{"id":11888,"date":"2019-05-02T17:40:16","date_gmt":"2019-05-02T21:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=11888"},"modified":"2024-01-29T20:11:29","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T01:11:29","slug":"family-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11888","title":{"rendered":"Family Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

Family Man<\/a><\/em> (2017) Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After three failed marriages, Vincent \u201cVinnie\u201d Fierro has started wondering whether he family and religion are why he has denied to himself so adamantly that he might be interested in guys.<\/p>\n

Trey Giles is working his way through school, one class at a time, while holding down two jobs to support his mother and grandmother. He’s been so busy that he’s never had time for a relationship, and has never been interested in hook-ups, but when he finds Vinne looking completely out of place at a gay bar, the two flirt and develop a friendship that seems odd–even to them.<\/p>\n

I bought this book on a whim, because it was on sale and had been mentioned on SBTB as a really good and complex story. I read it because I started five books and couldn’t get more than a page in before moving on, and this grabbed my attention, even though I generally have no interest in straight-up modern romances.<\/p>\n

I’m glad that I decided to read this, because it was wonderful.<\/p>\n

Vinne is forty and his very large, very Italian, very Catholic family really wants him to get married and provide more grand kids. But none of his past relationships have worked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t stay with a brand of shampoo, Vinnie. You have commitment issues that have commitment issues.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Trey’s problem is his mother.<\/p>\n

My mother\u2019s alcoholism was the clich\u00e9d elephant in the living room. The weight around our necks that had settled in after my father had died, the silent beast we tiptoed around and pretended not to see.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What was so well done with this story was how Trey struggled his mother’s alcoholism. <\/p>\n

It’s ugly.<\/p>\n

It’s difficult.<\/p>\n

Trey is angry–and justifiably so. He loves his mother, but he is tired of struggling to hold his family together because of his mothers addiction. To be honest, the scenes where Trey deals with his mother are heart-breaking, because there really IS no way to deal with someone who is slowly killing herself and taking Trey and his grandmother down with her.<\/p>\n

Disease<\/em>. My jaw got tight whenever I thought about the word. I hated that they called it that. Like that somehow made it okay to have. Like it made her a victim. I have heart disease. I have diabetes. I have colon cancer. I have depression. I have anxiety.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This part of the story was excellently done, and to be honest, was really the heart of the story.<\/p>\n

Vinnie’s problem is that his family is very Catholic, so he never was able to consider that he might be attracted to men, and once he considers it, has to deal with the fear that most of his family might ostracize him when they find out.<\/p>\n

And being Italian, they’re pushy about wanting him to get married and have kids, which makes him feel even more like they might reject him for being homosexual. Luckily, he has one sibling who he knows will stand by him regardless, but it is still a difficult thing to consider–be true to yourself and break with tradition and the possible risk of losing your family’s love and support.<\/p>\n

I did find the ending (epilogue) a little bit over the top and silly, but that’s okay, because everything that went before was fabulously well done.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Family Man (2017) Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton After three failed marriages, Vincent \u201cVinnie\u201d Fierro has started wondering whether he family and religion are why he has denied to himself so adamantly that he might be interested in guys. Trey Giles is working his way through school, one class at a time, while holding down […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,207,742,148,26,56],"tags":[403,50,544,648,570,573],"class_list":["post-11888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-mental-health-rep","category-physical-health","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-addiction","tag-boinking","tag-mm","tag-parental-addiction","tag-parental-alcoholism","tag-serious-illness"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-35K","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14257,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14257","url_meta":{"origin":11888,"position":0},"title":"Family Man","author":"Michelle","date":"April 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Family Man (2017) Heidi Cullinan & Marie Sexton \u201cYou can\u2019t stay with a brand of shampoo, Vinnie. You have commitment issues that have commitment issues.\u201d I worked over fifty hours most weeks. Thirty-four at the restaurant, the most they\u2019d give me, because even one more would require them to give\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Family Man","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/family-man.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22019,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22019","url_meta":{"origin":11888,"position":1},"title":"Family Man","author":"Michelle","date":"May 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Family Man (2013) Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton Vince is struggling with the fact that he still isn't properly settled down. It was finding out kids born the year he graduated high school were now legal to drink. And he's beginning to wonder if maybe it's because he's queer. Trey\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Family Man","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/family-man.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13556,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13556","url_meta":{"origin":11888,"position":2},"title":"Secrets in the Mist","author":"Michelle","date":"November 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Secrets in the Mist (2016) Anna Lee Huber (Gothic Myths) Set in England in 1812. Ella Winterton has been struggling since her brother died. Her mother's death troubled her father, but after her brother died fighting France, her father descended into alcoholism--an open secret that Ella can't admit even to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Secrets in the Mist","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Secrets-in-the-Mist.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13953,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13953","url_meta":{"origin":11888,"position":3},"title":"Jericho Candelario’s Gay Debut","author":"Michelle","date":"February 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Jericho Candelario's Gay Debut (2018) R. Cooper I am struggling pretty hard right now, so I needed a story that was going to let me feel things, but in a soft way, and that would be a hug. This is a love story in two parts. First, of Jericho's love\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jericho Candelarios Gay Debut","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Jericho-Candelarios-Gay-Debut.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21742,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21742","url_meta":{"origin":11888,"position":4},"title":"Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies","author":"Michelle","date":"March 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies (2022) Misha Popp (Pies Before Guys) Honestly, it's been almost two weeks and I'm still not certain how I feel about this book. Daisy Ellery has a dog, a pie truck, and the magic that runs in her family. Unfortunately, Daisy's magic seems to have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Magic-Lies-and-Deadly-Pies.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Magic-Lies-and-Deadly-Pies.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Magic-Lies-and-Deadly-Pies.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13344,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13344","url_meta":{"origin":11888,"position":5},"title":"Jericho Candelario’s Gay Debut","author":"Michelle","date":"August 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Jericho Candelario's Gay Debut (2018) R. Cooper Jericho Candelario has spent his adult life helping to raise his siblings and his niece. His father is now sober, but between his past alcoholism, his PTSD, and his health, he wasn't much help to the family after their mother left them. For\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jericho Candelarios Gay Debut","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Jericho-Candelarios-Gay-Debut.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11888\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}