Damon Suede - Bad Idea

Reclusive comic book artist Trip Spector spends his life doodling super-square, straitlaced superheroes, hiding from his fans, and crushing on his unattainable boss until he meets the dork of his dreams. Silas Goolsby is a rowdy FX makeup creator with a loveless love life and a secret streak of geek who yearns for unlikely rescues and a truly creative partnership.
Against their better judgment, they fall victim to chemistry, and what starts as infatuation quickly grows tender and terrifying. With Silas’s help, Trip gambles his heart and his art on a rotten plan: sketching out Scratch, a “very graphic novel” that will either make his name or wreck his career. But even a smash can't save their world if Trip retreats into his mild-mannered rut, leaving Silas to grapple with betrayal and emotions he can't escape.
What will it take for this dynamic duo to discover that heroes never play it safe?

Comment: I didn't have many ideas about which m/m stories to pick this month. Then I saw this book being highly praised in some places and I thought why not go with a new story (instead of the huge pile I already had, I know...) to check if my opinion would follow the trend of positive goodness.

This is the story of Trip Spector, he's a nerd, shy artist. Silas is more outgoing and extroverted man, he works with make up and special effects make up. They meet by chance in an event and start looking for the other after but they only manage to be face to face after a while. They both have some baggage and doubts but there's attraction and feelings there and they slowly start a relationship. Then Trip pictures a new comic book, something completely different from the usual...

This is a long book. Usually I have no problems by reading long books, but in this case I was a bit bored at times because I thought I wouldn't get to the end of the story fast enough. It's a smart and interesting story yes, but I also thought it took too long for things to happen. Sometimes we read books we wish could be longer because it's so engrossing and addictive we really don't want to stop. With this book I felt the opposite, it was so long and not always as captivating as that and I had the sensation the same thing could have been told in less 100 pages, at least. I mean, I'm not a writer so I can't say which is the best way to put your story out there, but from a reader's perspective, my ow of course, it felt too much.

The story was interesting enough. I confess I don't care much about comics and I was never a big fan of those. But it interesting to know more about how that "world" works, the artist's inspiration, the problems, the challenges. In a way it was good to find out, and it's always good when you can learn something from a book. At times it felt like it was too much information for a fiction story because it would clash with the character's personal time all the time and it ended up looking like the two things were linked in such a way it almost felt like one thing couldn't work out in the story without the other right there.

The two main characters are well liked by many apparently. I didn't dislike them but now that a couple days have gone by since I finished I thin about them without much applause. They were cute together and each of their personalities had interesting things but I wasn't overwhelmed by them. Trip is a nerd guy and by norm I tend to like these, he has his fears too and I felt empathy towards him. But I also cared for Silas and his wish to help, to respect Trip. Still, it wasn't fireworks for me, in particular their time together, I didn't feel any levels of chemistry that drove me crazy hoe deep and powerful they seemed. In fact, their relationship apart from some angst at a certain point, felt rather plain. At he end I felt bad for not enjoying their romance more, but together with the slow pace all the time it seemed a very unsuspicious story.
The secondary characters were funny, I liked Jillian in particular, and they complemented the story, they were the support players and their part seemed good.

In the end, I wasn't as captivated y this as I'd have liked after seeing so many people loving it. One more proof what works for one might not for someone else. Even the other book by the author I've tried, Hot Head, felt rather slow, although I enjoyed that one more. I wonder if it's just the author's style...in which case will make me think twice about reading another of his books. It's not that he's bad, his work is consistent and obviously well researched. It's just...a bit boring for me...
Grade: 5/10

Damon Suede - Hot Head

Since 9/11, Brooklyn firefighter Griff Muir has wrestled with impossible feelings for his best friend and partner at Ladder 181, Dante Anastagio. Unfortunately, Dante is strictly a ladies’ man, and the FDNY isn’t exactly gay-friendly. For ten years, Griff has hidden his heart in a half-life of public heroics and private anguish. Griff’s caution and Dante’s cockiness make them an unbeatable team. To protect his buddy, there’s nothing Griff wouldn’t do… until a nearly bankrupt Dante proposes the worst possible solution: HotHead.com, a gay porn website where uniformed hunks get down and dirty. And Dante wants them to appear there—together. Griff may have to guard his heart and live out his darkest fantasies on camera. Can he rescue the man he loves without wrecking their careers, their families, or their friendship?

Comment: I bought this book after some people recommended it to me. They said it was a good GFY (= gay for you) story and although it was the author's debut, it was great.

This is the story of Griff and Dante, they are firemen in New York and work together. Griff and his dad don't get along that well, so he's friends with Dante's family since ever and spends a lot of time in their house. At first it was only friendship that moved him, but since 9-11 Griff has slowly getting to see Dante with different eyes, to the point he suspects he's in love with him. Then, because Dante has a house but not enough money to fix it, he proposes Griff a deal, something to do with a gay website and from that point on, things change completely.

Well, I liked the story and apart from some personal preferences, I can't say the story is bad or badly done. It has all the ingredients to work, two close friends, hidden desires around, dramatic things making the change happen, admissions of love...
I liked Griff's personality, he thought a lot about feelings and desires and what was right or wrong, how his eventual decision would affect the others around him, whether he confessed his feelings or not. His character is strong and we easily want to see him overcome the obstacles to be happy.
Dante, on the other hand...well, here's the thing I prefer when both main characters have a voice from the start. We only see Dante's POV when the guys finally admit things and this obviously only happens almost in the end, so..a lot of time imagining what Dante is thinking. A lot of his actions and behavior seems strange especially when compared to Griffin's more depressed thoughts about losing a friend, etc, in case he admits things. So I was a bit anxious to see Dante "speak", because there were some times where I think it would suit the story if we did see his mind...with only Griffin"speaking" we felt for him and get to the feel of the story faster but in my personal opinion, it's best to just know things than to imagine them, even more when we know they're ending up together, this isn't a drama or a tragic story.
Speaking about drama, there are some subjects in the story, some related to what others think about gays, some about the American vision of what was 9-11 and what it meant to them, it was interesting and it fit the plot in a fascinating way. But to combine everything..yes, it's possible, but a bit too much, I think there was too much imposed drama for the type of story.
In the end the guys are together and go out and they seem so happy, I was glad for them. Dante's family proves they are special and Dante is even a jealous boyfriend. They also help others accepting themselves and all in all, a great story to read.
Like I said, what I felt wasn't so good it's simply my personal vision of things, because the whole story is great and the author has done a good job.