Religion and the Gay Lifestyle Do Mix

The over-riding theme of the Tucker Springs gay romances seems to be getting together two guys who are as different as possible and make the match believable.

The first one I read, Second Hand, pitted a guy whose female fiancee ran off with someone else and an Hispanic pawnbroker with a heart of gold.  El Rozal comes from a large, loud extended family and has inherited his grandfather's pawn shop.  When Paul Hannon comes in hoping El will buy the trendy electronics his girlfriend just had to have, El is nonplussed.  But because he kind of feels sorry for the guy, he buys the chi-chi kitchenware, and a friendship ensues.  How seemingly straight Paul comes to realize he's gay and how he helps El come to terms with his family make a wonderful romance.

The second Tucker Springs romance I read, Dirty Laundry, was more raunchy, but just as sweet as Second Hand.  In Laundry, a gay bar club bouncer gets together with an obsessive/compulsive entomology grad student.  Talk about polar opposites meeting.  But again, the author creates a believable romance around the two.

Covet Thy Neighbor, the review of which goes live today at AAR, so far is the best of the series.  A gay Christian youth minister and an atheist tattoo artist come together not only in a believable manner but also in a way that makes a statement about beliefs and others' tolerance for them.  While this book, as all in the series, features gay sex, the sex takes a backseat to the more important issues of God and religion.

Tucker Springs isn't over, as far as I'm concerned.  I've recently read an upcoming Tucker Springs romance and will review it for AAR.  Stay tuned.

What Happens to the Jilted Guy?

Good guy Emory James is left standing at the altar as his bride takes off before the wedding ceremony.  That sounds like the end of the story, right?  Not really, according to Cary Attwell in The Other Guy.

I really enjoyed this book since it grapples with a question I've long had about people in general and men in particular: Why is a person attracted sexually to someone else?

Women are generally very touchy-feely and dig into love and attraction throughout their teen years, so that unless they're kidding themselves, they pretty much know what their sexual orientation is by the time they get into their 20s.

Men, on the other hand?  Not so much.  In fact, the portrayal of men as being a little dense has been proven to me time and time again.  That's why when I'm reading M/M (gay) fiction and an intense guy who's had sexual relations with a handful of women during high school is kissed by another guy the first time and he's shocked, I have to laugh, whether he enjoys or doesn't enjoy the kiss.  What's happened is the guy has been taken out of his comfort zone and has had to really look at himself.

Sometimes he finds he's happy with himself and his life.  But sometimes, as is the case in The Other Guy, he realizes he's just been playing along and it's time to re-evaluate.  If he does, he'll be much, much happier.

The Story Runs Through It

Sometimes the stories in one novel intertwine and twist like strands of hair in a complicated plait.  Jodi Thomas' Harmony, Texas, romances are like that.  Although there are one or two main strands, there are numerous peripheral strands that make the whole beautiful.

My review of Chance of a Lifetime went live today at AAR.  The story of why someone would want to kill a small town lawyer and why a U. S. Marshall would get involved spins around the story of an ill-fated pair whose love doesn't die with time, but who must overcome guilt to come together.

Thomas always raises the bar for rural romances with each Harmony book she writes.

When Goth and Geek Get Together

Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennett is a charming story of high school angst and love between a really nice guy (the kiss of death, right?) and a foster child who's been moved from family to family so many times that she's essentially numb.  At first the span between them looks enormous until readers get a glimpse of their hearts.

Bennett not only makes a girl whose bad attitude should repulse readers sympathetic, but also makes the budding love believable.   Jen is a character whom every mother will want to pull into a hug and reassure that everything--primarily high school and her teenage years--will be all right.