Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Magical Realism
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Ulysses
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About The Book
A queer Anthology that explores the romantic life and happy ever afters of gay men navigating the LGBT landscape. All stories are written by Own Voice gay authors!
Includes:
- Daryl Banner – Spruce, Texas Romance
- J. Scott Coatsworth – Black Cat
- R Frank Davis Hallow-Weekends and the Beat
- Adam J Ridley – Heart of Shadows
- Kristian Parker – Kisses in Prague
- Gene Rusco – Puck-ered Hearts
- Kelvin Young – Skanksgiving
- M.D. Neu – Whispers of the Crescent Moon
- Shane K Morton – Fall Break
Releasing on September 19th, this is a follow-up to this spring’s Romance is a Drag.
The Review
This collection of short stories (the first of which is nearly a novella), offers a wide range of romantic settings and a diversity of characters (not all white, not all young). The autumn and Halloween are consistent—but not universal—themes. Everyone seems to be looking for love—but really, looking for happiness. As life teaches us, happiness can be staring us in the face, but we might not see it because of our own biases and blind spots. These are all stories by gay men exploring their own truths. I don’t give anything away, because I had such fun discovering the authors’ intentions in the surprises they offer us.
Forever Strong, by Daryl Banner (a Spruce, Texas, romance)
Part of its own longstanding series (set in the fictional town of Spruce, Texas), this is about Tanner and Billy Tucker-Strong, a young couple together nearly eight years who seem to have it all. They’ve got a loving home, two beautiful sons, and supportive families. The twist is that Billy is seriously unhappy and can’t seem to figure out why. The story is from Billy’s perspective, as he grapples with the reasons for his unhappiness and sense of isolation. Life is not a sitcom; it’s a work in progress. Sometimes it’s more work than you expect.
Black Cat, by J. Scott Coatsworth
There’s a shiver of magic in this sweet, touching story of Gabe Nogales, a lonely college professor, and Adrien Williams, a gentle mysterious young man somewhere on the spectrum with an affinity for nature and cats. I particularly enjoyed the way these two very different men—each of whom is slightly detached from the world—find their way to each other. Coatsworth has created two very appealing, low-key characters whose connection is as unlikely as it is inevitable.
Hallow-Weekends and the Beat, by R. Frank Davis
Hank Olds, a twice-married beat cop in Chicago, runs across Keifer Brantley, a man of his own age and inclination, and spends a quiet Halloween evening with him, only to lose track of him at the end. It’s almost a Cinderella-like story of loss and rediscovery, as two older gay men ponder the realities of looking for happiness later in life. There’s no magic in this one, other than the magic of Halloween to open up the world to possibilities.
Heart of Shadows, by Adam J. Ridley
A mini-epic with a strong helping of the supernatural, this story follows the travels of Marcel LeBoeuf, driven out of New Orleans by a family curse and a coven of angry witches. His escape route takes him to rural South Carolina, where he is awoken from an impromptu nap on the beach by a monstrous dog named Bael and a handsome young man named Duroc Corason. At first Marcel accepts Duroc’s offer of shelter out of convenience, but soon realizes that there might be a reason he’s found his way to this isolated old house and its beautiful young occupant.
Kisses in Prague, by Kristian Parker
A middle-aged black man (is 38 middle aged?) finds himself the town doctor in a small village in the northern highlands of Scotland. He loves his job and the people in his community, but despairs of ever finding the kind of intimacy he craves. On a lark, he signs up for a gay singles weekend tour to the romantic and beautiful city of Prague. Why not? Stranger things have happened. The only magic here is watching a good guy open himself up to the world and hoping to find more than just a travel opportunity.
Puck-ered Hearts, by Gene Rusco
Autumnal, but not magical, this is a sweet romance with an awkward premise: college student Ruben Alvarez is still trying to sort out his life. The problem is that he’s confused by his own bisexuality, and has fallen for his ex-girlfriend’s little brother, hockey jock Christian Reynolds. It could be a slapstick kind of story, but it’s more about gentle humor, struggling with personal awkwardness, and love and forgiveness conquering all.
Skanksgiving, by Kelvin Young
There’s two autumn holidays in this tale, about a young man named Jerric and another one named Elian, whose only connection is a pair of mutual friends. The mutual friends are drag queens called Sunshine and Moonlight, who coerce their reluctant acquaintances to participate in boundary-stretching social activities. It’s a funny story, full of confusion and incident, but ultimately committed to the belief that camp will show you the way.
Whispers of the Crescent Moon, by M.D. Neu
How can you have a ghost story without ghosts? M.D. Neu does a marvelous, subtle job demonstrating just that. Have you ever been frustrated in a romance novel that the characters don’t seem to be paying attention, or listening to each other? This story is about two such characters who go off to a cabin in the woods for a sexy weekend—and end up learning a lot more about themselves than they expected. The big question is: how? I loved the premise and how the author made it work.
Fall Break, by Shane K. Morton
The simplest of all the stories, from the anthology’s editor. It is an exercise in nostalgia; a teenaged fantasy come true. It involves two straight boys who aren’t and the farm where they met when they were in high school. I can’t say more without spoiling the gentle, emotional story; the kind of story we’ve all wanted to write. You can go home again, with a little help.
The Reviewer
Ulysses Grant Dietz grew up in Syracuse, New York, where his Leave It to Beaver life was enlivened by his fascination with vampires, from Bela Lugosi to Barnabas Collins. He studied French at Yale, and was trained to be a museum curator at the University of Delaware. A curator since 1980, Ulysses has never stopped writing fiction for the sheer pleasure of it. He created the character of Desmond Beckwith in 1988 as his personal response to Anne Rice’s landmark novels. Alyson Books released his first novel, Desmond, in 1998. Vampire in Suburbia, the sequel to Desmond, is his second novel.
Ulysses lives in suburban New Jersey with his husband of over 41 years and their two almost-grown children.
By the way, the name Ulysses was not his parents’ idea of a joke: he is a great-great grandson of Ulysses S. Grant, and his mother was the President’s last living great-grandchild. Every year on April 27 he gives a speech at Grant’s Tomb in New York City