2016 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: All The Wrong Places by Ann Gallagher (202-07-24-2016)

[reviews_and_ramblings]

1) This is a good story. The characters were interesting and when more of their history came out I wondered how the author would go about bringing them together. I liked that she started them out as friends first. This book is part of an ongoing series but can be read on its own.

2) This was my first story with asexual protagonists, and I thought it was interesting and well-handled. I'm often not a fan of stories with alternating first-person POVs, but I thought it did add an element of depth to the characters here, both of whom I felt were sympathetic and likeable. The secondary characters, even Zafir's son Tariq, seemed a little flat, however. I appreciated that Brennan's ex was not completely demonized, but I still didn't like the "Big Mis" section where, at Aimee's prompting, suddenly questions his relationship with Zafir - this seemed extremely abrupt and disjointed from the main plot. Overall, though, this was an enjoyable read on a less common topic.

All The Wrong Places (Bluewater Bay) by Ann Gallagher
Asexual Contemporary Romance
Series: Bluewater Bay (Book 14)
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing (February 17, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1626494207
ISBN-13: 978-1626494206
Amazon: All The Wrong Places (Bluewater Bay)
Amazon Kindle: All The Wrong Places (Bluewater Bay)

Three cheating girlfriends in a row have given skateboarder Brennan Cross the same excuse: he wasn’t meeting their needs. Desperate and humiliated, he goes to the professionals at the local sex shop for advice.

Zafir Hamady, a sales clerk at Red Hot Bluewater, has an unusual theory: he doesn’t think Brennan is a bad lover. In fact, he doesn’t think Brennan is heterosexual. Or sexual at all, for that matter. He also can’t stop thinking about Brennan. But even if he’s right and Brennan really is asexual, that doesn’t mean Zafir has a chance. Brennan’s never dated a man, and Zafir’s never met anyone who’s game for a Muslim single father with a smart mouth and a GED.

Brennan’s always thought of himself as straight. But when sex is explicitly out of the mix, he finds himself drawn to Zafir for the qualities and interests they share. And Zafir can’t help enjoying Brennan’s company and the growing bond between Brennan and his son. They work well together, but with so many issues between them, doubts creep in, and Brennan’s struggle with his identity could push away the one person he didn’t know he could love.

Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2016.html