The Second Half

Pomfret (Since My Last Confession) reworks forbidden love by having Peyton, a college football coach, fall in love with Brady, his team's star quarterback. Peyton's fortitude against pursuing Brady crumbles when he learns the attraction is mutual. Love faces some challenges: Brady's memories of war, Peyton's clinging but judgmental mother, and the homophobic head coach. After the men are discovered together and Peyton is fired, the last half of the book focuses an almost zany plot to cover up Brady's war injuries, win a championship, and avoid a public outing with the unlikely alliance of Peyton and the bitterly gay head trainer Bobby (along with a host of secondary characters who form a slightly implausible gay network of mutual aid). Pomfret is at his best when describing the action of war flashbacks and football games, but flounders a bit with developing secondary characters beyond shallow stereotype. The work doesn't deny the lingering homophobia in college sports, but the happy ending and multiple reconciliations will appeal to readers searching for stories of masculine gay men who experience only minor internal turmoil over their sexuality. (June)