S
Sean Ramsdell
February 17, 2023
Romance of the Year
There hasn't been a book in the last two years that I've read that has made me smile as much as Rum. I swear my cheeks hurt the two days it took me to read it (because sleep and work interfered with my enjoyment), but when I picked it up the next night, it sucked me right back in.
I'm a huge fan of rom-coms, and while we apparently have to wait for good quality theatrical ones starring a gay couple, we don't have to wait for good literary ones, and this is the best I can recall in recent memory.
The premise - a guy (Carson) ends up falling for the guy he's giving dating advice to (Ryan) - is simple, but becomes comedic when Carson starts giving Ryan purposely bad advice...because Carson wants Ryan to realize the perfect guy is already in front of him. Cue the sappy, romantic music that I love!
As for the characterizations, the main MCs come up as multi-dimensional and refreshing. We don't have the wounded, heartbroken, I'm-so-over-men-and-dating guy, nor do we have the let's-pretend-there-are-rules-and-this-is-something-it-isn't garbage (I'm a little sick of that, can you tell? Is it because I also wrote that myself? Huh...damn). Carson isn't really looking for anything and Ryan falls into his lap because Carson's a nice guy and h0rny (realism!). Ryan is a preppy, innocent, nerdy, almost-virgin (I think...my memory isn't what it used to be). But he isn't doe-eyed and naive...he can get dirty. Exhibit A: Crisco. It's not complicated and that's what helps the story move…