Review - Fools Rush In by G.A. Hauser

Michael has never come to terms with his sexuality. He’s conscious of his attraction to men, but being gay would be difficult in the current political climate. When he literally bumps into actress Kim on the street and she invites him out, Michael thinks everything will be okay. He doesn’t know that Kim is just using him to achieve her own goals. At work, Michael and Gary have been lunch buddies for a while, but they’ve never socialized outside of work. Gary is attracted to Michael, but he’s not sure his coworker is gay and doesn’t want to make things awkward. When Gary invites Michael to play racquetball, they find a strong mutual attraction.

“Fools Rush In” is a very contemporary story with a lot of references to the current political climate in the United States. The outline sounds like it should be a screwball romantic comedy, but it feels heavier than that. The constant political references and extremely mercenary behavior of Kim give the book a darker feel than might be expected from the title and blurb.

The narration switches between Michael, Gary and Kim’s points of view. Michael is at the center of everything. He’s painted as a nice guy who just wants to do the right thing, which is admirable. The fact that he never suspects Kim is just using him suggests that maybe Michael is a little too innocent for New York.

Gary is a lot like Michael, which is probably why they seem to click so well. Except, Gary is comfortable in his sexuality. He’s accepted that he’s gay, although, like Michael, Gary is focused on his work and not interested in casual hook-ups.

Kim is the villain of the story. She uses people - men in particular - to get what she wants, and she doesn’t care if they get hurt in the process. It’s a bit of a spoiler, but I would have liked to see Kim get more of a comeuppance in the end. You just have to hope that she and the millionaire old man she’s using Michael to hook will make each other miserable, which is probably a safe bet.

“Fools Rush In” is available from Smashwords or see BookBub for other online outlets.