TEST
I foolishly start every Ashe novel thinking he can’t possibly top his last book. I finish each one and then decide it’s my new favorite. They Told Me I Was Everything is another winner, and the slow burn romance between the principal characters is challenging and frustrating, and wonderful and lovely, too. Opposites attract when Theo Stratford, a college professor at Wroxall College (in Wahredua, Missouri – the setting for the Hazard and Somerset books), and Auggie Lopez, a Wroxall freshman, get caught up in a murder investigation. The plot is complex and engrossing, and the evolving relationship between Theo and Auggie is… well, let’s just say It’s Complicated. And sweet. And totally worth your time and attention.
Auggie needs a fresh start. A social media influencer with a massive fan following, Auggie lives his life burying his true self (and his sexuality) in the hopes of one day scoring a lucrative sponsorship deal. When he arrives at Wroxall, Auggie is determined to put a messy past behind him, and focus on building his social media brand. TTMIWE kicks off after his older half-brother Fer helps move him into his dorm. He fills the time before the start of classes adding content to his various social media accounts, getting to know his roommate Orlando, and pledging and partying at the Sigma Sigma frat. Tired and angry from the need to constantly hide his true self, Auggie is sobering up outside the frat house after a party when another student – Robert – asks to bum a smoke. Confessing to Robert that he wants to go for a drive and “fuck some shit up,” Robert steals a Porsche 911 and the pair hit the road. When their headlights pick up a man standing in the middle of the road, Auggie barely avoids hitting him by crashing into a drainage ditch. Scared and angry, he exits the car and starts screaming at the man. The man punches Auggie before Robert pulls him off – but the sound of sirens sends Robert running away. It’s an abrupt return to the reality of the mess Auggie’s made of his life. Again.
Injured in the car crash that killed his husband Ian and destroyed their family months before, Theo dulls his pain with alcohol and painkillers. Late Saturday night, he’s exhausted – by his bus and bike commute (he’s still afraid to get behind the wheel of his car), from prepping lectures, from dodging sympathetic colleagues, and long days of trying to figure out what the hell he was doing, he’s taken a Percocet and even though he knows its stupid, is working his way through a four-pack of beer. He’s lonely and tired and sad, and decides to go outside to escape his house. Disoriented, slightly drunk and dulled by the Percocet, he sees a car approaching him and then the sound of screeching brakes and a crash. He charges the first kid out of the car, the driver, and drops him with a punch, and then finds himself wrestling in the ditch with the passenger. Theo recognizes the second kid as Robert Poulson, who had come to his office earlier that week. Robert flees at the sound of sirens, leaving him with the young kid he punched. Already regretting the entire night, Theo is dismayed to also recognize the cop at his side – it’s Howie Cartwright, his husband Ian’s best friend on the force.
Auggie can’t believe it when he realizes his professor is the stranger who lied to the police and told them it was Robert driving the wrecked Porsche. Theo is equally surprised and when he spots Auggie, he promptly points to the door and escorts him out of the room. Despite Theo’s attempts to force him to drop the class, Auggie refuses. The pair return to the classroom; just as Auggie is about to turn off his phone, he clicks a new notification and watches a video that’s just loaded. It shows Auggie driving the stolen Porsche and screaming obscenities, then it cuts to Auggie and Theo standing together on the road, and concludes with footage of a hooded man being dragged by his arms and screaming for help. When the video ends, the screen fades to black with you just saw a murder in stark white text.
Things go from bad to terrible when a panicked Auggie rushes back to his dorm only to find a stranger waiting for him. The stranger asks Auggie where he can find Robert, but when Auggie tells him he has no idea where Robert is, the man hits him. An increasingly desperate Auggie tries to convince him he doesn’t really know Robert, but it only makes the man more violent. When he finally leaves – after Auggie offers to find Robert, Auggie knows he needs help. Aside from Robert, the only other person who knows what happened… is Theo. But before he can ask Theo for help…ha! That’s all I’m saying! Let’s just say Auggie meets up with a few more nasty strangers before he finally reaches Theo – who saves him, and from this inauspicious beginning the pair are drawn into a complicated web of intrigue and murder, forced to work together to stay alive. Trust me, you’ll be glad I kept the details vague. Following along with Theo and Auggie as they ‘work’ the case and follow the clues is a pleasure in and of itself, and I don’t want to spoil any of Ashe’s clever plotting.
