Jude Munro authored "Born for Leaving," a contemporary and LGBTQ+ romance novel that belongs to the New England State of Mind series. Intended for adult readers, the book includes explicit language, sexual scenes, and references to childhood trauma and abuse. The story centers around Oliver and Bodie, who meet as roommates when Oliver advertises for help with finances at his beachfront home. As they grow closer, they confront their past noncommittal tendencies and face challenges when life throws a curveball.

The protagonist's personality shines through in "Born for Leaving," as the story starts slowly, and the reader is hooked on his struggles to bring out his humorous side while responding to an ad. With each layer of the characters' personalities unveiled, the story becomes more intriguing, even for those who may not typically enjoy same-sex relationships. Jude Munro's writing style infuses realism into the characters, making it easy to root for them. The consistent narrative voice and crisp writing make for an enjoyable reading experience, while the vulnerable characters evoke empathy from readers. Bodie's troubled family background makes him a solid character with potential for growth. The portrayal of the relationship between Oliver and his boss adds emotional conflict and propels the plot forward. "Born for Leaving" delivers a perfect blend of pathos, beautifully-crafted scenes, and realism that readers crave.

I was not huge on the story and the relationship of the two characters. Others may really like this book.

2 somewhat confused stars

The whole time I read this book, I just felt off somehow. I wanted to like both the MCs but it seemed like there was this wall that I couldn't break past. Even with having Ollie's perspective, I felt like I didn't know him at all as the book progressed. I had even less of Bodie, so it was hard to connect with either character.
I also really struggled with the pacing of the book. It felt like things were moving too fast but also too slow at the same time. I also felt like I didn't understand the connection between Bodie and Ollie. Everything just read stilted and off-kilter for me.
I saw the potential of this book from the blurb, but overall, I was just left with a confused and surprised feeling.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

[🌟🌟🌟.5]
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TW : discussion of childhood sexual molestation, off-page coerced sexual relationship
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This book follows our two main characters: loner by choice and Strong Oliver, & the brooding cowboy and a loner by necessity Bodie. It's a very emotional romance with lts of triggering topics, so please keep that in mind.
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First, I absolutely loved the main characters. They were strong in their own sense and has amazing personalities. It's kind of a friends to lovers scenario with a bit of cowboy charm thrown in, so I loved that too. I loved the chemistry they both had and how they complimented one another with their personalities.
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Second, I liked that fact how the author discussed the abuse and coerced sex to one of the characters. It was neither made out to be an act of blaming nor was it sold short. It was addressed, and the character had support. Even though Bodie runs away, and Oliver is heartbroken, you experience the same emotions while reading the book.
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Now coming to the character development and storyline, I felt the flow of the story wasn't what I expected from this plotline, and that ending seemed a little abrupt. You don't get to take in the information before the book ends. Other than that, I liked the simple writing style and the open communication the characters had at the end. I really loved Bodie as a character and I want to protect him from the evils of the world to be honest. Overall, an amazing read and I loved the characters !
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Thank you @netgalley for the review copy!
Kindle/ Netgalley/ October 2020

This was a well written book and the story was very engaging. I liked the characters and they grew on me even more as the story progressed. They were both dealing with trust and attachment issues. Their relationship was very sweet and sensual. For the most part I thought it developed organically. I liked the way they both evolved as individuals and as a couple. The problems they faced in building the trust between them were realistic and well dealt with. My biggest issue with this was that there were some heavy topics and events and I thought the way the characters deal with them could have been expanded upon. At times I didn't really understand or believe the motivations behind their actions. I did like the way they both learned to assert themselves, and refused to be further victimised by things happened to them. All in all, it was a comforting story of two men regaining control, refusing to be defined by their past, and building a new life on their own terms.

