The Other Guy by Cary Attwell

[reviews_and_ramblings]

As others have noted The Other Guy is a “sweet” romance, where sweet has the classic romance rule meaning, i.e. the even if the two guys are having a physical relationship, the reader is not apart of that side of the story, you only know they are intimate by sentence like “and that night they didn’t part ways”, or “his toothbrush was in the bathroom”. This allows the author to focus more on the personal conflicts Emory, the Other Guy, is having in admitting he is in love with another guy.

At first I thought this was a gay for you romance, meaning that Emory was at the second bad break-up with a woman, this second even left him at the altar, and when he met Nate, I was thinking this was Emory realizing he could be in love with a man. But little by little, we find out that Emory was having trouble with his sexuality for a long time, and maybe the reason why he has never been able to really bond with a woman is that he is not in love with them. Nate I think is Emory’s first real love, and the one for whom he will really hurt. Indeed when his fiancé leaves him at the altar, I didn’t think Emory was really hurt if not for a question of appearance: being left all alone in front of his parents and relatives and friends was not nice, but it was not really the end of the world.

I really liked Nate’s character; apparently the stronger between the two, the one who seemed more self-conscious and comfortable with himself, he is the one who really stakes with his heart, the one who un-shields his feelings, risking to be hurt. And indeed, unwillingly, Emory will hurt him. That is the risk when you relate with someone who is not yet sure of who he is and what he wants.

The Other Guy is, somehow, an unassuming romance, that will insinuate in your heart, little by little, step by step, until the end, when you realize you are completely caught.

Amazon: The Other Guy
Amazon Kindle: The Other Guy
Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 4, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 148023964X
ISBN-13: 978-1480239647

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