Cory Easton is a tattoo artist working at Raw Ink. From the outside, he’s happy go lucky, known for being very talkative. On the inside, he struggles with the physical and emotional pain of the death of his boyfriend. He also has a habit of always falling for guys who are straight as an arrow. When he eyes the mysterious sexy skateboarder, he knows he is in trouble with a capital T.

Jude York is a relatively new arrival in town, but there are plenty of rumors speculating why he it there. Taking protection from the local motorcycle club, he spends his days working at the skateboard shop or riding at the park. For Jude, his past has taught him not to set down roots or get close to anyone, because everything is temporary. He hides away in his silence.

When Cory’s pup takes a liking to Jude, Cory barrels into Jude’s life. Jude comes into Raw Ink for a tattoo from Cory and finds that Cory starts breaking down those barriers he’s erected. As the barriers start falling, Cory wonders how much he really wants to know about Jude’s past, especially when Jude tells him it isn’t safe for him to know.

This book is a stand-alone story in Christina Lee’s Between Breaths series. Usually I am wary of reading something out of order in a series, but I didn’t feel as if I was missing anything by not having read the other books. I should note that the first four in the series are M/F, while this is a M/M romance. Don’t let that scare you off — the author does a fabulous job of crossing over into the M/M genre with this story.

I was hooked after the first chapter. A tattoo artist…a skateboarder with a British accent…two pups, one of which is an escape artist. Throw in a motorcycle gang and Jude’s mysterious past and you’ve got the makings of a great romantic suspense/intrigue.

The two protagonists are so similar, yet very different. Both lost their parents, both adore dogs, both love riding motorcycles, and both carry scars from their past. Yet, one talks to escape the silence while the other thrives on silence. It is really hard not to fall in love with Cory. He’s outgoing. He takes care of his grandma who raised him after his parents’ deaths. He took in his ex-short term boyfriend’s dog even though the dog really doesn’t like him all that much. The fact that Cory struggles to control his brain-to-mouth connection and has a habit of over talking made him all that much more adorable.

Jude, on the other hand, is a bit harder to like initially, mainly because he just doesn’t talk. Even simple questions, he wouldn’t answer. As he began opening up, I found myself liking him more and more. By the end of the book, I was as much in love with Jude as I was with Cory.

Jude knows the secret to getting Cory to stop talking! Seems Cory’s mouth forgets how to work when other parts of his anatomy are otherwise occupied. Oh yes, the sex scenes are smoking hot between these two.

The suspense/intrigue part of the story was a bit more difficult for me to buy into. The idea of a motorcycle gang teaming up with the feds by offering protection to Jude in exchange for them looking the other way on other things, seemed a bit forced given that most motorcycle gangs are anti-police to begin with. The author does manage to spin the tale to make it believable.

My biggest pet peeve about this book was that the cover of the book just doesn’t go with this story. I know, never judge a book by its cover… A glimpse of the cover leaves one thinking straight-laced college student, when in fact you have a tattoo artist and a skateboarder with dreads. I would have liked to have seen something close to what one, or both, of the main characters looked like.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. I liked how the author grabbed my attention from the start and kept me interested as Cory began to draw Jude out. I loved seeing the two of them go from strangers to friends to lovers. I loved that the secondary characters played secondary roles, adding to the story but not taking the focus away from the growing romance between Cory and Jude. I would definitely be looking for this author to write more M/M romance in the future.

This book was emotionally exhausting and not in a good way. Just overwrought and unnecessarily dramatic.

Cory Easton is more than a bit infatuated with Jude York. Cory tends to walk his dog in the park so that he can watch Jude riding his skateboard. Unfortunately every time he talks to Jude, Cory finds himself tripping over his words – and Jude says little to nothing, giving Cory the impression that he doesn’t like Cory at all. Cory isn’t sure if Jude is gay so he’s also unsure as to whether he should try to make a move or not.

Jude ends up making an appointment with Cory to get a tattoo done on his back. When he disrobes Cory sees the horrible scars that are on his back that the tattoo will cover. This brings up even more questions but again, Jude is being the strong, silent type. Cory manages to break the tension with some yes/no questions and this gets Jude’s mouth moving.

Eventually Jude and Cory start to converse on more than a one syllable level and Cory discovers that Jude likes Cory as well. The problem is that there are still so many secrets surrounding Jude that Cory’s not sure he should get involved. Jude has some sort or relationship with the local MC and Cory doesn’t want to get involved in that. Jude, however, proves to be worth whatever trouble comes Cory’s way.

This was a pretty intense romance between Jude and Cory. We didn’t know much about Jude at first and as more information filtered in I wasn’t exactly sure that Cory should get involved with him. Jude proved that he was worth the trouble and Cory stuck by him even when Jude’s life went a bit haywire.

The relationship between the two men was pretty stilted at first and even throughout most of the first part of the book. I would have liked that part to have gone a little quicker but the continued sexual tension between the two men truly made it all worth it when they finally got together. They were a very hot, sweet couple and I really enjoyed reading about them.

If you’ve been reading the Between Breaths series then I don’t think you should miss this one. If you haven’t (then why not!?) then this will read as a great m/m standalone as well.

Rating: 4 out of 5

DNF.....this book wasn't for me. I won't be formally reviewing or rating this book. It has nothing to do with the author or writing, I just couldn't connect with the story.

I didn't realize when I requested this book that it was a M/M story and I tried to read it and give it a try but it didn't work for me.

Another gorgeous, romantic book from one of my favorite authors. This definitely had a different feel to it from the earlier books in this series, but that was expected, as this is more on the Adult side than New Adult. I still adored it all the same. I became attached to our two heroes. Christina Lee has a way of making her characters so three-dimensional that they stick with me even after I've finished the book. There You Stand was beautifully romantic -- the kind that makes you hold your breath and then squeal to yourself. I found myself doing this more than once while reading.

All in all, There You Stand was a gorgeous book that I find msyelf recommending again and again to friends who love m/m romance.

really good book. would read more than once! It was funny, interesting and it made me swoon!! The two main characters had so much chemistry. I cant wait to read more of Christina Lee's work. She comes out with some amazing stuff.