I’m a firm believer in love at first sight and there was no doubting from their first encounter that these two men were pieces of a puzzle that fit together perfectly. ~ Slick, Guilty Pleasures
Description:
Two dudes walk into a bookstore…
Tristan knows he’s got issues. His latest ex-girlfriend knows it too. He can’t blame her for dumping him—even though she gets her brother to do it for her. Since he can’t stop staring at said brother’s package, he figures it’s about time to put a label on those issues. He likes guys.
He heads to a local bookstore with what he’s sure is a foolproof plan to find someone to show him what he’s been missing. But who should crash his little adventure? Officer Michael Truax, who gave him a really expensive ticket back in high school for skateboarding without a helmet.
Michael has been trying to catch Tristan for years…to give him a second ticket. Suddenly faced with “Sparky”, all grown up and looking to get laid, Michael’s protective instinct kicks in—and presents him with an opportunity that’s hard to resist. After all, the kid must know what he’s getting into, so why not?
But when a man with a plan connects with a man with a hunger, the result is nothing short of explosive.
This book has been previously published.
Product Warnings: Contains high-octane hair, a clawfoot bathtub, and a story that will make you believe in love at first sight. Okay, second sight, but who’s counting?
Review copy provided for an honest review
*Reviewer’s note: This book is a re-release and was originally published in 2007, in the author’s foreword she explains that she didn’t make a lot of changes to the book so while some things might be a bit out of date she didn’t want to do a massive re-write and have the book lose its original zip. I agree with her whole heartedly; I hadn’t read this book before but even the slight things that were oh so 2007 didn’t bother me because the story was flat out wonderful. Sometimes books are so laden with what is popular “right now” that they are dated within a year but that’s not the case with this book. So cell phone features have changed but that happens what seems like monthly and yes, Borders bookstores are no more but there are others out there although sadly they are becoming quite the dinosaur. The basics of this story are good and the pop culture references aren’t anything that stands out, so Ms. Maxfield I applaud you for not trying to rewrite/refresh this story because it has stood the test of time quite well.
It’s always interesting to me to read a gay romance in which a character who has been living a perfectly “normal” hetero life realizes he’s gay, not bi, not curious but gay and in Crossing Borders we see a 19 year old man figure out this sexuality and then bound and determined to prove it. I know that sounds funny and in a way watching Tristan at the beginning of this book was quite amusing even though I did enjoy his full out enthusiasm for claiming his sexuality. I love this book for the way this young man viewed how drastically his life would change, how he worried about what his family would think and how he mourned loosing the life he once dreamed of which today is entirely possible. Most of all I enjoyed the close connection between two men whose paths have crossed before on very different terms and the intensity of their feelings almost from the start. I’m a firm believer in love at first sight and there was no doubting from their first encounter that these two men were pieces of a puzzle that fit together perfectly.
As a sophomore in college Tristan has a lot on his plate; following his father’s death 2 years prior Tristan has stepped up at home to help his mother care for his three siblings and attend a local college. Tristan in a ways has put his dreams aside but he’s happily done it because his family means so much to him. After being dumped by a girl and feeling relieved, Tristan knows it is time to face up to the fact he was more interested in the girl’s brother than her.
As a cop, Michael has dealt with a lot of kids and young men doing death defying stunts without safety equipment but he’s never quite gotten over “Sparky” the young man with the red hair, beautiful eyes and porcelain skin. Finding him trolling for a guy in the bookstore was the last place he expected to see him again but now that he’s older, he sees this as his chance to finally make a move.
The whole balance of power in this story at first seemed like it would be the older, more experienced in all things gay Michael leading the way through Tristan’s discovery but it really wasn’t like that at all. Sure he had to get things going but while Tristan was new to the “boy’s club” he wasn’t inexperienced at all and soon proved he was a very intuitive lover. With almost a 10 year age difference it was quite interesting to watch how the much younger Tristan was comfortable with being in charge and taking control. That’s not to say Michael didn’t assume that role as well but it was a pretty balanced exchange.
I enjoyed the way they fell into their relationship and how easily they both adapted to having each other in their lives. I admired Tristan for coming out to his family early on and I’ll admit his brother’s good natured teasing was amusing. I loved that they supported him and tried to understand even though they were a bit confused. Michael’s mom was kind of a trip but the fact that she was just so happy that he had found someone to make him happy showed the sweet and motherly side of her. It wasn’t always easy especially when someone from Michael’s past tries to stir the pot, the fact that Tristan wasn’t comfortable telling his close friends, Michael’s job prevented them from going public, and a few moments of doubt, but when they were alone and together it was pretty special.
Sweet, sassy and downright sexy I thoroughly enjoyed this rerelease of Z.A. Maxfield’s Crossing Borders and it was very enlightening to see how far she’s come in her writing since this very first published story.
Sounds good…Thanks Slick