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Followup on slash novels
This is a followup to my earlier post on the original slash novel Faith & Fidelity (by Tere Michaels) about a widowed-with-kids cop and a former cop who fall in love, despite never having been attracted to men before. Since then, I've bought and read the two sequels, and found a couple more m/m novels at the library by different authors.
The second book in the series, Love & Loyalty, is set in the same universe but focuses on Jim Shea, a Seattle cop who had a one night stand with Matt in F&F when Matt and Evan had temporarily broken up. Although Jim is also a detective, he's a completely different type of character from the closeted and confused Evan--he's openly gay and comfortable with his sexuality. His colleagues know that he's gay and it's no big deal to them. His love life is currently non-existent, but that's about to change...
Jim has been working for a long time on the case of a murdered girl, and had befriended the victim's family. When tragedy strikes the family a second time, he's also there to support the victim's father, Ed. So it's not surprising that he's suspicious of screenwriter Griffin Drake and Drake's actress friend Daisy, who want to make a movie about Ed's daughter. However, Ed is swayed by Daisy's charm and Griffin's sincerity, and Jim finds himself attracted to Griffin against his better judgment. They start dating and are beginning to fall in love when Daisy's unscrupulous husband (a movie studio executive) attempts to take over the project, and Griffin finds himself fighting to keep the promise he made to Jim and Ed, that the movie will not exploit the memory of Ed's daughter.
The third book, Duty & Devotion, returns to Evan and Matt's story. They're now living together in a committed relationship and are outwardly happy, but there's a lot of tension beneath the surface. Matt is now a full-time (and self-described) "househusband," and while he loves taking care of the kids, sometimes he feels like he's just a substitute for Evan's late wife. Meanwhile, Evan is still a bit nervous and uncertain about being in a same-sex relationship: he bristles at being labeled "gay," and he objects to any public displays of affection that Matt makes, even when they're on vacation far away from Evan's coworkers and neighbors. In return, Matt resents being treated like he's something to be ashamed of.
There's a great scene where they're off on a romantic weekend alone without the kids, and they've decided to go all the way in bed (not having progressed beyond oral sex so far). However, they are both taken aback and a little insulted when they realize that each had assumed that the other would bottom, and get into a brief argument about it. Despite the tense atmosphere, it was kind of funny, especially when compared to the typical yaoi manga storyline where the uke and seme fall naturally into their respective roles without any need for discussion or debate. Finally, Matt offers to bottom first, but Evan can't go through with it, and Matt isn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.
Matt says that it isn't a big deal whether they have anal sex or not, and in regards to the act itself it's not, but the argument is a symptom of their deeper underlying problems. The tension and resentments continue to simmer, until finally it all boils over and spills out when Jim and Griffin show up for a visit. Jim and Matt have remained (platonic) friends after their brief fling, and although Evan tries to be mature about it, he's jealous of Jim, and is a complete jerk when they go out to dinner with Jim and Griffin. However, the disastrous dinner is a blessing in disguise because it's the catalyst that helps Evan and Matt to confront and finally resolve their problems.
It's a great story, even better than the first novel, and while there were a few times that I wanted to smack Evan upside the head for behaving like an ass, his conflict and confusion and denial all felt real for a formerly straight guy who was in a relationship with a man for the first time, and I really liked that touch of realism. My only quibble is that Evan's fears of being exposed as gay were brushed off a little too easily as being overly paranoid and irrational, especially for a guy in such a traditionally macho profession as a police detective. When he finally is outed, no one really cares, and it seems like it would be more realistic if at least a few of Evan's colleagues made an issue of it, even if to only make a few snide jokes. And Evan's biggest fear, that his wife's parents will sue for custody of the kids, is just as easily put to rest when even the in-laws' own lawyer tells them that that they don't have a case. Admittedly, I'm not an expert in child custody, but it seems like the possibility was dismissed rather easily. Still, it's a minor quibble since the story is primarily about Evan and Matt's romance, and perhaps the author didn't want to detract from the main plot by having a drawn-out custody battle.
***
I also found the book The Tin Star by J.L. Langley at the library, published by the same company as the Faith & Fidelity trilogy, and it was fun to read (gay cowboys!), although not as well written. Jamie Killian is disowned by his father and kicked off the family ranch when he comes out as gay, and is given shelter and employment by his older brother's friend, ranch owner Ethan Whitehall. It turns out that Ethan is also gay, though he's come out only to a few select friends (like Jamie's brother), and although he tries to fight his attraction to his friend's "little brother," Jamie makes it clear that he's an adult and capable of making his own decisions, and they're soon involved in a passionate affair.
The reason why I say it isn't quite as good as the other series is because the characters aren't as well developed. All the "good" supporting characters are accepting of Jamie and Ethan's relationship, while all the characters who don't are two-dimensional villains. Of course some people are bigots who will never change, but there are others who do overcome their prejudices with time when, for example, homosexuality isn't just represented by a faceless group but by someone that they know and love. It would be bad enough for Jamie's dad to be a homophobe whose love for his son is poisoned by his own prejudice, but the author goes overboard in making him an utterly irredeemable villain who has never loved his younger son, even before Jamie came out. A bit of balance would have been nice, especially in a small, conservative town. I thought that Ethan's "good" employees accepted Ethan's hiring of the openly gay Jamie (let alone their romance) a bit too easily, though I could have seen them being uncomfortable around Jamie at first, and then gradually accepting him once they got to know him.
