Synopsis: In the woods of upstate New York, three friends gather on the anniversary of a man’s death who was related to them by blood or love. Their idyll is disturbed by the presence of two outsiders, an Italian dinner guest and a young gay man, now involved with the dead man’s lover. Thus each event is charged with the tension of trying to recapture something lost.
Review: Disappointed – enticed by an intriguing synopsis, but let down by disconnected and chopping dialogue. The dialogue almost made me forget my promise to always read whatever I had started, no matter how difficult of a read it may be. Everything about Cameron’s writing was really good until the characters would break out into a conversation. At that point, I would grit my teeth and hope the conversation was minimal. It was like super intelligent intellectuals trying to interact socially with each other, or like two robots communicating with each other. Cameron’s style of writing dialogue killed the story for me. I thought the story line was sweet, but the jerky, halt/stop dialogue and emotionally void communication was a major distraction. Sorry Mr. Cameron, but “The Weekend” was just as much of a bust for me as it was for Lyle and his friends.
Synopsis: Paul Harrison is completely straight. His house will not flood again. And gay men don’t play cricket. Eventually Paul will find out just how incorrect these preconceived notions are.
When the river overflows its banks, Paul is forced to find temporary accommodation. The only practical suggestion comes from Trevor, an out and proud work colleague. Despite Paul’s hesitancy regarding Trevor’s offer of hospitality, he accepts and soon grows to admire Trevor, his humanity, his determination, and his abilities with a cricket ball.
In order to protect his fragile emotions, Trevor keeps people at a distance by wearing gaudy clothing and behaving outrageously. He had no way of knowing that doing the right thing by offering Paul his spare room will lead to such a big change in his life.
A tenuous connection develops between the two men. But misunderstandings and in-born prejudices threaten to derail their growing friendship. Things get even more complicated when Gary, Trevor’s ex-lover, shows up.
Can Trevor learn to trust again? Will Paul listen to his heart and discover that, despite first impressions, there’s just something about Trevor he can’t deny?
Review: A novel with regular average characters, how refreshing, characters that just about anybody can relate. The pace reads steady through believable situations that real people could actually encounter and overcome in the real-world. An entertaining feel-good read for a relaxing weekend or stormy afternoon.
Synopsis: Flanked by gorgeous brick row houses in the heart of Boston’s South End, the Club Café is a bar where everybody knows your name–and who you slept with last. Every night men like Tommy Perez, Rico DiMio, and Kyle Andrews take their place among the glistening crowd sporting chest-defining shirts and lots of smooth, tanned skin, sizing up the regulars and the new blood while TV monitors blare Beyoncé and Missy Elliott.
For Tommy, Thursdays at the Club Café in the company of his wingman Rico and a Skinny Black Bitch (vodka and Diet Coke) are unmissable. Recently relocated from Miami to Boston to take a reporting job at The Boston Daily, Tommy is finding it hard to break away from his tight-knit Cuban family, but his homesickness goes into rapid remission when he meets Mikey, a blue-eyed, boyish guidance counselor from Cape Cod. Smart, funny, and wicked cute, Mikey is perfect boyfriend material…until his drinking leads Tommy to suspect that he’s got some issues of his own. Rico–a tough-talking, Italian-American accountant with a gamma ray smile and mournful green eyes that hint at a past he’ll admit to no one–is sure Mikey is bad news, but to Rico any relationship that lasts longer than three hours sounds like bad news. Then there’s Kyle, the lean, preening model and former reality show star who makes a red-carpet entrance into the CC every Thursday as if a swarm of cameras still follows his every move, but whose real life is about to take a dramatic turn he never anticipated.
Over the course of one unforgettable year, Tommy is forced to rethink everything he’s ever believed about life, lust, and love. And in the Club Café, a place filled with endless possibilities–of stumbling upon the perfect partner, the perfect story idea, or just a play buddy for the night–Tommy might finally discover the person he was meant to be.
Review: Again Kensington Press has not disappointed me. Boston Boys Club was a delightful read. Each chapter depicted scenes from the lives of one of 3 friends, each told in first person. Diaz lets us into the heads and thoughts of these 3 guys over a span of a years time. The characters are as shallow and one-dimensional as many of my own real-world friends so I made an instant connection to the story. If you are looking for a deep and philosophically moving book this ain’t it. BBC is a fun, light & often times humorous frolic through the lives of 3 gay men. In a quiet and subtitle way it sends out some meaningful social thoughts and messages. I thought the book was charming, the story was well told and the characters reminded me of real people in my own reality. Fun! Fun! Fun!
Dustin Adrian Rhodes 