About book The Closer You Get (Distance Between Us, #2) (2011)
This is more like 2.5*--possible spoilers!The second novel by L.A. Witt that I read, and unfortunately it confirmed what I took away from the first.This book isn't written badly, most of the prose is competent, there are few if any plotholes, the dialogue fits the characters, there's a story arc and the characters show development. Yet it left me intrinsically dissatisfied.My main complaint is that there was too much, too samey sex. These two men, and I mean adult men of 21 and 27, were described in a way I haven't seen 13 or 14 year olds behave. The sex was like something out of a porn movie and it was nonstop, unflagging and at the same frantic level throughout. It also was rather unerotic.This in spite of the fact that one of the men is actually a complete virgin without even as much as a date under his belt. Which is my second complaint: I didn't at all believe in him, not the way he was described. Indeed, I loved the very idea of this (an experienced man showing a total virgin around), but it was not executed in an endearing or an erotic way.I also was under the impression the author was riding a hobby horse here, or maybe had had some major "thematic idea" and emphasised it way beyond what was needed. The symbolism and the various foreshadowing came along like a bat across the brow with a resounding smack. Very unsubtle.Lastly I resented this being much too sweet and conventional, a lot like a classic heteronormative romance, with people marrying left and right and values embraced which Kieran had rejected earlier. Much like the lost lamb coming back to the herd. That left a bad aftertaste.On the whole a competently written, well-edited book which just wasn't that much my thing for the reasons explained above. Good idea but not well done.STORY BRIEF:Kieran is 27, a promiscuous gay guy. Alex is 21, grew up in a small town in Montana where he had to hide his sexuality from everyone including his parents. He has never touched or kissed another guy. He heard there was a large gay community in Seattle so he moved there for college. He wants to lose his virginity.OPINION:I loved the underlying ideas and how they fell in love. But the storytelling was not as entertaining as it could have been. It’s done in first person which did not work well. The narrator’s point of view wasn’t special enough for a good story. It would have been better adding Alex’s point of view.Too much time was spent analyzing things and being educational. I was tired of Kieran saying is this too much? Is this too fast? Alex would say maybe go a little slower. Kieran would repeatedly tell Alex to say stop if it’s too much. Everything they did was talked about at length. Alex was timid, shy, and cautious about doing anything physical. A few times passionate kisses were hot, but other times I was uncomfortable. Sex included rear door activity.Like most romances, after the couple gets together there is a separation crisis. The reason for the separation was stupid. It’s over used in romance. It did not fit. I would rather have no separation than to have that one. You don’t have to have a separation to have a good story. There are other conflicts and subjects one can write about for couples.DATA:Narrative mode: 3rd person. Kindle count story length: 4,085 (407 KB). Swearing language: strong, including religious words. Sexual language: moderate to strong. Number of sex scenes: about 12. Setting: current day mostly Seattle, Washington, with a little California and British Columbia. Copyright: 2011. Genre: gay male contemporary romance.
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I don't know why I put this sequel off for so long. It was great!
—Sid
