mates. I saw what would happen a mile away, where Bobby didn’t have the ability to self-reflect yet was so desperate, he’d make any gesture of friendship or kindness into the prospect of romance and forevers. I have a female friend who is like this, so reading from Bobby’s narration helped me feel closer to her, pretty much tearing what I’d always thought directly from my head. How sharing a meal with another person is tantamount to a proposal, and the ensuing pain afterward when let down is just another layer on Bobby’s three-dimensional character. It’s just dinner, but the fantasy of what it could be, not the reality of what is happening, is lifeblood for this type of personality.

I’ve read a lot of Rick R Reed’s backlog of books this past week (5 or 6), and this is one of the best I’ve read to-date by him. It’s not a romance, it’s not easy with such dark subject matter, and it won’t be something the mainstream of readers will enjoy or connect with, but I did.

Bobby’s a broken soul, just like the rest of us, looking for happiness and he finally realizes he’s been looking in the wrong locations, finding misery loves company there instead. He slowly digs his way out of that mindset – destructive mentality – and hopefully readers can take something away from reading, something they too can change in their own lives.

Also Available in the Chaser Series

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Dreamspinner Press

For reviews & more info, check out our Chaser post.

RICK R. REED is all about exploring the romantic entanglements of gay men in contemporary, realistic settings. While his stories often contain elements of suspense, mystery, and the paranormal, his focus ultimately returns to the power of love. He is the author of dozens of published novels, novellas, and short stories. He is a three-time EPIC eBook Award winner (for Caregiver, Orientation, and The Blue Moon Cafe). His novel, Raining Men, won the Rainbow Award for Best Contemporary General Fiction. Lambda Literary Review has called him, “a writer that doesn’t disappoint.” Rick lives in Seattle with his husband and a very spoiled Boston terrier. He is forever “at work on another novel.”

Connect with Rick

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Raining Men by Rick R. Reed to read and review.