Anyone who feels they cannot come out, for whatever reason, has my sympathy. There comes a point though, when living your own life has to be more important than “keeping up appearances”, or pacifying a demanding parent, and this story is about Graham, a cop who struggles with both. Needlessly, and stupidly, and he makes some idiotic mistakes on the way, but in the end, he gets the point. Poor Darren, who had to walk through hell getting ignored and dumped, is a saint as far as I am concerned, for taking Graham back. Twice!

I have to admit that I didn't like Graham at first. He was so clearly mistaken about his own feelings and following someone else's idea of what sort of a relationship he should be in. And he isn’t just trying to conform to what he thinks his cop buddies expect (two of them are, after all, openly gay and with partners of their own, but listening to is mother’s idiotic demands. I mean, really! It is his life, and he is clearly deeply in love with Darren, and miserable without him. But he redeems himself when he finally admits that he loves Darren and goes after him. Not that it's easy - there are a few obstacles still for them to overcome.

Darren is a nurse, and getting rally fed up about having to hide his relationship with Graham. And then the man dumps him. It almost kills Darren, but he manages to survive. When Graham comes back to him, he makes it very clear he cannot go through that again. And what does Graham do? After a very short time he dumps Darren again. He may think he has his reasons, but does he explain them to Darren? No. Poor Darren is ready to end it all, when help comes from an unexpected angle. It changes everything, and Darren finally finds his stride. Enough so, that when Graham appears again, Darren ends up having more than a say in what happens!

The depth of Darren's emotions (and Graham's once he admits them) was wonderful and the twists and turns of the plot certainly held me captivated. If you like “bullheaded detectives who think they know best” and the men who love them but are helpless to make them see reason, if you like reading about “destined” couples, and if you’re looking for a read that is heartwrenching and has a few interesting twists, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by Siren Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
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In the recent polemic of who is writing for whom, most of Stormy Glenn’s books are probably aimed more to a female target (and I think that you all know that for me this is not a negative point).

The distinction between strong Alpha male and cute and pretty omega man is quite clear, but in any case she is able to always give a particular shade to this classical pair. In this case the Alpha male is a half black, half white mama’s boy; I think to remember that indeed, like in Italy where the matriarchal concept is pretty strong, also in the African-American culture is the same. Graham, the mama’s boy, is a perfect example: only since his mother told him that, if he wanted to be gay (sigh!) he had to find a black man as a partner, to fulfil at least one of her dreams, now Graham is losing the only man he has ever loved.

He started a friends with benefits relationship with Darren, one of his buddy friends, the one he shoots pool with. At the beginning it was pretty intense, but then Graham tried to break things; the reason? Darren is whiter than white can not be, or Irish origin, with red hair and green eyes… quite difficult to make him pass for a black man with his own mother.

Aside from this, Darren would be perfect, and right for this reason I find that Graham should grow a backbone. The lame excuse that he would make mama suffers is not enough good to justify what he did to Darren; let aside this, what he again does to the man when he wants to “protect” him is even worst. From this story Graham doesn’t come out like a very nice man let alone a good cop.

And Darren? Aside for the fact that I would have kicked Graham out of my home probably way before Darren did, he is not a bad man. He is unfortunately deeply in love and so he is willing to accept almost everything Graham dishes him out. Graham strikes and Darren turns the other cheek.

The subplot with the fake marriage is maybe a little too much “romance”, and I have to laugh to my same words, since I really like romances, but indeed this one is a bit too much even for me. Not that I didn’t like it, only that, in this case, the author privileged the romance to the “law” of nature and men: if only everything was so simple, the world would be probably a better place.

In conclusion, His Dirty Little Secret is a romance to the nth power, and you have to leave at home pragmatism and let it go with the flow, or otherwise you can’t enjoy the experience.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VYC7QW/?tag=elimyrevandra-20