Also, a librarian friend of mine read the book and said, "I don't mind reading a gay romance, but damn it, I want cowboys to act like real cowboys! These guys just don't act like real cowboys, with the way they sit around talking about their feelings all the time!" Which cracked me up, but she was right. These are macho guys in a macho profession, raised in a very conservative town. I don't know any real cowboys, but it seems unlikely that they'd feel comfortable discussing their emotions so easily and openly. Whereas in the novels by Tere Michaels, although the premise of straight-cops-turned-gay is slightly implausible, the characters of Matt and Evan feel very real, and many of their problems arise from their inability to properly communicate with each other, since they feel awkward about being in a gay relationship and have trouble discussing their feelings.
And the sex in Tin Star was very graphic and smutty, which I don't mind at all, but I felt like the sex scenes focused a lot on the mechanics of the act. In contrast, the sex scenes in the F&F trilogy, while also explicit, felt more sensual than smutty--or maybe sensual as well as smutty, stressing the emotions between the characters. It's a matter of personal preference, but the love scenes between Matt and Evan (and Jim and Griffin) felt more satisfying to me.
That said, Tin Star wasn't all bad. Jamie and Ethan are likable and the sex is hot, so as long as you aren't expecting realism, it's a fun read, certainly equivalent to good (though maybe not great) slash fanfic. And I did find it interesting that Ethan, while not ashamed of being gay, feels like being closeted is the practical thing to do in the conservative ranching community they live in. In fact, he thinks it's plain stupid to come out like Jamie did and make oneself a target, while the younger and more idealistic Jamie argues that he shouldn't have to hide what he is, and that society will never change unless people are willing to take the risk of coming out. The author obviously leans towards Jamie's side, but Ethan's fears aren't unfounded, either, since they both become targets of violence once rumors start spreading about them. Ethan's pragmatism and reluctance to come out was one thing about the book that did feel real.
***
The library also had a book called False Colors by Alex Beecroft. The summary reads as follows:
For his first command, John Cavendish is given the elderly bomb vessel HMS Meteor, and a crew as ugly as the ship. He’s determined to make a success of their first mission, and hopes the well-liked lieutenant Alfie Donwell can pull the crew together before he has to lead them into battle: stopping the slave trade off the coast of Algiers.
Alfie knows that with a single ship, however well manned, their mission is futile, and their superiors back in England are hoping to use their demise as an excuse for war with the Ottoman Empire. But the darker secret he keeps is his growing attraction for his commanding officer-a secret punishable by death.
With the arrival of his former captain-and lover-on the scene, Alfie is torn between the security of his past and the uncertain promise of a future with the straight-laced John.
Against a backdrop of war, intrigue, piracy and personal betrayal, the high seas will carry these men through dangerous waters from England to Africa, from the Arctic to the West Indies, in search of a safe harbor.
A pretty good read, although again not as good as the Tere Michaels novels. I don't know much about this time period, so I can't speak as to the historical accuracy. It did seem to me that John was overly prudish and virginal for a sailor, although the reasons for that are eventually explained. The casual references to slavery and the way that the characters accept it as a matter of fact were rather disturbing, even if it's accurate of the era portrayed in the book--one of the potential pitfalls of writing historical fiction.
There aren't as many love/sex scenes as one might expect from this type of novel, and most of them are between Alfie and his rebound lover, Captain Farrant, since John spends most of the book wrestling with his feelings for Alfie. There is quite a lot of adventure and action (of the non-sexual sort) amid all the angst and unrequited love, and readers should be warned that there are scenes of graphic violence and torture (and rape that is implied but not shown).
One reservation I have about this book is that although John and Alfie eventually have a happy ending of sorts, there's no way that it can be unequivocally happy in the time period the book is set in. As the summary notes, homosexuality is a crime punishable by death in this era, and Alfie has already stood trial once because Farrant was far from discreet and it was an open secret that Alfie was his lover. In fact, one of the major conflicts in the book happens because Alfie believes that John abandoned him during the trial, when in fact John was secretly working behind the scenes to save Alfie.
So although John eventually accepts his feelings for Alfie and they finally become lovers, they'll have to be on guard for the rest of their lives, especially since the Navy will be keeping a close eye on Alfie even though he was technically found "not guilty" at his trial. Again, it's personal preference, but I do prefer happy endings, and it's hard to accept this ending as truly happy when it has such a shadow hanging over it.
***
If people are looking for more recs, there are additional m/m novel recs in this thread of the comments on my first post. And someone on my F-list posted a link to an essay called "All m/m fiction is not created equal." It's a meta discussion, but there are a lot of recs for original slash books in the comments. And finally, there's an LJ community called The Slash Pile that is a rec community for original slash.
no subject
I like realism and would rather read a not-completely-happy ending; for me, it makes the romance genre trite because the ending is predictable. I also prefers HFNs to HEAs. But I can understand why you'd find it less than satisfying.
no subject
It's good to know that she's careful about the historical research, and the book was well-written, just not quite my cup of tea, which is of course no fault of the author. If she had written it with an anachronistically happy ending where everyone was supportive of them, that wouldn't have felt right, either. I see that she's also written a contemporary romance, so maybe I should give that one a try and see if it's more to my taste.