Brad Greene is desperate and alone and trying to start over. With an interview at 10:00 a.m. the next morning, Brad is ready to hunker down for the night in his truck. A disturbance in the parking lot at the Flying J has Brad out of his truck and helping a guy out with a date gone wrong. Brad’s rescue efforts net him a milkshake as a thank you and Brad meets Danny. The following morning, Brad arrives at his interview with Hector Ortega and discovers that the cute gay guy from the night before is Hector’s son.

Brad gets the job he so desperately needs and a place to stay, taking him from homeless and unemployed to having a sense of hope for the future for the first time since his family found out he was gay. Brad enjoys his work, spending time with his new friend Danny and the whole Ortega clan, except Danny’s brother Ray. Brad refuses to let his friendship with Danny become more, much to Danny’s frustration.

Brad and Danny’s time together doesn’t help to keep their attraction at bay. However, Ray is keeping an eye on Brad and making not so subtle threats, and somehow tools are going missing at the worksite when Brad is the last person to use them. As much as he does not want to, Hector is forced to pay close attention to Brad and after two years of being singled out and bullied at Norton military academy, Brad has had enough. If he is not wanted, he will leave his new temporary home and figure something out.

Brad’s past won’t leave him alone, his mother wants him to return home to support his brother, and his awful coming out experience has left him afraid of any form of PDA. Danny cannot live a dual life, in the closet while in public, and in a loving relationship in private. Can the young men find a balance, a compromise that will make them both happy?

There was quite a bit going on in Nobody’s Hero, some of which I cannot address because it relates to a threat/mystery/suspense thread that was woven through the entire story. When we first meet Brad, we cannot help but feel for him, considering his back story, which Bailey doled out in nice, small doses. Now the fact that the guy Brad saves happens to be the son of the man Brad is meeting the following day could be considered entirely too coincidental, but knowing what life is like in small towns, I was more than able to see the plausibility in the events.

There were some great scenes in Nobody’s Hero, such as when the guys go on a camping trip with some of Danny’s family. This section was emotional, extremely well written, and moving. I also felt that both Brad and Danny were well portrayed as the 18 and 19 year olds that they were. It got me thinking back to my youth (I feel so old!), and yes, I remember being a stupid, oversexed teen at one point (but their questionable decisions still bugged the crap out of me). I seriously loved the Ortega clan. With their generous hearts and open mindedness, they exemplified family, giving without expecting anything in return. They gave unconditional acceptance, and because of that, they had blinders on when it came to one of their own, which worked perfectly into that thread I was mentioning earlier.

One of the things I liked about the story was that no one was perfect. Danny, Brad, nor any of the secondary characters was ever portrayed as perfect and so I felt that this added to the realism of the story because honestly, who among us is perfect?

I really did like this story. It was not what I was expecting based on the blurb, it was much, much more. I can definitely recommend Nobody’s Hero, but be warned, is gets mushy and a little cheesy at the end (awww!).

Brad is capable of taking care of himself, even though he’s only 18 years old. His parents forced him to figure out how to do that by kicking him out of their home and luxurious lifestyle for shaming them with his “choice” to be gay. Thanks to an unhappy two years at a Southern military school, he’s got the chops to defend himself and anyone else who comes along. It’s summer and he’s down to his last few dollars. Brad’s in the town where the college he plans to attend college on scholarships and has an appointment for a job interview.
Danny is 19, a student at the same college. He’s gay and has been out since he was 14. This evening he’s on a date set up by his older brother Ray, but the man turns out to be abusive and unwilling to accept that no means no. When Brad sees that Danny is in trouble he intervenes.
Danny quickly realizes that Brad is gay but that is not something Brad wants anyone to know. Thanks to his years with a family that did not accept who he was and further years in a military school where he was bullied Brad is firmly in the closet. When he shows up at Ortega Construction the next morning for his job interview and realizes this is Danny’s family’s business, he also believes he can’t have anything personal going on with the boss’s son.
The book is a story of the pull and push of Danny and Brad wanting each other but Brad pushing Danny away. When someone starts in motion actions that could drive the company into bankruptcy, and the blame falls on Brad, prospects don’t look good at all for Brad to not only keep his job, but stay out of jail, to say nothing of falling for Danny. Brad believes that when things look good something bad is about to happen and that turns out to be true.
Brad’s older brother did something so heinous it’s almost beyond belief but their parents want Brad to come home and help defend his brother in court. Brad says no but then something happens to change his mind. Will Danny understand and try to help Brad, or is their summer love over before school starts? This is a story with a good dose of angst, but it is tempered by some well-placed humor. The scene in which Danny and Brad play rock-paper-scissors to decide who is going to go buy fried chicken for a romantic picnic and who is going to go buy condoms and lube is priceless. Neither boy is a virgin but they are inexperienced enough that going into a drugstore where people know them to buy supplies for a sexual liaison is embarrassing. When someone completely unexpected shows up, well, I’ll leave it to you to enjoy this sweetly hilarious passage yourself.
J Leigh Bailey is a new-to-me author but I am definitely now a fan, looking forward to reading more of her work. I highly recommend this “new adult” story to anyone who enjoys seeing the awkwardness of the late teenaged years blossom into young adulthood and the love for another that will not be denied.