WL's Mainstream Gay Book Reviews - 18. The Quarterback by Mackenzie Blair

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/35501577

An Interesting tale from a relatively unknown female southern author of gay romance fiction, Mackenzie Blair’s only book from 2015 featured a closeted gay college quarterback and an openly gay Korean college student, who was thrown out of his house by the shame of his family. I know gay romance is a niche readership, but I am kind of shocked such an author with clear skills has no other books or readers. Maybe I have been hoodwinked, because I am gay Asian man and I enjoy her refreshing take on certain kinds of homophobia, there’s just as much cruel intolerance among the Asian community as well. Personally, I hope readers will be interested in at least giving her book a shot after this review.

It is 9 hours and 35 minutes long on audible and I cannot find any text versions of the book on sale.

Matt Lancaster is Senior classman quarterback of Bodine College, an NCAA Division II school in Alabama. To the world, he appears to have everything as the stereotypical Quarterback of a college football team: good looks, fans, popular friends, and a girl swooning over him. However, he has been hiding his sexuality for the last 3 years. His best friends Connor, Ryan, and Damien unbeknownst to him, knew he was gay and while they do not share his interest, wanted to help him unwind from tightrope of fear. They invited him to a massage parlor that offers “Happy Endings” and orders a male masseuse for Matt. Trevor Kim is a struggling senior class college student at Bodine College, he’s Korean by ancestry, but he grew up in Texas. When he came out as gay to his parents, he was kicked out of his home and have been struggling to make it on his own as a college student. He works in the massage parlor for extra money to offset the costs of college, along with another job as a barista at the campus coffee shop. Matt leaves their initial massage session in panic, when Trevor attempted to touch Matt’s ass, but he came back for another massage. Trevor enjoyed giving pleasure to Matt, he liked exploring Matt’s body and the sounds he made. Matt had his own burgeoning desires for Trevor as well and wished he could come out. He had a close gay friend named Brett, but couldn’t come out to him either in fear of the repercussion. We learn Matt has a con-artist father, who is currently holding the reigns over his twin sisters, so he had to wait until they turn 18 and become legal adults before announcing his sexuality. After an intense message session, Trevor couldn’t continue doing these kinds of messages anymore. He couldn’t continue being paid to pleasure Matt, a boy he had a crush on and began falling in love with. Matt searched for Trevor at his dorm room. They began a sexual relationship. After several session of sexual foreplay, Matt is discovered by Trevor’s gay roommate and best friend Drew, who is a hilarious flamer with a theater arts major. After a college party that turned violent between Fisher, a racist and homophobic football kicker, and Jamaal, his African American replacement kicker, Matt had a very tender moment with Trevor, trying to offer him iced peas to help with a black eye he received from Fisher. During this event, Matt’s “pretend” girlfriend Jocelyn had made both feel uncomfortable. Through of a series of near break-ups, beautiful reconciliation brought on by friends and tend lovemaking, Matt and Trevor each confront their personal demons and conflicts. Trevor over Thanksgiving break was able to finally call his family at Drew’s home, where he spent Thanksgiving holiday, but his family rejection of his homosexuality was unchanged. During the same time, Matt confronted his father about his con-artist tactics and his sexuality, resulting in Matt being punched in the face and being sent to the hospital. In an act of vindictive hatred, Matt’s father outed him to the national media before the Division II national championship, but it no longer mattered to Matt, since he and Trevor had found the strength to commit to one another. In the end, they both move to California and we as readers get a very “happy ending”.

Let me point out a fact, I love sports. Gay romance stories with ingrained elements of sports and team-play will usually attract me. The concept in this story isn’t new and its sensual description of massages that turn sexual is the plot of many gay erotic fictions, but why this story is more than just a porn can best be summed up by the its characters. Matt Lancaster isn’t just a dumb closeted jock, he knows what he wants and he does believe in doing more than football, majoring in Environmental science is not an easy path, nor lucrative one. His background is complex, but not quite overly melodramatic, his father enjoys conning people through investment schemes and using money to control others in his sphere of influence. His sisters are innocent bystanders, who he wishes to protect even if it means bearing to remain in the closet until they reach their age of adulthood. His father may be deeply conservative, but he is a morally corrupt and abysmal human being. His aunt and uncle from his mother’s side may be the stereotypical southerners on the outside with traditional family values and southern motifs, but they are warm and welcoming towards their gay nephew, when the truth comes out. It might be a fantasy for gay youths in the deeply conservative US southern areas such as Alabama, where the story takes place, but sometimes, you just wish there was a bit more fantasy rather than despair.

Trevor, on the other hand, was casted out by a new American southerner, an Asian segment. I do not know how well readers of the book or my reviews know about US demographics, but Asian immigration in the Southern US is a steady fact for decades. On the surface, it would seem odd that a minority population would be prejudice against homosexuality, being themselves prejudiced in recent times, especially now after the advent of violence against Asian Americans. Truth is many of the Asian immigrants in the Southern US areas are ideologically not so different from evangelical conservatives Caucasians, they believe in the same Christian ideals and have had a tradition of family values ingrained in them that mirror that of western civilization. Trevor’s ordeal with his family and his rejection for being gay, an antithesis of their belief systems, isn’t off the mark. As a character, Trevor is quite a study in contrasts. He is fiercely independent and fairly experienced in being an exile gay kid, but there are points in the story, when you know all, he wants is for Matt to cuddle up to him and give him that comfort he lacks. His interactions with others show us he’s not unreasonable man, he’s just unwilling to settle being treated as anything less than what he is, even by the man he loves.

In terms of sex, let's boil it down, even you don't like complex characters or stories; most readers enjoy gay sex, especially when written with descriptive detail and sensual elements. For me, the sexual component of a story should never be lacking. The scenes of Trevor and Matt going through massages, exploring each other's bodies, and Trevor finally being allowed to penetrate Matt were deeply satisfying, especially considering Matt's fear of anal penetration. A big guy afraid of bottoming is a charming concept and unexpected, I felt it made their relationship richer and deeper. I am not prudish about sex, nor exploring sexual interests.

Side characters throughout the story are great, especially Trevor’s roommate Drew. There’s something about flaming gay character that bring a smile to me. I’ve encountered many kinds of gay people in my life, but I have never encountered a true unapologetic flamer. With the acceptance of LGBT people in everyday life, I guess it’s harder to find someone, who stands out like that. Drew delivered many witty lines throughout the book, when he’s around, he can be a deeply defensive diva like when Trevor comes back with bruises from the part altercation, or he could be jumping up and down like a little kid with too much sugar near the end. Other characters like Connor, Ryan, and Damian were good sounding boards for positive friendships. While characters like Fisher and the Bodine’s Dean played off as one-dimensional homophobic villains, which never amounted to much more than a minor menace compared to Matt’s father, but even he was a minor villain who acted like a plot device.

It’s a good modern day gay fairy tale of boy meets quarterback, like the old tales of a Damsel meeting a knight or prince.

My Rating: 4 out of 5, it is worth a read if you like this genre of gay romance. I also hope that Ms. Blair continues to write gay fiction. She only wrote one book and it’s a shame to me that she didn’t continue. I think she had a lot of original ideas, unexplored territories, and fun characters in this book. It is unpolished, but it’s her first book. As an amateur writer, who has never published something even close to this quality, I just feel it’s a waste of talent to stop.