Dirty Laundry

I did not receive a free copy of the book, but purchased it as I enjoyed the first 2 in the series. I’m a gay man, reading for my own enjoyment.

I have to say, I found this story my least favorite. I don’t have OCD, nor do I have a BDSM kink, but am not a prude and to each their own. But I just didn’t enjoy the story. At all. No judgment for the cast of characters at all, just didn’t care for it. Sorry-

I originally read the short story of this name and with these characters by Heidi Cullinan many, many years ago, so I was thrilled when I discovered she was releasing the full story of Adam and Denver. I was crazy about this author's writing before reading this story and now I can't sing her praises enough. The angst was beautifully written and showed an incredible empathy and understanding. I have now completed my fourth reread of this book, this edition being published via Dreamspinner Press, and ‘Dirty Laundry’ is still my all-time favorite of the ‘Tucker Springs’ series along with, obviously, being a go-to reread for me.

Adam Ellery is the epitome of nerd and geek. He's an entomologist graduate student, a twink with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and horrible social anxiety which has sabotaged not only a large part of his life, but his one prior attempt at a relationship. Although to be honest, his ex is a complete douchebag who made Adam (and his OCD brain) miserable. I fell madly in love with Adam. I just wanted to wrap him up and protect him. He meets Denver in the Laundromat when Adam is accosted by drunken frat boys and Denver comes to his rescue. The rescue leads to some hot, sweaty sex where Adam makes a huge discovery:

"What Adam loved more than anything else, though, more than the shame of the exposure and the rough way Denver told him what to do, how giving control up to Denver took away all his anxiety, all his fear."

Denver Rogers isn’t gorgeous but he's built and has Dominant Top written all over him. He's a bouncer at the local gay bar and has his pick of twinks for nightly, or hourly, hookups. But he can't get Adam out of his head after the Laundromat. Something about Adam's immediate spiral into submissive headspace is what Denver has been looking for. Denver knows he's no prize; he comes from an abusive childhood, he never graduated from high school, and has his own share of insecurities and baggage. The owner of the gym Denver uses keeps wanting to hire him to be a personal trainer which would mean Denver becoming certified but Denver can’t bring himself to tell the man the real reason he can’t take the test.

In my previous reads of this book I truly believed I understood Adam and his mental health issues but I was fooling myself. I now have a very close friend whose brain works in some of the same ways as Adam’s and I was able to empathize so much more this time around. The fact that Denver is so fabulous at taking everything in stride and insuring that Adam knows that “normal” isn’t all that fantastic and Denver would much rather be with Adam than with anyone else. I’ve read a lot more BDSM books since my original read of this book and my respect for Denver grew monumentally higher watching his ability to really listen to Adam’s needs and translate it into ways that they could play, while also helping Adam distance himself from his very over-active brain.

Denver and Adam’s love story is a joy to watch even though there are times that are truly painful to see the pain both men go through. These are two of the most lost people I've ever read and their story of love is inspirational.

NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews

I loved Dirty Laundry by Heidi Cullinan. This is the third book in the Tucker Springs series. It looks like this series is being written by three different authors: L.A. Witt, Heidi Cullinan, and Marie Sexton. The book is a stand-alone, but it does have cameos from El and Paul and Jason from the first two books. El and Paul are Denver’s friends, and Jason is the owner of Lights Out where Denver works. I will definitely be looking forward to reading the next two books in the series.

This is the first book that I have read in the series, and I can’t wait to read the first two books. I just bought the first book in the series, Where Nerves End by L.A. Witt, and so I just need to buy the second book, Second Hand by Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton.

I found the characters to be complex and loved that they had real issues and disabilities that they were living and working with—for Adam: social anxiety, panic attacks, and OCD, and for Denver: learning disabilities and self-esteem issues due to his disability.

I liked some of the secondary characters and some I wanted to hit like Brad Adam’s ex-boyfriend. I loved Louisa. She was there just when Adam needed a friend and somebody that could sympathize with what Adam was going through. I hope that she will have cameos in some of the future books in the series. I wish that she could have her own book but as she’s a transgender woman, I don’t see that happening since the authors write mm books. But if they did write a book about her, I know that I would read it. She was a fabulous character and a wonderful friend to Adam.

