Novel: Loving Jay
Author: Renae Kaye
Genres: Romance, Humor
Released: 2014
Part of Book Series: Loving You Series (Book #1)
Summary: One thing Liam Turner knows for sure is that he’s not gay—after all, his father makes it very clear he’ll allow no son of his to be gay. And Liam believes it, until a chance meeting with James “Jay” Bell turns Liam’s world upside-down. Jay is vivacious and unabashedly gay—from the tips of his bleached hair to the ends of his polished nails. With a flair for fashion, overreaction, and an inability to cork his verbal diarrhea, Liam believes drama queen Jay must have a screw loose.
An accident as a teenager left Liam with a limp and a fear of driving. He can’t play football anymore either, and that makes him feel like less of a man. But that’s no reason to question his sexuality… unless the accident broke something else inside him. When being with Jay causes Liam’s protective instincts to emerge, Liam starts to believe all he knew in life had been a convenient excuse to stay hidden. From intolerance to confrontations, Liam must learn to overcome his fears—and his father—before he can accept his sexuality and truly love Jay.
Post’s Author Opinion:
Note: This is a personal opinion, it does not reflect YaoiOtaku’s official position towards the novel.
Loving Jay is a very simple book but packed with messages about accepting homosexuality. The mc, William Gregory Turner – Liam – had been living in denial for years about being gay or at least bisexual even though he had had experience of being intimately involved with both males and females. Then James Bell – Jay – literally sashayed into his life and Liam finally came to his senses that he is undeniably gay.
Of course, just admitting one’s sexuality came with a lot of other issues. Jay’s encounter with hate crime, Liam’s father’s bigotry and some bedroom issues stirred up Liam’s nerves in pursuing a relationship with his precious Jay. Then a tragedy struck Jay’s family and Liam finally decided to step up into the role of Jay’s boyfriend where he realized that acceptance needed to come from him first before others.
What I liked the most in this book was the message about sexual roles in a gay relationship. Most stereotypes I found out there suggested that versatile gay men promote equality as a couple whereas there was a power imbalance in an exclusive top – exclusive bottom relationship. But Jay, flamboyant, unapologetically gay, Jay, showed that he loved being himself, loved being a bottom, loved driving his yellow Mini Cooper that screamed ‘gay’, loved wearing makeup and drink his skinny mocha latte, which didn’t matter since those weren’t the indications that he was a lesser man than Liam. Because in the end, his imperfections balanced out Liam’s and together they overcame some of the family members’ disapproval and what mattered most was loving each other equally.
The story was cute, with just enough drama that thankfully wasn’t annoying. I have yet to check on the other books in this series nor do I plan to do so. But no worries, all of them can be read as a standalone.
What’s your opinion on Loving Jay novel? Please let us know in the comments below.
-
Post Author's Rating
