The Good Cop (A Dick Hardesty Mystery) by Dorien Grey

When I read the first Dick Hardesty I complained that “unfortunately” this series was long into more than 10 books already and I didn’t want to go back reading all the books for the saucy part; Dorien Grey was kindly enough to list me the books that, according to my love of romance, would be better suit my taste.

Since I indead read book n° 12 and in doing so I spoiled a bit this one, I would not say the name of the who I was searching, and you will not go and read the previous review ;-), but I fell in love for Dick Hardesty and his house-husband. They were such a cute couple, and it was the main reason why I liked so much that book: Dick was not only a good private investigator, he was also a man in love and if I remember well he was not selfish in proving it to his man. Now don’t get me wrong, this series is mainly a mystery, there is only “talk” of sex, but nothing graphic: in a way it’s more important the romance than the “dirty” doing (and you know that I’m joking here, don’t you?).

So basically I asked to Dorien to tell me where and when Dick met his man and Dorien Grey told me that the first time he introduced the man was in The Good Cop. This is book n° 5 and so you well understand that, not only it has an happy ending, but it’s also very much and happily forever ending, since in book 12 they are still together.

So who are the candidate? I don’t remember if Dorien Grey told us exactly how old is Dick, but I imagined him middle thirty or around. He is not yet so old to be considered out of game, but he is still experience enough to have that lived aurea in him. At the beginning of the book Dick meets again with Tom, a former lover from college. Tom is a very handsome man, he was Dick’s steady lover in college, but he is also in the closet. In college Tom had a beard, Lisa, and with Lisa’s girlfriend, Carol, Tom and Dick spent most of their time, of course when they were not spending it alone in Tom’s apartment. When Dick meets again Tom, he is married to Lisa, but his agreement with Lisa and Carol is not changed, and so Dick doesn’t see any reason to not being again “friend” with them. This is what I probably like most about Dick, he is true to himself, he has his own moral, but he is also open enough to admit that he loves sex, and he seems to be very friendly with all his past lovers, some of them are even now a couple with each other, but Dick continues to go out with them like nothing changed, aside from the sex: Dick apparently doesn’t pouch in someone else territory.

The second candidate is Jonathan, a 19 years old wanna-be hustler who, I would say luckily, got scared after his first bad experience with an abusive john: now Dick is trying to help him build a new life, a life where Jonathan can have sex with me since he wants it not for money, a life where Dick is a friend and not an older lover Jonathan has to thank with sex in exchange of help. Dick thinks he is too old for Jonathan, and he doesn’t want to listen to all his friends, that are helping him with Jonathan, that the boy would be a perfect partner for him. First of all, he is too young, and second Dick has now Tom again in his life, and Tom was his biggest crush in college, and you will never forget your first love…

I’m not able to say if I prefer Tom over Jonathan; for sure I find Jonathan very sweet, but this is probably the reason why Dick is weary to love him, Jonathan seems to be fragile and naïve, something that is not exactly in the cons list for the right partner of a P.I. On the other hand Tom is the perfect partner, he is even a cop, but I really don’t like his living in the closet; true, he is not cheating on his wife, and his wife would be probably happy for him if he was to found a lover like her has; and Tom is really a nice man, he is not that he is scared away in the closet, or that he is treating Dick like a dirty little secret. So in the end, for a reason or the other, both Tom than Jonathan are good candidate.

http://www.glbpubs.com/tgc.html

Amazon: The Good Cop: A Dick Hardesty Mystery

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

The Good Cop (A Dick Hardesty Mystery) by Dorien Grey

When I read the first Dick Hardesty I complained that “unfortunately” this series was long into more than 10 books already and I didn’t want to go back reading all the books for the saucy part; Dorien Grey was kindly enough to list me the books that, according to my love of romance, would be better suit my taste.

Since I indead read book n° 12 and in doing so I spoiled a bit this one, I would not say the name of the who I was searching, and you will not go and read the previous review ;-), but I fell in love for Dick Hardesty and his house-husband. They were such a cute couple, and it was the main reason why I liked so much that book: Dick was not only a good private investigator, he was also a man in love and if I remember well he was not selfish in proving it to his man. Now don’t get me wrong, this series is mainly a mystery, there is only “talk” of sex, but nothing graphic: in a way it’s more important the romance than the “dirty” doing (and you know that I’m joking here, don’t you?).

So basically I asked to Dorien to tell me where and when Dick met his man and Dorien Grey told me that the first time he introduced the man was in The Good Cop. This is book n° 5 and so you well understand that, not only it has an happy ending, but it’s also very much and happily forever ending, since in book 12 they are still together.

