Synopses & Reviews
In Best Gay Romance 2009, editor Richard Labonté has assembled the foremost of contemporary short stories on the subject. Jack Fritscher's “The Calamus Emotion: Love Among the Ruins” tenderly tracks a romance in letters set against the dramatic backdrop of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. S. J. Frost's “Semper Fi” finds a despondent young Marine looking for love in a Chicago bar after the death of the beloved Saudi Arabian translator who saved his life in Iraq. In Neil Plakcy's “The Baker,” more than yeast rises when an overworked French baker meets a customer searching for the perfect pain au chocolat. Emphasizing emotions over erotics, these vivid tales of love sought, lost, and found show that however romance happens, however long it lasts — one night or a lifetime — love between men is a wondrous thing.
Review
"Labonte´ assembles as fine a collection of stories focused on male-to-male relationships as youre likely to find. A big plus: the writing is top-notch." EDGEBoston
Synopsis
Best Gay Romance 2009 is short fiction at its finest on the subject of lovefirst love, true love, and love everlasting (with makeup sex, wake-up sex, and everything in between).
The romantic possibilities range from a surprising encounter between two blue-collar buddies to a brief airport rendezvous that become something more, and a reminder to us all that it is never too late for love. A self-confessed true romantic, Richard Labonté has gathered a sensational collection of stories about finding love at home, at work, at any age, and often, in the most unexpected places.