Undeniable Magnetism~Bonnie Dee

Aw. This is a sweet little book. And Loose-Id did a bang up job capturing the tone of this story with that cover. I surely hope Bonnie likes it as much as I do. That Loose-Id has some of the best cover artists anywhere.

Undeniable Magnetism. M/M interracial rich man/poor man contemporary romance. I think she tagged a lot of bases with this set up. And of course, the in/out of the closet conflict. Oh. And the Bluth dynamic (which is lisabea short hand for family business drama. Story. Of. My. Freaking. Life.). That's a big ole choking chunka munka bite for 190 pages or so. Yet Bonnie does a pretty good job here maneuvering Jay and Simon through all the land mines because she relies on the strength of their mutual attraction. An attraction that is far more important and compelling than the angst!! Yay!!!! Good thing, cuz too much drama brings me down, man. We (I) have a saying in this house: Pull up your drawers and move on. Or in this case, pull down your drawers and move on....

Ok. Jay is a barkeep. A hot gay bar keep who lives just above his shop in a rundown apartment. This irish athlete from a working class Chicago family, is comfortable in his skin and with his decisions. Open and out, he deals with his family and his friends, as well as his customers and his employees, with honesty and lets the chips fall where they may. He's confident and comfortable with himself. He's hardworking and decent. And he's hot. Go figure. So one fine day Jay is doing his bar keeping gig, and he gets this sensation that something wonderful is about to happen. tingle. tingle. And in through the door struts this tall, impeccably dressed, bald headed, stressed out African American, mocha-choca-latte yum. yum. yum. And Jay, being Jay, hits on him, talks him into going to the shabby office, blows his dick mind, and gives Simon (that's the straight laced exec's name) his number.

Simon is freaked the fuck out. Heh. He's a big ole in the closet rich boy working for his dad's company (and before you say a nasty thing to me about men who wind up in a death grip over a company with their pater....well...don't do it.) and he's never stepped out of the son role and into the man role with his family. Which, to me, is a stereotypical look at family business. Not that I have issues. Or anything. Anyway, our deeply denying big strapping MAN/BOY finally screws up his courage and he calls Jay. Yay! Hot sexing will eventually happen again.

They were barely through the door when Simon grabbed him, spun him around, pushed him up against the door, and kissed him. Jay was surprised at the sudden masterful version of Simon, and he liked it. The weight of the other man's body pinning his, the clean sharp scent of Simon's cologne, the warmth of soft, soft lips, and the smooth, wet tongue invading his mouth all combined in a heady cocktail that made him dizzy with desire.

Yeah, I liked them. Jay is so pushy and in your face and funny and overcompensating that he perfectly balances Simon. Who is not any one of those things. Slowly, though, Simon begins to loosen up (heh) and the two of them fall in love. Bonnie wonderfully describes the entry of Simon into Jays life and home (as shabby as it is) and heart with this fab description. And Jay, he so far out of the closet his appartment doesn't even have one.

Too often, he went straight to the bar from work and never made it home at all. He had to buy new shirts, underwear, and a couple of pairs of pants. After one such early morning shopping trip to pick up something to wear to the office, he decided he should just keep a few clothes in Jay's closet. Jay pushed aside the flannel shirts on misshapen old metal hangers to make room for Simon's dress shirts on plastic ones. Several pairs of slacks, neatly pressed and clipped to their hangers hung above shined loafers, which lay on the floor next to dirty sneakers. A few somber ties hung on a rack beside Jay's baseball uniform.

In contrast to Jay, Simon is so repressed, so under his dad's thumb at work, so unhappy, I initially thought Jay could do MUCH better. I mean, that's a lot of fucking work, right? However, Simon's alright. He emerges into this interesting guy, take charge man, and great lover. He hikes up his drawers, makes up his mind, and moves forward. It takes some violence, a nasty fight with Jay, and a big over the top "Hi I'm Gay moment", but ultimately Simon choses Jay and freedom. Cool beans. I'm not sure how authentic this experience is or accurate or even believable, but within the frame work of the story, it worked for me. A tad dramatic, but also funny and emotional...and sexy.

All in all it's a sweet little read. No trapezes, no tree sex, no mystery or guns and mucking about with crazed killers: just two guys and their love story. I mean, there was plenty going on what with all the real life stuff. Undeniable Magnestism won't fall into my top m/m books ever, but it was surely a comfortable, flowing story, and rather good for Bonnie's first foray into the world of guy/guy romance.

You can buy this book at Loose-Id on March 25th.