So who are the candidate? I don’t remember if Dorien Grey told us exactly how old is Dick, but I imagined him middle thirty or around. He is not yet so old to be considered out of game, but he is still experience enough to have that lived aurea in him. At the beginning of the book Dick meets again with Tom, a former lover from college. Tom is a very handsome man, he was Dick’s steady lover in college, but he is also in the closet. In college Tom had a beard, Lisa, and with Lisa’s girlfriend, Carol, Tom and Dick spent most of their time, of course when they were not spending it alone in Tom’s apartment. When Dick meets again Tom, he is married to Lisa, but his agreement with Lisa and Carol is not changed, and so Dick doesn’t see any reason to not being again “friend” with them. This is what I probably like most about Dick, he is true to himself, he has his own moral, but he is also open enough to admit that he loves sex, and he seems to be very friendly with all his past lovers, some of them are even now a couple with each other, but Dick continues to go out with them like nothing changed, aside from the sex: Dick apparently doesn’t pouch in someone else territory.

The second candidate is Jonathan, a 19 years old wanna-be hustler who, I would say luckily, got scared after his first bad experience with an abusive john: now Dick is trying to help him build a new life, a life where Jonathan can have sex with me since he wants it not for money, a life where Dick is a friend and not an older lover Jonathan has to thank with sex in exchange of help. Dick thinks he is too old for Jonathan, and he doesn’t want to listen to all his friends, that are helping him with Jonathan, that the boy would be a perfect partner for him. First of all, he is too young, and second Dick has now Tom again in his life, and Tom was his biggest crush in college, and you will never forget your first love…

I’m not able to say if I prefer Tom over Jonathan; for sure I find Jonathan very sweet, but this is probably the reason why Dick is weary to love him, Jonathan seems to be fragile and naïve, something that is not exactly in the cons list for the right partner of a P.I. On the other hand Tom is the perfect partner, he is even a cop, but I really don’t like his living in the closet; true, he is not cheating on his wife, and his wife would be probably happy for him if he was to found a lover like her has; and Tom is really a nice man, he is not that he is scared away in the closet, or that he is treating Dick like a dirty little secret. So in the end, for a reason or the other, both Tom than Jonathan are good candidate.

http://www.glbpubs.com/tgc.html

Amazon: The Good Cop: A Dick Hardesty Mystery

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

Out of the Darkness by Kate Sherwood

As it was in the first book, Dark Horse, Out of the Darkness is a menages a trois story that doesn’t take lightly the balancing problem these relationship usually have.

Evan and Jeff are an established, and open, couple. I’m not sure I would like them so much if not for the addition of Dan, and this is strange for me since I usually am not very fond of menages. But the interaction between Evan and Jeff had a bit too much the feeling of conventional, meaning that Evan and Jeff seem to be together since they are used to. Jeff has also a paternalistic approach that in a way is good, it is very useful with Dan and his issue in accepting some things of this new relationship, but sometime I found it annoying. On the other hand Evan sometime seemed to much shallow like nothing really matter to him if not his own family: if Dan wanted to be part of that family, good, if not, well in the end he always has Jeff and so he is good.

I think Dan really tried to understand the dynamics among the three of them, and he also realized that something had to be corrected. I had the feeling that Dan is more attracted to Jeff, that in a contest between Jeff and Evan his choice would be for Jeff, but Dan also understands that Jeff without Evan is not an option and so he has to adapt. Moreover, like I said, Dan realizes that both of them, Evan and him, are relying a bit too much on Jeff, and that is an unbalancing factor: they need to lower their dependency on Jeff, and at the same time trying to rebalance what it is between them, Dan and Evan, despite Jeff’s presence.

The pacing of the book, like I remember it was in the first one, is quite slow, and there is a lot of overthinking; in a way, even if they find an agreement, until the end there is still the little feeling that things are not yet perfect, that there is room for improvement. This is not only the story of how a menages was born and developed, but it’s also the making of a new family: Dan, Jeff and Evan are not the only ones involved, Tatiana, Evan’s sister is for sure another element to consider. It’s not clearly stated, but I think that she is a cons in the list of Dan to try to make things work, and the fact that she is basically the main character of the prologue and epilogue I think it means something.

Despite more than 300 pages and being this a romance, sex is not really the main course: when there is sex, it’s more something in the contest of the story than a recreational activity (both for the ones involved than the reader). Actually I think this is one of the few romance that doesn’t end with a sex scene to reconcile all parties involved, and instead it presents a family picture, where for family it’s intended the extended concept.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=1942

Amazon: Out of the Darkness

Amazon Kindle: Out of the Darkness

Series:
1) Dark Horse: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1119037.html
2) Out of the Darkness

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

Out of the Darkness by Kate Sherwood

As it was in the first book, Dark Horse, Out of the Darkness is a menages a trois story that doesn’t take lightly the balancing problem these relationship usually have.

