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Relationships 201

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Synopsis

Stephan Burke's relationship with Eric has hit a rough patch, and they can't seem to reconnect after their summer apart. Despite being good together, Stephan feels something undefinable is missing. Now starting grad school, he's meeting up with old friends who offer not–so–sage–advice, rediscovering how much time schoolwork consumes, and—Eric aside—crushing hard on the professor he works for.

Professor Jeffrey Tegan is new to campus and eager to befriend his TA. Jeff turns out to be almost everything Stephan has ever wanted in a man: he's smart, outdoorsy, likes music, and is smokin' hot. Only Jeff is just getting over his recent divorce, and Stephan has no reason to think Jeff is anything other than totally straight. He knows his crush on his professor is clichéd and ridiculous, but he's not fulfilled by what he has with Eric... is it so unreasonable to want more?

Review

I couldn’t get a good rhythm going with Alix Bekins’s Relationships 201. I did, however, like the book overall. The first part of the book read more like a narration. The book gets better as the story progresses. The story itself wasn’t bad, and again, I thought that the plot improved as the story goes along. I guess it’s a story that I can relate to, as I’ve lived this drama in the past. (What gay man hasn’t?)

The relationship between Stephan and Eric captures what happens a lot in gay relationships. I thought that the supporting characters, mostly Stephan’s friends, are a study in life (art imitating life). The crush that Stephan develops on Jeff seems like what could be right out of a porn story, although it took a while to finally reach a climax (pun intended). And there is no tell as to what the outcome of that scenario will be. While Stephan deals with the two men in his life, he tries to deal with all of the other stuff – a lot, and again it’s something that the reader can relate to. It’s life. And it happens.

The story provides a look at relationships, break-ups, love, romance, and is sexy without seeming to focus entirely on the sexual aspects of the relationships that occur throughout the story. At the end of the story, however, that changes a little, but it’s totally understandable.

-- Stephen Jackson