Disappointing Tucker Springs Addition

I couldn't wait for the next Tucker Springs gay romance since all of the other ones I've read I absolutely loved.  Who could forget the spirited religion debates in Covet Thy Neighbor?  Or the way the atheist in that book counseled the forlorn teen?

Or how about the engrossed entomology grad student in Dirty Laundry befriended the hunky, thug-like bouncer at the gay club?  And how the divide in brain power was only a superficial hang-up that once overcome became a non-issue?

Unfortunately, After the Fall while a nice enough story just doesn't live up to its predecessors.  I hope this isn't a trend in the Tucker Springs stories.  It would be a shame to see a series with so much promise just wither away.

Pour It On

Marie Sexton's Never a Hero, while nicely written, seemed to be reaching as if there's a writers' contest to see who could come up with the romance hero with the most challenging personal problems to overcome.  So Sexton invented Owen Meade whose congenitally amputated arm and debilitating stutter make him a tough sell as romantic hero.

But since this story is set in Tucker Springs, Colorado, where romance's least likely heroes live, Owen is a shoe-in for love.  That's not true of Nick, the guy who falls in love with him.  Nick, a veterinarian, seems to be fairly low-key and easy going.  Unlike the gay bar bouncer Denver Rogers in Heidi Cullinan's Tucker Springs novel, Nick isn't beefy enough to run interference for Owen.

So I was confused as to why Nick is attracted to Owen, even though Nick has a ballsy sister with the same type of amputation.  Sometimes it seems to me in gay fiction, the gay hero finds another gay man and whether they like one another or not, it's a match made in heaven.  But from my viewpoint, it's just a like-minded warm body to stave off loneliness--not what anyone wants to confuse with true love.

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.