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Bezig met laden... The Professor's Green Card Marriagedoor Heidi Cullinan
Geen Bezig met laden...
 Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek.  terriaminute | Dec 4, 2022 |   First the cover. I like it. I think the cover model is supposed to be Valentyn, but it doesn’t work because of the facial hair. Valentyn doesn’t grow a beard until six years after the story is told, and it’s mentioned in the epilogue. So, the cover model shouldn’t have facial hair. Nice cover, but the model doesn’t represent Valentyn. The blurb gives a good idea of what the plot is about so I won’t go into it much. Here’s some slight background info: If Valentyn doesn’t get his green card to stay in the United States, he will get sent back to Ukraine where homosexuals are treated horrifically. Peter overhears Valentyn talking to Valentyn’s friend, and asks Val to marry him to help Val get his green card. From that point it’s Valentyn insisting on dating Peter, doubting he deserves someone as wonderful as Peter, and then onto the marriage and going to court to prove the legitimacy of their marriage. I didn’t know that Valentyn was from Ukraine when I read the blurb, so with the war happening in Ukraine at the time I read the book, and as I write this review, the story hit closer to home. This is a heavily character driven story. It’s about the intense emotional interaction between Peter and Valentyn, and their own internal anguish over their own problems. Peter has selective mutism or SM. It’s an anxiety disorder that is triggered by situations or people to the point where Peter can’t function and can become paralyzed, most of the time he can’t speak to anyone other than close family. However, he forces himself to speak to Valentyn at the coffee shop for the first time because he wants to help him. Peter is trapped in a type of prison because of his SM, and he wants to break free, but can’t. He has to use rituals and ‘rules’ to get used to new people or situations. He uses imagery to help him become comfortable with talking to Valentyn. Peter is extremely intelligent and has no problem communicating with Valentyn through email or text. Valentyn, once he understands that Peter has SM, begins to learn Peter’s small movements and triggers that signal what Peter wants, or what is happening to him. Valentyn is also trapped in a prison, but his is self-inflicted. In Ukraine he had to severely suppress his homosexuality, else it could cost him everything. He is extremely fearful of people knowing he is gay even here in the United States. He is also morose/gloomy and slips into depression easily. It’s Peter who brightens his world and urges Valentyn to be free with his sexuality with Peter. And it’s Valentyn who cares deeply and wishes to protect Peter who is very insecure because of his SM. He’s afraid of how people see him, how they make fun of him and avoid him. It appears as if Peter and Valentyn don’t have much in common, but they do. Trapped in their prisons, they each try to help the other break out, to give the other the acceptance that they both need. Peter is a kind person except when it comes to internet trolls, which he loves to troll in return, but one would never notice because of his SM. Valentyn is also intelligent, but thinks that he’s a ‘bad’ man and doesn’t deserve a person like Peter because Val smokes, drinks, and has dirty thoughts and desires about sex. But the thoughts about sex happen to coincide with Peter’s thoughts and desires, so here again they match up well. Peter thinks that Val will get tired of him because he’s too much trouble, but Valentyn adores Peter. I love how the author created two characters who seem like they are so different in personality and problems, but in fact they are very similar. What one lacked, the other gave to the other person what they needed to feel safe and loved. This is an intensely character driven story, and if you like books like this, then I recommend The Professor’s Green Card. I really enjoyed this book, the plot, the characters, finding out about a disability I’d never heard of before, and of course, the HEA that the epilogue concludes with six years later. I give this book, 4 Stars.  ) Penumbra1 | Oct 11, 2022 | I did find the information about selective mutism and the U.S. immigration process interesting. (  ) Bookbee1 | Jun 23, 2020 | geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
I'll marry you. Professor Valentyn Shevchenko isn't sure how to react when, after months of ineffective flirting, the cute barista's first words to him are a proposal. In many ways, Peter Grunberg is the solution to all his problems. With his work visa inexplicably denied, Valentyn is running out of options to keep from being deported. But is a green card marriage really the answer? Is it still a marriage of convenience when he's this attracted to his potential spouse? Peter came to his uncle's coffee shop in Boulder, Colorado, to reset his life after his struggles with selective mutism returned with a vengeance. He never meant his first words to the handsome ecology professor to be an offer of marriage, but he's not backing out now. It doesn't matter that Peter struggles to find words. He can say everything he needs to with his body. Though this relationship may have started out back-to-front, Valentyn and Peter are determined to make their fake marriage real. But one misstep in their immigration interview could bring everything crashing down. They'll have to hope that their love is enough to overcome all their obstacles and give them the prize they've both been dreaming of: a certified happy ever after. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
LibraryThing-AuteurHeidi Cullinan is een LibraryThing auteur: een auteur die zijn persoonlijke bibliotheek toont op LibraryThing. Actuele discussiesGeenPopulaire omslagen  
 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyWaarderingGemiddelde: (4)
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I know little about the process of foreign workers in the US and the process to get a green card and then citizenship, but I know it's a long process and getting harder to navigate. I loved both guys and everyone around them, and their difficulties felt real and sometimes overwhelming. I may have cried several times during the last few chapters. (