This is an intriguing and dramatic sweetly romantic story. Oliver has had no luck with relationships, and he still works for his last lover, Jack. He's pretty much the manager of the bar Jack owns, because Jack is too busy doing other things to run it. Jack has been trying to get Oliver back since they broke up, but Oliver won't forgive him, or trust him again, because he cheated on Oliver. The bar gets wild during the summer tourist season and Oliver has to be bouncer on top of bartender since Jack made him fire the last one. Bodie has a very bad childhood, and his mother dumping him on her sister, never to be seen again, was the start of his leaving. He wasn't wanted at his aunt's, so he left as soon as he graduated from high school. He traveled all over the place, never staying long. His newest job brought him to the little beach town to be the bouncer at Jack's bar and it turns out that he'll be renting a room from Oliver fir the summer. Jack immediately tries to get Bodie into bed, but Bodie refuses. Jack keeps up the pressure on both Oliver and Bodie, Oliver also has another admirer but Oliver and Bodie become closer the longer they know each other, but Bodie has some serious baggage from his childhood. Oliver is a sweet and caring guy, Bodie is a shy, vulnerable guy and Jack is a jerk. Bodie is overcoming his issues and Oliver is opening his heart again. I couldn't put it down, it was just that fascinating.

4.5 stars

Jude Munro is a new-to-me author, so I went into this story with no expectations whatsoever. I was intrigued by the blurb, the characters mentioned in it and by the trigger warnings. I was interested in knowing how these two men, who had apparently gone through some very serious trauma if the trigger warning was anything to go by, would come together and make a lasting connection.

I soon found it easy to see how Oliver and Bodie could come together as a couple. I knew from the get-go that it would not be an easy relationship and I'm glad that the author didn't shy away from bringing in the drama and making these two work for their happily ever after.

Both men had suffered their own type of abuse and had overcome some of it enough to make a life of their own, but the scars still lingered and their self-confidence suffered along the way. Sometimes it infuriated me to see how they continued to put themselves in situations that allowed for more suffering, but then again, who am I to judge? I've never been through any kind of trauma and I understand that in the end people have their own way of handling their issues. Both Oliver and Bodie dealt with them in an unhealthy way, but ultimately it seemed to work for them. In the end, I decided to accept it as fact and focus on the story without adding my own judgement to the mix.

Once I did that, I was able to really connect with the characters and cheer them on towards their HEA. The way the author went about bringing their connection to the page had a lot to do with my ability to get over my doubts too. I enjoyed their talks and those candid moments when they both lowered their walls to let the other one in. Some of those encounters were short and sweet showcasing their connection, others were filled with sadness, shame and regret which only made that much more determined to see this story through. But the emotion that touched me the most was the longing these two men had for something more.

All in all, I think the author did an amazing job of bringing this story to the page with the right mix of emotion, angst and romance for it to engage the reader and make them invested in the outcome.

This book was really swoon-worthy. and I loved the fact that both characters had angst/wounds that were meaningful and yet not overwhelming. Each of the protagonists contributed to the other's healing while at the same time developing a love between them.

It also approaches a serious issue -- male on male rape-- that doesn't get much notice in m/m romance, and yet is an important one.

I love the background details of this beachfront town but wish it was a little clearer where it is-- Maine? The Carolinas?

I'm very divided about this book. The relationship between Bodie and Oliver moved a bit too quickly for me in the beginning without giving the readers a chance to get to know Brodie as a character. The thing that was written very well was the sexual harassment and how difficult it is to escape a toxic work environment like that. I really liked Hugo. He is a wonderful doggo.

Really really enjoyed this book. At times it was heavy to read and both the protagonists struggle with trauma so it isn't an easy read. But it was still sweet and hopeful. Recommend it very much but be aware that there a quite a few triggers (mention of child abuse, attempted rape, sexual coersion).

Very well written and a real page-turner. It wasn't so much that you had to know what happened next in the plot as the writing just made it hard to put down. I loved the characters and the way they navigated around each other.

I went into Jude Munro’s Born for Leaving with a completely open mind. I read the précis and the trigger warnings so I thought I was prepared. But this novel still hit me hard, and that’s saying a lot. There’s so much emotion in this story, and both men’s experiences are raw and real. While this is not a warm and fuzzy romance, it makes for an unsettling, and highly rewarding, journey. Jude Munro is out to push our buttons, and for me, she succeeds.

