I first read this story in 2014 and have yet to stop. Below please find my reviews for each book; the series overview written by Jake Biondi; and his biography with contact information.
Please keep in mind Seasons 1-3 were written in 2014/15.
Season One & Season Two
Upon starting to read the book, notice two things right from the get get go. If you notice, each book is not Book One and Book Two, but rather Season One and Season Two. There are no Chapters in these books but rather Episodes.
As I read, I always have the television on and I know all the lingo they use. So I decided, as I read this book, to see it as a soap opera. So, as far as I am concerned I wasn’t reading books, but screenplays with direction written. I have never read books in this style. Usually books play in my head more like a movie. Please note, although these books are majorly m/m, there are also m/f scenes also. There is one m/f married couple and a complete Bitch who screws everyone. And, there is rape contained in Season One.
If you watch soap operas, then these books are definitely something you should read. There is revenge, adultery, action, hospital scenes, tragedy, and of course hot passion. If you have watched soaps (mine were Ryan’s Hope, Days of Our Lives, Another World and Santa Barbara), then I know you will like these books. In fact, in my own opinion, these books should be made into the soap opera I imagine it to be. I know I would watch it. (Any producers out there??)
Season Three
Like I said before, this series is more like a screen play than a book. I know there is a crusade to make this series into a television show on a cable channel. I really think that is possible if the right people catch a whiff of it.
This season of BOYSTOWN, we continue the stories of friends and lovers in Chicago. Love, deceit, tragedy, comedy, and intrigue. All the wonderful components to make any soap opera a hit. Like any soap, there are story lines I love and can’t get enough of, and some that I can’t wait until they resolve so that I can stop hearing about them. If you are a soap addict, read this series!!!!!!
Season Four
Ok, you may have noticed that I haven’t read Boystown since 2015. That is because Jake hasn’t wrote more episodes or that I haven’t enjoyed reading them.
You see, I don’t know if you are old enough to remember Dallas’s “Who shot J.R.?” finale, but I sure am. I watched that season premiere on a four inch screen with the entire block in my TV room in my parents’ home because we had no power due to Hurricane Gloria. Why do I bring that up? Because of that storyline and how uncomfortable it was to watch it, I hate cliffhangers. Now that Jake has put a few more books out, I am “binge watching” Boystown.
In this Season, we find out a lot of information. Secrets are revealed and lives hang in peril. More sex, more lies, more break ups…..exactly what one would expect from a nighttime drama.
Season Five
More secrets revealed, death loss. This book definitely put a lump in my throat. I didn’t tear up until Chadwick sung “Bring Him Home” from Les Misérables. That is my favorite Broadway show.
New characters come into the storyline. Old ones seen new ways of up heaving the lives in Boystown we have grown to love.
This season is as nail biting as the last four!
Who dies, who lives, who finds out what? Gahhhh now I have to stay up and read the next season.
Season Six
Please be warned, there is rape in this book.
They say Michael has Nine lives, then Derek my have Twelve! How he has survived all his injuries, I will never know.
Seriously, this group of friends/family should never host an event again! I mean, if I were the entertainers they get for each party/event, I would never take that gig!.
Don’t know about you, but I get a Carrington/Colby vibe with the Mancini/Ciancio families.
Kidnappings, psychos, multiple people admitted to St. Joe’s… just a typical day in Boystown.
Season Seven
Jake, I say this in the most loving way possible. You are a cruel, cruel man. It is J.R. all over again! Did you hear me cursing you out? I
have read all seven seasons of Boystown in three days. All have been read back to back. At the beach, in my bed, at the dinner table, and not to mention the “reading room”. With every book the author has kept me engaged, enranged, and at times, deranged!
As I have previously stated in a past review, I have been a soap fan for a good portion of my life. Like those, Boystown has embodied storylines that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. It keeps you guessing and makes you go through a myriad of emtions. Episode #69 had me in tears as well as the last.
Can you believe that I now have to wait til next season to see what happens now? Jake, I need next Season STAT!!!!
The Story BOYSTOWN is the continuing story of several couples living in Chicago’s famed Boystown neighborhood.
The Mancini brothers — as well as their friends and significant others — are at the core of BOYSTOWN. Emmett Mancini, the youngest of the brothers, is a bright, caring guy whose boyfriend Keith Colgan has a past Emmett knows little about . . . yet. Derek Mancini, and his wife Joyelle, are BOYSTOWN’s straight couple . . . but a recent encounter with hunky Cole O’Brien could have life-altering consequences for Derek. And when Justin Mancini, the oldest brother, arrives in BOYSTOWN, he brings with him a family history that both Emmett and Derek were hoping to forget: a bitter feud with the powerful Ciancio family.
