Review: Breezy And Light And Terriffic
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 2, 2014
Do you ever get the feeling that you've read an entirely different book than the other reviewers? Well, this is definitely one of those. Somehow, I missed the problems and the complaints that a number of other reviewers wrote about, and ended up enjoying the heck out of this book.Indeed, it is based on a premise that is entirely implausibe, but this is supposed to be fiction, right? The two main characters were friends throughout their childhood until one, Nate (the poor one), comes out as gay. After that, Kellan (the rich one) joined with Nate's tormentors to humiliate him and generally turn high school into a nightmare. What a betrayal!Well, Kellan shows up, one day, after being out of contact for years, to draw Nate into a harebrained scheme to fake being his gay lover to get back at his homophobic father, who has cut him off. The pampered Kellan is without his sports car, credit cards and rich girlfriends, for the first time, and hopes to change his father's mind by acceding to his demands for a serious relationship and responsibility, but meet his expectations in a gay relationship, just to poke him in the eye.Well, of course, mayhem ensues both in the rocky relationship between Nate and Kellan and Kellan's pathetic attempts to lead a "real life". The lessons of both the relationship and living poor with "real" people are both good for Kellan's soul - and his maturity. The surprise is that they cause the (ostensibly) more stable Nate to reevaluate his own life.I won't give it all away, but I'm sure you've already guessed that the fake relationship changes, at some point, into a real one.What made this book so special for me was the excellent, breezy writing, the endearing characters. I think what may have disappointed some of the reviewers is that neither man is exactly Gay Romance perfect. They are both flawed, both need to grow up a bit, and both need each other. Oh, they're both attractive enough, but their relationship histories are both selfish and self-serving, until they finally find each other again.There's lots of humor and a bit of sarcasm in the writing and there are times when I really need something light and fun, and a vacation from the endless and typical angst of gay fiction. This book fits the bill perfectly.I'm about to go read the rest of the "Bad In Baltimore" series.