Reviewed by Carissa
TITLE: Here For You
AUTHOR: T.K. Paige
PUBLISHER: Totally Bound
LENGTH: 94 pages
BLURB:
When James falls for the new guy at the station is he just setting himself up to be burned?
Welcome to Deacon, Oklahoma. Straight population—seven hundred and ninety-six. Gay population—James Hara. Except it really isn’t that bad, because when he came out to his hometown, something wonderful happened. They still loved him…most did anyway. The only problem is the lack of a dating pool.
Then he meets the new firefighting volunteer and he has a bigger problem. Mason is gorgeous, friendly and straight. Soon James is doing his best not to fall for his new friend. Hard to do when Mason is everything he dreams of, with his humor and flashes of vulnerability.
But after a set of stressful events, he finds that maybe it is not impossible after all. If he can be patient with a man wounded by his past.
REVIEW:
James Hara is used to being the only gay man around town…and after so many years, the town has gotten used to openly gay James Hara. But for all that no one is coming after him with pitchforks or rock-hard brownies, James can admit that while he loves his town, and its people, it sure would be nice to find someone to love him in a more…hands on fashion. Except gay men seem to be rather thin on ground, as of late.
Then Mason Sullivan shows up at the firehouse, looking for a slot as a volunteer firefighter. And well…I think it would be only fair to say that James Hara–openly gay firefighter, lover of small town Oklahoma, and all around Doctor Who fanboy–finds himself smitten. To the very straight, very secretive, and very hot, Mason Sullivan. Because sometimes life just like to laugh at you. Still…there is something about Mason that James can’t let go of. And well, if falling in smite to your straight co-worker is inadvisable, then falling in love with your new friend is just downright crazy. Good thing James likes a little crazy in his life.
Well…if you think you can buy me off with casual mentions of Doctor Who that set my fangirl heart a flutter…well, then, you are probably correct. I’m all kinds of cheap and easy for Doctor Who. Some might consider it a failing–I consider it a way of life. So starting out with mentions of TARDISs and Sonic Screwdrivers was probably a good call. I’m never going to say no to Doctor Who in stories. Never. They revoke your fangirl privileges for that and where would I be without the ability to squeee?
It didn’t hurt that in addition to Doctor Who (I promise this is the last time I’ll mention that show (in this review)), we also got some hot firefighters. Everyone loves a firefighter. Especially when they are all…dirty. And half-dressed. And being all firefighter-y…
Err…sorry. I’m easily distracted?
Anyways, this was a rather nice story. I liked the camaraderie between the guys at the station as well as with Mason and James. And it doesn’t hurt that I love GFY/OFY stories. I liked that James didn’t push Mason to come out. I think after hearing everything that Mason went thru, it would have been kinda a douche move if James had then turned around and asked Mason to put himself on the line like that before he was ready. And Mason does get there…eventually.
I kinda wish this wasn’t written in first person, though, because at times it felt a little too…heady. I guess. All that time spent in James head–while not torturous–was a bit much at times. The connection between Mason and James had a hard time coming thru all the snarky lust floating around in James’ head, sometimes.
It didn’t help that we basically skipped almost the whole ‘just friends’ portion of their story. I get wanting to move the story along, but since we never got to see how they really became friends–real friends and not just the outer layers–I sometimes felt like what they had was a bit wishy-washy. There was some pretty heavy stuff floating around in between them, and in their pasts, and I had a hard time feeling the impact as much as I should have.
I did enjoy reading this though…and while I would love to smack James upside the head for his whole ‘escape the family abode plan’ at the end, I liked that his reaction to the incident was not just shrugged off. That the reaction to both their incidents were not just shrugged off. All in all? An enjoyable story, even if it flounders a bit when it comes to the heavy hitting emotions.
RATING: 
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