Title: Colliding in Free Fall
Author: Vivien Dean
Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
Publisher URL: liquidsilverbooks.com
ISBN: 978-1-59578-637-1
Genre: [M/M] Contemporary
Rating: 3.5 Nymphs
Literary Nymphs Reviewer: Mystical Nymph
Jay McGhee loves his job as a firefighter in his hometown of Roseville, Indiana but at forty-three, he isn’t certain how much longer his aging body can put up with the abuse of fighting fires. That becomes even clearer after he’s injured while on the job and he’s forced on medical leave for a few days. And it doesn’t help when his doctor keeps suggesting he take a desk job and let the younger men do the manual work. As a gay man living in a small rural community, he’s sacrificed his personal happiness to keep his sexual preference hidden, and he’s determined to hold onto the job he loves as long as possible.
Everything changes when twenty-seven year-old Frank Kaplan, the grandson of a local woman, moves into town. For the first time in his adult life, Jay’s willing to take a chance at a little personal happiness, even though the long-haired, tattooed object of his desire couldn’t be more different from his usual type of man. Yet he’s still not willing to act on his attraction; instead, he strikes up a friendship with Frank…a man who might not even be gay. Despite his fear of discovery and ridicule, Jay can’t stay away from Frank because the younger man fills an empty void in his life that Jay didn’t even know he had. Can these two men find happiness or will Frank drift away, leaving Jay alone and unhappy again?
Colliding in Free Fall is, at heart, the story of a closeted gay man’s life in crisis, and I mean both personally and professionally. Jay’s been hiding his sexual preference his entire life and he’s tired of his friends suggesting he find a nice girl and settle down, when a woman is the last thing he wants. He tried being married once years before, and couldn’t live the lie, so they divorced. Yet, he can’t deny that he’s tired of being alone; that he wants a partner and lover he doesn’t have to hide.
On the professional side, at age forty-three Jay’s facing what every person does…he doesn’t heal as fast, move as quick and he’s having trouble competing with the youth and stamina of his firefighting co-workers. This is where the story is pertinent, no matter what the sexuality of the character. As painful and annoying as it is to admit, as we age our bodies change and betray us. In truth, this is Jay’s most painful and difficult-to-handle problem, and where Ms. Dean hooked me. These portions of the story were handled very well, allowing me to feel Jay’s pain, denial and uncertainty with his life and future.
Author: Vivien Dean
Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
Publisher URL: liquidsilverbooks.com
ISBN: 978-1-59578-637-1
Genre: [M/M] Contemporary
Rating: 3.5 Nymphs
Literary Nymphs Reviewer: Mystical Nymph
Jay McGhee loves his job as a firefighter in his hometown of Roseville, Indiana but at forty-three, he isn’t certain how much longer his aging body can put up with the abuse of fighting fires. That becomes even clearer after he’s injured while on the job and he’s forced on medical leave for a few days. And it doesn’t help when his doctor keeps suggesting he take a desk job and let the younger men do the manual work. As a gay man living in a small rural community, he’s sacrificed his personal happiness to keep his sexual preference hidden, and he’s determined to hold onto the job he loves as long as possible.
Everything changes when twenty-seven year-old Frank Kaplan, the grandson of a local woman, moves into town. For the first time in his adult life, Jay’s willing to take a chance at a little personal happiness, even though the long-haired, tattooed object of his desire couldn’t be more different from his usual type of man. Yet he’s still not willing to act on his attraction; instead, he strikes up a friendship with Frank…a man who might not even be gay. Despite his fear of discovery and ridicule, Jay can’t stay away from Frank because the younger man fills an empty void in his life that Jay didn’t even know he had. Can these two men find happiness or will Frank drift away, leaving Jay alone and unhappy again?
Colliding in Free Fall is, at heart, the story of a closeted gay man’s life in crisis, and I mean both personally and professionally. Jay’s been hiding his sexual preference his entire life and he’s tired of his friends suggesting he find a nice girl and settle down, when a woman is the last thing he wants. He tried being married once years before, and couldn’t live the lie, so they divorced. Yet, he can’t deny that he’s tired of being alone; that he wants a partner and lover he doesn’t have to hide.
On the professional side, at age forty-three Jay’s facing what every person does…he doesn’t heal as fast, move as quick and he’s having trouble competing with the youth and stamina of his firefighting co-workers. This is where the story is pertinent, no matter what the sexuality of the character. As painful and annoying as it is to admit, as we age our bodies change and betray us. In truth, this is Jay’s most painful and difficult-to-handle problem, and where Ms. Dean hooked me. These portions of the story were handled very well, allowing me to feel Jay’s pain, denial and uncertainty with his life and future.
Frank, I’m still not certain of…whether I like him or not. He and Jay spent the first portion of the story as ‘friends’, where neither knew the sexual/emotional desires of the other. Then when they became lovers, I still felt he kept Jay at arm’s length, emotionally speaking, and I spent most of the story not knowing what motivated him. It wasn’t until near the end that I came to understand him better, and while I empathized with his past, I didn’t like that Jay was the only one compromising and giving up what mattered to him. I guess ultimately, Frank left me feeling cold…that he was being selfish and unbending…that Frank took too much from Jay and didn’t give enough back. I know that in reality this happens a great deal and despite the story being technically well-written; in the end, it left me feeling unsatisfied.
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