The murder investigation is only one part of what makes this book so addictive and entertaining. Aside from his superbly well written stories and clever, complex plots, the best part of any Ashe story is his principal characters, and TTMIWE is no exception. Ashe novels feature memorable, loveable, flawed men who struggle to find love and happiness – and he puts them (and us!) through the wringer as they find their way to a happily ever after. After the death of his husband, an emotionally and physically wrecked Theo can barely face the home he once shared with Ian, and his self-destructive behavior is only getting worse. Worried and well-meaning friends try and help him, but until he meets Auggie he’s nearly given up on happiness. Auggie wakes him up, bringing light and joy (and humor and lust) whenever they’re together. He’s still a confused mess – but he finally sees a future outside of booze and pills. Meanwhile, Auggie has spent a lifetime hiding behind an “everything is great,” persona and he’s exhausted. He finally feels ‘seen’ by Theo, and doesn’t hide who he is when they’re together. They find comfort in their time together, despite the fact that other than troubling childhoods, they have little in common. Theo is an unapologetic luddite, while Auggie is a savvy social media star who tries to ‘help’ Theo with technology (using it to find many of the clues that help them solve the case). Some of the funniest, laugh out loud moments are those that showcase Theo trying (and failing) to keep up with Auggie on social media. I giggled my way through these parts.
Before I mislead you about this love story let me be clear. Theo and Auggie won’t be in a romantic relationship anytime soon. This series has S-L-O-W burn written all over it, and if you can’t stomach either man in a relationship with someone else on the road to happily ever after, this might not be the story for you. Both leads have a LOT of growing – and in Auggie’s case, maturing – to do before they’re ready to be together. Fortunately, this pairing promises to be one of Ashe’s best. Theo and Auggie are absolutely meant to fall in love, and I can’t wait to see how this talented author helps them find their way to a happily ever after.
TTMIWE has all the hallmarks of what makes Ashe such a terrific storyteller – clever and complex plotting, compelling principal characters, a fantastic cast of secondary characters that round out the novel, and vivid settings that come alive in his capable hands. And a cameo (or two) from a younger John Henry Somerset!! They Told Me I Was Everything is one of the best books of the year.
Note: This title was previously released as a daily serial to members of the author’s mailing list; book two in the series, Yet a Stranger, is now being serialised and readers can sign up HERE.
Buy it at: Amazon or shop at your local independent retailer
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Grade: A
Book Type: Romantic Suspense
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 05/11/20
Publication Date: 10/2020
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
I love romance novels - all kinds.
I love music - some kinds.
I have strong opinions about both and I like to share them.
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I haven’t tried Ashe yet but am curious what Missouri town he might have based the fictional Wahredua on? How big is the town? Is it supposed to be like Joplin or Springfield? Or much smaller?
Good question:) I have no idea, but I’ll try to find out!
I no nothing about any towns in Missouri but there doesn’t seem a lot about the fictional Wahredua that I would like to visit – except maybe the Wahredua Family Bakery, which is mentioned in TTMIWE but I think also gets a mention in H & S?
‘Know’
OMG, I was only a teacher for 40 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And maybe the Big Biscuit ;)
I think the time frame IS right for what Auggie is doing on Instagram etc. He is just one of the first people to be doing it.
In the second book, Auggie is annoyed because he’s started posting on a new platform – Snapchat – as well as his other platforms, so he’s having to spend more time on it. Google tells me that Snapchat did a major update in October 2013 that enabled the creation of Stories…………
We would call Auggie a ‘social influencer’ now, but I’m pretty sure that term isn’t used in the books.
I can’t remember whether Ian is referred to as Theo’s husband, ‘husband’ or partner but would be really surprised if Mr Ashe got that wrong.
Thank you for clarifying.
Ian is definitely referred to as Theo’s husband, and not his partner. I’m not sure if they were married somewhere else? I’m going to go back and check.
Yes, I was thinking the same thing!
Re. age – I’ve got it fixed in my mind that Theo was 27 and Auggie was 18 in TTMIWE but I could have made that up!
I’ll definitely have to check or it will bug me. Luckily, I’ve just finished Joanna Chamber’s Enlightenment series so need to read something completely different next………….
I checked in TTMIWE, and the word “decade” is used, so there you go :)
I’ve finished rereading the first semester of TTMIWE and have found that on Page 136 Cart says to Theo, at his birthday meal,
“Drink, motherf*cker. It’s the only time you’ll turn twenty-eight.”
So definitely a 10 year age gap.
I also found that Ian is consistently referred to as Theo’s husband and, on Page 60, Theo says,
“I was married to a cop for almost 5 years.”
So that would make the marriage in 2008, I think.
I’m ashamed to say that this is the THIRD time I’ve read this book, before really noticing these sentences…………… But it is no hardship to reread it!
By 2008 there were a few states that had legalized gay marriage, but it was rare. It’s an interesting choice for Ashe to make.
