top of page
JB Richards
Nov 15, 20193 min read

"Starting Over: Book 1 (The Knights Club)" by C.J. Baty - IHIBRP 4-Star Book Review


A Gay Romance Filled With Plenty Of Suspense & Drama!

Overview: Club owner, Xavier Knight, and former cop, Sebastian Brady, have a lot to learn from each other. And hopefully, their growing love will survive Xavier’s past, Seb’s family, as well as a host of intriguing characters with ties to the Knights Club.

C.J. Baty writes an intriguing story about two men falling in love and the impact their pasts are having on their current familial and professional relationships. With a definitive theme based on self-esteem, family, acceptance, adolescent issues, past romantic relationships, and the influential bonds—forged or broken—between fathers and sons, this tale is as psychologically compelling as it is provocative.

Baty’s plotline is tense, highly sexually-charged, and suspenseful. Protagonists, Xavier and Sebastian, are confronted with both uplifting and heartbreaking issues as they separately live complicated lives that intertwine through common relationships before they finally personally connect. There exists a genuine sense of romance between these two likable men that is quite natural and not at all forced.

It is, perhaps, unfortunate that aside from her two main characters, Baty bases the majority of her cast on some rather stereotypical, if not exaggerated, male characters—including extremely homophobic and abusive macho Southern cops, a “wife-beater-clad” hot Latino bartender, and a gaggle of professional boy-toys. There also exists a sense that the plotline of this story comes to an abrupt halt to hurry and pave the way for a subsequent chapter based on another key character in the Knights Club series.

On the plus side (And, it’s a big plus.) this male-on-male romance does shine a light on the unwarranted violence, discrimination, and romantic pitfalls that many gay men must still deal with in today’s society despite the supposed modernization of majority opinion and law. One feels for Sebastian in particular—for the horrible and nearly sadistic abuse his father doled out on a son who wanted nothing more than his love and acceptance, who never wanted to follow in his illustrious footsteps, and who did absolutely nothing wrong in preferring men over women.

“Starting Over” is a homosexual romance filled with suspense and plenty of drama. It is also a statement about our current culture’s need to be more accepting and inclusive of others who have the same right to fall in love as everyone else, who engage in mutual adult consensual relationships, and who have the right to be who they were born to be.

“Starting Over” contains adult themes, violence, and graphic sexual situations. I recommend this read for adults only—ages 18 and over.

Find "Starting Over: Book 1 (The Knights Club)" by C.J. Baty on Amazon & Kindle here.

IHIBRP, IHI Book Review Project, IHIBRP Round 19, Book Review, Book Review Blogger, IHIBRP Blog, Indieverse, Author JB Richards, Indie Author, Amazon, Kindle, Goodreads, Ebooks, Reading Community, Recommended Reads, Kindle Unlimited, Kindle Short Reads, LGBTQ, Male on Male Romance, Gay Fiction, Gay Romance, LGBTQ Reads, Adult Reads, Starting Over, The Knights Club, C.J. Baty,

+++++

Have You Heard About My Award-Winning IHI Book Review Project?!

Are you an Indie Author with less than 15 Amazon reviews? If so, you may be eligible for my IHI Book Review Project! You’ll receive an IHIBRP Book Review that will be featured on my blogs at The Writers Block & Goodreads, an Amazon “verified purchase” review, and a promotion of your IHIBRP review on Facebook and Twitter. But wait… there’s more—Should your book qualify as an IHIBRP 5 Star Recommended Read, you’ll earn an Award Badge which can then be affixed to the cover of your work to tell the world this is an exceptional read! The best part is, there’s absolutely no catch and no hoops to jump through—All I ask is that you pay-it-forward to our Indie community! Interested? Check out my award-winning IHI Book Review Project here!

And, how would you like to receive regular notifications about our Award-Winning IHIBRP 5 Star Recommended Reads and book reviews, FREE access to our Indieverse Resource Library—containing all the latest services, resources, blogs, and insider tips for Indie authors and readers, and updates about all the latest reads from me, Author JB Richards, and my author team—the Indie Fabs? Simply subscribe to our newsletter right here!

10 views0 comments
bottom of page