About Between Friends
by Sean Michael
162 pages / 52000 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-090-0, 1-60370-090-0
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, paperback
Two very different couples. Two very different lives. Yet somehow they manage to keep things between friends.
Schoolteacher Jason and Harry the cop have a pretty good life together. Or at least they always have in the past. When Harry starts acting strangely, withdrawing from Jason and displaying bouts of mysterious anger, Jason starts to wonder if he’s losing his hold on what he and Harry share.
He turns to his friend Samuel, a college roommate, for a little moral support. Antique dealer Samuel has enough on his plate, buying a new house with his lover, Peter, and keeping up with their inventive love life.
Luckily for Jason, Samuel’s lover, Peter, is also a good friend of Harry’s. When Peter hears about the troubles between Harry and Jason, he forces Harry to confront his demons, and to give Jason the chance to help.
Can Harry and Jason come to terms with secrets that might change their lives forever? With Samuel and Peter’s help, they just might, as they find out what friends are for, and what it means to let someone help share the load.
Sean Michael creates a finely woven web of friendship, where two couples and two sets of friends become family, and where the intricate dance of everyday life comes alive in the most beautiful way.
Review
Jodi Payne, Deviations series co-author, writes: Something happened to Harry. Something horrible. And now, the unthinkable is happening; the men who were involved are coming up for parole.
When the chips are down -- and I mean really, really down -- you need a best friend to lean on, to listen to your troubles, to cut through all the bullshit and ask the tough questions. Not everyone has a friend they can be completely honest with, that they know will be there when things get ugly, but will never throw it in their face when it's over.
But Harry does. Harry, a tough, buff, city cop, and his lover, Jason, are lucky enough to have Peter and Sammy. They don't agree on everything; Harry and Jason like their love straight up, but Peter and Sammy like a little rope and pink skin in the mix. They are four very different men with different ways of showing their love, but they'd walk through fire for each other and man, it shows.
In Between Friends, Sean Michael explores the amazing depth and bonds of friendship between men. This is not a foursome story, but rather a story of two committed, monogamous couples. The four men work through recovery and love together, and all come out stronger for it.
This is easily one of my favorite Sean Michael stories to date. But if it sounds like I'm being a little vague on the plot details, well, I am. Michael deliberately feeds the reader information about Harry and Jason throughout the book, and far be it from me to give a single, suspenseful, detail away. So, suffice to say that at the heart of this truly romantic love story is an event that caused great, lasting pain, but at its soul is the ideal that love really can conquer all. With a little help from your friends.
Sample
"Ah, there you two are -- we were going to send a search party. Oh, my, Harry, you are man enough to pull off pink." Laff chuckled and pointed to lane four. "We're right over here."
"Fuck you, Laffy." Three beers and a glass of Coke were at the table, along with bowling shoes in a thirteen and a huge burger with fries. "Oh, Sammy. You're a doll."
"You looked hungry, honey. Sit. Eat."
Jase patted his shoulder and then gave Sammy a hug. "We've already decided the order, Harry, you're going last. I'm not sure that it works like it does in baseball, but we figured you'd do well in 'clean-up.'"
"I'm leading us off. Then Sammy, then Jase." Laff shook his head. "This is actually more fun than I was expecting."
He chuckled and nodded, relaxing a little, taking two of the little pills Jason gave him. "Sorry I was late, guys. I had to save the world from schizophrenic old men." Schizophrenic old men with knives who attacked a mannequin at Ginny's Boutique. Christ.
"Your job is never dull, is it?" Laff stole several of his French fries, and Jase slapped the man's hand.
"Nobody steals off Harry's plate. Unless they're me," Jase added, snagging a few fries for himself.
Possessive little ass. Harry adored him. "That's my babe. Go bowl the first set, Laffy."