Jeff was in a band at one time, but he tired of life on the road, booze, drugs and groupies. Now he lives in a small Florida resort town, where he writes songs for his old band during the day and plays guitar in a local strip club at night. He enjoys the quiet life, but misses having someone to share it with. Then, one night in the club, he spots Pete in the audience.
Pete is an army brat who grew up in Europe. He speaks German fluently, so he is trying his hand as a tour guide for tourists, but it’s a job he hates and plans to quit. He is just as attracted to Jeff, so the took hook up after Jeff’s shift. After a night of hot sex, both men realize that they’re interested in more than a one night stand, but can they carve out a life together in Resort City?
This very short novelette is obviously intended as a ‘one-handed read’ but even allowing a lower bar for that, this is a rather mediocre attempt. The writing is often eye-rolling, not only in the stilted dialog, but also in the narrative, which seems to make no attempt to capture the characters’ point of view in any realistic way. Then there’s the relationship, which goes from hook-up to picking out china patterns faster than any story I’ve read. Certainly, ‘love at first sight’ is standard fare for romances, gay or otherwise, but Pete and Jeff make the jump at an unrealistic pace, and the obstacles put in their way are overcome all to easily.
You don’t necessarily expect great writing from a book like this, but competence would be nice. It seems like there was almost no effort put into the plotting or the writing. For the price, there are much better books available.
“Strung Tight” is available from Smashwords
