Rick R. Reed

I've decided that I really liked Rick R. Reed's writing. This is the second book I've read by Reed and this one didn't disappoint even though it's dramatically different from the first one that I read.

This book begins with Cole and Rory moving in to their first home together. It's the late 90s and they have scored a quaint little apartment for Five hundred dollars a month. They haven't been together long, but they're young, and in love and it's about as perfect as anything can be.

One night, show more while Cole is at work, Rory goes out for a beer and a burger. He never comes home. He sees a light in the sky for the second time, feels a pull and he's gone.

Twenty years pass. Cole builds a life with Tommy. In a twist of fate, Tommy was friends with the last woman to see Rory alive ...

This book isn't really a romance... I would categorize it as really good fiction. There is a loving relationship at the beginning, and there is a loving marriage later on. But this book is about so much more than romance. It's about losing someone we love... and let's face it, there are many ways for that to happen. The thing is ... when we lose someone that we are still in love with - as Cole loses Rory in the novel - there's a gap left in a life that may never be filled.

This book was striking because of the moments I got to spend in Cole's head. His grief and loss were tangible. He didn't know how to move on without Cole... and in a way, he didn't. Rory didn't change in Cole's mind. Over the years, he just remained Cole's first love and the man he lost. His husband, Tommy was accepting and gentle regarding Cole's emotional connection to his missing partner. But I couldn't imagine living with that hanging over your relationship.

Reed is a great writer. No matter the content of his books, I find myself sinking into the lives of the characters and I become emotionally invested in them.

Don't go into this expecting a regular M/M romance. This isn't that book... it's a much better book. show less

This novel brought me to tears a few times. Not surprising. This is the third novel of Rick Reed's that I've read and each one of them has been packed with visceral emotion and well-developed characters. Honestly, I'm running out of good descriptive words for how fabulous I think Rick's books are. His voice is a truly important one in the world of LGBTQIA writing.

Again, these are NOT Gay romance novels. These are "own-voices" novels. They have such authenticity about them, it's remarkable. show more The characters have so many dimensions and they are always flawed ... just like everyone is. These are characters that I want to get to know. I get angry at them. I find myself wanting to know more about them. Whenever I get to the end of one of Rick's books, I find myself wondering if there's another one. This is a voice you don't want to miss.

In this book, two men need forgiveness. They both need to leave something behind them in order to move forward. Sometimes, it's truly difficult to manage to continue to put one step in front of another when things keep smacking into us. Rick really captures the monotony, fear, excitement, relief, and exhaustion of recovery. At the same time he manages to allow the reader into a world of intimacy between two souls... it's captivating. show less

Husband Hunters is such a great book with fascinating main characters who have real emotional issues to battle with, a great cast of secondary characters to support them, and quite a few observations and criticisms about today’s fascination with “reality” TV. Which, of course, reflects anything other than reality. The story starts off as more or less pure entertainment, but then gradually turns into an intriguing character study of Cody, who is desperate to find “the one”, and show more Matt, his best friend, who is deeply in love with Cody but too scared to tell him for fear of losing the friendship they have. Different from ‘Husband Material’ by Xavier Mayne (reviewed here earlier this year), Husband Hunters not only focuses on matching two gay men (who are both out) as part of the show, but is also centered around the two main characters’ emotions far more than their activities during the “weekend encounters” that are supposed to help them get to know each other better.

Matt is the one who instigates their participation in the show. He loves Cody and thinks this show will be a very clever way of making his best friend see him as romance material. Since Matt has no clue how to do that by opening up and talking to the man, it seems like a reasonable alternative to him. When the producers select both of them, Matt is over the moon until Cody reacts to the fact that they might be paired up with such disdain that Matt loses all hope. The back-and-forth, studio shenanigans, and interpersonal drama that follows had Matt slowly falling apart and me glued to the edge of my seat.

Cody may want “the perfect man” and he has been trying to find him, but he is lousy at relationships. To anyone but him it is perfectly obvious that he loves Matt already, hence anyone else will pale by comparison, but Cody just doesn’t get it. In his mind, friends are friends and lovers are lovers, and the two cannot possibly mix. Not only that, but once a man is either one or the other, he stays in that category forever. *shakes head* Cody goes into the show half expecting he really will find his ideal husband, and the depth of thought and consideration he gives each candidate was amazing. He only slowly realizes how fake it all is and the disillusion hits him hard. Cody really is his own worst enemy, and in the process of being stubborn, he hurts Matt (and himself) over and over. It was painful to watch, and he only matures and grows at an excruciatingly slow pace, but I think it was all worth it.

If you like to read stories about men who secretly love their best friend but are afraid to take the next step because they fear losing that friendship, if two men who seem to already be in a relationship to anyone who looks at how they interact, and if you’re looking for an intensely emotional character study that asks all the difficult questions, then you will probably like this novel. show less

This is the second book I read of Rick's 'newer' venture into romance and away from horror (the first was VGL Male).

I think Superstar is an interesting transition between 'horror' and romance that I'm tempted to call 'dark romance'. The reason is that it starts out pretty bleak - the main character, Leon, is about to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. The only reason he hesitates is that he wants to run through his memories of what brought him to ths point one more time. Those memories show more are described in vivid detail and I loved the language Rick uses.

When a glimmer of hope appears on the horizon in the form of Russell who comes by on his bicycle and tries to stop Leon from jumping, we not only find out how miserable Russell is himself but, like Leon, we're given a glimmer of hope that life might be worth living after all.

While there is no clear 'happy ending', the hopeful message at the end is encouraging. show less