Evan and Jeff are an established, and open, couple. I’m not sure I would like them so much if not for the addition of Dan, and this is strange for me since I usually am not very fond of menages. But the interaction between Evan and Jeff had a bit too much the feeling of conventional, meaning that Evan and Jeff seem to be together since they are used to. Jeff has also a paternalistic approach that in a way is good, it is very useful with Dan and his issue in accepting some things of this new relationship, but sometime I found it annoying. On the other hand Evan sometime seemed to much shallow like nothing really matter to him if not his own family: if Dan wanted to be part of that family, good, if not, well in the end he always has Jeff and so he is good.

I think Dan really tried to understand the dynamics among the three of them, and he also realized that something had to be corrected. I had the feeling that Dan is more attracted to Jeff, that in a contest between Jeff and Evan his choice would be for Jeff, but Dan also understands that Jeff without Evan is not an option and so he has to adapt. Moreover, like I said, Dan realizes that both of them, Evan and him, are relying a bit too much on Jeff, and that is an unbalancing factor: they need to lower their dependency on Jeff, and at the same time trying to rebalance what it is between them, Dan and Evan, despite Jeff’s presence.

The pacing of the book, like I remember it was in the first one, is quite slow, and there is a lot of overthinking; in a way, even if they find an agreement, until the end there is still the little feeling that things are not yet perfect, that there is room for improvement. This is not only the story of how a menages was born and developed, but it’s also the making of a new family: Dan, Jeff and Evan are not the only ones involved, Tatiana, Evan’s sister is for sure another element to consider. It’s not clearly stated, but I think that she is a cons in the list of Dan to try to make things work, and the fact that she is basically the main character of the prologue and epilogue I think it means something.

Despite more than 300 pages and being this a romance, sex is not really the main course: when there is sex, it’s more something in the contest of the story than a recreational activity (both for the ones involved than the reader). Actually I think this is one of the few romance that doesn’t end with a sex scene to reconcile all parties involved, and instead it presents a family picture, where for family it’s intended the extended concept.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=1942

Amazon: Out of the Darkness

Amazon Kindle: Out of the Darkness

Series:
1) Dark Horse: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1119037.html
2) Out of the Darkness

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

News at Eleven by Jack Greene

News at Eleven doesn’t want to be nothing much if not a classical office romance with a twist: it plays a lot on the flamboyant side of one of its main character, Jordan, who is shiny and sparkling lile only a poster boy for all gay boys should be.

Jordan is the anchorman of a LGBT tv station and he is obviously gay, and obviously a prima donna. If somewhere else this would be a fault, in his job, and for the station, Jordan is an asset: he can be as much a diva as he wants since more he is excessive and more the numbers skyrocket.

Alexander is the manager of the station and from his role of command, he doesn’t want to “harass” his main asset: I think he has the idea that, if he makes a move on Jordan, Jordan will not refuse him, but only since he is the one in power. For Alexander this is a problem, for Jordan this is an added bonus. Tired to wait for Alexander, Jordan decides that he will seduce his boss, and of course there is no much resistance on Alexander’s side.

Jordan is maybe a little too much: too much pretty, too much brat, too much gay, but this is something I did found often in Jack Greene’s short stories, as it’s the West Hollywood set. To whom is questioning if those characters really exist in real life, I think that, if they were not real, authors would not write about them. Maybe they are part of the gay community, they are not the majority, but I think that, if you walk down Santa Monica boulevard, you will probably find some of them wandering around in their tight jeans and shiny t-shirt.

http://www.king-cart.com/Phaze/product=News+At+Eleven/exact_match=exact

Buy at 1 Place for Romance

Amazon Kindle: News At Eleven

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

News at Eleven by Jack Greene

News at Eleven doesn’t want to be nothing much if not a classical office romance with a twist: it plays a lot on the flamboyant side of one of its main character, Jordan, who is shiny and sparkling lile only a poster boy for all gay boys should be.

Jordan is the anchorman of a LGBT tv station and he is obviously gay, and obviously a prima donna. If somewhere else this would be a fault, in his job, and for the station, Jordan is an asset: he can be as much a diva as he wants since more he is excessive and more the numbers skyrocket.

Alexander is the manager of the station and from his role of command, he doesn’t want to “harass” his main asset: I think he has the idea that, if he makes a move on Jordan, Jordan will not refuse him, but only since he is the one in power. For Alexander this is a problem, for Jordan this is an added bonus. Tired to wait for Alexander, Jordan decides that he will seduce his boss, and of course there is no much resistance on Alexander’s side.

Jordan is maybe a little too much: too much pretty, too much brat, too much gay, but this is something I did found often in Jack Greene’s short stories, as it’s the West Hollywood set. To whom is questioning if those characters really exist in real life, I think that, if they were not real, authors would not write about them. Maybe they are part of the gay community, they are not the majority, but I think that, if you walk down Santa Monica boulevard, you will probably find some of them wandering around in their tight jeans and shiny t-shirt.

http://www.king-cart.com/Phaze/product=News+At+Eleven/exact_match=exact

Buy at 1 Place for Romance

Amazon Kindle: News At Eleven

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle