Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway: The Wild Within by Gwen Martin

05 January of 2024 by ButtonsMom2003

The Wild Within By Gwen Martin

Genre: Contemporary Romance, GLBTQ, MM

Tropes: Brother’s best friend, forced proximity, age-gap, hurt/comfort, bi-polar rep

Released: December 28, 2023

Publisher: Self-Published

Series: The Collective, Book 1

Length: 356 pages

Cover Design: We Got You Covered Book Design

Photographer: Xram Ragde

Synopsis

“I know you’ve been living in survival mode, but maybe it’s time to accept that you deserve to be loved.”

Duncan Maxwell’s days revolve around helping others, so when his best friend needs Duncan to drive his younger brother around, he doesn’t hesitate to say yes. A little less sleep is an easy price to pay to improve someone else’s life, and many of Chance’s appointments are at The Collective, where he volunteers. It also doesn’t hurt that Chance is charming, funny, and . . . attractive.

Chance’s world spirals into a blur of adjusted medications and support groups and therapy appointments after his recent bipolar diagnosis.

He can’t complain, though, because most people don’t have the support that his brother affords him. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, he focuses on not being a burden and searches for life beyond his diagnosis—maybe even a life with Duncan.

But while Chance struggles to tame the wildness within himself, he watches Duncan silently push himself past the brink of exhaustion. In his desperate attempts to help find balance, has Chance caused Duncan to destroy his own?

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Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

I loved this book!

This was a difficult story to read in some ways but it was also inspirational. Mental illness is not something that is written about very often and people with it are often shunned.

Chance is struggling with his newly diagnosed bi-polar condition but at least he now knows what’s been behind his erratic behavior for several years. His brother has given him a place to live and is very supportive but Chance wants to become independent. His brother travels a lot for his job so his best friend, Duncan, is helping Chance get to his various appointments. I felt the strong connection between these to guys. I liked how supportive Duncan is and how Chance is supportive of secondary character, Nik. I loved the epilogue, set 2 years later. It was wonderful to see how Duncan and Chance were doing. I will definitely be reading the next book in this series.

This was a well written novel and the subject matter is one that needs to receive more positive representation.

Note: I don’t see any trigger warnings for this story but I think there should be. It deals with difficult subject matter including suicidal thoughts.

♥♥♥♥♥

O Factor: Spicy

The Collective Series

♥ Amazon US ♥ Amazon CA ♥ Amazon UK ♥

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Giveaway

$25 Amazon Give Card

Direct link to giveaway.

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About Author

Gwen Martin is from Florida where the sun was always shining, and the humidity is always high. In 2020 she and her partner moved to Knoxville for a change of scenery with their five cats, and a whole lot of dreams.

Writing came to her at a young age, where she scribbled stories instead of paying attention to math lessons. She spent many years in fandom, exploring her writing opportunities before deciding to take the dive into self-publishing.

Gwen has a strong love affair with cold brew coffee, black cats, and nerding out in a variety of fandoms. When she’s not writing, she’s reading everything she can get her hands on, crocheting compulsively while listening horror gamer playthroughs, and vibing to spotify playlists for inspiration. And best of all, loving the best creatures on earth—her harem of gatos.

Author Links