Trapped in Oz Tales from Kansas Book 3
M/M Romance
Dreamspinner Press
October 8, 2014
118
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
Once again, we find ourselves in Wamego, Kansas, AKA, Oz. This is a quaint town with a yellow brick road and the Oz Museum where we previously met Lyle, Roger, Jeremy, and Nate. Now we meet Martin Long and Gary Hunter.
Martin is twenty years old, lives with his parents and has a good job working at the Shoebox Warehouse. He dreams of travelling and going to college one day, however, everything will change when he finds out that his father has gotten a long awaited promotion. The promotion will make his parent’s lives much easier, only the job is in Houston, Texas. Now, in addition to the fact his parents are relocating he finds himself without a place to live. Various calls to friends are not helpful, but an ad in the paper will change everything.
Gary is looking for a roommate to help with expenses. He lives in the house his grandmother left him when she died. However, between the upkeep, taxes, and going to college he can’t do it without help. When Martin answers the ad, the two hit it off immediately. All of Martin’s problems seem to be solved until Gary confesses that he is gay. Martin knows he is also gay but has yet to admit it to himself. He is not ready to admit it to anyone else, including his folks. If he shares a house with Gary, then everyone will suspect Martin is gay also. However, Martin needs a place to live and he likes Gary.
Gary came out to his parents and found them very unaccepting. They don’t talk to him anymore, and his sister refuses to allow him to see her twin girls. He has gone through periods of hating himself or wanting to kill himself, all because he opened his big mouth and admitted who and what he is. It would seem that confessing you are gay is like admitting you have a deadly disease others may catch. If you can’t be true to yourself, then you live an unhappy and unfulfilled life.
Martin and Gary finally admit everything to each other and begin living as boyfriends, but only behind the locked doors of the house. It is like “What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas” and what happens in the safety of the house stays there. That is well and good. However, after awhile Gary finds it hard to face the fact that every time someone comes to the door, Martin pushes him away. They love each other, but until Martin can face being gay and tell his parents, they are living in a closed off world which Gary doesn’t want anymore. As far as he is concerned, been there, done that. Can Martin tell his parents he is gay? Can Gary and Martin finally unlock the door and face the world head on?
Okay, here I go again singing the praises of one of my favorite authors and sounding like a broken record. Mr. Grey never ceases to amaze me with his ability to create amazing characters who, as gay men, have to face all kinds of ridicule and rejection. Although he writes gay books they are not about SEX they are about LOVE. Of course, there are some sex scenes, but they are scenes with two men who want affection, comfort, love, and yes, sex.
