ARC Review & Blog Tour – All The Wrong Places by Ann Gallagher

I appreciated this very character driven story and feel it is an excellent example that a romance can educate and does not have to have sex in it to be enjoyable and entertaining. ~ Slick, Guilty Pleasures

Welcome to the Riptide Publishing/Ann Gallagher blog tour for All The Wrong Places!

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a choice of two eBooks off my backlist (excluding All The Wrong Places, but including books written as L.A. Witt or Lauren Gallagher) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on June 20^th, and winners will be announced on June 21^st.  Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.

Why did I write an asexual romance, and what challenges came with it?

Last year, there were a lot of discussions about asexual representation in our genre, and I started thinking it was time I included asexual characters in my work. I had one – Richie in Running With Scissors – but wasn’t yet ready to write his story (mostly because it comes after Connor’s, which I’m still figuring out, but I digress).  So while Richie was sitting on the back burner, I needed to come up with another set of characters and their story.

It made perfect sense to set the story in Bluewater Bay. That series was intended from the very beginning to be diverse on as many levels as possible, so of course we wanted to include asexual characters. From there, Zafir pretty much fell out of the sky fully-formed, and after some more brainstorming, Brennan crystallized, though he took his sweet time because he’s difficult and a butthead.

The main challenge was really the same challenge that comes with nearly every book: How do I write the story of someone who isn’t me? So basically…how do I write someone who isn’t a white atheist married able-bodied bisexual cis-female with a messed-up shoulder, a fear of flying, and the occasional bout of depression? When I approach it like that, writing an asexual character is no more or less challenging than a gay cop or a bisexual Christmas-and-Easter Catholic cis-male science teacher.  Every step of the story is a series of questions: How would this character respond to this situation? How would this person feel after hearing that comment?

Obviously writing an asexual character (or rather, two asexual characters) meant learning about a different facet of the human experience, and I definitely did some reading beforehand, got feedback from asexual friends, etc., to make sure I really had my head around asexuality.

Once I understood it, it was a matter of creating a person who is also asexual. In Zafir’s case: a high school dropout single father who has a complicated relationship with his parents and his religion, a deep-seated fear of something happening to his son, a job he loves at a sex shop, and a second job he hates at a pizza place, considers himself sort of demisexual but mostly asexual, and is secretly afraid with every relationship that his partner will inevitably find something wrong with him and leave.  Brennan is a semi-pro skateboarder who dreams of going to the X-Games, is generally pretty laidback and chill about life in general, loves teaching kids to skate, isn’t sure what to make of the realization that he’s asexual, and is even less sure how he feels when he realizes he’s falling in love with a man.

Basically, I have nothing in common with either guy (though I can totally relate to Zafir’s hatred of his pizza delivery job). They aren’t me, so I write them as true to themselves as I can, which means empathy, empathy, empathy. I don’t know what it’s like to be a single parents, a Muslim, or an asexual guy, but creating a character who is one or more of those things just means doing my homework, learning about who I’m writing, and applying how they feel – not how I feel – to each situation.

Ann Gallagher is the slightly more civilized alter ego of L.A. Witt, Lauren Gallagher, and Lori A. Witt. So she tells herself, anyway. When she isn’t wreaking havoc on Spain with her husband and trusty two-headed Brahma bull, she writes romances just like her wilder counterparts, but without all the heat. She is also far too mature to get involved in the petty battle between L.A. and Lauren, but she’s seriously going to get even with Lori for a certain incident that shall not be discussed publicly.

ALL THE WRONG PLACES Blurb:

Three cheating girlfriends in a row have given skateboarder Brennan Cross the same excuse: he wasn’t meeting their needs. Desperate and humiliated, he goes to the professionals at the local sex shop for advice.

Zafir Hamady, a sales clerk at Red Hot Bluewater, has an unusual theory: he doesn’t think Brennan is a bad lover. In fact, he doesn’t think Brennan is heterosexual. Or sexual at all, for that matter. He also can’t stop thinking about Brennan. But even if he’s right and Brennan really is asexual, that doesn’t mean Zafir has a chance. Brennan’s never dated a man, and Zafir’s never met anyone who’s game for a Muslim single father with a smart mouth and a GED.

Brennan’s always thought of himself as straight. But when sex is explicitly out of the mix, he finds himself drawn to Zafir for the qualities and interests they share. And Zafir can’t help enjoying Brennan’s company and the growing bond between Brennan and his son. They work well together, but with so many issues between them, doubts creep in, and Brennan’s struggle with his identity could push away the one person he didn’t know he could love.

Review copy provided for an honest review

One thing I have always appreciated about Ann Gallagher (AKA L.A. Witt, Lauren Gallagher) is the way she isn’t afraid to tackle any subject manner. In All The Wrong Places she tackles the subject of asexuality and she does it very well; she explains without preaching and she educates without humiliation. After reading this book and doing some additional research, I feel I have a much better understanding of asexuality and all of its branches (for lack of a better term). I appreciated this very character driven story and feel it is an excellent example that a romance can educate and does not have to have sex in it to be enjoyable and entertaining.

When his third girlfriend tells him he wasn’t meeting her sexual needs, Brennan Cross realizes he needs some help. Deciding that he really doesn’t want to see a therapist he instead heads to the local adult store for some help and meets Zafir Hamady. After some tough questions and some heartfelt answers Zafir suggests to Brennan that he may be asexual like him. I appreciated Zafir’s openness and how willing he was to share information with Brennan and how he recognized Brennan’s distress over the information overload. From the start Zafir was kind, knowledgeable and understanding and while Brennan was stressed it was evident that he appreciated Zafir’s help and kindness. I liked that Brennan took interest in Zafir’s Muslim background and that he didn’t judge him for becoming a parent at 17, his lack of education, or his sexual fluidity. The friendship that formed between them was pivotal part of this story and the foundation for everything that came after.

While at times this book seemed to move a little slow, it was imperative for readers to understand the bond that was growing between Brennan and Zafir and see how Zafir’s son, Tariq accepted Brennan into their lives. For a 9 year old Zafir was very intuitive and intelligent, but he also was very much a little boy. Considering Zafir was 17 when Tariq was born it was evident he’s done a great job of raising a well rounded and caring child.

Without the sexual interest it was interesting watching the relationship develop between Brennan and Zafir and there was no questioning that they became very important to one another or the depth of their emotional feelings for one another.

All the Wrong Places is an intelligent, well written and extremely informative story and I am so very glad I took a chance on it.

All The Wrong Places is available June 13^th from Riptide Publishing.