Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars
When I was in high school in the early 1980s, I read harlequin romances obsessively. At the time, they were exactly what my immature self wanted – quick reads where the guy gets the girl with little angst, and the girl would then devote the rest of her life to making her man happy. Which also meant becoming dependent upon said man for her happiness and well being as well, financial and emotional.
And you know what? The world isn’t like that any more. By the time I was a year into college, I quit thinking that I needed a man to define me, or to make my life worthwhile. And I quit reading cheesy romances, because they offended me with their misogyny. Why was it always the woman who needed rescuing? And I continued to stay away from romances until I discovered M/M romance a few years ago, and I could read about people falling in love without that built-in power differential between men and women that bothered me so much. If a man needed rescuing, it was not simply because of gender, but because of circumstances, or choices, and when they got together, they were equals.
That’s how a relationship should be.
OK, that’s my soapbox, and what I expect from this genre. So when I read a book that follows that old harlequin formula, just substituting the woman with a man, it pisses me off. And that’s what this book did. Ravi is supposed to be an ambitious and successful marketing professional, who chooses to take a job in India in order to further his career and to see the world. But really, he is just sad and jealous that his best friend is getting married and he’s not, and since his life really has no meaning without a man, he runs away, to India. Thaddeus is supposed to be a cyber security guru with a checkered past who goes to India to do a job that will further his career as well. But he takes on the role of uber-alpha male who will “fix” everything that is wrong with Ravi’s life with his magic penis. Ravi acts irrationally, hating Thaddeus on sight for no apparent reason, but going along with everything he wants because, well, he is powerless in the face of Thaddeus’ take charge masculinity. There was that annoying “I hate you, but I want you, and I really have no self respect so go ahead and ravish me, and that will make me fall in love with you”. And of course, Ravi is always the bottom, because he is the weak “woman” in this pairing. Physically smaller and weaker, younger, less successful, and needing his alpha male to “complete” him.
So enough feminist ranting. Yes, I know that I have read and enjoyed other books with alpha males, and I’m not sure what set me off so much with this one, but I would have DNFed it about a third of the way through if I hadn’t committed to writing a review. On top of that, the writing wasn’t even all that good. There was an awful lot of filler and no substance. I do not need to read about Thaddeus putting on his boots, then noticing the snow and tucking his pants in, wondering where his scarf went, then getting in the car, closing the door, turning on the defroster……. And I don’t want to know that he takes a piss every morning before he brushes his teeth. Who the hell cares and wants to read about that?
I hoped to read and learn about India, but all I got out of this book was that it’s hot, and people are poor there. Oh, until Ravi and “Thaddy” (shoot me) save their Indian driver who is gay and driven out of his homophobic father’s home, and then his sister is also driven out because she still loves her brother. Both of them would have obviously become homeless prostitutes without the great Americans to save them. So even though one MC is Indian and the other is black, I still found this book racist.
I could go on. I made notes of things I didn’t like, but the list is so long and I don’t want to spend any more time writing about it. Oh, and I have no idea what the title meant or how it related to the story, and why the subtitle “Fighting Love is Futile” is even there. Was someone expecting the Borg??
Cover art by Posh Gosh was extremely generic, though the Indian man was good looking. It would have been nice to have a photograph from India instead of the random sunset, which said nothing about the book.
Sales Links
Book Details:
ebook
Expected publication: November 1st 2016 by Pride Publishing
ISBN139781786514837
Edition LanguageEnglish
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