I’m just curious: is there a flashback to an earlier time? If Somerset is young(er) here than he is in the H&S books, I can’t see him being in the same time-frame as a social media influencer, which is an extremely recent phenomenon. Also, is there any mention of a professor-student relationship being inappropriate? Perhaps “nothing” is going to happen until Auggie is no longer a student?
This is set a few years before Hazard returns to Wahredua – book 2 is set in 2014, so this is 2013 (there will be four books in total). The teacher/student thing does come up, but Auggie is only in Theo’s class for a term and indeed nothing happens (unless you could LOADS of UST!) while that is the case. I think it’s handled appropriately. (ETA – I’m a teacher myself, and I wasn’t sent into howls of displeasure).
I was okay with the relationship as well. I do think the social influencer bits are ahead of their time. That didn’t bother me; I was slightly annoyed by Auggie’s constant posing/posting at the start of the story. By the end of the book I didn’t notice it and/or it didn’t bother me at all.
I do think the social influencer bits are ahead of their time.
Yes, I think so as well – although I’m such a dinosaur, that it could have been a thing back then and I just wouldn’t have noticed!
Also, Theo is a graduate TA working on his doctorate. He isn’t a tenured professor at the school; I think the age gap is 25/18 – maybe? The case, the accident, and his relationship with Theo – which he very zealously tries to keep platonic despite their attraction to each other – put his career at risk. Ashe handles it with typical grace and attention to detail.
I also think the time-frame is off if the book is indeed set in 2013, if Ian really was Theo’s husband (and not his “husband”) because gay marriage was not legalized until 2015. I hate to be THAT person, especially since I know so many people here love Ashe, but time-frame inconsistencies and anachronisms (especially things within the last decade or so) would take me out the story.
But many states had legalized it before 2015. Massachusetts was the fist in 2004. But Connecticut, Ohio, New Hampshire, D.C., Vermont, and New York all had same sex marriage on the books by 2011.
I’m pretty sure the age gap is a bit more – I’ve got it in my head that Theo is late twenties – and in the new book being serialised now, he clarifies that he’s not far off thirty, so I think it’s more like 10 years.
How many series is Ashe in the middle of writing? How can he keep everything straight?! It’s not like he writes uncomplicated stories where small details don’t matter.
Great review!
He’s amazing. (I asked him if he’d been cloned…) I can’t think of a time I’ve come across someone who can produce books of such high quality so quickly – AND do a full-time job.
And this is… counts… FOUR series on the go this year alone. (H&S, L&L, this one, and the YA/PRN follow up to the Hollow Folk whose name temporarily escapes me.)
We’ve got more Borealis and H&S coming next year, I believe, plus continuations of the other series he’s got on the go (including the one he’s co-authoring with C.S. Poe) and whatever else his incredible brain can come up with..I’m certainly not about to complain!
I read the Same Breath last week and loved it! For the Gregory Ashe Fans out there, what other books would you recommend? Has he written any stand-alones?
Most of his work is series, but Stray Fears – which I reviewed recently – is a standalone. Quite honestly, you can read anything of his and not be disappointed The Hazard and Somerset series is his ‘signature’ series – but this one is shaping up to be amazing, as is The Lamb and the Lion. I enjoyed the Borealis Investigations books, and if you like PNR, his Hollow Folk series has been highly recommended to me, although I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. Em and I are huge GA fans and have reviewed several of his books – here’s a list.
Thanks a lot Caz. I will probably start with Stray Fears first, and then make my way through the other books. I was gutted to find that the second book of the Lamb and the Lion is not out yet. I really love Tean and Jem and am so invested in their story.
The Same Place is out in a couple of weeks, so not too long to wait. If you h haven’t checked out my review of Stray Fears yet, then do, as there are some warnings there you might want to be aware of. Plus, while there’s still a mystery to be solved, it’s got more of a paranormal/horror vibe to it than usual. It’s still a bloody good read though!
Great review, Em! GA’s books are so hard to review, both to make sure we avoid spoilers AND encapsulate everything the book’s about. Theo and Auggie, as usual, superbly drawn and thoroughly engaging characters and their slow burn relationship is (painfully!) delicious.
I loved this book. I saved the installments in the summer and read it in one go, then reread it before the installments for the next book started coming. I’m reading them daily though, as I’m hooked – particularly on bratty Auggie!
Much as I love it though, I don’t think it’s a patch on Gregory Ashe’s The Same Breath – I think he takes his writing to another level in that book.
I think we’re at the stage where an “Ashe A” is on a different level from an “Everyone Else A” – there are some authors who are so good, who set the bar so high and whose work is so much a head and shoulders above the vast majority of what else is out there that it becomes difficult to grade them on the same scale as the rest.
As Em says, every book of his is my favourite – until the next one comes out!