Rating: 4 Stars out of 5
Robert and his lover Ethan have drifted apart to the point that they are mere strangers living together. As things between them worsen Robert wonders if he ever truly loved anyone other than his first lover Keith who died of AIDS.Then on one particularly lonely night Robert comes across a suicidal girl, Jess but it appears that there is more going on between Jess and Robert than either can guess at first. But what exactly does this sense of familiarity and love translate to between a gay man and lesbian?
I really think this book is not aptly named, I mean I don’t think it ever deals with orientation, I mean the characters in this book are not conflicted about their orientation and neither are they troubled by it. While this book ends on a note that kind of stresses orientation, this book is truly just a story of love.
It is a very engaging story. I read this book at a stretch; I just couldn’t put it down. It is a short book but what I liked about it is that the story never becomes predictable. What kept me turning the pages one after the other was the fact that I had no idea where this story would take me or how it would end.
Our MCs are Robert and Jessica who are both in ways dealing with loss. They bond over this fact but what truly makes them want to be with the other is the fact that there is a deeper sense of familiarity and love that underlies there meetings. Since the moment they met Jessica has felt that she is meeting someone she already knows and loves. Complicating this fact is that even though they feel love towards the other their orientations are completely incompatible. This story also follows two other characters, Ethan, Robert’s boyfriend and his drug dealer, Tony.
This story really focuses on its characters, you can sympathize with Robert’s desire to be blind to the obvious, to not have to face his boyfriend’s infidelities as well as his potentially lethal lifestyle and bury that under the joy of having someone else who understands his love for Keith. While Ethan’s struggle with his addiction is painful, he is wasting away and try as he might to climb out of the abyss he is in, he only ever manages to dig himself deeper. Tony’s guilt over being the reason many people have lost touch with themselves and his shame over not being able to give up the opportunity to make just a little more money is honest. And then there is Jess who is reeling form loss, is burdened by her lack of finances and struggling to understand these new feelings that have awakened in her… for a man…
This story really ties together the lives of these four characters and makes for a compelling read. This book is firstly about love and secondly about the human condition. It is an amazing read.
Cover Art by Wilde City Press. I liked the cover but I’m unsure as to how it relates to the story.
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Books Details:
Wilde City Press
Kindle Edition, 2 edition, 192 pages
Published July 25th 2016 (first published May 7th 2008)
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 