A welcome respite from the intensity of the plot, is the charm of the setting in Born for Leaving. Gillamour is a remote island off the coast of New England, and Jude Munro paints an exquisite picture. Descriptions of warm, sandy beaches, restaurants both rustic and chic, and dazzling sunrises, help temper the emotion and drama.

Told entirely from Oliver’s point of view, the characters develop gradually. After the first tentative steps toward building a friendship, the men slowly open up to each other and reveal their stories. While their mutual attraction is obvious from the start, there's no doubt they both recognize they’ve a long way to go… and clearly have no idea if they can even get there.

Oliver is torn between his physical desire for Bodie, and his genuine interest in simply making a friend. (And complicating everything more, Bodie only plans to stay on Gillamour till the end of the summer.) Oliver is incredibly lonely, and while opening his home to a boarder is a good first step, he’s going to have to learn to open his mouth as well. Bodie is even less gregarious than Oliver, and it turns out it’s their resistance to letting folks in which makes them well matched.

As the men craft a relationship, their quest for a peaceful romance is sorely tested. After the abuses both men have suffered, it’s not surprising they have no idea how to advocate for themselves, but I was practically tearing my hair out over the choices they make.

Finding it difficult to open up and be truthful, the way these two communicate had me wanting to smack them both upside the head! It made it frustrating at times, not being able to really relate to either of them, but in the end, it resulted in me thoroughly appreciating Jude Munro’s skill as an author. To bring me so completely out of my comfort zone, to grow to care for these guys, and even begin to like them, is an incredible experience.

I’m intrigued by the folks who make up the community of Gillamour Island. For me, getting to know them through Oliver’s eyes is where Born for Leaving really shines as a novel. Each character has an interesting story, of which I’d love to know more, and it’s my hope that Ms. Munro plans to explore them all in future episodes of this New England State of Mind series.

I received a complimentary copy of Born for Leaving in exchange for an honest review. A m/m romance is not my typical genre, but it was well written with a good underlying story. There are some dark themes that come into play, but they were tastefully introduced into the plot.

I wasn't crazy for Oliver. He seemed to be a huge pushover, and put himself into a lot of precarious situations which Brodie always had to save him from. Brodie, was the opposite. He was strong, determined, and not afraid to stand up for what he wanted or what he thought was best. It's too bad Brodie couldn't have found a stringer partner, but they made it work.

I didn't love or hate this book. If you can handle dark themes, sexual assault, and a m/m relationship this would be a good read. If not, I'd recommend trying something different.

4.5 Stars
This review was published on Joyfully Jay and can be accessed here: https://joyfullyjay.com/2020/09/review-born-for-leaving-by-jude-munro-aka-mia-kerick/



Oliver Tunstead is a 25-year-old mixologist with a beachfront cottage on Gillamour Island and a hankering for a yellow convertible VW. With his limited funds, the only way Oliver can afford it is to take in a tenant for his empty guest room, and the rent would cover a good faith downpayment to his dad who would buy the car and allow him to make installments. Oliver is an introvert, however, and struggles with people in his personal space. The quirky ad he finds for a man seeking a room to rent on the island for the summer makes this big personal move seem ideal.

Bodie is willing to share snacks and pay cash to be a tenant, with the stipulation that he only plans to stay from the Memorial Day to Labor Day holidays. That’s perfect for Oliver, who doesn’t plan to make friends with this “man in a Stetson.” Oliver likes his solitude, and he protects it fiercely from his overbearing and snooping mother and his inappropriate and lurking ex, Jack, who happens to be his do-nothing boss at the beach bar Surf’s Up. Right now, because their last bouncer got fired for being lewd, Oliver is manning the bar and tossing out the drunk and surly, allowing Jack to either ogle patrons, make innuendoes Oliver heartily rebuffs, or hide in his office to pout and play Candy Crush. Oliver catches the ire of a particularly beefy drunk one night, and a tall, strong, sexy man in a cowboy hat ends up helping him boot the guy out. He’s only a customer that night, but Oliver’s rescuer is soon revealed to be Bodie, the new bar bouncer and Oliver’s new roommate.

