cover image Coming Out

Coming Out

Seven Slade. Howling Mad, $12.99 trade paper (322p) ISBN 978-0-9861465-4-1

Slade’s clever contemporary romance deposits best friends Tamsyn Archer and Rodrigo Vega-Goldstein into a screwball comedy of sexual misinterpretation. They’ve been friends since the second grade, when tough butch Syn defended Rigo (who’s “queer as a left-handed, blue-footed boobie”) against a bully who teased him for wearing a pink shirt. Now they’re 22 and still stuck in their tiny hometown of Middle, N.C. Rigo claims to have the hots for the aptly named Simon Sex, the lead singer in a rock band, but Syn worries that he’s setting himself up for a fall if the guy’s not gay. However, when Simon and Rigo finally do meet, it’s a very different sort of disaster: Simon is willing to experiment with gay sex, but all Rigo can think about are Syn’s breasts. And though she’s in a relationship with another woman, Syn secretly yearns for Rigo. Bittersweet fun ensues as each wrestles with the risk of losing a friend by fessing up and coming out as straight. This charming story will win readers’ hearts. [em](BookLife) [/em]