Total-e-bound, £1.49, ISBN 978-1-906328-03-0
Contemporary Erotica, 2007
Coach is part of Carol Lynne’s gay erotic romance series called Campus Cravings but the relationship is between high school football coach Justin and Luc Henley, the father of his star quarterback Max. So it’s not really some kind of “campus craving” after all as much as it is some kind of “high school PTA afternoon delight” thing.
Because he is working and living in a small town Evergreen in Idaho where things can get really heated between him and the people in town if word gets out that he prefers salamis to fish, poor Justin doesn’t have much opportunity to have a social life. He has led a pretty boring and uneventful life, until Luc Henley shows up on his radar with all that pretty four years ago and has poor Justin all tied up in knots.
I have no idea why it takes Luc so long to act – four years, sheesh – but he has the hots for Justin too. Max isn’t really his son. Max’s mother is Luc’s sister. No, not like that, Luc took Max in and adopted him after Max’s mother died of a drug overdose. Luc doesn’t go for women, so as I’ve mentioned, I’ve no idea why it took so long for Luc to realize that Justin is infatuated with him. Justin must be very subtle when it comes to that chubby he sports whenever he’s around Luc. Or maybe he’s just a very small person? Luc though is huge, as Ms Lynne takes the pain (heh) to point out. He’s apparently comparable to some of the adult film actors Justin has seen.
At any rate, when Max is away one night, these two men decide to order pizza and have their own sleepover at Luc’s place. Alas, once the affair gets leaked out, Justin finds himself sacked from his job. What will happen now?
You know, I’m still shocked at how normal Coach is. No hilariously shocking bad writing, no lurid sex scenes, no emphasis on huge penises that can give a susceptible reader nightmares. This is a short story so it is to be expected that the resolution of the story is rushed. However, I like that the resolution doesn’t seem too much like something out of a Hallmark movie. Luc and Justin have a love story that is too rushed to be real, but heavens, these two men turn out to be pretty normal and likable types. The sex scenes don’t try to defy laws of physics and gravity. No, really, this one is so astoundingly normal and even good for a Carol Lynne story that I am impressed. I don’t know if this is due to a change in editor or the author improving or both, but this story is probably good enough to school the author’s detractors a thing or two about writing her off so soon.
Now, let’s see if she can come up with a longer story that can match or better Coach. Since I like her when she’s bad as well as when she’s good, this is actually a win-win situation for me. Does that mean I get to be president of the Carol Lynne fan club?