There’s a lot of chemistry between ‘Ollie,’ as only Bodie calls him, and Bodie, but it’s like lightning in a bottle—immediate and dangerous. Jack picks up on their mutually protective behavior, while pressuring both Oliver and Bodie for sex in the bar’s employee lounge—either alone or together. Jack’s a creep, but Oliver has an even worse menace being kept at bay by Bodie’s strong fists and eagle eyes. Their friendship develops quickly, due to proximity at work and home, and aided by mutual care for Oliver’s aging Labrador. Intimacy, both emotional and physical, is new for Bodie, who’s survived childhood molestation and abandonment. Oliver’s own reticence for pushy people enables him to be a quiet and compassionate friend, and a caring outlet for the kind of physical intimacy that Bodie has never previously sought.

This story has a lot of trauma, both current and historical, for these characters. The trigger warning is real. Expect frank discussion of child rape, and some brutal moments for both Oliver and Bodie that end in more sexual trauma—both on and off the page. They struggle to find peace because of their wariness that anyone they let close might/will hurt them. For Oliver, he knows that Bodie’s time on Gillamour is finite, so he doesn’t want to be shattered when then most compassionate and passionate man he’s ever known disappears. For Bodie, no one’s ever wanted him to stick around, not his mom or his aunt, and he’s never had a lover or even a true friend in his adolescent or adult life. He’s twenty-eight, and he’s hardly lived in the same place for more than 6 months since he graduated high school and walked away from his hideous family. Even if Ollie wants him to stay, Jack’s machinations are making that a difficult prospect. It seems that Ollie is repairing the damage of years of his mom’s prying surveillance, yet it’s Jack’s malice that temporarily derails Ollie’s dreams of a healthy relationship with a good man.

This story does a lot of emotional work on its characters, who are the kindest, more generous folks. I loved every moment of Ollie and Bodie and how they supported each other, even when it seems they are making bad decisions. They mutual confidences in Ollie’s dog are sweet, and their tentative and tender forays into physical intimacy have a gravitas, even as they are a revelation for both men. I really enjoyed this story, and was thoroughly gratified that there are happy endings in abundance.

Born for Leaving has every imaginable trigger warning applied to it. The level of assault that happens is really quite frightening. I am pleased to see that the author has added the list of triggers to the goodreads description.

Oliver is working a low paid bar job with his ex boyfriend as manager, his heart is set on a little yellow car and he wants nothing more than to escape. In order to buy the little yellow car he decides he will rent the small spare room in his quaint beach side cottage. Enter Bodie, he's brash, he's a loner, he has numerous secrets but he's also HOT. But has Oliver learnt his lesson of not dating work colleagues?!

Bodie fully has fight or flight engaged but can Oliver become the anchor and family he's been looking for?

For me the lack of self help for the characters really unsettled me, I loved their love but I also worry that if there was a sequel they would no longer be together as they are using each other for emotional stability.

There are several things that I did not like about this book and what I am about to say contains spoilers and discussions about sensitive topics such as: rape, sexual assault and physical violence.

I found the narration very superficial and I didn't connect with the personality of each character and their relationships. Along the same lines, I felt that many things happened in a short time and everything to create drama that was not necessary. I think it's a book that uses problems to bring characters together instead of developing deep relationships.

The "drama" that is constantly being used is various near-sexual assault scenes, and for me that's a big problem. Sexual assault shouldn't be used so lightly, so quickly, and so misinformed. I'm not saying that there cannot be books that have this type of scenes, only that it should be approached in a better way. It reminds me of many heterosexual romance novels where the female lead is about to be raped and is saved by the romantic interest just to create this "hero" idea.

