Thursday, March 29, 2012

ALEX & CLAYTON – JOHN SIMPSON – A REVIEW



Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Title; ALEX & CLAYTON
Author: John Simson
ISBN-13:              978-1-61372-430-9
Pages:  200
Cover Artist:       Anne Cain
Categories:         Novels, Contemporary
Book Type:          eBook
File Formats Available:    .epub, .prc, .prc, html, pdf
Price: $ 6.99
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BLURB

After quiet, closeted years working as a librarian, Clayton decides to quit his job and use his inheritance to buy a small bookstore in the gay-friendly resort town of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. It’s the beginning of what he hopes will be a new life free of his old repressions.
Alex, an ex-military man and former cop, decides to retire to Rehoboth and buys a house three blocks from the beach. Determined to fill his time with more than chasing hot guys, he visits the local bookstore, where he meets Clayton.
As winter sets in, the town is all but deserted, and Alex and Clayton find themselves together more than apart. Clayton would like a relationship, but his fear of coming out keeps getting in the way. Alex’s sex appeal might be enough to convince Clayton to take a chance in the open… but it will take something more to make it happen.
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REVIEW 

John Simpson’s ALEX & CLAYTON is above all, a love story.  There are many ups and down in their relationship including arguments, affairs and wide and varied differences in life experience and personality.
Alex is the definition of macho super stud, retired marine, former capitol Hill cop with all the history those jobs entails.  He also has a wide and varied, and sordid sexual history.  Now he’s moved to a small gay friendly beach resort town to settle down and without warning meeting the love of his life in a small gay book store owned by Clayton.
Clayton is shy and quiet, bookish and easily intimidated.  He has spent his life to this point trying to please others.  He studied 20 years to become his hometown’s head librarian.  He’s closeted and very worried about his mother finding out about his secret until she dies suddenly leaving him everything, not that there is much to be had.  He sells his mother’s house, quits his job and buys a little gay bookstore in a small town from an ad he finds in a gay newspaper. 
When a handsome, masculine man walks in and shows him attention he is at a loss for how to act, and so begins the romantic journey of Alex and Clayton.
This wasn’t one of my favorites, sad to say.  The story and the sex scenes didn’t fit together smoothly.  I was expecting romantic love making and got rough trade fuck fest instead. That was really my only complaint with the book.  Clayton’s personality did seem to shift gears a bit toward the end with unexpected results which through me off though.
Overall, a readable book, but not one that I will read again.

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