PrivateTim

I've pretty much for gotten everything about this book.....

I can't say what I want without it being a spoiler, but this chapter brings a lot of joy and some sadness. Thanks for this new take on an old story.

There is a great movie about surfing in the Great Lakes, Unsalted. It is amazing these guys are so dedicated that they will go out in January to surf.

Brad will when he becomes a Cal Dad. Will will too.

I am guessing the last chapter was split in the rewrite of this story?

I find it odd that fiction can effect me so, especially fiction I've read before, but Marie's passing caused me to shed a tear. She led a remarkable life, had her share of love, heartache and was central in so many ways. I hope as CAP moves on beyond Gap Year that Will and Marie never lose their connection to France and the de Grand-Pré family, despite some unhappy moments in Paris.

If I remember, Lark has already met the son he didn't know.

I think you mean "Misery" 😁

PS Brad and Will would be rockin' their Reyn Spooner shirts, and a lot of the Malibu - H-W kids. Reyn is the Ralph Lauren of Hawaii. Every man of a certain class has them, especially the annual Christmas shirt.

Fifteen years of reading Chronicles Of An Academic Predator and the ONLY thing in all 17 books that EVER seemed unrealistic was that Jack would fall out of love with Claire and cheat on her. As to Travis.... maybe Curtis isn't his father? Maybe his father is a Hayes - Crampton - Schluter - Granger? Claremont could be good as a hideout. I am just finishing rereading Man in Motion and I wondered what JP and Jim would do with Jack and Marie's house when Grandmaman passed away. Or maybe with JJ? Carullo? Chicago? Does Brad still have his SF love nest? Does Will still own in the same building? I really like Travis because he seems normal and sweet.

Why is Brad so incapable of controlling his emotions? You can't fly off the handle at everything that pisses you off, especially with the one you love. I did worry about Marie and being alone in that huge house, so I am glad that Darius and Jeremy will stay put for the mean time. I wonder who will move into Jack & Marie's house when she is gone?

Where there's a way, there's a Will.

I vote Sue Ellen.... But since I know, I'll move on this chapter...

This is one of the many reasons I never liked Robbie. The instant Neil, Robbie should have told Brad. Brad would have gotten security and maybe arranged for Neil to disappear. How did Neil know to find thugs in Paris and how was he going to pay them?

But it was different because Marcel was 16, where his hormones seemed to override his logic. Oh Brad, Brad, Brad...... you are 23 and your hormones override your logic and still will be when you are in your 40's. “I asked him if he had any morals,” I said. - “I don’t see why you have the right to question him on that,” JP said. He was starting to piss me off.It is indeed funny to see Brad talking about "morals". To paraphrase Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass, "morals means just what I choose it to mean, nothing more nor less". I remember everyone shocked and aghast that Sam would have sex with Jake, who was just 16, and now John Paul has had sex with a 16 year old, only he is 6 years older now than Sam was in Claremont.

In most cases that would be true, but in this case, Marcel is almost a carbon copy of Robbie; even hotter, he is a copy of Robbie at 16. I agree they are far too risky and cavalier, and I cannot believe Brad (as well as almost every other main character in the CAP series) cannot control his dick and libido better. I've skipped dozens of guys for a variety of reasons and there were hundreds more I could have pursued, but that wasn't me and I learned a lot from my older friends, when I was younger. I also get that for a lot of gay men, age is not a factor. Since the pool of available people is much smaller than the straight community, I believe in flexibility. In fact I find it shocking that there is so much judgment in the gay community over May - December romances. I saw it first hand when I was with my older friends when I was 18, 19, 20, etc. The people who didn't know me or them assumed I was a rent boy or gold digger, not knowing I had money of my own. I think "chicken hawk" is an old term, but I heard that judgy term used by gay men/twinks, along with many other judgy terms (bean queen, rice queen, banana, etc) from a community that demands others not judge them.

The mystery fucker is almost certainly Marcel, since he was the only other person in the apartment. Interesting in that with him being a Hayes, his cock is similar enough to Robbie's to fool Bradley.

Hey, the best character this chapter was Monsieur Plaquet. He reminded me of Eliza Doolittle's father in My Fair Lady. Having read the story before, I know how Marcel progresses from here. I think Mark should hire a ghost writer and have them do a comprehensive Marcel story. He is one of the few Hayes boys I actually like. It was also great to see Armand's brother make a cameo. Yes, good news JP is negative after all, sad news for Mouse. It will add to his stress and insecurities.

What comes to mind is what a fertile lot the Hayes boys are. A woman has one little fling with a Hayes man and BAM, she preggers!

Hey, Jake was a pretty normal, if bullied, gay kid before he met this family. If Brad hadn't made Jake go to Claremont for his own, selfish reasons, he may never have hooked up with Sam and it is Sam who was supposed to be the responsible person and see it didn't happen.

JP and Mouse are passengers on the Titanic and they've decided to sit down and listen to the band from a lounge chair as the ship starts to tilt... Bitty is a product of Janice, who was a mess.

As I've been told by my friends who lived through this era, the kind of clubs where Roger liked to go to punish himself mostly closed in the aftermath of the HIV/AIDS outbreak. Even though the disease was named and exposed in 1981, it had to have been present and rampant in the bathhouses long before. I think many more will die from this in CAP before all is said and done. I wonder if JP will retest or if there are more then one test at this time? I've known a few guys who experienced false positives and a couple other who always test positive in one kind of test, but always negative in another.

I love Darius. And we get to meet Jeannie and Tony. Without giving any spoilers, I am saddened when I think of the future for several of these people, who are more than just characters in the persona dramatis.

Loved Brad talking to the police. He is so polished and upper crust it was pretty easy to convince the police he was as innocent as a lamb. I wish the Neil issue was put to bed, but I know it isn't. Doesn't Tony Soprano live in New Jersey?

Neil is far from done. Like that villain in a Bond movie said, "Why can't you just be a good boy and die?"