Peter Foster is a college professor entrapped in a marriage that’s deteriorating. Jeremy West is his student taking a couple of arts classes in addition to his major in engineering. When the two meet it ignites a lust in both that demands satisfaction.
G.A. Hauser has again taken on a challenging storyline. Teacher and student in a gay relationship is a topic that, even with more liberal times, is sure to raise eyebrows. I think she handles it all with dignity and realism.
This author doesn’t let her characters have an easy time of it. The subject matter can be volatile but her writing always convinces us that these two are not stereotypical, not just using one another. They go through too much to win one another’s love. Sure there’s hot sex but it becomes much more as each take risks to defend and protect the other.
As is usual with her stories, the dialogue is excellent. The secondary characters like Jeremy’s roommate who can’t decide if he’s gay or not give us the realities of friendship. Kevin hints that he wants to experiment but Jeremy remains true to the one he loves. Kelly and Crystal, two girls who seem to want nothing out of college but sex, test every boy they meet. When frustrated their anger leads to more complications.
There are always complex side stories to Ms. Hauser’s stories. This time it’s Jeremy’s parents, his alcoholic father, his obsessive mother, his promiscuous sister.
All of these characters blend together to make one heck of a story under the pen of this author. G.A. Hauser builds her stories with great attention to detail, great compassion for her characters. She doesn’t give a lot of leeway to the villains in the story and that’s part of the reason I get so much satisfaction from reading her novels.
