Review: Sweet Young Thang

Sweet Young Thang by Anne Tenino

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Hello Mr. Sexy Fireman! So Eric Dixon is a paramedic instead of a fireman for the fire department, details. Eric is a TAG alum who meets up with closet gay Collin. Finally Collin receives his own book. In this very sexy story, Collin is a sweet young thang. Not a fan of Collin from glimpses in the previous books, this one redeems him.

Collin is a guy who's family dynamics are not too different than anyone else's - dysfunctional. He still is a nice guy. He tries to do what's best and he's a good listener. Ms. Tenino makes him quite adorable in this story. His attraction to Eric is Daddy-licious! A Bear and a Twink spy upon each other across the room in a bar...Yes, this is corny but it happened. There's more to it than this, but the utter ridiculous situations Ms. Tenino adds to her books is what makes it so good for me. She doesn't make fun of people or her characters. Instead, each character kind of pokes fun at themselves. They are good-natured which is an increasingly rare species in the wild civilized world we live in.

Here are a few passages where Ms. Tenino's sense of humour cracks me up.

"Of course, you're old enough to be his father." [Val, Eric's coworker]

"So, you're saying I provided substandard care to a patient in order to indulge in my pedophile urges?" [Eric] (location 680)

"Big mistake the Alumni Association made. You should never threaten a frat boy's beer." (location 2338)

"Dude!" He [Danny] stood up, reaching out to grip Collin's shoulder. "You mean no one told you you're gay? Shit, man, I'm sorry, I didn't know..." He turned to Kyle. "What am I supposed to do in this situation? They did not cover this in that sensitivity training class we took fall term. That's a major oversight, man. Major oversight. Told you that class sucked." He turned back to Collin. "But, I mean, I just figured if I know you're gay, you must know."

Collin opened his mouth to explain he did know, but Danny wouldn't shut up. (location 2383)

Ms. Tenino cleverly weaves in humour with a serious topic. This book is about acceptance and how gays have to hide from family and friends. Where is the safe haven? Collin wants to create a safe haven. With this little thread about sensitivity training and how the TAG frat brothers try to be more understanding, it's pretty damn funny. They go to another extreme which shows how even the best of intentions may be offensive. Love it!

The suspense part of this story is rather weak. It was loosely constructed and not as tightly layered as some of Ms. Tenino's previous books. Still, with her quirky sense of humour, stance on gay acceptance and sweet manlove, it more than makes up for it. This m/m romance is recommended for all romance lovers. It's a beautiful story with a heartwarming theme.

*provided by NetGalley


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