Review of “A Secret Valentine”

So Amos Lassen, well-known reviewer of GLBT fiction has done a review of A Secret Valentine. To say I am please is an understatment!

Here goes…

“A Secret Valentine” – Plans for Love
from “Never Say Never,” Silver Publishing, 2011.
Amos Lassen

I rarely review part of a book but I chose to do so now with Valentine’s Day breathing down my neck. This story is one of four in the new anthology, “Never Say Never” (Silver Publishing).

Steve Manchester is divorced and has come out as a gay man and he decided that the only way he would ever find happiness would be to honest with himself about his sexuality. However, he has not yet found love and it seems that the only kind of men that he meets are those who are not interested in a relationship and prefer quick sex. He begins to question why he ever came out.

Along comes Bill Cameron who seems to be exactly what Steve is looking for. However Bill is just looking for friends and Steve is so smitten with Bill that he tries to make this work, He contains his feelings for Bill by engaging in anonymous sex and by dating other men. However this doesn’t work for him and he suffers heartache over Bill. Finally he realizes that this love will be unrequited so he decides to move to San Francisco but suddenly Bill invites him out on Valentine’s Day. Bill questions how we would feel about going to the Valentine’s Day Ball with Bill when he knows that there will be many happy couples there.

So much for the summary because if I say anymore I will spoil the story and a good reading experience.

Everything about the story is good — the plot (simple as it is), the characters (well defined and thought out) and the prose (sublime at times). Thomas seems to be on the verge of making a jump into the world of GLBT literature and if this story is a sign of what is to come, then we should welcome him with open arms.

http://amoslassen.wordpress.com/2011/02/13/a-secret-valentine-plans-for-love/

My goodness! WOW! Thank you Amos for your very kind words!

I guess I should take a second to say that you can get A Secret Valentine as part of the delightful anthology Never Say Never either as a ebook or paperback by Clicking Right Here! *wink*

Namaste,
Ben