Rating: 2 stars out of 5
1969 America is a time of protests against the war in Vietnam – long hair, rock music, and pot smoking. But it is also a time of free love, minority demands for equality, and even a fledgling gay rights movement.
Joseph Knight is a Park Ranger in rural Michigan and is supposed to be the opposite of all that, the upholder of laws against pot-smoking, pre-marital sex, and especially two men making love. But when a Jimmy Clayton, a 19 year old lifeguard with a perfect tan and long blond hair shows up in his life, Joseph is compelled to rethink some of his ideas about right and wrong.
How will he make his way in this uncharted territory where the rules are no longer clear and the law of the heart makes more sense than the head? Which law will prove more powerful, the law he’s sworn to uphold, or the law of love which tells him to “do his own thing” even if it means he might end up in jail?
I was hoping for good things for this story. I like historicals, especially from this time period and as a former Park Ranger/Naturalist, I was intrigued by the blurb. Unfortunately, what I found was a story that sounds like it was narrated, not by a 23 year old Ranger but by someone remembering their youth. The dialog is old, and stiff. The story is cumbersome and dense. It gets worse when it comes to the romance where the characters have no chemistry at all or connection to each other.
This is one of those that I would have put in the DNF column if I had those. Even the romance is unbelievable, with the 23 year old looking at the 18 year old and thinking him a “fine young man”. Really? The next words I expected was “and not one of the usual whippersnappers”. The guy narrating it is 23 not 73. It was the summer of love and hippies and it’s reading like something out of the 40’s. I was getting a timewarp whiplash.
Masters does get his era facts straight, and the story short. In fact it just sort of ended quickly, which was fine. If you are looking for a story set in the Summer of Love, era of Woodstock, I’d keep looking.
Cover art is in keeping with the story.
Sales Link: Amazon
Book Details:
ebook
Published May 9th 2017 by Deep Desires Press
ISBN139781370412112
Other Editions (1) Law Of Love,Law of Love is a 12,000-word novella.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 
I disagree heartily with the above review. I liked the fact that a conservative, small-town Park Ranger, who is supposed to uphold the law, finds the courage to value his heart over the letter of the law. The young surfer-type lifeguard is answering an advertisement for lifeguard Jimmy Clayton at Traverse City State Park during the annual Cherry Festival with its throngs of tourists that the Ranger Joseph Knight finds too much to handle. I found enough foreshadowing for their relationship to blossom, with gay love relationships at a time when their very existence was illegal, might sound as if had no “chemistry”, but this was a time when men were not allowed to gush over each other openly, which men and women have always been able to do. I think the above reviewer should step into the shoes of a gay man instead of comparing it to whatever idealized love affair she thinks is appropriate. I found the ending, where Joseph explains his love of the Michigan forest to Jimmy is a fine piece of writing and a good setting for their very GAY love scene. This was supposed to be a short story, so don’t expect a long dissertation on the “summer of love”, as this took place in California, not in small-town Traverse City. But at a time when law enforcement and long-haired hippies made war and not love, this short vignette offers an alternative viewpoint.
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