Review: Reconnection by Michael Mandrake

This story wasn’t bad.  I wish I could say more, but because it was so short, I don’t think it really got the chance to become really good.  I think that, if it could have been a full on book, it would have been so much better.

Basically, we have Rob, a sports writer from Chicago, who will be going to interview Jake, a baseball player in the minor leagues.  They knew each other in college, and they even shared a chemistry, but they didn’t really get a chance to connect.  Before Rob even leaves, Jake calls him and tells him that he really wants to “get to know him better”.  We all know what that means 😉 When Rob gets there, Jake picks him up in a limo, and their romance begins in earnest.  Let me just say that I’m very happy that Rob and Jake decided to become a couple.  They even start the discussions about how they’re going to keep up their relationship when Jake is on the road, and Rob is back in Chicago.  I also liked that they didn’t have sex right away.  They had a nice evening date where they ate a good meal and hung out watching sports on television.  Even though I love hot sex scenes, that was rather refreshing.  Have no fear.  We get the (very) hot sex scene, though.  We just have to wait until the end.

My complaint about “Reconnection” is that both men wish to remain in the closet.  They worry about locker room issues.  Jake doesn’t want to be called a “fag” by his teammates, and Rob doesn’t want to find himself being shut out of locker rooms for interviews.  I tend to like the guys in my MM stories to be out and proud.  I know that real life doesn’t always permit that because it’s not a perfect word, but in fiction, can’t people be accepting of a gay baseball player and a gay sports writer?  Even though they were going to be a couple and get their (figurative) HEA, I coudln’t help but wish that, in the end, the butthead manager and the newspaper editor would have said, “Hey guys.  We’ve known all along, and we’re happy for you”.

That’s my two cents on this one.  It’s an ok story.  I bet it would be a GOOD book.