Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: Loose Connection
SERIES: Urban Love #1
AUTHOR: A. E. Ryecart
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 322 Pages
BLURB:
Falling in love was easy, making it work is the hard part…
There has never been a time when Rick Taylor hasn’t been out and proud. With his Kylie ringtone and rainbow coloured clothes he’s poster boy gay with a capital G, and determined to live by the mantra bright and loud, stand out in a crowd.
When he accidently outed himself, Matt Connell’s life went into freefall. Estranged from his family and carrying a ton weight of emotional baggage, Matt strives to forge a new life for himself as he comes to terms with the man he truly is.
It may be lust at first sight, but Rick and Matt know they crave more from each other than just a one night stand as they tumble, head first, into an all-consuming and passionate love affair.
REVIEW:
I really liked this story of a plumber and a posh boy set in London. As an American who once lived in the UK for a couple years, I enjoy reading about gay life issues in the modern UK. I think this author did a great job bringing us the story of Rick Taylor and Matt Connell, and I was very easily able to relate to their story.
Move this story back 30 years and Matt and Rick could be me and my partner. I was the conservative construction worker, gay, but not loud about it guy, and my partner was the peacock, with his loud, colorful, and out there outlook on life. I wish Matt and Rick luck, because we’re 30 years later and I’m still dressing in conservative plaids and khakis while my husband recently wore canary yellow shorts and a bright purple polo shirt to a New Year’s party. So trust me, I get these guys!
The characters in the book were well developed, including the background characters who made up both men’s circle of friends. They each had very few friends, and both had some pretty hefty issues in their backgrounds which made them slightly broken.
My only slight complaint on the book would be it might have been a bit too drawn out. I loved the book up until about 33% when I realized there was still 66% left to go. Then it seemed to drag just a little for a good portion of the rest of the book. There were sections that went quickly, but some seemed to be a little too overly detailed, in my opinion. Others might disagree.
That said, otherwise I really liked the book. I think the author very accurately caught the story of someone going through a major change in their life with Matt’s character, and very well portrayed the difficulties of a new relationship when the two men in the relationship are so totally 100% opposite. It was quite funny, based on my own background I sided with Matt almost all the way through the book. I’d venture to guess if my husband read it that he would side with Rick all the way through. That to me is the sign of a good author…when different people reading the book can walk away with different viewpoints. Kudos on the writing.
I’m not going to do any spoilers, but there is a happy ending for those of you enjoy that sort of thing. I recommend this book to any of you who, like me, enjoy a longer read. The book is quite long for this genre, and maybe a bit detailed as I mentioned above. But bottom line, I enjoyed it. My advice it to give it a try…I think you will also enjoy it.
RATING: 
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