Reviewed by Elizabetta
TITLE: Ghosts of Bourbon Street
AUTHOR: Rowan Speedwell
PUBLISHER: MLR Press
LENGTH: 73 pages
BLURB: New Orleans bartender Paul isn’t looking for love, but it seems something in the bar has other ideas.
As a bartender at his family’s gay New Orleans bar, Paul Thibodeaux finds it easy to pick up guys. Too easy—he drifts from one encounter to the next. He’s drifting through life, too. He barely even notices the naked guys dancing on the bar in front of him. When his friends challenge him, he has to admit he never looks higher than their knees. But then one night, he does. He’s not sure what to make of Michael, the dancer who catches his eye, but something in Jean-Thom’s old building seems to have an opinion about him, and the evening he finds Michael someplace he shouldn’t be is going to change his life…
REVIEW:
Well, this started off promising…
A haunted gay bar with nude dancers in party-town New Orleans? What’s not to love?
The Jean-Thom bar has been owned by the Thibodeaux family for more than fifty years and, in fact, started as gay bar. Pretty progressive for the times.
Paul, and brother Theo Thibodeaux now own and operate the Jean-Thom, known for its friendly, fun atmosphere. It’s not just a pick up joint and it’s very popular with the locals. I suspect that the handsome brothers add their own brand of local color to the action. Especially the broody Paul. Everyone wants him, including the hot little numbers that dance on the bar top, over him, as he slings the liquor. But hey, Paul never dates the clients, doesn’t really check out the dancers, at least not above knee-level…
“There was Ankle Tattoo; Jockstrap, who didn’t actually wear a jock, but high-end running shoes that cost more than Paul’s rent; Army Guy, with boots he danced amazingly well in; and pedicure, who wore trendy athletic sandals and clear-polished his nails. He rarely looked higher than their knees…”
Paul loves his home but he’s adrift and unhappy, bar tending really isn’t his thing, it’s just been the easiest path to follow. He lives from one quickie hook-up to the next, never connecting, getting drunk to forget. Until one night, when his eyes connect with Michael’s, one of the dancers (otherwise known as ‘pedicure’).
Michael carries his own wounds and fears and dances to lose himself in the music. Likes to spin fantasies with his body…‘conjuring up heat demons for the crowd’.
“… the music and the scent of booze and the warm breath of New Orleans like a caress on his skin.”
Oh yeah, Paul and Michael exchange scorching stares across a crowded room… So, things conspire to bring Paul and Michael together, but this is when the story stutters for me. Things happen too quickly between the guys, they meet, they fuck, they make plans. And it’s sketchy given Michael’s situation. (SPOILER–> He’s just left an abusive situation. Actually, the whole thing with his boyfriend, Dex, seems half-baked.) and Paul’s knowledge of it.
There is a sprinkling of the paranormal thrown into the mix… odd occurrences at the Jean-Thom, strange noises, glimpses of people who seem to be from another time. This adds a little whimsy to the plot.
This would have worked much better if it had been longer, if the guys had had more time to give credence to their connection (ok, the sex was hot, s’truth). I love some of this author’s previous stuff but, alas, this one suffers the pitfall of many a novella… slightly undercooked and needing more substance.
Elizabetta rates it: 
BUY LINKS: MLR Press