Interracial couple Logan Pryce and Max Taylor have been together have survived the ups and downs that are common in most long-term relationships; however, they must now face a crisis that neither of them ever expected. A chance encounter with an old flame sends Max on a mission to discover a secret buried long ago . . . and tests the strength of his commitment to Logan.
One of the most diverse and lively neighborhoods in the country, Chicago’s Boystown has something for everyone. So it’s no wonder that roommates Jesse Morgan and Cole O’Brien chose to live there upon graduating from college. Ready to begin the next phase of their
lives in an exciting new city, Jesse and Cole quickly find themselves at the center of the drama and intrigue that makes up this adult playground. Against the backdrop of the vibrant Chicago skyline, some couples are brought together while others are torn apart, once-buried family vendettas are resurrected, and friends unite to face the challenges that life throws their way.
Family. Love. Deception. Romance. Power. Revenge. Passion. Betrayal.
Welcome to BOYSTOWN!
The History BOYSTOWN has a very interesting history. In Spring of 2013, I started to toss around in my head the idea of writing a continuing drama that focused on gay characters. I considered some ideas for characters and storylines. Then I finally began actually writing BOYSTOWN in June of 2013 as an online story and intended to release one “episode” online per month, each ending in a cliffhanger. The story became so popular — and the online reading audience grew so quickly — that people from all over the country began to email me
demanding to know what happened to their favorite characters and wanting the episodes to be released faster. They also had suggestions for future storylines! I was surprised and excited by the readers’ response to BOYSTOWN and began to write and release installments more quickly. By November, 2013, I had released 10 episodes and the reading audience had expanded well beyond the borders of America.
Because of BOYSTOWN’s huge success online and the serialized nature of my writing, readers from all over the globe were able to correspond with me and influence the storylines of the BOYSTOWN saga as I wrote it. It is really exciting to interact with fans in this way.
I think it’s something very unique to BOYSTOWN.
Readers also suggested that I publish the first ten episodes as a book rather than leaving them online. I took their advice — and BOYSTOWN Season One was published in late November, 2013. The book sold well and I continued to write additional episodes. Episodes 11 – 20 were released in July, 2014 as BOYSTOWN Season Two. BOYSTOWN Season Three was released on May 1, 2015, BOYSTOWN Season Four was released on November 13, 2015, BOYSTOWN Season Five was released on June 1, 2016, BOYSTOWN Season Six was released on December 16, 2016, and BOYSTOWN Season Seven was released on July 7, 2017.
The Future – I think readers really like that BOYSTOWN is written like a TV series. It moves quickly and keeps people on the edges of their seats! And now the BOYSTOWN team is working to bring BOYSTOWN to television. Interest in the series is high — the future of BOYSTOWN, both in print and on screen, will surely be a bright one.
Author Biography
JAKE BIONDI Author of the popular BOYSTOWN series Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, Jake Biondi fell in love with “The Windy City” at an early age. He left the Chicago area for four years to attend the University of Notre Dame, from which he graduated with degrees in English and Business. He was awarded the university’s prestigious William Mitchell Award for Playwriting. Upon graduating from Notre Dame, Biondi returned to Chicago where he attended and graduated from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. He has been living in Chicago’s Boystown neighborhood for over 20 years.
While studying literature, Biondi became a huge fan of Charles Dickens whose novels were originally released in installments, each ending in a cliffhanger to keep readers coming back for more. Because of his love of those novels as well as television dramas such as Dynasty, Knots Landing, Dallas, and Revenge, Jake Biondi decided to create a serialized saga for contemporary audiences. Thus, the BOYSTOWN series was born.
Biondi began BOYSTOWN in June of 2013 as an online story and intended to release one “episode” online per month, each ending in a cliffhanger. The story became so popular — and the online reading audience grew so quickly — that people from all over the country began to email him demanding to know what happened to their favorite characters and wanting the episodes to be released faster. They also had suggestions for future storylines. Excited by and grateful for his readers’ responses to BOYSTOWN, Biondi began to write and release installments more quickly.
In November of 2013, Biondi moved BOYSTOWN offline and published the first ten installments in book form as BOYSTOWN Season One. The book became an international hit, with fans all over the globe clamoring for more. BOYSTOWN Season Two was published in July of 2014. Season Three was released on May 1, 2015, Season Four was released on November 13, 2015, Season Five was released on June 1, 2016, Season Six was released on December 16, 2016, and Season Seven was released on July 7, 2017.
Because of the popularity of the book series, fans have suggested that BOYSTOWN be turned into a television series. Biondi recently completed the TV scripts for the first season of BOYSTOWN and hopes to bring the series to television in the very near future.
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