Munro's premise here is simple: beach-town bar worker Oliver needs to rent his spare room for a few months in order to raise some money. He's been burned in his previous relationship (with his boss at the bar), so he's not looking for anything beyond a quick and impersonal renting situation - and those expectations are trashed when the renter he accepts, Bodie, is a) also the new bouncer at his bar, b) drop-dead gorgeous, and c) attracted to him. There follows a series of melodramatic obstacles (Bodie's personal family trauma, rancor from that scorned boss, a weirdly unincarcerated rapist with eyes for Oliver, etc.), and Munro writes them with a conviction appealing enough to make readers look forward to the next installment.

This is a beautifully written M/M Romance with some serious dark overtones. As much as I loved it, reading it left me in a melancholy state of mind. Bode and Oliver are two extremely complex characters that as a couple-- fit together like two pieces of a puzzle- this combination is the only option. They are meant to be together.

I loved the vivid beach town backdrop. The relaxed, lazy atmosphere plays perfectly with the intensity of the story. There are some wonderful supporting characters to love here too. And, of course, then there's Jack.

Despite the sometimes sad, often melancholy feel-- there is the feeling of hope. I really connected with this on many levels. It's haunting.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There is really no way to categorize this as a sweet romance because there was a LOT about Born for Leaving that the characters went through that was far from sweet. So much so that the author has left trigger warnings that some readers probably pay close attention to. What was sweet was the relationship between Oliver and Bodie, if they could have lived in their own little bubble, things would have been great for them. *sigh*

A lot of the trauma that Bodie and Oliver went through was in their past, but it definitely affected their present lives. Granted, as debilitating as Oliver's childhood was, it was nothing compared to Bodie's. They were both survivors though. I loved both of them and the slow burn between them was perfect.

As much as I loved Bodie and Oliver, there were quite a few characters in Born for Leaving that were just as easy to hate. One character in particular was devious enough to find a way to push just hard enough to come between Bodie and Oliver. Trust is a fragile thing and although I spent time internally screaming at Bodie and Oliver, it only took one interaction to throw everything away.

Although this is the first book written by Jude Munro, I know from reading several books by Mia Kerrick that this author is not afraid to face tough issues head on. She has a knack for totally breaking characters (and reader's hearts) and slowly putting them back together. Although everything that Bodie and Oliver went through was totally heartbreaking, they came out stronger in the end. And that's what makes reading books like Born for Leaving totally worth it.

Born for Leaving by Jude Munro

A newspaper request for a place to rent
A man with a room available to rent
A bartender and a bouncer will share a house
Two men with potential to become more than roommates

This was a sweet story with the promise of love, safety, a sense of belonging and “home” for Oliver and Bodie. Both men have trust issues and are a bit silent and rather distant from others but do make a connection with one another. The question is whether or not the one “born for leaving” will decide to stay or leave once again.

What I liked:
* Oliver: a mixologist-bartender with debts and dreams. He has a home, a dog and has been burned in love. He knows what he wants but it might take time for him to get everything he wants.
* Bodie: a strong rather silent man but still waters run deep. He had a difficult childhood and has reasons for keeping himself apart. He is a jack of all trades that feels safe rooming with Oliver
* The relationship that builds between Oliver and Brodie – sweet and charming and filled with hope
* Hugo – a special yellow lab that is special to both Oliver and Bodie, too.
* Sam and his daughter LeeLee, Mika and Nico – great friends and colleagues of Oliver and later of Bodie, too.
* The way the friends looked out for one another
* The information about mixology that was shared
* That the story did not veer away from tough subjects
* The way the story made me think and care and feel while hoping for a HEA for the two men
* Knowing that there was a good future for the people I learned to care about in the story

What I did not like:
* Knowing that the tougher issues faced by both Oliver and Bodie are confronted daily by people in the real world. People should not have to put up with harassment at work, child abuse, attempted rape/rape, etc
* Having to say goodbye to the characters when the story ended

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars