According to his bio, Hot Head is Mr. Suede’s first venture into m/m. He has done well.

The novel tells the story of two straight New York firemen, best friends who are so bent out of shape by the fact they have fallen in love with each other. They cannot admit their feelings, not even to themselves. They are too invested in the stereotype of what gay men are like and also have an “image” to protect.

I cannot begin to say how refreshing it was for a bi male like myself, for whom sexual attraction is a question of who, not what, the person is, to come across a coming-out m/m romance whose heroes are truly straight, not merely rugged and closeted. Griff, from whose POV the story is told, cannot see what the reader cannot miss, that Dante, the apple of his eye, is as smitten with him as he is with Dante, if not more, and their confusion rings true as they try with moderate success to keep their hands to themselves and their dicks in their pants.

I say moderate because when hands start roving and flies unzip, the effect is anything but. I would guess that the emotional content is more than enough to melt the hearts of female readers; as a male, I can state with certainty that the graphic sex scenes are enough to arouse all but the most doggedly straight men. The accuracy with which Mr. Suede describes the mechanics and sensations of man-to-man sex leaves no doubt as to his gender and experience. This is not to imply he invented his story as an excuse to write sex scenes. The lovers’ embarrassment and discomfort when they come together (in both senses of the word) is palpable and more than justifies their inclusion, and every one of them advances the plot. Still, the book contains more erections and orgasms than anyone is likely to get reading it, so those who prefer mild, hinted-at sex should be forewarned.

For all that, the author has not overloaded his novel with graphic sex. Hot Head contains no more of that than your typical m/m erotic romance. The other scenes are as varied and colorful as you could wish, including daily life at a fire station, an exciting warehouse fire, dinner with an extended Italian-American family, apartment renovations, social interaction at gay and straight bars, and the no-nonsense, no-sex tedium of posing for a nude photo shoot.

If the author does not have firsthand knowledge of firefighting, he has clearly done his research, and his familiarity with New York is as evident as his sexual orientation. He writes authentic Brooklyn dialogue, and even the characters glimpsed only in passing are pure New York. With one exception, the characters who have a part to play in the story come across as real and their actions are convincing, although most of them we know only vaguely, and that includes the children and Dante’s over-the-top sister. The exception is Alek, the Russian porno magnate, but I suspect Suede intends him as a bit of an enigma.

I can recommend this book without hesitation to both one- and two-handed readers. Couples will enjoy it, too.

Dreamspinner Press, June 2011

ISBN 978-1-61581-949-2 (paperback) http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2394

ISBN 9781920484392 (e-book) http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2393

The novel tells the story of two straight New York firemen, best friends who are so bent out of shape by the fact they have fallen in love with each other. They cannot admit their feelings, not even to themselves. They are too invested in the stereotype of what gay men are like and also have an “image” to protect.