I don’t know anybody personally that has OCD or anxiety, but I thought that the author did a great job with giving us a glimpse into what Adam goes through just trying to make it through a day without a panic attack. It was interesting and heartbreaking to see how he’s learned how to cope and maneuver around things that are triggers for him while all he wants is to be normal.

Something that he will never be. I do like how the BDSM helps calm the voices in his mind that keeps trying to ramp everything up into a panic attack. I also loved that he got a kink-friendly therapist, Sid, and Sid’s analogy about likening the voices to horses pulling a carriage and visualizing holding their reins and directing them instead of them running away with him.
I also thought that the author did a great job with Denver and conveying the stigma that comes with how you see yourself and how others judge people that have a learning disability. The only thing that I wished the author had done in the book was actually identified what kind of learning disability Denver had.

If you like to read books with real-life characters with real-life issues and disabilities, then I recommend this book to you and to everybody else that has ever wanted to see inside the mind of somebody that struggles with disabilities and see how they overcome them.

Dirty Laundry is the third book in the Tucker Springs series. Each book can be easily read as a standalone. Compared to the first two books in the series this one has been tweaked quite a lot making the flow a lot better then the original release.
The two main characters, Adam and Denver are both very different but complex characters. Adam is a self-proclaimed “Bug Guy” who suffers from anxiety and severe OCD which prohibits him from really having any relationship. Denver seems to be really self-assured in the beginning but then later in the book we find out a lot about him. He doesn’t see Adam’s quirks as strange and doesn’t treat him any different because of his mental illness.

This book is HOT!!!!!! It starts of with a bang and just goes up from there! This book contains mild BDSM elements like spankings, gags, bondage and punishments. Heidi does a great job at showing us a guy who NEEDS bondage and punishment and doesn’t just want to play with it. The characters were written in away that they just come alive in this book. The character disabilities were written and dealt with in a very touching way. Heidi herself is very open about what she struggles with on a daily basis and you can easily see this in her characters. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Reviewed by Erin for Diverse Reader

I am so happy that Dirty Laundry by Heidi Cullinan has found a new home at Dreamspinner Press and is back out into the world, updated and better than ever. And the new cover? So, so good! If you haven’t yet had a chance to read this great book, now is definitely the time to do so, and if you’ve read it in the past, I highly recommend a re-read because man, Denver and Adam are every bit as fantastic as I remember them being.

When Adam Ellery is kicked out of his apartment by his ex-boyfriend, he never could have imagined he’d find his perfect match at the Tucker Springs laundromat. And he sure never would have guessed he’d wear a tattered cowboy hat, talk with a drawl and have muscles on top of muscles. Oh, and that his sex life would have a kinky bend to it, but as Adam soon finds out there is much more to Denver Rogers than his size and prowess in bed … and out of bed as it happens.

Adam is riddled with anxiety, has quirks and idiosyncrasies that most find annoying, but somehow Denver manages them all with calm and a firm hand when necessary. Both are exactly what Adam needs to flourish, and boy does he ever. Oh, he’s still an endearing mess most of the time, but he’s able to handle the ups and downs of life thanks to Denver’s presence. Heidi Cullinan is a master at portraying characters with OCD and anxiety. She shows such care and though she doesn’t shy away from the problems they cause, she doesn’t ever overwhelm either.

Denver was such a gentle soul and though he’s not perfect and makes mistakes as he navigates his new relationship with Adam, you can’t help but fall in love with the big guy! There is a lot of sex in Dirty Laundry, but it never feels superfluous at all; in fact it’s a necessary part of the story. As with any Heidi Cullinan book, there are feels galore and this one will hit you in the heart more than a few times. Denver and Adam are perfect together and I am sure you will love them as much as I do! Be sure to check out Dirty Laundry if you haven’t already. And if you have, definitely give it a re-read, you won’t be sorry if you do!